Kyle Yates’ Week 13 Fantasy Projections (2020 Fantasy Football)

Denver Broncos vs Kansas City Chiefs

Date/Time: December 6, 8:20pm ET
Spread: Chiefs -13.5
Over/Under: 50.5 points
Implied Vegas point totals: Chiefs 32, Broncos 18.5

Denver Broncos

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Kansas City Chiefs

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Quarterback

Denver: Lock should be back for this matchup, but he’s not someone worth considering for redraft.

Kansas City: Mahomes is playing out of his mind right now. He should be viewed as the consensus QB1 across rankings this week.

Running Backs

Denver: Phillip Lindsay appears to be on track to play in this game, which hurts Melvin Gordon’s fantasy outlook. Gordon can be viewed as a mid-range RB3 if Lindsay plays, while Lindsay would be a low-end FLEX play at best.

Kansas City: Coming off of his big performance against the Raiders, it seemed like CEH was a solid bet to finish within the top-15 last week. CEH fell flat in week 12 though and only saw 12 total touches. With the passing game performing so well, it’s impossible to predict what CEH’s workload is going to be any given week. It’s a decent matchup for opposing RBs, but Edwards-Helaire comes with too much volatility to rank as anything more than a mid-range/low-end RB2.

Wide Receivers

Denver: With Lock back this week, the receiving options here in Denver become a little bit more enticing than with Kendall Hinton at QB. However, this is a very tough matchup for opposing QBs and WRs, which downgrades all of these receiving options. Jerry Jeudy can be viewed as a high-end FLEX play due to his target share and talent. KJ Hamler‘s a risky FLEX play, but he should see plenty of targets. Tim Patrick‘s an intriguing FLEX play due to his receiving production here lately, but it’s hard to view him as anything more than that.

Kansas City: After what we just saw Hill do in week 12, are we ranking him anywhere else other than WR1? Hill’s on fire right now and there’s a very good chance that he carries teams to a fantasy football championship. Watkins saw a significant target share in week 12, but he wasn’t able to get much done with the opportunity. He can be viewed as a high-end FLEX play that will need to find the end zone to crack the top-36.

Tight Ends

Denver: Fant should be back in your lineups this week as a mid-range TE1 that should see plenty of targets.

Kansas City: There’s no other tight end in the NFL that’s as consistent as Kelce. He’s the consensus TE1 every single week.

FantasyProjection Buster: CEH is so difficult to rank every single week. There’s no telling what the game plan will be and if they plan on feeding him the ball.

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Dallas Cowboys vs Baltimore Ravens

Date/Time: December 8, 8:05pm
Spread: Ravens -7.5
Over/Under: TBD
Implied Vegas point totals: TBD

(Check back later for more definitive projections once Vegas lines have been set)

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Quarterback

Dallas: Dalton struggled to do much for fantasy last week against Washington and he has another daunting matchup here against Baltimore. He can be viewed as a low-end QB2.

Baltimore: Jackson should be back in the lineup for this matchup, but it’s hard to predict what his health status will be coming off of a positive COVID test. With Cam Newton earlier this season, we heard that it took him a little bit for his body to adjust back to full strength. Will Jackson struggle the same way? He’s an extremely risky high-end QB2 play in a plus matchup. He could absolutely explode in this matchup, but there are too many question marks with his health and recent play for you to feel extremely confident plugging him into your lineup.

Running Backs

Dallas: Things were looking up for Zeke a couple of weeks ago, but he disappointed fantasy managers yet again against Washington. There’s just no guarantee that Zeke’s going to see 15+ touches any given week and with the state of the offensive line in Dallas currently, it’s probably wise to downgrade him significantly. Zeke should be viewed as a low-end RB2 this week.

Baltimore: Dobbins received the majority of the workload the last time all three of these running backs were healthy, which would cause Dobbins to skyrocket in rankings if that is the case here. The Cowboys are allowing the 5th most fantasy points to opposing RBs and they just got gashed by Antonio Gibson for three touchdowns on Thanksgiving. If we knew that Dobbins was going to receive 15+ touches in this backfield as the clear lead option, he’d be a top-10 play this week. We don’t have large enough of a sample size to say that with certainty though, which pushes Dobbins down the boar slightly. He can be viewed as a high-end RB2 this week with tremendous upside.

Wide Receivers

Dallas: Cooper was able to come through with a great performance in week 12 against Washington, but that’s not going to be enough to push him up into the top-15 of my week 13 rankings. He’s still a safe option to plug into your lineup, but the Cowboys offense is going to struggle to move the ball on the Baltimore defense in this one. Cooper is going to have to break away a big play in order to finish in the top-20 WRs. He can be viewed as a low-end WR2. Lamb reeled in five catches last week, but he was only able to produce 21 receiving yards. The Ravens have a shutdown secondary and it’s hard to see how Lamb can do enough to finish higher than a low-end WR3. He could receive a slight bump up in Full PPR formats, but he can’t be trusted as anything more than a low-end WR3 option. Gallup bounced back to relevancy this past week, but he’s been too hit-or-miss for you to feel confident plugging him into your lineup in such a crucial week. Gallup’s a boom-or-bust FLEX option.

