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Sunday Fantasy Football Fallout: Week 13 (2019)

Sunday Fantasy Football Fallout: Week 13 (2019)

Week 13’s Sunday afternoon slate is in the books. Some struggling teams got much-needed wins — Washington, Miami, and Cincinnati all picked up. Other than that, this week was pretty uneventful. We had some changes at quarterback, and a couple of running backs got hurt. Keep reading for some instant fantasy feedback on those headlines! Oh, and I usually include the best touchdown celebration of the week, but I’m just going to show you the best touchdown instead.

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Top Storylines

Kalen Ballage (RB – MIA) went down with an injury.
Story: Ballage was carted off of the field early with a non-contact injury and did not return. He had earned no yards on three attempts before his injury. As much as we’ve hoped for the Dolphins to change up their committee scheme, no one wanted this to happen. Expect Ballage to miss extended time.

Fallout: Patrick Laird and Myles Gaskin formed a two-back committee without Ballage. Laird ran 10 times for five yards and a touchdown, and he added 43 yards on four receptions. Gaskin got just three touches, turning them into 26 yards. Laird is a must-add on waivers this week if you need a running back. The Dolphins have some good matchups coming up — they’ll play consecutive games at MetLife Stadium against the Jets and Giants. Pencil Laird in as a low-end RB2/flex option moving forward, but keep an eye on whether the Dolphins choose to add someone else to their backfield. If they do, Laird’s value will tick downward.

Darrel Williams (RB – KC) also got hurt.
Story: Williams went down with a non-contact hamstring injury in the third quarter. Before leaving, he had run for 13 yards on six attempts, and he had caught a three-yard touchdown pass. LeSean McCoy finished the game with 10 rushing yards on five attempts, 20 receiving yards on three receptions, and a rushing touchdown.

Fallout: The Kansas City backfield is a mess right now. Hamstring injuries tend to keep players out for an average of 2.6 games, so Darrel is no lock for next week. Also, Damien Williams suffered a rib injury back in Week 11, and not much has come out about the extent of his injury. The Fantasy Doctors expect him to miss between two weeks to a month, depending on its severity. So if Darrel Williams’ injury sidelines him for an extended period, it’ll be LeSean McCoy for the first round of the fantasy playoffs. That said, the Chiefs have some tough games moving forward. They play New England next, and then they take on the Broncos in Week 15. They take on the Bears in Week 16, but Akiem Hicks is eligible to return in Week 15, and he would revitalize Chicago’s struggling rushing defense. Although Kansas City can beat good teams, their running backs will have their work cut out for them.

Derrius Guice (RB – WAS) and Adrian Peterson (RB – WAS) had a huge day against the Panthers.
Story: Guice and Peterson ran for 228 yards and three touchdowns in Carolina. The Panthers’ defense has been terrible against opposing rushers this season, and this Sunday was no exception. Even though Chris Thompson came back, the duo of Guice and Peterson led the way for Washington. Peterson actually out-carried Guice 13 to 10. Add in Guice’s pair of receptions, and Peterson still beat out Guice for touches.

Fallout: It’s not surprising that Guice and Peterson went off against Carolina. This week just confirms that you should fire up your running backs against them. They take on the Falcons, Seahawks, Colts, and Saints to end the year. What was surprising is how little Bill Callahan used Thompson. He only got three carries and two targets, so he did not cut into Guice’s or Peterson’s workload. Callahan may have wanted to ease Thompson back into the offense, but both Peterson and Guice should remain in the RB2 conversation next week. That said, don’t chase the points. Running backs won’t usually have games this massive on just 10 or 13 carries.

Nick Foles (QB – JAC) got benched.
Story:
After he struggled early against Tampa Bay, head coach Doug Marrone pulled Foles for Gardner Minshew. Foles ended the day with just seven completions on 14 passing attempts, 93 yards, and an interception.

Fallout: We’ll have to wait and see who starts next Sunday against the Chargers. The Jags have an easy schedule to end the year — after they take on the Chargers, they get Oakland and Atlanta. That said, the Buccaneers should have been an easy matchup, too. Jacksonville’s starter will be a low-end streaming option for the rest of the year, but at this point, we’re just hoping that they won’t hurt Leonard Fournette and D.J. Chark’s fantasy value. I don’t think this will affect Dede Westbrook or Chris Conley too much since Minshew and Foles don’t differ a whole lot on the receivers that they target.

Andy Dalton (QB – CIN) looked good off the bench.
Story: Dalton beat up the Jets for 243 yards and a score in his first start since Week 8. He was fairly accurate, as 22 of his 37 passing attempts were completed. The Bengals secured their first win of the season. The Jets have now lost to the 0-7 Dolphins and the 0-11 Bengals.

Fallout: Dalton’s return is good news for every Cincinnati receiver. Although Ryan Finley hadn’t hurt Tyler Boyd’s value too much, Boyd will now have much more upside than he did with Finley under center. Both Auden Tate and Alex Erickson re-enter the WR3/4 conversation with Dalton back as well. That said, John Ross’ impending return could mess with target distribution moving forward. My guess is that Erickson has the most to lose as the third option. If Ross is still on waivers in your league, he’s worth a speculative add going into next week. The speedster out of Washington had a strong start to 2019, as he’d caught 16 passes for 328 yards and three touchdowns in four games. It’s worth noting that his best game came without Auden Tate in the lineup, however, so don’t expect Ross to repeat his 7-158-2 statline from Week 1.

Drew Lock (QB – DEN) won his first career game.
Story: Lock made his first career start for Denver against the Chargers this week. He got out to an early lead with two touchdown passes to Courtland Sutton. Lock ended the day with 134 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. He completed a nice 64.3% of his passes, too.

