Fantasy Football Player Notes

Mattison is going to get the nod as the starting RB in Minnesota now that Dalvin Cook is expected to miss at least the next two weeks. In the two games already this year that Mattison has stepped in as the starting option, he's seen an average of 25.5 carries, 112.5 rushing yards, 7.5 targets, 6.5 receptions, 49.5 receiving yards, and .5 touchdowns. The workload is incredible for Mattison and he's produced with the increased opportunity. Now, Mattison gets to take on the Detroit Lions defense that is currently allowing the fourth most fantasy points to opposing RBs this season with 21.2 points per game. Fantasy managers have been holding onto Mattison as a high-end insurance policy all year just for this occasion and it's time to start him with full confidence. He can be viewed as a borderline top-5 play this week.

It's hard to find any sort of issue with Jefferson lately from a fantasy perspective. Over the last four games, he is 7th in the NFL at the WR position in targets, 8th in receptions, 1st in receiving yards, and tied for the second-most receiving touchdowns. On top of all of that, he is the WR1 over that time frame and he's helping lead fantasy rosters to victories. After doing all that, he now is rewarded with about as nice of a matchup as you can find for opposing WRs. He should draw primary coverage this week from Amni Oruwariye, who is allowing a 66% catch rate on the season and 1.13 Yards Per Route Covered. Jefferson's going to put together a solid performance here in Week 13 and he should be viewed as a locked-in top-5 play.

Fantasy managers have been critical of Thielen this season, but he's been an incredibly reliable fantasy asset. Over his previous six games, he has yet to finish with less than 7 targets and he has now finished as a top-10 WR each of the past two games. The majority of his production is still dependent upon touchdown production, but we know that Cousins is looking his way when they get down to the red zone. Thielen has now seen 8 targets inside-the-10 this season and he's reeled in all 8 of them - which leads the NFL - for 6 touchdowns. He comes with plenty of upside each week - especially in this matchup - and he is at least providing a decent floor as well. The Lions have tightened things up recently from a fantasy perspective at guarding opposing WRs, but they are not going to have answers for defending this Vikings passing game. Thielen belongs in starting lineups this week as a high-end WR2.

Conklin had begun to enter into the weekly redraft conversation and he did have some upside there for a few weeks, but that seems to have come crashing down around him. Conklin has yet to haul in more than three receptions in any of the past three weeks and he ran just 21 routes this past week, according to PFF. There's the possibility that Conklin sees an uptick in work with Dalvin Cook now out, but the majority of those targets should stay with Mattison out of the backfield. Conklin is nothing more than a touchdown-or-bust option at this point. The matchup is favorable against Detroit, but we shouldn't be expecting crazy production.