Fantasy Football Takeaways: Week 13

Other than a battle for NFC South supremacy between Tampa Bay and New Orleans, Week 13 of the NFL season is complete. 

We saw some tremendous performances at the wide receiver position, including a few multiple-touchdown performances. We also saw some solid performances in each positional group. Here, I’ll break down a few key takeaways as we head into Week 14 and beyond. 

D’Andre Swift the led Lion again 

It has been quite a while since we saw D’Andre Swift lead the Lions running backs in touches or fantasy production, but this week we saw both. Swift led the team with 14 rushing attempts and led all running backs with six targets. He turned this into 111 scrimmage yards and a score (21.1 points) and an RB3 performance in PPR scoring. This finally dethroned Jamaal Williams, who had been filling in admirably for Swift during his absence. Williams was still a factor, though, as he saw 11 carries for 35 yards and a score – resulting in a respectable RB29 finish (9.5 points). 

Most importantly, Swift led the Lions backfield playing 51% percent of the snaps, 45% of the rushing attempts and 51% of the routes. His six targets resulted in a 13% target share and was tied for second on the team. It seems like Swift may be ramping up just in time for the fantasy playoffs – which is music to his manager’s ears! 

The dynamic duo in Seattle 

All offseason, many of us debated which wide receiver would have fantasy viability this year in Seattle, but we were all wrong – the answer was both. Entering this week, both Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf ranked inside the top 20 wide receivers in PPR scoring (Lockett WR13 and Metcalf WR18) and were averaging over 13 points per game. This week, we saw both of them eclipse 100 yards against the Rams. Lockett led the way with 128 yards and a score on nine receptions. Metcalf produced 127 yards and a score on eight receptions. With these almost identical stat lines, both players finished as top-10 wide receivers this week (Lockett WR5, Metcalf WR6). This was the first time that both players finished as top-12 options this year, but it was the sixth time both finished as top-24 options in the same week. 

Both players are becoming must-starts each week just in time for the fantasy playoffs. 

Christian Watson continues his historic run. 

Christian Watson has been on a crazy run since Week 10. This week, the Packers rookie had four touches for 94 yards and two scores en route to 24.4 PPR points. Since Week 10, he has caught 15-of-26 targets and produced 313 yards and seven receiving touchdowns. He’s also carried the ball twice for 49 yards and a TD. He is currently scoring a touchdown at a tremendous rate, as 47% of his touches have found the painted grass.

In fantasy, he has finished as a top-12 option every week – finishing as high as WR3 and as low as WR10 during this stretch. He has produced 99.2 PPR points, but this is being buoyed by his eight total touchdowns that account for 48% of these points. Unfortunately, he is on bye this week, but after that, he draws the Rams, Dolphins and Vikings in the fantasy playoffs – all plus matchup for wide receivers. Watson could become a league winner down the stretch, and I don’t expect this touchdown production to disappear. 

Christian McCaffrey is the guy in San Francisco 

After two down games from Christian McCaffrey, we saw him explode for an RB1 finish this week in PPR scoring with 28.6 points. This was due in large part to the absence of Elijah Mitchell, who the 49ers lost for the season to a knee injury last week. With his newly expanded role, McCaffrey saw 24 touches and produced 146 scrimmage yards and a touchdown. He out-carried the next closest running back (Jordan Mason) 17-8 and was the only running back to see any work in the passing game. His 10 targets were tied with Deebo Samuel for the team lead – a tremendous 25% target share. However, he produced two more receptions and 22 more yards than Samuel. 

With the 49ers losing Jimmy Garoppolo for the season and likely having to start seventh-round pick Brock Purdy, it seems likely that they lean on McCaffrey even more down the stretch.  This will create a huge opportunity for McCaffrey to produce the gaudy numbers we have grown accustomed to seeing.

Cole Kmet returns 

Cole Kmet entered this week coming off two down performances that followed two huge multi-touchdown performances. He tied a season-high with seven targets and caught six of them (season-high) and produced 72 yards but sadly was unable to find the end zone. In an atrocious week from the tight end position, Kmet still sits as TE4 on the week with only 13.2 points. Kmet has averaged six targets per game since Week 9, and with the loss of Darnell Mooney, it’s safe to say he’ll continue this trend. In this week’s matchup, he led the team with seven targets and an impressive 28% target share. 

He could be the lead target for the Bears down the stretch. This will allow him to bring some steady production to what is an extremely volatile tight-end position. This will be a breath of fresh air for many managers down the stretch.