Upcoming Bye Weeks

Week 14: ATL, CHI, GB, IND, WAS, NO

 

QB

Jared Goff (Detroit Lions) – 3% 

The Lions are looking like a good football team that has turned the corner. Goff finished as the QB4 in Week 13 and now has his full arsenal of playmakers, with one of the best ones set to make an impact in the coming weeks. In Week 14, he will have a divisional matchup against a defense that has given up a combined 751 passing yards the last two weeks to Mac Jones and Mike White. 

 

Tyler Huntley (Baltimore Ravens) – 2%

This pick up is vastly more important for those who have Lamar Jackson as their QB and he should be a priority for those individuals this week. Huntley is a poor man’s version of Lamar, bringing average passing at best to the table with above average rushing abilities. In his seven games last year, he ran for 294 yards and two scores while passing for almost 1,100 yards. In relief of Lamar on Sunday, he went 27/32 passing for 187 yards with a pick while adding those precious rushing yards, having 41 on 10 carries and a score. It is currently unknown how long Lamar misses but the initial prediction is two weeks to four weeks.

 

Brock Purdy (San Francisco 49ers) – 0%

It looks like the 49ers are going to be riding the last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, Brock Purdy, for the rest of the year. He has a nice schedule coming up and he should be viewed similarly as what Jimmy G was viewed as from a fantasy perspective. He is a solid fill in that should get you 15-16 PPG. He faces TB, SEA, WAS, LV, and ARI to end the year. Having the Raiders during the championship is a nice plus. 

 

Mike White (New York Jets) – 0%

White is a replacement level QB but he is a QB with above average weapons around him, nonetheless. He has a great schedule to run out the season, facing BUF in Week 14 followed by DET, JAX, SEA and MIA to end the season. In his two starts this season, he has scored 24.8 and 17.46 fantasy points, so that is a solid expectation and floor to see moving forward. 

 

RB

Zonovan Knight (New York Jets) – 25% 

I know that Carter missed this matchup and is expected back in the next week or two, but Knight looked fantastic. He didn’t look like an undrafted rookie free agent. He showed burst and agility mixed with the ability to be a threat through the air and football smarts too. I’m not sure how this guy went undrafted, but it is going to be hard for the Jets to continue not to get him the ball even when Carter returns. I think we should see Carter filling the role that Ty Johnson has been playing while Knight assumes the lead back roll moving forward. To be clear, this means Carter will be the 3rd down back and mix in slightly on early downs while Knight takes the majority of the early down work and all of the short yard and goal line work. It is also worth noting that Mike White loves throwing to his RBs so there is room for air work even on early downs for Knight. 

 

Cam Akers (LA Rams) – 15%

As I mentioned last week, Cam Akers has a chance to solidify himself with volume with a great schedule as this year concludes. Akers ran the ball 17 times for 60 yards and two scores on Sunday, good for 19 PPR points and the RB8 finish on the week. I don’t expect two scores every week but he will face off against below average rushing defenses the rest of the year with LV next week and GB, DEN, and LAC to end the fantasy football season. 

 

Jordan Mason (San Francisco 49ers) – 5%

We needed some clarity and in chat we discussed picking up Mason before the game on Sunday as there were plenty of clues that Mason would be the interior presence at RB for the 49ers. This came true as Mason ran the ball eight times for 51 yards, seeing 15 snaps with nearly all of them coming on early downs and in the middle of the field. We know CMC’s history at this point, so not only does Mason offer weekly FLEX possibilities but he is a premium handcuff. I think the 49ers rely more on the run moving forward now that Brock Purdy is their QB for the remainder of the season. 

 

James Cook (Buffalo Bills) – 3%

The Bills had a clear gameplan last Thursday to run the ball and dominate the line of scrimmage against the Patriots. This resulted in Cook having almost equal the amount of snaps as Singeltary and actually out carrying him 14 to 13. Cook had 64 rushing yards to Singletary’s 51. I’m not saying that Cook can overthrow Singletary, I don’t think he can. But I do think Cook offers some upside and should be on your bench moving forward.

 

WR

Darius Slayton (New York Giants) – 15% 

Slayton is still rostered in less than 35% of leagues. Since Week 5, Slayton has double digit points in every game except for two, and one of those games he had 9.3. He has seen at least six targets in every game except for those two games he didn’t hit 10 PPR points. He is proving to be a consistent contributor and a weekly starter. The Giants end the season with PHI, WAS, MIN, and IND. All four are games that Slayton should be able to continue scoring double digit points. 

