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Week 13 Heat Index (Fantasy Football 2020)

Week 13 Heat Index (Fantasy Football 2020)

If you’re reading this, congratulations! There’s a good chance you’re gearing up for the fantasy football playoffs. Your sweat, tears, and deteriorating personal relationships were all worth it. Now it’s time to continue your unrelenting march toward greatness.

Which players delivered surprise performances in Week 13? Can you count on any of these guys to produce in the playoffs? Maybe so, maybe not. Let’s scour the NFL scrapyard for some potential league winners. Oh, and maybe you’ll find some DFS gems along the way, too.

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Keke Coutee (WR – HOU)
Savvier (or more desperate) fantasy managers might’ve scooped up Keke Coutee immediately after learning that Will Fuller was suspended for six games after violating the league’s performance-enhancing substance abuse policy. Did you? Nice. If not, there’s still time. Coutee caught 8-of-9 targets for 141 yards in the Texans’ Week 13 against the Colts. That is, what we call in the industry, pretty good.

Coutee led the Texans with nine targets. Brandin Cooks had eight.

Listen, Fuller’s not coming back this season. Coutee is the next man (way) up. That much seems clear. And even though the Texans (4-8) aren’t going to see the playoffs, you better believe that Texans interim GM Chris Olsen will do his mightiest to prove his worth. That means putting out the best players who can score the most points every week. As for the Texans matchups against future defenses? Let’s take a look.

Week 14 @ Chicago – Bad – Allows the 4th fewest fantasy points per game (20.4) to wide receivers this season.
Week 15 @ Indianapolis – Below average – Allows the 12th fewest fantasy points per game (22.2) to wide receivers this season.
Week 16 vs. Cincinnati – Good – Allows the 14th most fantasy points per game (23.7) to wide receivers this season.

These stats took a turn on me in the last couple of hours (there must have been an update), but regardless, Coutee has carved out a massive role for himself in Houston, and that makes him worth a flex play from here on out in season-long formats. From a DFS perspective, Coutee is bound to be a bargain, so you can probably roll the dice with him as an inexpensive option there.

Week 13 Heat Index: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Rest-of-season Heat Index: 🔥🔥🔥

T.Y. Hilton (WR – IND)
Colt’s lifer T.Y. Hilton hauled in 8-of-11 targets for 110 yards and a touchdown in the Colts’ divisional win over the Texans in Week 13. While his output has been largely pedestrian all season long, he’s scored two touchdowns in as many weeks. In simple terms, Hilton’s arrow is pointing up.

As the Colts continue to make their presence felt in the AFC, Philip Rivers is starting to rely on his veteran wide receiver more often than ever before. Rivers, a surefire future Hall of Famer, has never won a Super Bowl. He has played in only one conference championship game since he entered the league in 2004. Do you think he’ll continue to lean on the trusted hands of another NFL all-star to get him to the Big Game? I certainly do-almost to the point where I think Hilton is matchup-proof. But since we do the research so you don’t have to, here are the matchups he’ll be looking at in the fantasy football playoffs.

Week 14 @ Las Vegas – Good – Allows the 12th most fantasy points per game (24.7) allowed to wide receivers this season.
Week 15 vs Houston – Good – Allows the 11th most fantasy points per game allowed (25.1)  to wide receivers this season.
Week 16 @ Pittsburgh – Average – Allows the 17th most fantasy points per game (22.9) allowed to wide receivers this season.

He’s an oldie but a goodie and he’s coming on strong. At this point in the season, it might not cost much to get him. Look for Hilton to fill the flex void in most formats for the remainder of the season.

Week 13 Heat Index: 🔥🔥🔥
Rest-of-season Heat Index: 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Ty Johnson (RB – NYJ)
Sadly, Frank Gore exited the Jets’ game with a concussion against the Las Vegas Raiders on the second play from scrimmage in Week 13. Enter Ty Johnson, who carried the ball 22 times for 104 yards in the contest. He also caught both of his targets for 13 yards in the passing game. Not too bad for the second-year player out of Terrapin Station (Maryland).

According to Rotoworld (again, FantasyPros will update its stats on Tuesday), the Jets gave this man 28 touches in Week 13. That’s a definitive workhorse role, my friends. If you’re itching to fill a position in season-long leagues or want to make a play in DFS (albeit a potentially chalky one, as they say) take a good look at Ty Johnson.

Also, hey, if the winless Jets don’t shelve Frank Gore for the remainder of the season, somebody call the cops. Honestly. It would be criminal and inhumane. Surely there’s a farm out here in Upstate New York that would be happy to have him live out his golden years. Assuming the Jets sit Gore, Ty Johnson is going to be the hottest commodity in fantasy football entering Week 14. Get him if you need him. Grab him if you don’t.

It’s not too often a number-one running back falls into your lap this late in the season, and Ty Johnson is most certainly that moving forward. Lucky lucky.

Week 13 Heat Index: 🔥🔥🔥
Rest-of-season Heat Index: 🔥🔥🔥

Quintez Cephus (WR – DET)
Quintez Cephus was an intriguing prospect out of Wisconsin in the 2020 NFL Draft. While Cephus showed NFL readiness as a college football player (93 catches for 1,496 yards and 13 TDs in 30 games as a Wisconsin Badger), his prowess was clouded by off-the-field issues that kept him off a football field for all of 2018. Nevertheless, the Lions saw value in Cephus and drafted him in with the 166th pick in the fifth round of the draft. If you didn’t know, now you know.

That might as well be ancient history, though. In Week 13, Cephus caught 2-of-3 targets for 63 yards and a touchdown in the Lions’ division win against the Bears. In a day where Kenny Golladay was inactive (again) and Matthew Stafford slung for 402 yards and three touchdowns (and one interception), Cephus finally found paydirt as a pro.

Hm. He scored. Fine. But he only caught three of Stafford’s 27 completions. With Marvin Jones Jr. getting the big-time targets from Stafford (29% target share compared to Cephus’s 10% in Week 13), and Kenny Golladay reportedly on track to return in Week 14, Cephus is a bottom-of-the-barrel TD dependent desperation play in the weeks to come.

Week 13 Heat Index: 🔥🔥
Rest-of-season Heat Index: 🔥

Dan Arnold (TE – ARI)
Name game time, let’s go! Dan Arnold is not your 8th-grade science teacher. He’s not the portly, thin-mustachioed gentleman who sold you your 2012 Pontiac Vibe. And no, he’s not your weird co-worker who routinely cooks hot dogs in the breakroom microwave at work. I mean… he could still be those things… but the Dan Arnold we’re talking about is a professional football player, and he plays tight end for the Arizona Cardinals.

Ah, hm. Well, Dan Arnold caught 2-of-3 targets for 61 yards and two touchdowns in a home loss to the Rams in Week 13. I mention him here only because I have to. I will not mention him again. That sounds cruel, and, well, it is. Chalk up this performance as a fluke for the man who will be richer than I could ever hope to be in my wildest dreams. That’s it.

Week 13 Heat Index: 🔥🔥
Rest-of-season Heat Index: (Zero)

Okay! We’ve done it. And holy smokes-did you guys just see Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills run wild on the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football? Hooboy. That Gabe Davis take from last week is looking better and better. You love to see it.

Editorializations aside, I wish you all the best of luck as you fend off your friends and enemies for fantasy football gold. Speaking of which, if you’re still looking for the best fantasy football league trophies and awards, check them out here. Until then, Godspeed, my babies!

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Jim Colombo is a correspondent at FantasyPros. For more from Jim, check out his archive and follow him @WideRightNBlue.

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