Fantasy Football Week 13 Sleepers at Every Position

Things are getting interesting in fantasy football.

In a significant percentage of leagues, Week 13 marks the regular-season finale. And that means this week's mission is clear for many fantasy squads: Win and you're in the playoffs.

Lose and the season's over.

Now, when facing a must-win fantasy matchup, the last thing anyone wants is to be combing through the bargain bin searching for a sleeper to plug into the starting lineup.

But injuries are a fact of life. So are players who haven't performed to expectations. Or wide receivers who get suspended for an inability to play well with others.

Looking at you, Michael Crabtree. Play nice.

Whatever the reason, there are holes to fill in starting lineups across the fantasy football landscape.

And the point of this column is to spackle those bad boys up good.

Accountability Time

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Before we move on to the Week 13 picks, let's take a look back at Week 12 and see which selections we're thankful for and which gave us heartburn.

Ah, holiday humor.

If a player I recommended finished inside weekly starter territory (the top 12 quarterbacks, tight ends and defenses, top 24 running backs and top 36 wide receivers), I'm calling that a win.

Cincinnati Bengals Defense/Special Teams (405 yards allowed, 16 points allowed, 4 sacks, D/ST23): When you can't even count on the defense that's playing the hapless Cleveland Browns, you know it's going to be a long week. LOSS

Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: (283 passing yards, 20 rushing yards, QB19): When a quarterback doesn't find the end zone, his chances of cracking the top 12 in fantasy points are decidedly bad. LOSS

Joe Flacco, QB, Baltimore Ravens (141 passing yards, 42 rushing yards, QB25): I don't know what I was thinking. The best pass thrown by a Baltimore Ravens player against the Houston Texans came from the punter. That was not a joke. LOSS

Devontae Booker, RB, Denver Broncos (6 carries, 11 yards, 2 catches, 22 yards, RB43): The Paxton Lynch experiment in Denver was a dismal failure. So was the entire Broncos offense against the Oakland Raiders. LOSS

Dion Lewis, RB, New England Patriots (15 carries, 112 rushing yards, 1 catch, 1 yard, RB16): Lewis didn't have the game for the Pats that Rex Burkhead did (RB7), but both tailbacks finished inside the top 20 in fantasy points. WIN

J.D. McKissic, RB, Seattle Seahawks (4 carries, 22 yards, 4 receptions, 24 yards, RB37): Repeat after me: I will not trust a Seahawks running back again in fantasy this season. I will not trust a Seahawks running back again in fantasy this season. LOSS

Marquise Goodwin, WR, San Francisco 49ers (4 receptions, 78 yards, WR33): It will be interesting to see if the insertion of Jimmy Garoppolo under center improves Goodwin's fantasy value a bit. It can't hurt. WIN

Zay Jones, WR, Buffalo Bills (3 catches, 33 yards, 1 touchdown, WR30): Jones didn't rack up the yardage I'd hoped against a leaky Kansas City Chiefs secondary. But he found the end zone, and that made all the difference. WIN

Kenny Stills, WR, Miami Dolphins (3 receptions, 47 yards, WR55): Given his numbers both with Matt Moore under center and against the Patriots of late, this call made a lot of sense. It just didn't pan out. LOSS

Jared Cook, TE, Oakland Raiders (1 reception, 2 yards, TE46): It takes a special kind of stupid to have faith in a tight end who just had a two receiving yards in a good fantasy matchup. We'll get back to that in a bit. LOSS

Tyler Kroft, TE, Cincinnati Bengals (3 catches, 14 yards, 1 touchdown, TE11): For the second straight week, Kroft did next to nothing from a catches and yardage standpoint. But for the second straight week, he also scored a touchdown. WIN

Tennessee Titans Defense/Special Teams (254 yards allowed, 16 points allowed, 8 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, DST7): The Indianapolis Colts have a tendency to give up an alarming number of sacks—47 this season, which is the worst in the league. For opposing fantasy defenses, that's most assuredly a good thing. WIN

WEEK 10 TOTAL: 5/12 (.417)

Week 12 wasn't great for me by any stretch of the imagination, and it was worse than my season average. But after I hit on just two recommendations the week before, it was at least something of a rebound.

And hopefully, something to build on down the stretch.

