Welcome to Week 13 of the NFL season. It’s the final weekend with bye weeks (barring any craziness involving COVID), and it’s also the final weekend before re-draft leagues are officially finished with their regular season. If your re-draft season is coming to a bitter end, and you’re still looking to whet your palate for fantasy football goodness, welcome to the party, pal.
While the bye weeks are coming to an end, the Week 13 slate of games is definitely condensed heavily due to the rescheduling of games across the league. A total of eight teams are playing games not included in the Sunday afternoon slate, and two more teams are on bye. Fortunately, the schedule makers gave us four games in the late afternoon slot. With some of the players available in those games, be sure to capitalize on roster construction practices. There’s a lot of high-dollar players in those games, and that means that the ability to pivot is going to be there should your early afternoon players fail to perform.
I’m considering each of the players below for cash game lineups this week:
Win $1 Million playing FanDuel’s NFL Sunday Million 
Quarterbacks
Mitch Trubisky (CHI): $6,900 vs. Detroit Lions
Trubisky in a cash game article in 2020 seems apropos.
Trubisky has been fantastic against the Lions. His game logs against the team are just silly, particularly over his last four games:
Think Vladamir Guerrero against the Texas Rangers good.
Sometimes, being a good fantasy quarterback and being a good actual quarterback seems to get conflated. Blake Bortles is a prime example of a bad actual quarterback serving as a good fantasy quarterback. In the case of Trubisky against the Lions, he should be a rock-solid fantasy quarterback this week.
Ryan Fitzpatrick (MIA): $7,400 vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Fitzmagic is at it again this season, and he’s been playing at a high level all year. On the other hand, the Bengals have struggled defensively. Cincinnati is allowing 257 passing yards and two touchdowns per game to opposing quarterbacks. Meanwhile, in Fitzpatrick’s last six starts, he’s thrown for 1,601 yards and 12 touchdowns to just four interceptions.
There’s optimism that Tua Tagovailoa can play this weekend, as he’s been limited in practice all week with a thumb injury. But given Miami’s opponent, it would make sense for the Dolphins to rest him one more week and let the bearded one take the reigns again.
If Ryan Fitzpatrick is the starter on Sunday, he has played in 5 career games against the Bengals.
He averages 263 yards per game against them, and has totaled 12 TDs and just 4 INTs with a passer rating on 98.1.
Record wise – its just 2-3 in those 5 games.
— Jason Sarney (@OrangeAquaman) December 2, 2020
Other notables: Kirk Cousins (MIN): $7,300 vs. JAC; Ryan Tannehill (TEN): $7,800 vs. CLE
Running Backs
David Montgomery (CHI): $6,200 vs. Detroit Lions
What could possibly go wrong if I recommend not one, but two Chicago Bears players in a cash game lineup?
Montgomery has had his fair share of negativity thrown his way from fantasy analysts over the past year. However, his recent play has made some question whether that criticism was a bit premature. Given his opponent this week, it could bolster the conversation around whether Montgomery truly is starting to live up to his pedigree.
Despite being 46th 👀 in YBC/Att, David Montgomery is
#9 in YAC/Att
#3 in Broken Tackles (4th in Atts/BT)
#7 in YAC (#9 in YAC/Att)Are we ready to have the conversation that Montgomery might be a good RB?
— The Fantasy Football Experience (@Danny_FFX) December 3, 2020
The Lions have been atrocious against the run this season. If ever there was a time to establish the run…
Austin Ekeler (LAC): $7,000 vs. New England Patriots
I enjoy harping on recency bias. Ekeler, fresh off his return from a hamstring injury, picked up right where he left off last weekend. He handed 72% of the offensive snaps for the Chargers last week against the Bills. He had 25 touches, which was the most touches he’s had all season. He’s clearly fully back and is criminally underpriced this week. In Week 1, Ekeler was priced at $7,700, and in Week 3, he was priced at $7,500. Enjoy the savings and plug him in against a Patriots defense that has surprisingly underperformed against running backs this season.
Austin Ekeler comes off a 16-target game to draw a #Patriots defense that ranks 25th in @fboutsiders RB coverage DVOA.
— Jared Smola (@SmolaDS) December 3, 2020
Other notables: Miles Sanders (PHI): $7,200 @ GB; Aaron Jones (GB): $8,400 vs. PHI
Wide Receivers
Davante Adams (GB): $9,500 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The only receiver averaging 100 or more yards per game is in line to play against the Eagles. While Adams is likely going to be seeing a lot of Darius Slay, the Eagles’ top cornerback was limited in practice on Thursday due to a calf issue. These two have a long history against one another, and, as D.K. Metcalf showed on Monday night, Slay isn’t quite the same corner he was in the recent past.
Ahead of #PHIvsGB matchup… I highly recommend going back and watching the GamePass Film Sessions with Darius Slay & Davante Adams
Incredible insight/details into their craft and process… Two elite players that have seen each quite a bit on the fieldhttps://t.co/frqhJiBMme pic.twitter.com/FUEMkXuFQ1
— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) December 2, 2020
On the season, the Eagles are ranked 23rd in DVOA against opposing WR1s. That number might just get worse after Adams and the Packers are finished with them this weekend.
