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Five Burning Questions Week 13

Five Burning Questions Week 13
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Is Jeremy Hill about to put the Bengals offense on his back?

For most fantasy leagues, we have hit the final week of the regular season or the first week of the playoffs. Every lineup decision will be scrutinized a little but more in a situation where one poor decision could cost you the chance for a fantasy championship. Here are the things I will be thinking about heading into Week 13.

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 Is Sammy Watkins a WR 1?

Watkins played for the first time in over two months last week, and that has many fantasy owners excited. What got them even more excited was his performance on the field in Week 12, when he recorded a reception of 62 yards. However, he only played 25 snaps in that game and his participation at practice this week has been limited at best. With news that he is still battling a broken bone in his foot coming out late this week, it is clear that Watkins has plenty of risk moving forward. On the other hand, his big play ability is enough to win leagues. Given the risk, it is nearly impossible to count on Watkins as a key fantasy piece moving to close the season, but he is going to remain a storyline throughout.

Will anyone benefit from the absence of Gronk, and if so, who?

The Watkins story was only surpassed this week by the news that Rob Gronkowski would miss the remainder of the season due to a back injury. While it is always difficult to predict where the Patriots offensive production will come from, one or a combination of players will see a bump in their numbers due to Gronk’s absence.

The most certain of these players is seemingly Dion Lewis. Lewis returned two weeks ago from a lengthy absence due to injury and saw his role increase last week. Other options include Chris Hogan and Malcolm Mitchell. Hogan has played a high rate of the Patriots snaps but saw five targets last week for the first time since Week 2. Malcolm Mitchell is still playing a low rate of offensive snaps but has seen more targets than Hogan each of the past two weeks and has scored at least one touchdown in consecutive weeks. Finally, Martellus Bennett could the beneficiary. He has been used mostly to block in the Patriots offensive scheme but he does have games with a lot of fantasy production.

Will Jeremy Hill remain an impact player in the Bengals’ passing attack?

Jeremy Hill was stymied as a rusher last week but rather surprisingly was heavily involved in the Bengals passing game. While that development isn’t surprising given the fact that the Bengals have lost both A.J. Green and Giovani Bernard recently, it is surprising because Hill had just nine receptions prior to last week’s six. If he has turned into a multi-dimensional threat on offense, he will move from a FLEX option to a solid RB2, but given his career numbers in the passing game, that seems unlikely. Keep an eye on his involvement in this week’s game against the Eagles.

 Is Brandin Cooks going to bounce back?

When the Saints put up 49 points, most people would assume that Brandin Cooks would have made a lot of fantasy owners happy. That wasn’t the case last week however, as he was not even targeted in the blowout win. Sean Payton said they ran several plays where Cooks was the top read but Rams covered him well. However, given the emergence of Michael Thomas in his rookie season and Drew Brees’ willingness to spread the ball around, it will be worth monitoring what Cooks’ role is. The likelihood that he receives 0 targets again is slim to none, but that also doesn’t mean he will necessarily be WR1 or WR2 for the final few weeks of the season.

What tight ends can be trusted?

With Delanie Walker on bye and Jordan Reed and Rob Gronkowski set to be absent due to injury, this week’s tight end crop is less than inspiring. Coby Fleener and Josh Hill have proven to be very inconsistent, while Eric Ebron was not targeted last week bringing doubt into fantasy owners’ minds about his value. Antonio Gates also wasn’t targeted last week, while Hunter Henry also sees limited targets. Other options include C.J. Fiedorowicz, Vance McDonald, Martellus Bennett, and Zach Ertz, and it may be a necessity that they are trusted this week. That will be a bit uncomfortable for a lot of fantasy owners. While this is more of a short-term question than the others already posed, the tight end situation is incredibly weak in Week 13 and is worth noting.

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Daniel Marcus is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Daniel, check out his archive, visit fantasy-phenoms.com, or follow him @danmarcus3

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