Sit/Start Week 13: Reviewing All Fantasy Relevant Players In Every Single Game

Game Info

Kickoff: Sunday, December 4th at 1:00 PM ET

Location: Ford Field, Detroit, MI

Betting Odds: JAX -1.5, 51.5 total via Oddsshark

Network: FOX

Writer: Bryan Sweet (@FantasyFreakTN on Twitter, @bsweet0us on Reddit)

Jacksonville Jaguars

Quarterback

Trevor Lawrence (Start, QB1)

Between the addition of viable weapons on offense and the maturation that comes with NFL experience, Trevor Lawrence has become a viable starting option for fantasy managers. Lawrence has finished in the QB1 ranks seven times over his 11 games. He has improved his decision-making as well, cutting his INT percentage nearly in half from his rookie season to 1.6%. After consecutive weeks of 250+ passing yards and multiple TD passes, Lawrence gets to feast on a Lions defense that has struggled to contain opposing QBs. Detroit is surrendering an average of 271.7 passing yards per game and has allowed 18 passing TDs with nine INTs. QBs have also successfully run the ball against Detroit, compiling 500 yards and six TDs on the ground. While Lawrence hasn’t shown the propensity to run as much as he did last season, he’s still proven he can gain yards on the ground and get in the end zone (179 yards and three TDs on the season). Lawrence should continue to put up solid numbers and I like him to once again finish as a QB1 for fantasy managers in Week 13.

Running Backs

Travis Etienne (Start, RB1), JaMychal Hasty (Sit)

Fantasy managers everywhere had to be frustrated to see JaMychal Hasty amass 95 total yards and one TD against the Ravens last week after Travis Etienne left after just five snaps last week with a sprained foot. HC Doug Pederson later indicated Etienne probably could have played with some new cleats, but they kept him on the sideline out of an abundance of caution because the injury was to his surgically-repaired foot. Early indications are that Etienne should be able to play without limitation as long as he doesn’t suffer any setbacks during practice this week. Before last week, Hasty had seen action in about 15 snaps per game but wasn’t contributing enough to warrant serious fantasy consideration before Etienne’s injury. Hasty is not a bad insurance play if you have the space on your bench and are in playoff contention as he could provide immense upside if Etienne were to miss time. For this week, fantasy managers should still trust Etienne as a solid RB1 against Detroit while Hasty is nothing more than an Etienne-injury insurance in Week 13.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

Christian Kirk (Start, WR1), Zay Jones (Start, WR2), Marvin Jones Jr. (Sit), Evan Engram (Sit, high-end TE2)

I saw a comment on one of our Reddit posts the other week about putting some respect on Christian Kirk’s name, so here you go random Redditor. Kirk has quickly become Lawrence’s most trusted target and it shows in the box scores as Kirk leads the team in targets (91), receiving yards (725), and receiving TDs (7). Kirk is on pace to obliterate his career bests this year, and this week should not slow him down at all on his way to that goal. Detroit is allowing 14 receptions and 194 yards on average to WRs this season and has given up 11 TDs to the position. Lawrence has begun to utilize Kirk’s counterpart to a larger degree in recent weeks, but we can’t ignore the role Kirk is playing in this offense, and fantasy managers should feel comfortable with Kirk as a solid WR1 this week.

Kirk’s counterpart that I spoke of is none other than Zay Jones. Jones has seen double-digit targets in the past two games and in three of Jacksonville’s last five, and last week he had his best week of the season by far. Jones led the team in targets with 14 and converted those into 11 receptions for 145 yards. Jones also caught the game-winning two-point conversion, but he has been held out of the end zone for most of the season with just one TD. Jones is catching more passes per game this season (5.8 per game) than in any other season in his career, and he is becoming a viable option for fantasy managers as a result. We’ve already discussed Detroit’s struggles on defense and Jones should be able to have continued success this week. Jones’s lack of TDs is concerning, but his role in this offense is safe and I think he manages a WR2 finish this week for fantasy managers.

The emergence of Zay Jones has created a scenario in which Marvin Jones, Jr. is now the third WR on the team after being signed as the presumptive #1 last year. Marvin has seen a decrease in snaps from over 80% through the first five weeks to 60% or less in recent weeks. As a result, Jones has fallen off the fantasy radar. He scored a TD against Baltimore last week but has exceeded 60 receiving yards once on the season and only has two TDs. His diminished role has made him untrustworthy for fantasy managers and M. Jones is not worth a spot in your starting lineup even against the woeful Detroit defense.

It’s hard to peg where to place Evan Engram this week primarily because of the success TEs have had against Detroit this season. Detroit surrenders an average of nearly five receptions and 54 yards per game to the position and TEs have scored seven TDs against them this year. Engram put up a stretch of games from Weeks 5-8 in which he totaled 29 targets for 18 receptions and 231 yards with one TD but has been almost silent since (7 targets, 5 receptions, 26 yards). Engram might not be a bad option if injuries have decimated your TE corps, but there are better options. I could argue for Engram to be the last TE1 out there this week, but I can see a clear path where he has another dud and barely makes a dent in the box score. Consider Engram as a solid TE2 with upside this week and start him at your own peril.

