Welcome to the Best Week 13 DFS Fantasy Football Lineup with These NFL All-Star Players!
We’re in the eye of the Bye-Mageddon storm. Sure, the four-holiday games take the luster out of the Sunday main slate, but it’s still an easier week to navigate than the six-team bye weeks surrounding this one. Pricing remains “holiday loose” so there are some fun lineups, and cash, to be made.
Top Week 13 DFS Fantasy Football Picks
Quarterback
When bye weeks hit, DFS players frequently lament the players we lose from the pool. We also need to be paying attention to the opposing defenses we lose to the bye. Welcome back to the pool, New Orleans Saints pass defense! In Darren Rizzi’s two games as interim head coach, the Saints have allowed a 306 passing-yard game to Kirk Cousins and a 395-yard, two-touchdown game to Jameis Winston. Even more (less?) impressive, they didn’t intercept Winston. Almost unthinkable. Enter Matthew Stafford ($7400, 12.3% of available salary on FanDuel; $5800, 11.6% on DraftKings). Going from the Philadelphia pass defense in Week 12 to New Orleans this week is like going from trying to cut down a tree with a butter knife to a chainsaw.
Stafford is the 15th and 9th highest-priced QB on FanDuel and DraftKings, respectively, but if you want/need to go even cheaper, is it time to look to Bryce Young ($6600, 11% on FD; $4700, 9.4% on DK)? Coming off the bye, Young put up 16.5 fantasy points last week against Kansas City’s defense. So imagine what he can do against Tampa Bay.
Running Back
Running Back will be a DFS pivot point this week. Devon Achane, Josh Jacobs, and the Detroit backs are off the slate. Saquon Barkley ($9200, 15.3% on FD; $8500, 17% on DK) and Derrick Henry ($9000, 15% on FD; $7800, 15.6% on DK) are playing each other, and the elite run defenses of the opposition. Along with a lack of pay-down options, the mid-priced RBs will dominate the discussion of the position.
When Alvin Kamara ($8300, 13.8% on FD; $7700, 15.4% on DK) is down the list from the top RBs in a given week, I’m going to be interested. He’s rested, coming off the bye, and gets the same Rams defense that gave up 300 total yards to Barkley last week. Tight End Taysom Hill ($7000, 11.7% on FD; $5000, 10% on DK), himself a top option, presents significant touchdown vulture risk, but Kamara can put up enough yardage and receptions to be viable even with reaching the end zone.
The furthest down the Running Back price list I’m willing to venture is Rhamondre Stevenson ($6400, 10.7% on FD; $5900, 11.8% on DK). Indianapolis has allowed four rushing touchdowns over the past two weeks. And Anthony Richardson has curbed his turnover-worthy ways some but still provides New England ($3600, 6% on FD; $2500, 5% on DK) a nice cheap Defense target for those who like to correlate their Running Backs and D.
Wide Receiver
It’s all about A.J. Brown ($8800, 14.7% on FD; $8300, 16.6% on DK) this week at Wide Receiver. He’s not cheap by any means, but as the 5th and 2nd highest-priced receiver, I’ll take whatever discount I can get on an elite wideout going up against Baltimore’s barely there pass defense. He’ll be a cash game staple and “fade at your own peril” play in tournaments.
Your Russell Erxleben Memorial Punt Play of the Week for Week 13 is David Moore ($5100, 8.5% on FD; $3500, 7% on DK) of Carolina. With Bryce Young (see above) resembling the player the Panthers were getting with the first overall pick and after seeing 10 targets in the first game post-bye, Moore is a free square at his price.
Tight End
Tight End is hella gross this week. The Thanksgiving/Black Friday slate robbed us of most of the elite options and there’s no pay-down option I can recommend with any confidence. Your best bet is target monster but end zone-phobic Trey McBride ($6900, 11.5% of FD; $5800, 11.6% on DK) against the Vikings. And if you don’t want to pay top dollar for a Tight End, Cade Otton ($6200, 10.3% on FD; $4500, 9% on DK) and T.J. Hockenson ($6500, 10.8% on FD; $4400, 8.8% on DK) provide some relief in exchange for reliability.
Defense
With the Raiders and Browns off the slate this week, we lose our favorite quarterbacks to attack. In lieu of those teams, we’ll have to find a squad within a tough scheduling spot to attack. Arizona lost a key division game at Seattle last week and now has to travel to Minnesota before heading back home for the rematch with the Seahawks.
Since Andrew Van Ginkel has more touchdown receptions than Trey McBride (albeit thrown by the opposing quarterback) and the Vikings ($4300, 7.2% on FD; $3300, 6.6% on DK) are fourth in the league in sacks, they’re the best Jameis Winston opponent substitute on the slate this week.
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Thank you for reading Joel’s Best Week 13 DFS Fantasy Football Picks, and be sure to catch next week’s NFL All-Star Lineup next week! Joel will line up another winning combination with expert insight and analysis. You can find and follow @theJoelWirth on X and BlueSky for more of his great content!
