It’s lucky Week 13 in the NFL as we’ll see games played over Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Injuries and COVID-19 cases are once again wreaking havoc on fantasy football rosters as the playoffs creep ever closer.
Below are my five top sleeper or DFS value plays. Good luck, and hit me up with any questions on Twitter @AndyMc81 using #AskAndy.
Kirk Cousins, QB, Vikings
Yahoo! League ownership: 54%
Draft Kings salary: $6,400
Kirk Cousins is not getting enough credit for his fantasy output since Nov. 8. From Week 9 onward he’s been a QB-5, throwing 11 touchdowns to just one interception, and is averaging 22.13 fantasy points. Granted, three of those four were against sub-par defences, but he gets another bad team to feast on in Jacksonville.
Cousins’ top wide receiver Adam Thielen is back from the COVID list, rookie Justin Jefferson is a bonafide stud, and the Jaguars will still need to focus largely on Dalvin Cook. Could this turn into a hand the ball to Dalvin 30 times situation? Absolutely. Cook’s ankle isn’t 100% though, and hopefully for ‘Captain Kirk’ owners that means the quarterback will be freed up to sling it a bit on Sunday.
Anthony Firkser, TE, Titans
Yahoo! League ownership: 3%
Draft Kings salary: $2,500
Friday afternoon we learned that Tennessee starting tight end Jonnu Smith would be sidelined with a knee injury. Go hustle and grab Anthony Firkser as an appealing spot fill-in that has TE-1 potential for Week 13. Remember that when Smith was out back on Oct. 18 it was Firkser who exploded for 113-yards on eight catches and scored a touchdown.
The Titans face a Browns’ unit allowing the second-most fantasy points to tight ends. Cleveland’s defence will undoubtedly be super committed to slowing down Derrick Henry, which could force Ryan Tannehill to sprinkle in more passes.
Jalen Richard, RB, Raiders
Yahoo! League ownership: 2%
Draft Kings salary: $4,000
Star running back Josh Jacobs is officially ruled out from a bum ankle in a prime matchup versus the 0-11 Jets. As I mentioned in my Tuesday waiver wire article before the Jacobs news, Devontae Booker should be the top running back priority add. However, if you missed the boat on Booker then try to slide in his backfield mate Jalen Richard.
Richard got in a full week of practice, and for PPR formats is a smart streaming choice as the change of pace pass-catcher. New York’s given up the most receptions to opposing running backs so far in 2020.
Austin Hooper, TE, Browns
Yahoo! League ownership: 69%
Draft Kings salary: $3,800
In what’s being billed as a heavyweight fight between elite running backs, Browns tight end Austin Hooper is flying under the radar in this showdown with Tennessee. The Titans are ranked 26th when it comes to defending tight ends, and have given up seven touchdowns to the position group.
It’s been a frustrating season for Hooper managers who were expecting him to be much more involved in the offence than he has thus far. Some of that is due to terrible weather at home games as well as missing a pair of contests from an appendectomy.
Like their opponent, the Browns are going to be committed to the run. The Titans know this and should plan on stacking the box to force Baker Mayfield into air distribution. If that occurs, Mayfield can look to Hooper as a high percentage completion option that can move the chains and get into the endzone.
Seattle Seahawks Defense
Yahoo! League ownership: 69%
Draft Kings salary: $3,300
It’s almost a certainty that Daniel Jones’ ailing hamstring won’t let him suit up for the Giants. Instead, Colt McCoy will make only his third start since 2015. This downgrades all of New York’s offensive weapons, while significantly raising the stock of Seattle’s DST.
The Seahawks defence had already been trending upward since Carlos Dunlap joined the club in early November. In three games Dunlap’s recorded four sacks to help ignite Seattle’s pass rush and surge them to eighth place in the NFL for total sacks. This is far from a perfect ‘D’, but applying consistent pressure to a dink-and-dunk backup QB like McCoy is a recipe for fantasy success.
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