 

Nico Collins (Houston Texans) – 5%

It seems that the Texans and Brandin Cooks may have come to an agreement that Cooks is injured. Over the last month, Collins has seen 36 targets and has over a 25% target share. As I’ve mentioned before with Cooks, Kyle Allen likes to hyper target his WR1 and going forward, that is going to be Collins. I’m not a huge fan of Collins’ talent but we can’t ignore the volume. Over that month’s time frame he has scored at least 9.8 in every game, accumulating 19 receptions for 176 yards and two scores. It is likely the Texans are losing the majority of the time as the season comes to a close, so the volume should continue as the Texans coast to another top 3 draft pick. 

 

Corey Davis (New York Jets) – 0%

As I mentioned in the DFS write up, Corey Davis is operating as the Jets definitive WR2 so far since returning from his injury. He saw 10 targets on Sunday against the Vikings, catching five of them for 85 scoreless yards. He had multiple big plays where White went to him when the Jets needed a conversion to keep the game alive. He also played 81.2% of the snaps, which was second on the team and 11 more than WR Elijah Moore. As I mentioned above with Mike White, the Jets have favorable matchups to end the season.

 

Jahan Dotson (Washington Commanders) – 0%

Dotson has not played in four games after missing four with an injury. Dotson saw nine targets in this game and pulled in five of them with a touchdown. Rookie WRs are known for their second half breakouts as they become more familiar with the NFL level of play. We could be seeing the start of that and as long as you have a bench spot, you should take a flier on Dotson in case he breaks out the final month of the season. 

 

TE

Greg Dulcich (Denver Broncos) – 7% 

I’m still a little behind the ball with Dulcich because Russell Wilson has never in his career been able to sustain longevity at the TE position. You can say that he never had one, but even when they got Jimmy Graham in Seattle, Graham was propped up by TDs and never found a ton of success in the middle of the field. That’s because Russ is awful throwing in the middle. However, Dulcich is a main part of what the Broncos try to do (poorly) on offense. He runs over 56% of his snaps from the slot and only 35% from inline as a traditional TD and is basically used as a WR for the Broncos. He has seen at least three targets every game since being activated back in Week 5. He has scored double digit points in every one of those games except three of them, which in TE terms is pure gold. Dulcich has a great run to end the season matchup wise as well, facing KC, ARI, LAR, KC and LAC.

 

Daniel Bellinger (New York Giants) – 0%

Bellinger returned from his eye injury this week to play 97% of the Giants offensive snaps, a game that went to overtime, and saw five targets. He is locked in as the Giants TE1 and is in an offense that has little to no competition for targets. He has average to above average matchups to end the year in PHI, WAS, MIN, IND and PHI. Having the Colts during Championship week is a big plus to have for a streaming TE.

 

Hunter Henry (New England Patriots) – 0%

Henry faces off against the pitiful Arizona Cardinals in Week 14 and is a premium streaming option to end the season. He has seen five targets in each of the last two games and is a red zone target for Mac Jones. After ARI, he will face LV, CIN, and MIA before ending against Buffalo. All of them are neutral to plus matchups until he gets to Buffalo, a matchup that is Week 18 and when most fantasy football leagues have ended for the season.

DST

Cincinnati Bengals – 0% 

The Bengals are at home against Deshaun Watson on Sunday. I wouldn’t normally target Watson but he looked bad on Sunday. I expected him to pick it up in the second half, but he never did. Maybe he turns it on at some point in this game, but he was holding the ball too long, taking sacks, throwing balls at receivers’ feet and throwing the ball into tight coverage. The stat sheet doesn’t even show how bad Watson played. The Bengals are getting healthier and should rack up 3-4 sacks with a couple of turnovers in this game. 

 

Pittsburgh Steelers – 0%

I think the Steelers go under the radar in Week 14 because they are facing Baltimore but this Ravens offense is bad. Without Lamar Jackson, they have only Mark Andrews out there and a TE really shouldn’t scare anyone when it comes to a fantasy football DST. The Steelers defense is getting healthy and playing well. Mix that with the Ravens offensive line woes along with Tyler Huntley being the QB and this is going to be another low scoring game between these two teams with likely a few sacks and some turnovers. 

 

Las Vegas Raiders – 0%

The Raiders have to travel to LA to face the Rams on TNF. I usually don’t like playing defenses on the road on Thursday nights but the Rams are still an above average matchup for the Raiders defense. The Raiders defense has a great defensive line and should have no issues getting some sacks and turnovers in this game.