SEASON TOTAL: 65/144 (.451)

Sleeper of the Week

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Jared Cook, TE, Oakland Raiders (vs. NYG)

At first glance, it might appear that recommending Jared Cook for a second week in a row is an indication that I hit my head—hard. Or started day-drinking.

Maybe both.

After all, since Cook torched the Miami Dolphins for eight catches and 126 yards back in Week 9, the veteran tight end has three catches for 38 yards—total. He's found the end zone once in his first season with the Raiders.

He's going to score a second touchdown in Week 13 against the New York Giants. Maybe even a third.

There are a couple of reasons for that bold prediction, and neither involves head trauma or vodka. For starters, the Oakland pass-catching corps is all kinds of chewed up.

Crabtree will miss this week's matchup after he drew a suspension for last week's donnybrook with Denver Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib. As Bob Hille reported for Sporting News, Amari Cooper is in the NFL's concussion protocol after Denver safety Darian Stewart hit him in that same game.

Cooper also injured his ankle on that play, leaving his Week 13 status in doubt and Oakland's receivers in tatters.

Then there's the matter of the New York defense. The Giants have struggled against tight ends. No team has allowed more PPR fantasy points to the position than the G-Men, and New York gave up a touchdown pass to a tight end in its first nine games.

In other words, Cook could see a big bump in targets just in time for an ideal fantasy matchup.

Case Keenum, QB, Minnesota Vikings (at ATL)

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According to Matt Franciscovich of NFL.com, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Case Keenum is owned in less than 15 percent of leagues at that website.

That makes no sense.

On Thanksgiving Day, Keenum threw for 282 yards and two scores against the Detroit Lions, adding a rushing touchdown. The week before that, Keenum passed for 280 yards and a touchdown against the Los Angeles Rams. Before that, the 29-year-old had 304 passing yards and four scores in a 38-30 win over the Washington Redskins.

The Vikings are one of the hottest teams in football in large part because Keenum is playing the best football of his career.

And since Week 8, only two healthy quarterbacks have averaged more fantasy points per game than him: Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks.

I'm guessing Big Ben and Wilson are owned in more than 13 percent of NFL.com fantasy leagues.

This Sunday, Keenum and the Vikings will travel south to face the red-hot Atlanta Falcons in one of Week 13's biggest games. On the season the Falcons have been just a middle-of-the-pack fantasy matchup for quarterbacks, ranking 15th in points allowed to the position.

However, over Atlanta's recent three-game win streak it's been much more generous, surrendering the third-most fantasy points to QBs over that span.

It's not hard to figure out. The Falcons are scoring points. The offense is looking more like their 2016 selves. And that, in turn, is forcing opponents to throw the ball to keep up.

Keenum's shown he can do just that and has arguably the NFL's best wide receiver duo in the NFL at his disposal in Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen.

Thirteen percent. Sheesh.

Josh McCown, QB, New York Jets (vs. KC)

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Josh McCown is the 38-year-old starting quarterback for a team that many expected would be the NFL's worst in 2017.

Those expectations were way off, largely because McCown is playing some of the best football of his career.

Maybe the best football of his career.

McCown has completed a career-best 67.3 percent of his passes for 2,549 yards and 17 touchdowns with just eight interceptions. Those numbers are good enough to place him 13th among fantasy signal-callers—just outside weekly starter territory in 12-team leagues.

In five of McCown's last seven games, he's thrown multiple touchdown passes.

Last week, while playing against one of the NFL's best defenses in the Carolina Panthers (a unit that gave up the fifth-fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks over the first 11 weeks of the season) McCown had 307 passing yards and three touchdowns—a top-five fantasy performance at the position.

If McCown can do that to one of the NFL's top defenses, imagine what he can do against the reeling Chiefs this week at MetLife Stadium.

The Chiefs are 28th in the league in pass defense and are allowing 245.6 yards per game. They have surrendered 17 touchdown passes and the 11th-most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks.

Prior to playing two of the NFL's worst passing offenses the last two weeks (the Buffalo Bills and New York Giants), Kansas City had given up the sixth-most fantasy points per game to QBs.

McCown, just like Keenum, has shown fantasy owners in need of a spot start he can be trusted in big games.

Isaiah Crowell, RB, Cleveland Browns (at LAC)

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Some might object to labeling Cleveland Browns tailback Isaiah Crowell as a "sleeper." He was drafted as a top-20 tailback in more fantasy leagues than not.