Baltimore: Brown was finally able to put together a solid fantasy performance, but it came with the third-string QB in the game. Brown has enormous potential in this matchup against the Cowboys receivers, but he can’t be trusted, no matter who is at QB. He’s a volatile high-end FLEX play for week 13.

Tight Ends

Dallas: Schultz reeled in all five of his targets last week, but he didn’t exactly make the most of his opportunity. Schultz is a mid-range TE2 in this tough matchup and it’s probably wise to look elsewhere, if you can.

Baltimore: It’s a major question mark as to whether or not Andrews suits up in this game. I’m projecting that he’s unlikely to suit up though. In that case, none of the Ravens TEs should be considered for fantasy football. However, if he does end up suiting up, he belongs in your starting lineup as a mid-range TE1.

FantasyProjection Buster: TBD

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Buffalo Bills vs San Francisco 49ers

Date/Time: December 7, 8:15pm ET
Spread: Bills -1
Over/Under: 47 points
Implied Vegas point totals: Bills 24, 49ers 23

Buffalo Bills

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San Francisco 49ers

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Quarterback

Buffalo: Allen’s production has certainly taken a dip here recently, but he’s still one of the better options in all of fantasy football. This 49ers defense is starting to get their secondary healthy again, which may limit Allen’s overall ceiling, but he’s still a solid mid-range QB1 play due to his rushing upside.

San Francisco: Mullens is going to have to have Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk create a ton after the catch in order for him to put together an even decent fantasy day. He’s a low-end QB2 at best this week.

Running Backs

Buffalo: After seeing the majority of the work in this backfield for the past several weeks, Moss was outproduced by Devin Singletary this past weekend. While Moss did have a nice day from a yards per carry perspective, it’s hard to look his way for fantasy this week. Without the clear majority of the touches in this backfield, Moss is nothing more than a RB3 play that you’re hoping falls into the end zone. In a pivotal week for many, it’s best to let Moss sit on your bench this week. Singletary rose from the grave last week to put together 82 rushing yards after totaling 16 the previous two weeks. Even with the great efficiency on the ground last week, plus a little bit of involvement through the air, Singletary still didn’t finish within the top-20 RBs on the week. There’s no consistency or even upside with either of these two options and Singletary’s nothing more than a RB3 fill-in option this week.

San Francisco: Mostert saw plenty of work last week in a tough matchup and he came through for fantasy managers that took the shot on him his first week back. Mostert absolutely belongs in your starting lineup this week as a mid-range RB2 with upside. The Bills are currently allowing the 8th most fantasy points to opposing RBs and Mostert could be in line for a big performance. Otherwise, it’s best to just avoid the other options in this backfield.

Wide Receivers

Buffalo: This offense looks drastically different without John Brown on the field. Stefon Diggs is still being heavily targeted, but he’s not producing in nearly the same way as he was earlier this season. He’s still worth rolling into your lineup as a low-end WR1, but his top-tier upside just simply isn’t there without Brown on the field with him. Beasley saved his fantasy day by throwing a touchdown last week, but otherwise he would have hurt your lineup. He can be viewed as a high-end FLEX play this week in one of fantasy football’s tougher matchups. Davis didn’t have a ton of volume last week, but he was able to finish with a solid fantasy performance. It’s hard to trust the third receiver in this offense right now, but Davis does come with some upside. If you need a FLEX play that could help you win your matchup, Davis isn’t a bad option.

San Francisco: Samuel delivered a huge performance last week and he helped lead several fantasy rosters to a victory. Samuel might not have as high of a ceiling this week with Brandon Aiyuk back in the lineup, but he’s still worth starting as a mid-range WR3 with upside. Aiyuk will be back on the field this week and he should be worth considering if you’re in need of some upside. With Samuel on the field, Aiyuk might not see a ton of volume, but Kyle Shanahan is going to do everything he can to get the ball in his playmakers’ hands. Aiyuk’s a solid FLEX play that only needs one big play to help push your fantasy lineup over the edge.

Tight Ends

Buffalo: None of the Bills TEs should be considered for fantasy this week.

San Francisco: Reed has a fantastic matchup this week against the Bills, who are currently allowing the 9th most fantasy points to opposing TEs. He hasn’t exactly been producing recently, but he’s certainly seeing the target volume that pushes him into the streaming conversation. He doesn’t break the top-12 in my TE rankings this week, but he’s certainly worth considering if you’re looking for an option at the position that could bring some upside.

FantasyProjection Buster: Will Aiyuk being back in the lineup affect Samuel’s overall fantasy outlook? With both on the field, there might not be enough volume to go around.

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Kyle Yates is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Kyle, check out his archive and follow him @KyleYNFL.