On one of the busiest weeks of the year for fantasy football, Week 13 serves up a positive feast of fun matchups for DFS tournaments and GPPs.
We’re still a couple of weeks away from most teams out of the playoffs completely giving up, allowing us to draw on 12 weeks of data and production to crush our opponents in Week 13.
A majority of the recommendations below have suggestions for correlations and stacks to offer you the difference-making options you need in your lineups.
Week 13 GPP DFS Advice & Picks
The players below are the ones I’m looking at for GPP considerations for Week 13.
Quarterbacks
Lamar Jackson (QB – BAL) vs. Eagles | DraftKings: $7,700/FanDuel: $8,700
It wouldn’t be fair to categorize this as the first difficult game the Ravens have faced when in recent weeks they’ve dismantled the Chargers and Broncos, who both ranked highly in almost every defensive metric, but the Ravens’ losses against teams like the Browns, Steelers and Raiders have made every game a bigger pressure point than it should be.
The Eagles are no rollover, having won seven in a row since their bye week. Lamar Jackson has finished as a top-six quarterback in nine of his 12 games, scoring an average of 24.7 points per game — 2.7 more than the next nearest quarterback. Jackson is first in passer rating, passing touchdowns, passing yards, quarterback rushing yards, total touchdowns and total yards. Simply put, he’s a potential week-winner every time he steps on the field.
Correlation Suggestions: With the Ravens having a complete offense for the first time in Jackson’s career, it can be difficult to decide on who to prioritize, Zay Flowers has been quiet for several weeks. While the data wouldn’t strongly push towards him, when Jackson is pressured, Flowers often ends up being the player Jackson looks to.
Skinny stacks of Jackson, Flowers and either A.J. Brown or Dallas Goedert look fun.
C.J. Stroud (QB – HOU) @ Jaguars | DraftKings: $6,400/FanDuel: $8,000
It hasn’t been a great year for C.J. Stroud but the matchup with Jacksonville can be all the tonic required. The Jaguars are 32nd in pass defense DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average), according to FTN, and they allow the most quarterback fantasy points with nine of their 12 opponents finishing as a top-12 quarterback.
Add to this that Stroud’s only 20+ point performance of the season came against the Jaguars in Week 4 when he scored 23.5 points and finished as the QB7. With Nico Collins back and healthy, it’s all too easy to expect another strong finish here, but it’s not a safe enough prospect to play in cash games. The Jaguars play the second-most man coverage in the league, against which Stroud ranks fifth in completion rate.
Correlation Suggestions: C.J. Stroud, Nico Collins and potentially Tank Dell. On the other side of this game, we can play Brian Thomas Jr. as our bring-back, only if Trevor Lawrence is healthy for this game. Evan Engram is an OK choice, just a little uninspiring.
Jayden Daniels (QB – WAS) vs. Titans | DraftKings: $7,200/FanDuel: $8,800
This isn’t an ideal matchup with Tennessee occasionally sucking the air out of games and their secondary well-coached. Washington, though, needs wins and needs them soon or the hopes of a playoff spot might start slipping away.
The Titans allow the 12th-most quarterback fantasy points and Jayden Daniels might be rounding back into form again after a 30.4-point performance in Week 12 — his first career 30-point game. Daniels completed 75.5% of his passes in Weeks 1-6 before seeing that drop to 61% over the last five games, but the good news is he’s finding his legs again, rushing for 6.6 attempts per game over the last five and hitting the second-highest amount of the year in Week 12 when he notched up 7/74/1.
The Titans allowed Drake Maye to rush for 95 yards in Week 9 and Malik Willis recorded 73 rushing yards in Week 3. Don’t be surprised if Daniels surpasses 50 and builds enough of a floor for a big Week 13.
Correlation Suggestions: Skinny stacks tend to work better with Jayden Daniels as he rarely hits more than two passing touchdowns. Calvin Ridley would be an obvious and worthwhile bring-back, but don’t sleep on Tony Pollard with teams able to run on the Commanders.
Running Backs
Kyren Williams (RB – LAR) @ Saints | DraftKings: $7,200/FanDuel: $8,400
After a three-game touchdown drought, the longest of Kyren Williams’ last two seasons, he finally found the end zone last week but couldn’t manage to finish higher than RB18 on the week, meaning he’s now finished outside the top 12 of running backs in six of the last seven games.