However, considering that Crowell is averaging 3.8 yards a carry, has found the end zone just twice and hasn't rushed for 100 yards in a game in 2017, it's reasonable to say he's been snoozing for much of the year.

Still, it looks like the 24-year-old might be waking up.

In two of his last three games, Crowell has rushed for 90 or more yards. His 105 combined yards on 17 touches last week against the Cincinnati Bengals marked just the second time this season he has gone over 100 total yards.

And for all the grousing about him, he sits just outside the top 25 in PPR fantasy points for the year.

Sunday in Los Angeles, he'll get that much closer to where fantasy owners expected him to be. The Browns have remained committed to running, even in games they trail—which is all of them. In three of his last four outings Crowell has averaged at least five yards a carry, and this week the Browns face a Chargers team that ranks last in run defense and fifth-worst in fantasy points given up to the position.

Cleveland's best chance at notching its first win of the season (over the same team it got its only win against in 2016, coincidentally) lies in slowing the game down, controlling tempo and keeping the ball away from Philip Rivers.

That could portend Crowell's biggest workload of the season if the Browns can stay close.

And if they do, the numbers say he'll have a successful game.

Jacquizz Rodgers, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (at GB)

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At this juncture, unearthing a gem at running back is about as easy as winning the lottery.

Any tailback with a pulse and a snowball's chance of posting a halfway decent stat line is rostered—usually by the team you just so happen to play that week.

That is, unless a late injury opens a window of opportunity—a ray of hope amid the gloom and doom.

Such is the case in Tampa, a city that's seen more than a little gloom and doom from a football perspective this season.

With starting running back Doug Martin in the NFL's concussion protocol, the Bucs have been forced to go to the bench, just as they did to open the season while Martin was suspended.

And that means it's Jacquizz Rodgers time again.

Yes, Peyton Barber found the end zone twice in short-yardage situations last week against the Falcons, but Rodgers was the clear-cut lead back earlier this season. Rodgers out-touched Barber nine to five against Atlanta, and his yards per carry was over two full yards higher (3.9 to 1.4).

This isn't to say Rodgers is a season-saver. But at the beginning of the campaign he had his moments. The seventh-year veteran picked up 67 yards and a score on 19 carries in Week 2, and he followed that with 108 total yards on 18 touches against the New York Giants in Week 4.

This week's trip to Green Bay will present a decent opportunity. The Packers are a respectable 11th in run defense at 107.1 yards allowed per game, but they have given up the sixth-most fantasy points per game to running backs in 2017.

If Martin sits (and at 4-7 there's not much reason for the Buccaneers to rush him back) Rodgers is a good bet for 15 touches and middling RB2 production.

Not bad for a player who was on most waiver wires at the beginning of the week.

Jamaal Williams, RB, Green Bay Packers (vs. TB)

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Any fantasy owners who started Green Bay Packers tailback Jamaal Williams last week did so out of desperation. Not much was expected of the rookie on the road against a stout Pittsburgh Steelers defense.

Sometimes desperation pays off.

The Packers gave the Steelers more of a fight than most expected in a 31-28 loss, and Williams was a big part of that. He carried the ball 21 times for 66 yards and added four catches for 69 yards—including an impressive 54-yard touchdown.

Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy lauded Williams' ability to serve as an every-down back when he spoke to reporters about the game.

"Anytime we talk about the running back position we look at can they play all three downs?" McCarthy said. "And obviously being a good receiver is part of that."

Neither Ty Montgomery (ribs) nor Aaron Jones (knee) was on the practice field Wednesday, which doesn't bode especially well for either's chances of seeing the field this week against the Buccaneers. And Williams' performance in a tough matchup in Week 12 appears to have increased McCarthy's confidence that the 22-year-old can handle a large workload.

That could mean another big day against a Buccaneers team that's giving up the 10th-most fantasy points to RBs this season.

Zay Jones, WR, Buffalo Bills (vs. NE)

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Buffalo Bills wide receiver Zay Jones has had a rookie season to forget.

Last week against the Kansas City Chiefs, Jones hauled in three catches for 33 yards and a touchdown. That stat line wouldn't be so bad had Jones not been targeted 10 times—far and away the most on the team.

