Week 13 Player Notes & Start/Sit Advice

The Christian Watson breakout has had a deleterious effect on Allen Lazard. Over his last three games, Lazard has had 10 catches for 126 yards and no touchdowns. But Lazard’s Week 13 matchup vs. the Bears is irresistible. Chicago’s defense is 31st in DVOA against the pass, and that was with safety Eddie Jackson, who’s now out for the year with a Lisfranc injury. Safety Jaquan Brisker and CB Kyler Gordon missed Week 12 with concussions, and their status for Week 13 is uncertain. Start Lazard this week.

Michael Pittman investors probably have little choice but to start him. I’m not terribly enthusiastic about his Week 13 prospects in a tricky Week 13 matchup against Dallas. Pittman is averaging just 10 yards per catch this year. His average depth of target is 6.5 yards, down from 9.8 yards last year. The touchdown he scored against the Steelers on Monday night was his first TD since Week 1. There’s just not a lot of sizzle here. Pittman is on pace for 105 catches, but it’s mostly been empty volume.

Over the last two weeks, Zay Jones has had 19 catches for 219 yards on 24 targets. I don’t expect him to keep producing at such a torrid pace — or to pass Christian Kirk in the hierarchy of Jaguars WRs — but I’m willing to ride the wave for another week and play Jones against the Lions, who’ve given up the third-most receiving yards and the fifth-most receptions to WRs.

Theoretically, there should be more target volume for Drake London with TE Kyle Pitts out for the year. That didn’t really happen last week in the Falcons’ first game without Pitts. London was targeted on four of Marcus Mariota‘s 25 pass attempts and finished with 2-29-0. It’s been a frustrating year for London investors, but I still think he’s a viable fantasy option this week. He’s up against a Pittsburgh defense that has given up the most fantasy points to wide receivers this season. The Steelers have given up 15 TD catches to WRs, tied with the Chiefs for most in the league. We just need Marcus Mariota to look London’s way a little more often.

Mack Hollins isn’t a bad option this week. In the three games that Hunter Renfrow has missed, Hollins has 12-133-1 on 20 targets. He’s the WR37 in half-PPR scoring over that stretch. It’s a skinny target tree for the Raiders — mostly Davante Adams, some Hollins, some Foster Moreau, some Josh Jacobs. Chargers-Raiders has a Vegas total of 50.5 points. We could get a shootout, adding to Hollins’ appeal.

Over the first six weeks of the season, Corey Davis was WR32 in half-point PPR scoring. He was averaging 5.5 catches and 58.5 yards per game before spraining his MCL in Week 7. Last week, in his first game back, Davis had 1-9-0 on three targets even though Jets QB Mike White threw for 315 yards and three TDs. Davis did, however, play 43 snaps, while Elijah Moore played only 22. Davis, not Moore, is the No. 2 receiver for the Jets, and he’s going to play a lot of snaps this week against a bad Minnesota pass defense. The Vikings are 27th in DVOA against the pass and have given up a league-high 2,173 receiving yards to wide receivers. They also have health issues at cornerback. Cam Dantzler is on IR, and rookie Andrew Booth is out for the year with a knee injury.

Has Chase Claypool earned fantasy viability with his new team yet? In his first three games with the Bears, Claypool had snap shares below 50%. Last week, he was up to a 67% snap share. But there’s a good chance Trevor Siemian is the Bears’ starting quarterback once again as Justin Fields recovers from a shoulder injury, and Claypool is going up against a Packers defense that has allowed the 11th-fewest fantasy points to wide receivers. In the four games since the trade, Claypool has 7-83-0. I like big, fast receivers, but we need to see some more signs of life here before we buy in.

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