These stats don’t exactly scream ‘million-dollar idea’ but the Rams and Williams face the Saints in Week 13, who rank 31st in run defense DVOA and allow the fifth-most fantasy points to the position. In Week 12, Saquon Barkley scored 46.2 points against the Saints. The Rams should look to utilize Williams heavily here.
Correlation Suggestions: Kyren Williams paired with Taysom Hill feels like an avenue to a lot of touchdowns potentially.
Chuba Hubbard (RB – CAR) vs. Buccaneers | DraftKings: $6,700/FanDuel: $8,400
The debut of Jonathon Brooks wasn’t quite what fantasy managers hoped for, that is unless they were playing Chuba Hubbard, who had 19 touches to two from Brooks. Hubbard has now scored 15+ points in seven games this year, including in each of the last three games.
The Buccaneers allow the eighth-highest yards per carry (4.7) and allow the third-highest explosive run rate (8.5%). Hubbard has the eighth-highest explosive run rate among backs with 100+ attempts. Since Week 7, the Bucs have allowed four different top-12 performances. There’s no reason Hubbard can’t do the same here.
Correlation Suggestions: Slimmer stacks are better for running backs, so pairing Chuba Hubbard with Cade Otton feels OK. Mike Evans is more glamorous but if he hits with his typical downfield catches it could force the Panthers away from the run, so we’ll play this with a slower mindset instead.
Aaron Jones (RB – MIN) vs. Cardinals | DraftKings: $6,500/FanDuel: $7,700
Sam Darnold has been up and down in recent weeks and not particularly good at getting the ball to a certain wide receiver whose name rhymes with mustin mefferson, so sometimes we have to lean into those tendencies and be willing to play the other side of the coin.
The Vikings’ run offense ranks 20th in DVOA and while Aaron Jones has been a solid fantasy asset, this team hasn’t been as effective as you might expect on the ground. The good news is the Cardinals struggle to defend the run and have allowed the 10th-most missed tackles this year, along with the 10th-highest yards before contact per attempt, according to Fantasy Points. Jones has had 19+ touches in four of his last five games and has gone over 90 total yards in seven of his 11 games.
Correlation Suggestions: There’s nothing that screams out as a great play here, but the Vikings do allow the second-most fantasy points to wide receivers, so perhaps it’s Marvin Harrison Jr. week.
James Cook (RB – BUF) vs. 49ers | FanDuel: $7,800 (FanDuel-Only Play)
With the Sunday Night Football game on FanDuel, don’t neglect James Cook, who has been a top-12 running back in four of his last six games. He faces a Niners run defense ranked 21st in DVOA, who have allowed the third-most rushing touchdowns this year (16).
The Niners are beaten up and on the road against a Bills team fighting for the No. 1 seed in the AFC. It’s hard not to see this being a James Cook game.
Correlation Suggestions: If you want to play a 49ers player with either a severely banged-up Brock Purdy or Brandon Allen, I can’t stop you. You’ll find someone at a low rostership. Buffalo have allowed the third-most running back fantasy this year, for what it’s worth.
Wide Receivers
Puka Nacua (WR – LAR) @ Saints | DraftKings: $7,600/FanDuel: $8,700
If you’re not into the Kyren Williams play then perhaps Puka Nacua feels like a better use of funds, having been the WR7 since his return from injury. The Rams’ offense has condensed massively in recent weeks with Cooper Kupp and Nacua combining for a 70% target share in Week 12. Nacua has been over 30% in all of his last three games.
The Saints are worse against the run than the pass but they’ve also allowed the sixth-most wide receiver fantasy points, including a WR5 finish to Jerry Jeudy in Week 11 and a WR11 finish to Drake London in Week 10.
Correlation Suggestions: Much like with Kyren Williams, this feels like a Taysom Hill play, which we’ll get to shortly.
Nico Collins (WR – HOU) @ Jaguars | DraftKings: $7,900/FanDuel: $9,100
The Jaguars simply can’t stop anyone at any level of the field, allowing the fifth-highest amount of yards after the catch per reception (6.23), the second-most receiving yards per game (290) and the highest rate of first downs per route run (0.086), according to Fantasy Points.