That makes 61 times he's been thrown at this season, per Fantasy Pros. He has 23 receptions.

Granted, not all of those targets were on the money. Some were knocked away. But a catch percentage of 37.7 is terrible.

And yet here I am, recommending that fantasy owners in a pinch at wide receiver start a pass-catcher who can't, you know, catch on a team that ranks 30th in the NFL in passing.

And I'm doing so for the second week in a row.

Say what you will about Jones' hands of stone, but they haven't stopped Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor from targeting the 22-year-old. In four of Jones' last five games, he's been targeted at least seven times. Over his last three contests Jones has reeled in 13 catches for 154 yards and two touchdowns.

Jordan Matthews was a non-factor for the Bills last week, and Kelvin Benjamin is still out with a knee injury. The Bills might not like it, but when they face the big, bad Patriots on Sunday, Jones will be Buffalo's No. 1 receiver.

They'll face a New England team that ranks last in the AFC in pass defense. It's allowed the second-most fantasy points to WRs. And the Bills will all but certainly be trailing, because it's the Patriots.

Add it all together, and Jones should at least serve as a solid No. 3 fantasy receiver.

You might want to go ahead and skip watching all the drops. They're rather depressing.

Jermaine Kearse, WR, New York Jets (vs. KC)

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New York Jets wide receiver Robby Anderson has garnered quite a bit of fantasy buzz of late, and rightly so—he's scored a touchdown in five straight games and ranks inside the top 10 receivers in PPR fantasy points over that span.

Here's the thing, though: While Anderson has been breaking out, Jermaine Kearse hasn't exactly been twiddling his thumbs.

Against the Carolina Panthers last week, Kearse had his best game of the season. He was targeted 11 times, which was the third straight game in which he's had the most targets among Jets wideouts, per Fantasy Pros. He turned those 11 looks into seven catches for 105 yards and a touchdown.

In PPR fantasy leagues, that's a beefy 23.5 fantasy points, which ranked him seventh at the position for the week.

Will Kearse be a top-10 receiver again when the Jets host the Chiefs on Sunday? Probably not. But as I mentioned earlier, Kansas City has not played well on pass defense. As I also mentioned earlier, Jets quarterback Josh McCown has been sharp in 2017.

And with Anderson's emergence as a vertical threat over the last month-plus, he's likely to be the focal point of the Chiefs secondary and top cornerback Marcus Peters.

Whether it's been Terrance Mitchell or Kenneth Acker, the No. 2 cornerbacks for the Chiefs have had one thing in common this year: Opposing quarterbacks and receivers have abused them early and often.

As much as I like Anderson (and oh boy do I—he's been a season-saver for a couple of my teams, because I know how much you care about my teams), it wouldn't surprise me if Kearse out-points him in Week 13.   

Dede Westbrook, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars (vs. IND)

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Of the three receivers I'm recommending as fantasy sleepers in Week 13, two play for bottom-four passing offenses.

The possibility of that blow to the head keeps increasing.

Kidding aside, as late-season lottery tickets at WR go, fantasy owners could do a lot worse than Jacksonville Jaguars rookie Dede Westbrook.

He hasn't wasted any time in getting back into the swing of things for the Jaguars after he missed most of the season following core muscle surgery. In last week's 27-24 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, Westbrook was Jacksonville's most thrown-at wideout. He converted 10 targets into six receptions for 41 yards.

Westbrook's nine catches for 76 yards in two games are hardly jaw-dropping numbers, especially from a young player who was expected to be a vertical threat. But he's already averaging eight targets a game—a number that would indicate Blake Bortles and the Jaguars staff have faith in him.

That faith was likely born in the preseason, where Westbrook went off. His first exhibition catch was a 42-yard touchdown against the New England Patriots. In his three preseason appearances Westbrook piled up 13 catches for 288 yards and two scores—an average of 22.2 yards a catch.

This doesn't mean Westbrook will be able to translate those numbers to games that count. But the 2016 Biletnikoff Award winner as college football's top receiver already appears to have climbed to second in the Jags' pecking order behind Marqise Lee at receiver.

After their last-second loss in the desert in Week 12, I expect to see an angry Jaguars team this week at home against a horrible Colts defense. Indianapolis ranks 29th in total defense and 30th against the pass, and it's surrendered the eighth-most fantasy points to receivers in 2017.

