Week 13 Fantasy Football Studs and Duds
I don’t have to remind you that the number 13 is widely believed to be an unlucky number. Some say that this belief goes back millennia to a time when Octavius Romanicus was eliminated from playoff contention in Week 13 of his Gladatorial Fantasy League after needing just one more victory to make it into the tournament. Don’t worry about fact-checking that, I’m pretty sure it’s legit. Speaking of legit, here are some fantasy football producers that posted some legit stats in Week 13 as well as some others that I’m sure will make their owners lament Week 13, just as Mr. Romanicus did before them.
Check out the full discussion of Week 13 Studs and Duds on today’s podcast.
Studs
Quarterbacks
Patrick Mahomes @ OAK
295 passing yards, 4 TDs, 52 rushing yards
Losing a starting WR to injury and a star RB to off the field issues would generally set a QB back from a fantasy scoring perspective. Not Mahomes. There’s a reason we call this the Mahomes-Bradford Index after all.
Josh Allen @ MIA
231 passing yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs, 135 rushing yards, 2 pt conv
A true athlete at the position, the league might be in trouble if this kid develops into a consistent passer.
Russell Wilson vs SF
185 passing yards, 4 TDs, 14 rushing yards
DangeRuss is right! Wilson only completed 11 passes in this game and still managed 4 TDs.
Running Backs
Todd Gurley @ DET
23 carries, 132 rushing yards, 2 TDs, 3 receptions, 33 rushing yards
The bye week came at the perfect time for Gurley. After looking lackluster in the Week 11 contest against the Chiefs, Gurley returned in Week 13 refreshed. The poor Lions never stood a chance.
Tarik Cohen @ NYG
8 carries, 30 rushing yards, 12 receptions, 156 receiving yards, 1 passing TD
He isn’t going to be mistaken for Drew Brees or even Mitch Trubisky, but the TD pass just proves that Cohen is an offensive weapon that simply cannot be schemed out of a game. Unlike his counterpart, Jordan Howard, Cohen can get his points in any facet of the game.
Phillip Lindsay @ CIN
19 carries, 157 rushing yards, 2 TDs, 1 reception, 2 receiving yards
On several occasions on Sunday, Lindsay appeared to just hit pause, analyze the defense, and then accelerate through a hole. He scored on 2 such plays. His vision and explosiveness are incredible, it’s a wonder he went undrafted.
Christian McCaffrey @ TB
10 carries, 106 rushing yards, 9 receptions, 55 receiving yards, TD, 10 targets
When an RB gets 20 offensive opportunities in a game fantasy owners are generally pleased. But when half of those come in the passing game owners are ecstatic. McCaffrey is so immensely valuable in PPR leagues, that he would be at the top of my list of examples if I was trying to convert my league to half PPR from full point scoring.
Wide Receivers
Dante Pettis @ SEA
5 receptions, 129 receiving yards, 2 TDs, 7 targets
An admirable effort in with the 3rd-string QB behind center, though much of this action can be classified as garbage time.
Zay Jones @ MIA
4 receptions, 67 receiving yards, 2 TDs, 9 targets, 2 pt conv
If there’s one thing we know about Zay Jones is that he will catch almost half of what you throw at him.
Jaron Brown vs SF
3 receptions, 67 receiving yards, 2 TDs, 3 targets
Hold on… This is supposed to be the “Studs” section right? Who invited these guys?
Davante Adams vs AZ
8 receptions, 93 receiving yards, TD, 13 targets
Ok, here we go. A bonafide stud who performed so well that his Head Coach got fired immediately after the game.
Keenan Allen @ PIT
14 receptions, 148 receiving yards, TD, 19 targets
I’m old enough to remember when Keenan Allen was a complete injury risk and couldn’t be trusted.
Chris Godwin vs CAR
5 receptions, 101 receiving yards, TD, 6 targets
Godwin is one of those names you need to make a note to yourself about so you don’t forget about him next preseason. Despite being 4th on the team in targets, Godwin has 5 TDs on the year to go along with a pair of 100-yard games. Could get a big boost as Adam Humphries is a free agent after this season and the Bucs are expected to move on from Desean Jackson.
Odell Beckham Jr vs CHI
3 receptions, 35 receiving yards, TD, 49 passing yards, 1 passing TD
You read that right, 3 receptions for 35 yards. Odell was getting so fed up with this offense that he decided to step up and show Eli how it’s done, completing a 49-yard bomb to Russell Shepard.
Courtland Sutton @ CIN
4 receptions, 85 receiving yards, TD, 7 targets
While scoring the 3rd TD of his career, Sutton also hit new career-highs for targets, receptions and yards in a game. This is why the Broncos were confident in trading Demaryius Thomas, this kid can play.
Tight Ends
Travis Kelce @ OAK
12 receptions, 168 receiving yards, 2 TDs, 13 targets
“The dice of Zeus always fall luckily.” -Sophocles
Jared Cook vs KC
7 receptions, 100 receiving yards, TD, 8 targets
I think the Raiders surprised just about everyone outside of the Black Hole by keeping pace with the Chiefs. Jared Cook was a big reason why they were able to keep it to a one-possession game.
Duds
Quarterbacks
Drew Brees @ DAL
127 passing yards, TD, INT
Great googly-moogly! If the Raiders-Chiefs game was a surprise, what happened on Thursday Night Football is an absolute stunner. The Saints looked really really bad on offense. They now have a ‘mini-bye’ to figure it out before taking on the Buccaneers.