Detroit Lions

Quarterback

Jared Goff (Sit)

The Lions have made a tonal shift since their Week 6 BYE on offense as they have become much more run-oriented and, as a result, have made Jared Goff a risky fantasy start. In Weeks 1-5, Goff attempted 186 passes (37.2 per game); over the last six weeks, Goff has attempted 178 passes (29.6 per game). The Lions have won three of their previous four meetings and gave the Bills all they could handle in a narrow defeat on Thanksgiving. With a 49.21% passing play percentage over the past three games and very little rushing yardage, Goff is tough to trust for fantasy managers. Jacksonville has been decent against opposing QBs, allowing just more than 257 yards per game and 17 passing TDs on the season, which doesn’t inspire any more confidence in Goff this week. Goff has shown he can produce QB1 numbers, but recent play calling would indicate that isn’t likely this week and I’d advise keeping him on your bench in Week 13.

Running Backs

Jamaal Williams (Start, RB2), D’Andre Swift (Sit, FLEX)

Last season Detroit’s coaching staff dubbed Jamaal Williams their “1B” running back, but he’s turned into the team’s #1 RB and the success it has generated in the win column indicates there is no change to the RB rotation anytime soon. Williams is the clear preference as the first guy on the field as he has outsnapped D’Andre Swift in every week but one (Week 8) since Swift’s Week 3 injury. Williams leads the NFL in rushing TDs with 13, but that is the brunt of his fantasy appeal. Williams has more than one TD in five games this season and exactly one in two others but hasn’t exceeded 81 yards since returning from the BYE. The biggest concern around Williams from a fantasy perspective is whether he can maintain his current TD pace. Combining that concern with his receiving less than 50% of the RB snaps every week keeps him out of the RB1 conversation. Fantasy managers should continue to rely on Williams as a solid RB2 this week with RB1 upside.

It’s never been a question of talent when it comes to Swift, but his ability to stay healthy certainly has been. Swift has missed games in all three of his NFL seasons and it looks as if the Lions are now taking a risk-averse approach to handling his workload. Swift has given way to Williams as the primary and early-down RB in the offense and has seen his snap count hover around 30% since returning from injury. Swift’s biggest asset for fantasy managers is his solid role as a pass-catching option which gives his PPR floor a slight bump. For as long as Williams is healthy, however, expect the rotation to remain close to the same which severely caps Swift’s upside. For Week 13, I’d consider Swift as a solid FLEX option but wouldn’t fault fantasy managers for shying away entirely from the talented, but unreliable RB.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

Amon-Ra St. Brown (Start, WR1), D.J. Chark (Sit), Kalif Raymond (Sit), Brock Wright (Sit)

Despite the shift to a more run-heavy approach, when the Lions do elect to pass, the target is almost certainly going to be Amon-Ra St. Brown. St. Brown has at least twice as many targets as any other Lion with 88 on the season and is showing that the second-half breakout of 2021 wasn’t just a flash in the pan. St. Brown has not seen fewer than eight targets in any game in which he played more than 70% of the snaps, and WRs have found success against Jacksonville this season. The Jaguars are allowing an average of 150 receiving yards to the position per game and have surrendered 13 TDs to the position this season. With St. Brown’s dominance of the targets for Detroit, he should be able to post numbers that land him in the WR1 tier again this week.

Injuries have robbed D.J. Chark of all but four games this season, but you have to think the fifth-year WR circled this game on the calendar early in the preseason. Chark will be facing off against the team that drafted him in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft and you have to wonder whether Detroit will try to get him a bit more involved in the offense than he has been this point. Chark was signed in the offseason to give the team a speed component at WR but he’s been a bitten by the injury bug. With St. Brown hogging most of Goff’s targets and the team becoming more run-oriented, it’s hard to see a path for Chark to return much from a fantasy standpoint. Keep Chark on your bench once again in Week 13.

There is a clear top three at the WR position for Detroit and Kalif Raymond has secured that third WR spot. Unfortunately for Raymond, being the third WR on a low-volume passing attack keeps you pretty far off the fantasy radar. Raymond has only two games of note this season and neither exceeded 76 receiving yards. Raymond has been held out of the end zone this season but has seen a slight uptick in targets over the past two weeks. Still, Raymond is not fantasy relevant given his role in this offense, and can safely be ignored by fantasy managers this week.

The departure of T.J. Hockenson opened the door to more production for Brock Wright but that door has seen no TE walk through it. Wright has been barely involved in the passing offense over the past few weeks, garnering just 12 targets since the team’s BYE, converting them into 10 receptions for 91 yards and one TD. The new offensive approach combined with a bit part in the passing game leads to fantasy benching. Wright probably doesn’t deserve a spot on your roster and certainly shouldn’t be started in Week 13.