Jaylen Waddle start or sit advice for Week 16 with Tua Tagovailoa not starting

ASFN Admin · Dec 21, 2025

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Jaylen Waddle start or sit advice for Week 16 with Tua Tagovailoa not starting originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Miami Dolphins are making a change at the quarterback position in Week 16.

During the week, the Dolphins announced they are benching quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in favor of rookie signal-caller Quinn Ewers.

The decision comes in the wake of Tagovailoa playing one of his worst games as a pro. But, we've been heading in this direction all season, as Tua simply hasn't been good throughout the campaign.

This is Ewers first career NFL start, but we have seen him in action this season. It wasn't pretty, though, as Ewers didn't look comfortable and completed 5-of-8 passes for 53 yards.

Does this change impact the way we feel about wide receiver Jaylen Waddle starting in fantasy football lineups this week?

Here's what we think.

Jaylen Waddle start or sit advice

While Waddle has served as Miami's No. 1 receiver since Tyreek Hill suffered a season-ending injury, that hasn't exactly produced fruitful results.

Entering Week 16, Waddle ranks as WR23 overall, which makes him a flex option on a weekly basis. Waddle hasn't done much over the last four weeks in particular, with the talented wideout ranking as WR41 overall in that span.

Despite their lackluster defense as a whole, the Bengals have actually been stingy versus wide receivers this season, with Cincinnati giving up the sixth-fewest fantasy points per contest to the position.

Knowing all that and the fact that Ewers might actually be worse than Tua given his lack of experience, we don't feel comfortable starting Waddle this week.

Verdict: Sit

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Jaylen Waddle start or sit advice for Week 16 with Tua Tagovailoa not starting

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