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This is it! One final week of the fantasy regular season to determine who goes to the dance and who gets left out in the cold. Hopefully, your fantasy season will still have meaning after this week as you prepare for a playoff run. To help put together the best possible lineup, we examine some fringe players to determine if they make good plays this week. Here are this week’s fantasy start/sit suggestions.
QUARTERBACK
Start’Em
Ryan Fitzpatrick (Dolphins) vs. Cincinnati Bengals (Week 13 position rank: 14th)
We must first state that if you’re thinking of streaming Fitzpatrick, you should pay close attention to the status of Tua Tagovailoa as the Dolphin’s rookie quarterback is still dealing with a thumb injury. If Fitz gets the nod, he’s a good play against a Bengals defense that is very generous in fantasy points per passing attempt. To their credit, teams don’t air it out on them as much, but when they do, it usually means big games. With a banged up running back group, Fitzpatrick should throw it plenty. He’s finished in the top 10 for fantasy quarterback in four of his last six games.
Sit’Em
Matt Ryan (Falcons) vs. New Orleans Saints (Week 13 position rank: 18th)
The Falcons quarterback has had a couple big games this year, but they have been few and far between. He’ll face a Saints defense that has allowed the fifth-fewest fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks, and they’ve been especially good as of late. In their last four games, they are only averaging 175 yards allowed through the air. That also includes a total of just one passing touchdown and nine interceptions. Granted, this takes into account last week’s game where the Denver Broncos played without a real quarterback, but it also includes domination of Tom Brady and even Ryan himself in Week 11.
RUNNING BACK
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J.K. Dobbins (Ravens) vs. Dallas Cowboys (Week 13 position rank: 13th)
After missing last week while being on the COVID-19 reserve list, Dobbins has been activated and will play against Dallas. The last time we saw the rookie in action, he had 15 carries for 70 yards, including a touchdown. He goes up against the Cowboys defense that has allowed the most rushing yards in the league and makes fantasy stars out of running backs on a weekly basis. As long as Dobbins continues to get this volume, he should be in line for a big day on Tuesday night.
Sit’Em
Wayne Gallman Jr. (Giants) vs. Seattle Seahawks (Week 13 position rank: 18th)
If you took our advice back in Week 3 about Gallman being the Giants backup to own, you might’ve started out cursing us for it as the Devonta Freeman experiment foiled those plans. Gallman started out worthless, but he’s been very useful after Freeman missed time with an ankle injury, scoring six touchdowns over the past five games. And while it was once tempting to load up on players going against Seattle, keep in mind it’s their passing defense that is ranked worst in the league while they’ve allowed the third-fewest rushing yards in the league.
WIDE RECEIVER
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D.J. Chark Jr. (Jaguars) vs. Minnesota Vikings (Week 13 position rank: 31th)
It would be an understatement to say that Chark hasn’t lived up to expectations this year as he’s finished outside the top 30 WR’s in all but two of his games this year. But that is not to say Chark isn’t capable of big games as those two games did finished inside the top 30, he actually finished within the top five for the week. This week, he faces a Vikings defense that has allowed the second-most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers.
Sit’Em
CeeDee Lamb (Cowboy) vs. Baltimore Ravens (Week 13 position rank: 29th)
This game will feature the Cowboys new no. 88 playing in a game against their former no. 88 as Dez Bryant should be on the other side of the ball catching passes for the Ravens. While these two receivers represents stars of Christmas’ past and future, the present might not be so good for either of them. Not only has Lamb’s targets dropped over the past five weeks, he now faces a Ravens defense that just doesn’t give up much to slot receivers.
TIGHT END
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Anthony Firkser (Titans) vs. Cleveland Browns (Week 13 position rank: 20th)
The Titans star tight end Jannu Smith will be sitting this one out with a knee injury, and while no one can replace his fantasy value, Firkser actually has a chance to be a solid replacement. While he had a big old goose egg against a very tight end stingy Colts defense last week, he’ll now face one of the fantasy friendliest defenses to tight end in the Browns. In fact, Cleveland has allowed a four touchdowns to tight ends over the last three games.
Sit’Em
Logan Thomas (Washington) vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (Week 13 position rank: 18th)
The veteran tight end is having a career year as he’s done a good job in a starting role. While Thomas’ targets are pretty reliable, he’s still very touchdown dependent. And it just so happens the Steelers haven’t allowed a touchdown to a tight end in nine straight weeks which is why they have given up the fewest fantasy points to opposing tight ends this year.
DEFENSE
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Las Vegas Raiders vs. New York Jets (Week 13 position rank: 11th)
We recommended adding the Raiders in this week’s waiver pick up suggestion, so we’re going to double-down and make them this week’s defensive start. It’s really more of a shot at the inept Jets offense as following them around and playing the defense they go against has worked pretty well. No team surrenders more points to opposing fantasy defenses than the Jets.
Sit’Em
Los Angeles Rams vs. Arizona Cardinals (Week 13 position rank: 6th)
It’s hard to sit a good defense, and that’s what the Rams are as they have finished inside the top 10 for fantasy defenses six times this season. While they’re a good play almost every week, things might be a little rough this time around. Arizona offense racks up the yards and has scored the eighth most points in the league this year. While this game script could very well be a defensive battle, it could also feature a slew of points as these teams keep fighting it out for NFC West supremacy.