Fallout: Lock should put up numbers comparable to Brandon Allen for the rest of the season. Allen wasn’t bad until his Week 12 implosion, but he wasn’t QB1 material. Lock should be a good option at QB2/Superflex, but the Broncos’ offense has relied on short passes and runs this year, aside from the occasional splash play. Lock’s 4.8 yards per attempt (YPA) and Allen’s 6.1 YPA back this up. On his 28 attempts, he targeted Sutton and Jeff Heuerman five times each. He only threw to Noah Fant three times, and Tim Patrick earned just two targets. While Sutton should remain a low-end WR1 with Lock under center, I would avoid starting any other receivers in the Denver offense. There’s just not a whole lot of yards to go around. That said, the Broncos have a soft schedule moving forward, as they take on the Texans, Chiefs, Lions, and Raiders, so Patrick or Fant could have a big game out of nowhere.

Alshon Jeffery (WR – PHI) impressed in his return from injury.
Story: Jeffery caught nine passes for 137 yards and a touchdown. He earned a staggering 16 targets from Carson Wentz, the most on the team.

Fallout: Good night, Zach Ertz. Ertz has struggled with Jeffery in the lineup this season, and that continued this week. The tight end caught only three of his six targets, his worst fantasy performance since Week 8. He’ll go back to low-end TE1 status with Jeffery in the lineup. Even Dallas Goedert had a better day than Ertz, as he caught six of his seven targets for 66 yards. Jeffery, meanwhile, should be a low-end WR1 to end the season. The Eagles take on the Giants next, and their secondary just gave up 243 yards and four touchdowns through the air.

Ronald Jones (RB – TB) got benched for Peyton Barber (RB – TB).
Story: Jones earned just eight yards on six carries, while Barber got 17 carries, 44 yards, and two touchdowns. After the game, head coach Bruce Arians told the media that he benched Jones because Barber was playing well, and Jones had missed a blitz pickup.

Fallout: Less than a month ago, Arians told us that Jones was the starter. Since then, Jones has 46 touches to Barber’s 42. Neither of Tampa Bay’s running backs gets a predictable enough workload in Bruce Arians’ offense to be considered anything more than low-end flex options. Jones is a better bet in PPR formats because of his usage in the passing game, while Barber gets the all-important goal-line carries for Standard leagues. They have a date with the Lions’ abysmal rushing defense in Week 15 that makes them worth holding onto. I’d look for Jones to rebound in a big way in Detroit.

Raheem Mostert (RB – SF) outplayed Tevin Coleman (RB – SF).
Story: Mostert looked like the starter on Sunday. He got 19 carries to Coleman’s measly five, and he ran for 146 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, Coleman ran for just six. Matt Breida sat out after being listed as questionable for this week’s game.

Fallout: Mostert is a must-add on waivers this week. Even when Breida returns, it looks like Mostert will have a role to play in Kyle Shanahan’s run-heavy offense. Mostert is averaging 5.85 yards per carry, which is better than Coleman’s 3.78 and Brieda’s 5.0. Mostert now has 539 yards on the season, just three fewer than Breida. The 49ers run the ball a lot, and despite their committee approach, they’ve had a running back reach double-digit carries in every game this season. Mostert should be a low-end RB2 against the Saints next week, especially if Breida can’t return in time. Coleman, meanwhile, is trending in the wrong direction, and I would leave him on your bench him for Week 14.

Jordan Wilkins (RB – IND) outplayed Jonathan Williams (RB – IND).
Story: Wilkins got 11 carries against the Titans, and he turned them into 47 yards. He added nine yards through the air. Meanwhile, Jonathan Williams only got eight carries for 14 yards, adding one reception for 11 yards. He did not touch the ball in the second half. Both running backs got outscored by Nyheim Hines this week, however, as the pass-catching specialist scored on a one-yard run. Why the Colts gave him the ball and not Wilkins or Williams, I don’t know.

Fallout: This story only matters if Marlon Mack misses another week. Mack is apparently targeting a Week 14 return, but he did not practice at all last week, so his status is still up in the air. It looked like the Colts preferred Williams to Wilkins after they didn’t give Wilkins the ball in Week 12, but he was still recovering from an injury that caused him to miss Week 11. The Colts take on Tampa Bay next week, so none of their running backs are attractive options against their pass-funnel defense. I would avoid all of them, but Wilkins isn’t a bad waiver add if you desperately need a running back. You can probably drop Jonathan Williams.

Sean McVay’s Rams recovered against the Cardinals.
Story: The Ravens embarrassed the Rams on national television last week, but McVay’s offense came back with a vengeance in Week 13. Jared Goff threw for over 400 yards and two touchdowns, and on the ground, Todd Gurley added 95 yards and a score. Robert Woods got a jaw-dropping 19 targets from Goff, turning them into 13 receptions for 172 yards.

Fallout: The Rams can beat bad defenses, at least. They’ve got the Seahawks next, and Goff gashed them for 395 yards in Week 5. You can safely fire up your Rams next week, although they may not be startable in their Week 16 game against the 49ers. The last time the Rams played San Fran, Goff threw for only 78 yards. Yikes. The biggest story from this game is probably Robert Woods, as it looks like he’s become the new receiver to own, not Cooper Kupp. Since the Rams’ Week 9 bye, Kupp has only been targeted 23 times. He’s caught just 15 of those passes for 153 yards and one touchdown. Woods, on the other hand, has logged 39 targets and 26 receptions for 363 yards. He’s done so in one fewer game, too, as he missed Week 11 for personal reasons.

Touchdown Celebration of the Week

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Isaiah Sirois is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Isaiah, check out his archive and follow him @is_sirois.

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