The Loop Fantasy Football Report Week 13: Last-minute moves
It’s Thanksgiving Week, when we can always count on three things: post-turkey slumber, fixins overload and a short NFL week.
UPDATE: 11:18 p.m. Saturday
It’s been a pretty quiet weekend after the Thanksgiving and Black Friday games, as NFL watchers cope with the shock of the Chicago Bears firing coach Matt Eberflus on Friday morning, as opposed to dumping him 30 seconds after Thursday’s debacle in Detroit.
Two notable running backs have been placed on injured reserve and will be out for the rest of the fantasy-relevant season: Washington’s Austin Ekeler and the Chargers’ J.K. Dobbins.
Three pass catchers have been ruled out: Cleveland’s Cedric Tillman, Indianapolis’ Josh Downs and Buffalo tight end Dalton Kincaid.
ORIGINAL POST: 9:00 a.m. Wednesday
It’s Thanksgiving Week, when we can always count on three things: post-turkey slumber, fixins overload and a short NFL week.
Thanks to the advent of Black Friday football, there are eight teams dealing with a short week. And teams on short weeks often turn in flat performances. That can complicate lineup decisions by fantasy mavens.
Take the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs. Their Friday foe, the Las Vegas Raiders, do not inspire fear. But they are an arch-rival of the Super Bowl champs for whom this nationally televised game is their Super Bowl.
Does this mean you should bench Patrick Mahomes? Probably not, though we wouldn’t consider him one of the very top quarterback options this week. Same goes for tight end Travis Kelce, who has mostly underwhelmed this season with only two touchdowns.
There are a number of fantasy standouts in danger of underperforming this weekend, especially if they suffered nagging injuries last weekend.
Malik Nabers (Giants WR): If you saw his postgame rant last Sunday after the loss to Tampa Bay, the rookie has not made a magical connection with Tommy “Cutlets” DeVito. He has gone six games without scoring, and that very likely will be seven after Thanksgiving in Dallas.
Amon-Ra St. Brown (Lions WR): He’s one of the NFL’s best, but he tweaked his knee last Sunday as his touchdown streak ended at eight games. With all of Detroit’s weapons, it’s very possible No. 14 sees a significantly reduced workload against Chicago.
Tyreek HIll (Dolphins WR): He only has three touchdowns this season and hasn’t topped 80 yards since the opener. And the Green Bay cold on Thursday night could again slow down the Miami offense. Keep an eye on the weather forecast before committing to Hill.
Josh Jacobs (Packers RB): Green Bay’s star back had a banner Week 12 with 26 carries for 106 yards and three touchdowns. A big workload that led to Jacobs having cramping issues. With only three days of rest, he’s a candidate for Week 13 regression.
Brock Bowers (Raiders TE): The rookie of year candidate has suffered with Vegas’ shrinking offense. Just four catches for 38 yards last week, and he could be dependent on the talent-free QB Desmond Ridder on a really black Friday.
Sitting stars
Chargers RB J.K. Dobbins is banged up again, so it likely will be a lot of Gus Edwards against Atlanta. … All-world Christian McCaffrey will find the going tough in Buffalo. … Same goes for Niners WR Deebo Samuel. … Detroit’s banged-up David Montgomery will mostly be watching Jahmyr Gibbs run through Chicago. … WR Davante Adams will continue his disappearance with the Jets against Seattle. … Detroit tight end Sam LaPorta will continue to disappoint his fantasy backers against the Bears. … Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud has hit a rough patch, and that may continue in Jacksonville. … And we’re guessing Vikings QB Sam Darnold will take a step back this week against Arizona.
Matchup game
Tennessee RB Tony Pollard has finally broken out and will stay hot against Washington. … Panthers RB Chuba Hubbard is a great starting option vs. Tampa Bay. … Dallas’ Thanksgiving star against the lowly Giants will be RB Rico Dowdle. … Pittsburgh WR George Pickens will rebound this week against Cincinnati. … Two tight ends we love this week are Arizona’s Trey McBride against the Vikings and the Packers’ Tucker Kraft vs. Miami. … Tampa Bay QB Baker Mayfield will have a field day against Carolina. … And the Jets will not be able to handle the Seattle connection of Geno Smith to Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Injury watch
Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew is done for the year, and 49ers QB Brock Purdy could miss another week due to a shoulder injury. … The list of questionables this week includes Washington running backs Brian Robinson and Austin Ekeler, Titans RB Tyjae Spears, Raiders RB Alexander Mattison, Jacksonville RB Tank Bigsby, Dallas WR CeeDee Lamb, Atlanta wideout Darnell Mooney, Philly WR Devonta Smith, Green Bay WR Romeo Doubs, Cleveland WR Cedric Tillman, Indy wideout Josh Downs and Buffalo tight end Dalton Kincaid.
Deepest sleeper
With all teams playing this week, there really aren’t any deep sleepers. So instead we’ll call your attention to a lost soul who might be staging a comeback from the depths: Carolina quarterback Bryce Young. Benched early this season, the former Heisman Trophy winner has played well in four weeks since replacing the injured Andy Dalton. He has passed for 784 yards and five touchdowns. You wouldn’t want to start him this week against Tampa Bay, but he’s worth stashing in keeper leagues.
The early picks
Bears at Lions (-11½):
Pick: Lions by 10
Giants at Cowboys (-3½):
Pick: Cowboys by 7
Dolphins at Packers (-3½):
Pick: Dolphins by 3
Raiders at Chiefs (-13½):
Pick: Chiefs by 11
You can hear Kevin Cusick on Wednesdays on Bob Sansevere’s “BS Show” podcast on iTunes. You can follow Kevin on Twitter — @theloopnow. He can be reached at kcusick@pioneerpress.com.
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