Welcome to Week 13! Last week kicked off with the reigning league MVP crashing down in Houston and ended with Christian McCaffrey surpassing every wide receiver in the league to take the top spot in total receptions this year through 12 weeks. The Las Vegas Raiders put up a decent performance while welcoming a Browns rookie quarterback to the league. The Cleveland Browns and the San Francisco 49ers delivered fantastic results for us as well, filling out the box score in our matchups. This week starts early, as we will see four games played before Sunday as it is time for the Thanksgiving week games! So set those lineups early as we go looking out west in our search for teams that are rostered around 50 percent of leagues or fewer.
On behalf of us here at QB List, happy Thanksgiving!
Please note that there’s a decent chance that better teams above this 50% threshold are available in your league, but we can’t assume they’re available to everyone. We have to draw the proverbial line somewhere, so stay active and monitor the league home page. Someone might drop a desirable defense after waivers clear.
San Francisco 49ers
Opponent: @ Cleveland Browns
ESPN % Rostered: 21%
Yahoo % Rostered: 24%
We are going right back to the well once again to get behind the 49ers’ defense as it faces a struggling Browns offense. Cleveland scored more than 20 points for the first time since Week 7 last week (24 points) as Shedeur Sanders became the first quarterback to win their starting debut for the Browns in the past 30 years. In that game, he threw 11 completions with a touchdown and an interception. San Francisco has been ball hunting of late, with four interceptions in its past two games. Rookie running back Quinshon Judkins has cooled off with under 60 yards rushing in his past two games and has only gone over 3.4 yards per carry once since Week 5 (Week 11, 3.5). The Browns are currently on a six-game stretch of under 300 yards of total offense coming into this matchup against the 49ers.
Los Angeles Chargers
Opponent: vs. Las Vegas Raiders
ESPN % Rostered: 29%
Yahoo % Rostered: 42%
Los Angeles is coming off its bye week, stewing on its most recent performance that it wishes it could have a do-over on. It will now host a division rival this week with an extra week to prepare for quarterback Geno Smith. The last time these two teams played, Smith threw three interceptions, while the Chargers held the Raiders to just nine points en route to a double-digit fantasy performance on that day. Even tight end Brock Bowers was held to under 40 yards receiving, a positional trend that would continue as Los Angeles has gone on to average the sixth-fewest fantasy points to the tight end this season. Since that game, the Chargers now lead the league in fewest air yards per pass allowed, while Smith has gone on to compete for the most sacks taken in the league. Las Vegas has allowed its quarterback to get sacked a whopping 20 times in the past three games.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Opponent: @ Tennessee Titans
ESPN % Rostered: 51%
Yahoo % Rostered: 43%
Before its upcoming two-game homestand, Jacksonville must first stop in Tennessee to take on this division opponent for the first time this season. The Jaguars have intensified their pass rush since their bye week, averaging over three sacks per game in their past four matchups. This number looks to increase even further as they take on the only person who has more sacks than previously mentioned Smith, Titans quarterback Cam Ward. Ward is currently averaging going down four times per game, and will face a Jaguars front that has the fifth-most quarterback hurries in the league. Tennessee has not gone over 300 total yards of offense for the last four games in a row, while the Jaguars’ defense has not allowed more than 20 points in back-to-back games.
After the Cut
Los Angeles Rams (E:62% Y!:60%): The new betting favorite to win the Super Bowl travel to Carolina to take on an offense that threw more interceptions than total touchdowns scored last week.
Miami Dolphins (E:2% Y!:3%): For the deeper, competitive leagues, the Dolphins are coming off their bye week and should be on your waivers as they host a Saints offense that turned the ball over twice and got sacked five times last week.
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Feature image by Michael Packard (@CollectingPack on Twitter) / Photography by Matthew Huang / Icon Sportswire & Logan Voss/Unsplash