The Jaguars simply don’t have anyone good enough to cover Nico Collins adequately. In Week 4, when these teams met, Collins finished with 33.1 PPR points and was the WR1 overall that week. That kind of ceiling is once again well within reach.
Correlation Suggestions: Stacks with C.J. Stroud and of course a certain Jacksonville receiver, if Trevor Lawrence plays.
Brian Thomas Jr. (WR – JAX) vs. Texans | DraftKings: $5,500/FanDuel: $6,700
You could make an argument Brian Thomas Jr is a solid tournament play regardless of whether Trevor Lawrence is playing with the Texans ranking 22nd in DVOA against No. 1 WRs and allowing the seventh-most wide receiver fantasy points.
Unless you’re playing in the largest of large contests, that kind of thinking is probably a little too far, but if Lawrence is out, there’s every chance Thomas gets back on track. Thomas had 7/99/1 when these teams last met and saw three deep targets, which the Texans had little answer for.
Michael Pittman (WR – IND) @ Patriots | DraftKings: $5,200/FanDuel: $6,600
With Josh Downs missing at least this week, Michael Pittman will return to No. 1 WR duties in Indianapolis and the matchup isn’t one we should be scared of. The Patriots have allowed three different receivers to score over 23 points in the last two weeks alone. While Pittman is still going to have to contend with Anthony Richardson‘s quarterback play, we’re shooting for upside after all.
Richardson saw a touchdown pass dropped last week, while Ashton Dulin stepped out of bounds instead of making a sideline catch. All in all, 80 yards were nullified through penalties that weren’t Richardson’s fault. Pittman has had 15 targets in the last two games with Richardson starting. He caught 11 of them for 142 yards. If he can find his way into the end zone against a Patriots defense allowing the eighth-most receiving touchdowns he can pay off his price tag nicely.
Correlation Suggestions: This one might be best played individually.
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (WR – TEN) @ Commanders | DraftKings: $4,300/FanDuel: $5,900
At a certain point, six touchdowns in seven games commands attention. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine only has 17 touches this year, but almost 33% of them have resulted in touchdowns, which is an absurdly high rate.
The Commanders are a better pass defense than they were in 2023, but they still have a way to go, ranking 25th against the pass and seeing the sixth-most targets to outside wide receivers, where Westbrook-Ikhine predominantly lines up.
Correlation Suggestions: If you’re expecting Jayden Daniels to hit his ceiling, playing Nick Westbrook-Ihkine also makes sense, as the Titans will be in a pass-heavy script.
Tight Ends
Taysom Hill (TE – NO) vs. Rams | DraftKings: $5,000/FanDuel: $7,000
Sooner or later there’s no point hating on it. You simply have to accept that Taysom Hill is a part of our lives and a fantasy football asset we should be taking advantage of.
Hill has 30 touches in his last three games, scoring 65.5 PPR points, including a Week 11 score of 41.5 that would have made him the highest-scoring player at quarterback, never mind tight end. The Rams defense is a promising unit that can bring pressure but it gives up fantasy points at a top-12 rate to wide receivers, running backs and tight ends. With the Saints depleted of options, get ready for Hill to be a continuous part of the offense for the rest of this season.
Correlation Suggestions: This game has plenty of upside and pairing Taysom Hill with any of the Rams’ primary options should help elevate your lineups.
T.J. Hockenson (TE – MIN) vs. Cardinals | DraftKings: $4,400/FanDuel: $6,500
In Week 12, T.J. Hockenson had nine targets, which represented a 28% target share, as he hit a season-high 84% route participation. Those numbers may regress if Josh Oliver is healthy enough to play this week, as the Vikings have used him plenty of late with 14 targets in his last three games, which is what keeps Hockenson from being a cash game play.
In tournaments, however, we can go back to the well given that Hockenson has 21 targets in the last three games and that this game could be a high-scoring affair.
Hunter Henry (TE – NE) vs. Colts | DraftKings: $4,200/FanDuel: $5,100
Hunter Henry has finished as a top-10 tight end in four of his six games since Drake Maye took over at quarterback. The Colts allow the eighth-most tight end fantasy points. The Patriots’ offense is flowing through Henry right now.
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