Justin Jefferson (MIN): $7,700 vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
It might be a (slight) stretch to say that Jefferson is the best receiver on the Vikings, but there’s definitely a case to be made that Jefferson is the best rookie receiver this season.
Yards Per Route Run from the slot:
1. Justin Jefferson – 3.48
2. Davante Adams – 3.42
3. Terry McLaurin – 3.02
4. Robby Anderson – 2.54 pic.twitter.com/ppzK68Bs4G— PFF (@PFF) December 4, 2020
With Dalvin Cook slightly banged up, it would behoove the Vikings coaching staff to keep him as close to healthy as possible in the event they make a final push towards the final wild-card spot in the playoffs. With Adam Thielen coming back this weekend, Minnesota’s passing offense is going to have two of the league’s best receivers against one of the worst defenses in the league.
Highest-graded WRs vs single coverage:
1. Davante Adams – 95.2
2. Adam Thielen – 94.3
3. Justin Jefferson – 94.0
4. Tyreek Hill – 93.7
5. D.K. Metcalf – 93.4Promo code CYBER40 to save 40% off ANY PFF subscription
— PFF (@PFF) December 3, 2020
The Jaguars have been atrocious in almost every facet of the game defensively this season. They’ve also been suffering from injuries in the secondary. This weekend offers Jefferson and the Vikings passing offense a great chance to capitalize on an inferior opponent that isn’t exactly helping themselves out scheme-wise.
Jaguars running almost 50% cover 1 man with their top three corners injured is less than ideal. https://t.co/jCzAPCT8kG
— Hayden Winks (@HaydenWinks) December 2, 2020
Other notables: Cooper Kupp (LAR): $6,600 at ARI; DeVante Parker (MIA): $6,800 vs. CIN; Denzel Mims (NYJ): $5,500 vs. LV
Tight Ends
T.J. Hockenson (DET): $6,100 at Chicago Bears
The Bears are currently ranked 21st in DVOA against tight ends, according to Football Outsiders. Chicago is allowing the third-most fantasy points to the tight end position, and the last time these two teams faced off in Week 1, Hockenson nabbed five catches for 56 yards and a touchdown. Six different tight ends have reached at least 50 receiving yards against Chicago, while eight different tight ends have scored a touchdown.
Hockenson currently leads the NFC in receiving yards among tight ends. Over the last five games, Hockenson has had six or more targets in all but one game. He is currently tied with Marvin Jones for the Lions’ team lead in receiving touchdowns with five.
Darren Waller (LV): $7,000 at New York Jets
Last week’s dud from the Raiders brings a $100 price reduction this week for Waller. Given his opponent, that’s a great opportunity to take advantage of some recency bias. The Jets are ranked 20th in DVOA against the tight end position. The Jets have allowed the most touchdowns to tight ends this season (nine), and Waller is tied for the fifth-most receiving touchdowns among tight ends with five. There’s some positive regression that could be coming Waller’s way too:
Players with 8+ red zone targets over the past month but two or fewer TDs on those targets:
Targets – Player – TDs
12 – DK Metcalf – 2
10 – Darren Waller – 2
9 – Michael Thomas – 0
9 – DeVante Parker – 1
9 – Travis Kelce – 1
9 – Eric Ebron – 2
8 – Jerry Jeudy – 1— Jacob Gibbs (@jagibbs_23) December 3, 2020
Waller is commanding 26.8% of the team targets for Las Vegas this season. Expect a rebound game this week.
Other notables: Mike Gesicki (MIA): $5,700 vs. CIN; Hayden Hurst (ATL): $5,600 vs. NO
Defense/Special Teams
Green Bay Packers D/ST: $4,100 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
If there’s one thing you can count on from the 2020 Eagles offense, it’s sacks and turnovers.
Los Angeles Rams D/ST: $4,500 at Arizona Cardinals
Three weeks ago, I would’ve thought it crazy to suggest playing a defense facing DeAndre Hopkins and Kyler Murray. The “Not For Long” acronym often associated with the NFL is particularly relevant here, however. With Murray dealing with a shoulder injury and Hopkins’ production taking a hit over the past few weeks, the Rams defense is in a prime spot while there’s blood in the water. Since Week 11, Murray’s rushing attempts have almost dropped in half (9.4 per game prior to the injury and five per game since), and his average yards per pass attempt has dropped by about a yard and a half, according to Pro Football Focus.
Over the last four weeks, the Rams are allowing the second-fewest fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks. That’s not a good combination for Arizona’s offense, but it’s a good opportunity for a defense that is playing its best ball as of late.
Other notables: Atlanta Falcons D/ST: $3,500 vs. NO
Win $1 Million playing FanDuel’s NFL Sunday Million
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | SoundCloud | iHeartRadio
Beyond our daily fantasy football content, be sure to check out our Daily Fantasy Football Tools. From our Value Plays – which allows you to identify players who are projected to outperform their salaries – to our DFS Cheat Sheets – that helps you get a quick read on the day’s players – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football season.
Matt Giraldi is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Matt, check out his archive or follow him @MGiraldi.