Matt Ryan vs BAL
131 passing yards, TD, fumble
Matty poured ice water all over the playoff hopes of his fantasy owners.
Kirk Cousins @ NE
201 passing yards, TD, 2 INTs
The downfield passes just weren’t there against the Patriots. Cousins’ 201 passing yards came on 32 completions. Underwhelming to say the least.
Jared Goff @ DET
207 passing yards, TD, INT, fumble
Though much more efficient than Cousins (just 17 completions) Goff still disappointed his owners who had become accustomed to much more plentiful returns when starting him.
Andrew Luck @ JAX
248 passing yards, INT, 16 rushing yards
Andrew Luck had been an unstoppable force in fantasy football in recent weeks. He met an immovable object in the Jaguars defense. He lost.
Running Backs
Marlon Mack @ JAX
8 carries, 27 rushing yards, 1 reception, 6 receiving yards
It wasn’t just Andrew Luck, the Jaguars put the clamps on the entire Indianapolis offense.
Tevin Coleman vs BAL
6 carries, 8 rushing yards, 1 reception, 3 receiving yards
For a player who is in the last year of his contract, Coleman is costing himself a lot of money with poor performances like this. Hopefully, he didn’t cost you a chance at a #FootClanTitle.
Mark Ingram @ DAL
7 carries, 27 rushing yards, 2 receptions, 1 receiving yards
The Saints offensive struggles can be attributed in no small part to the interior linebackers of the Cowboys. The closing speed of Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith kept Ingram and Kamara in check.
Dion Lewis vs NYJ
6 carries, 36 rushing yards, 2 receptions, -2 receiving yards
The brief flashes of life from the Titans offense have served no other purpose than to lure fantasy owners into a pit of despair.
Matt Breida @ SEA
5 carries, 6 rushing yards, 3 receptions, 51 receiving yards
A few receptions are all that saved Brieda from an absolutely horrendous performance. 6 rushing yards on 5 carries is not starting RB numbers. It’s a good thing the Niners will not have to lean on Breida in 2019.
Sony Michel vs MIN
17 carries, 63 rushing yards, 1 reception, 7 receiving yards
Michel’s day would’ve gone much differently had he converted his goalline carries. He didn’t so the Patriots turned to Fullback, James Develin who scored twice from inside the 2-yard line.
David Johnson @ GB
20 carries, 69 receiving yards, 1 reception, 3 receiving yards
Just about the exact same thing happened to David Johnson. Nearly identical stat lines and both had a pair of TDs stolen by another RB on the roster. In Johnson’s case, it was backup RB Chase Edmonds.
Wide Receivers
Tyreek Hill @ OAK
1 reception, 13 receiving yards, 6 targets, 37 rushing yards
This almost seems like a bad dream. How is this even possible given Hill’s dominance and the absence of Watkins and Hunt?
Julio Jones vs BAL
2 receptions, 18 receiving yards, 8 targets
Just a brutal week for some of the elite pass catchers in the NFL.
Emmanuel Sanders @ CIN
4 receptions, 19 receiving yards, 6 targets
Phillip Lindsay stole the show in Denver. They didn’t need much else from their offense to handle the depleted Bengals.
Michael Thoms @ DAL
5 receptions, 40 receiving yards, 8 targets
Saints owners have no choice but to chalk this one up to a trap game on the road on a short week. New Orleans will be fine.
Mike Evans vs CAR
4 receptions, 48 receiving yards, 6 targets
All things considered, it could’ve been worse but owners were definitely expecting much better.
Kenny Golladay vs LAR
3 receptions, 50 receiving yards, 8 targets
If you can manage, I’d avoid all Detroit Lions the rest of the way. Chances are that if you have been relying on Lions, you have been eliminated from playoff contention anyway.
Larry Fitzgerald @ GB
3 receptions, 48 receiving yards, 6 targets
It’s difficult to watch Fitzgerald’s career flicker out like this, but he had a hall of fame career. It’s time to start looking for an analyst gig.
Tre’Quan Smith @ DAL
nothing, 1 target
While I said not to worry about the Saints offense, I would worry about Smith. He has been a volatile asset due to injury and lack of involvement in the offense. Perhaps one of those things has led to the other, but either way, he cannot be trusted in your lineups.
Demaryius Thomas vs CLE
3 receptions, 32 receiving yards, 5 targets
This is what should be expected from Thomas. WR’s who get traded generally struggle to acclimate to their new offenses, especially this late in the season. Amari Cooper is far and away the exception and not the rule.
Tight Ends
Rob Gronkowski vs MIN
3 receptions, 26 receiving yards, 4 targets
I think we would’ve been better off eating Tide Pods than drafting Gronk in 2018. He was billed as a league winning TE and had been the opposite.
Cameron Brate vs CAR
3 receptions, 36 receiving yards, 6 targets
The targets were there with O.J. Howard out but the TDs weren’t. That’s going to make Brate owners disappointed more often than not.
Kyle Rudolph @ NE
3 receptions, 38 receiving yards, 3 targets
Rudolph is in the same category as Brate. He didn’t score, which lands him in the Duds section.
Trey Burton vs NYG
nothing, 1 target
Unfortunately, we don’t get fantasy points for Burton’s lateral to Tarik Cohen on the trick play turned TD.
David Njoku @ HOU
3 receptions, 8 receiving yards, 6 targets
Baker Mayfield had 397 passing yards. Njoku only received 8 of them. Brutal.