Westbrook's first touchdown will come in Week 13. A long one. Book it.

Charles Clay, TE, Buffalo Bills (vs. NE)

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It's a Buffalo Bills passing game double dip!

Apparently, I hit my head more than once. Perhaps I need some sort of helmet.

Oh, the irony.

Admittedly, Buffalo tight end Charles Clay hasn't lit the world on fire since he returned from a knee injury a few weeks ago. In the last three games, the seventh-year veteran had nine catches for 100 yards, and he hasn't found the end zone since Week 3.

However, in Clay's defense, those numbers make him one of Buffalo's main pass-catchers over that stretch. One of those games was the Nathan Peterman nightmare, and since the only people Peterman targeted were defenders for the Los Angeles Chargers (five interceptions), it's more like 2.5 games that Clay's been back.

And his four receptions for 60 yards last week against the Chiefs ranked him just outside weekly starter territory in 12-team leagues.

There's one other reason to trust Clay. A phrase that rings melodically in the ears of fantasy owners, like the silver bells of Christmastime or the holiday music they pummel you into submission with over the PA at Walmart.

Garbage time.

The New England Patriots haven't been a great tight end matchup (14th in fantasy points allowed to the postision), and the Bills aren't terrible. But the Patriots are again far and away the best team in the AFC East, and the odds that the Bills will be playing from behind are about 118 percent.

That means throwing the ball, and Clay remains one of Tyrod Taylor's favorite targets.

Julius Thomas, TE, Miami Dolphins (vs. DEN)

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It's pop-quiz time!

Over the last four weeks, a certain unnamed tight end has 17 receptions for 174 yards and a pair of touchdowns. That production has put said unnamed tight end third in PPR fantasy points at his position over that span, despite something of a ping-pong game at quarterback for the Miami Dolphins.

That last part was a hint.

So is the name listed just above his picture.

I stink at giving pop quizzes, apparently.

It's been lost in a dismal season for the Miami offense, but Julius Thomas is having a good seventh NFL campaign—at least relative to his last few. Thomas has 34 catches for 342 yards and two scores this year, with the majority of that production coming over the last month.

He's on pace to have his best season in terms of receptions and receiving yards since he broke out with the Denver Broncos in 2013 when he had 65 catches for 788 yards and 12 touchdowns.

It's those same Broncos whom Thomas and the Dolphins will host in Week 13. Denver's No Fly Zone pass defense remains stout on the inside, but it's taken a step back over the middle in 2017.

Only three teams (the Dolphins, Browns and Giants) have surrendered more PPR fantasy points to tight ends in 2017.

Yes, with Aqib Talib suspended this week for unsportsmanlike conduct, the outside will be softer. And the "revenge" narrative is a stretch (Thomas left Denver in 2015 for a big payday with the Jacksonville Jaguars), but Miami's best chance at success this week is in attacking the Broncos over the middle.

That should mean a big day for Thomas and slot receiver Jarvis Landry.

Tennessee Titans Defense/Special Teams (vs. HOU)

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I've long been a proponent of streaming defenses—picking teams off the waiver wire based on the opponent and then dropping them when the matchups dry up.

Even if you find one with a favorable matchup, it's usually a one-week gig. Finding a defense that can be used for multiple weeks on the waiver wire this late in the year is like an early Christmas present.

That's exactly what we have with the Tennessee Titans.

At first glance, the Houston Texans might not seem like an outstanding fantasy matchup given that they're 13th in the NFL in total offense.

But things come together with more examination.

Houston remains in the top half of the NFL in total offense as a cruel reminder of what could have been had Deshaun Watson not torn his ACL. In the six games the rookie quarterback started, the Texans averaged 34.6 points per contest.

They are averaging 15 points a game with Tom Savage under center and have scored more than 16 points just once under him.

In five starts, Savage has turned the ball over 12 times. That's 2.4 turnovers per start by himself.

Houston is eighth-worst in the NFL in sacks allowed with 34. Only the Browns and Broncos have turned the ball over more than the Texans in 2017.

And even with the electricity Watson provided, the Texans rank sixth in fantasy points per game surrendered to fantasy defenses in 2017.

If you listened to me last week and picked up the Titans, roll them out again.