Fantasy Football Week 13: Matt Camp's Top Sleepers at Every Position

I typically live by a general rule of staying away from players on bad teams whenever possible, especially heading into the final stretch of the season.

That sentence is written below a picture of Sam Darnold, quarterback of the 4-7 New York Jets. Does that make me a hypocrite?

Well, the Jets should be considered a bad team, but they were looking a lot worse at 1-7. They're riding a three-game win streak heading into this weekend, and Darnold has been an important part of that recent run. He could also be a key part of your run to the fantasy playoffs.

The same could be said for Mike Gesicki.

Unlike the Jets, the Miami Dolphins are 2-9 and don't have much of an exciting future...unless we are talking about Gesicki. Injuries and trades have decimated the Dolphins offense, so the tight end has stepped into a bigger role and done well. While he hasn't thrived against the highest quality opportunities, he has been busy. Sometimes that's enough.

In last week's Your Fantasy Fire Drill, I covered quarterbacks to stream for the fantasy playoffs (Weeks 14-16). On this week's episode, I'll hit three defenses to consider during that stretch. Some of the players discussed in this article could stick on your roster, but as always, we're focused on those who are in a good position to help you for just this week.

Chris Conley, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars

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Before we get to Conley, DJ Chark Jr. and Dede Westbrook should obviously be in lineups this weekend with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on tap. Really, we're looking for alternate ways to get a piece of this matchup.

Conley is one way to go, and we'll get to another position of note later on in this article. 

He doesn't have the same name recognition as Westbrook, which might explain why he can be snatched off the waiver wire and inserted into lineups right now. For the season, he is fourth on the Jaguars in targets (63) and receptions (33) but second in yards (568).

The recent trend for Conley has involved him staying busy. In each of the last five games, he has at least seven targets. That volume is reason enough to give him a shot this weekend. 

The bigger reason for trying him out is the matchup with the Buccaneers. No team has allowed more fantasy points to wide receivers in the last month or on the season. That's the type of defense you try to follow around because fantasy production is there for the taking.

Conley is a great way to boost your lineup with volume and fantasy potential.

Sam Darnold, QB, New York Jets

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Your search for a quarterback may land on Darnold, and that's OK.

In fact, if you had to go with him in Week 12, he paid off with 28.2 fantasy points and a QB3 finish. His recent play makes it much easier to stomach his presence in your starting lineup. 

Over his last three games, Darnold has seven touchdowns to one interception. He has at least 293 yards in each of his last two games and 260 yards in three of his last four games. For an added bonus, he racked up at least 16 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in two of the last three weeks.

During the team's three-game winning streak, Darnold is QB3 with 25.4 fantasy points per game. 

If he had even an average matchup in Week 13, he'd be worth a shot in your quarterback slot. Luckily, he has one of the best possible matchups with the Cincinnati Bengals.

In 2019, only the Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have yielded more fantasy points to quarterbacks. Over the last four weeks, Cincinnati is the fourth-easiest matchup for quarterbacks. The Jets aren't good, but the Bengals are much worse. You should be excited to have Darnold as your fantasy starter.

Nick Foles, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars

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Remember Gardner Minshew II? That seems like so long ago, though in reality, he started the first game of November.

Two weeks of having Nick Foles back in the lineup has resulted in 568 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in addition to three carries for 20 yards. Volume might be the key to his numbers. He threw 95 passes over the last two weeks. You don't have to be accurate to accumulate fantasy production with that kind of volume. 

We know the Buccaneers have been handing out fantasy points to just about all opposing passing attacks. Over the last month, they've been the second-easiest matchup for quarterbacks. Plus, Jacksonville has been the third-easiest matchup. That means we have a pair of bad pass defenses in the same game.

When two struggling defenses meet, the fantasy points are bountiful. 

Foles is playing well, throwing a lot and gets to be part of a game with exploitable defenses on both sides. That's a recipe for fantasy success, so he deserves strong consideration as a streamer on Sunday.

Mike Gesicki, TE, Miami Dolphins

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Targets don't matter much unless they turn into fantasy production. And getting targets because your team lacks other options isn't anything to be ashamed of as long as you produce. That brings us to Miami Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki. He's an intriguing player on one of the league's worst teams. We've seen DeVante Parker produce with lots of targets because Miami doesn't have many other options. Gesicki is right behind Parker. 

In each of the last four games, he's had at least six targets. Parker is the only other Dolphin who can make that claim. In that span, Gesicki had one game with at least five receptions and one game with more than 28 yards receiving. That makes those targets feel somewhat empty because the production isn't following. Still, Gesicki's been good enough to sneak inside the top 12 during that time, so he's been a fringe starter.

The Dolphins will face a very up-and-down Philadelphia Eagles team this weekend. The Eagles are the better squad, but this isn't the type of defense that would make you shy away from using Gesicki. His role should remain active enough to make him a low-end starting option for Week 13.

Kyle Rudolph, TE, Minnesota Vikings

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No one should root for injuries so other players can get opportunities. However, we must assess situations fairly and determine if a player or players can benefit from the absence of a teammate. Minnesota Vikings receiver Adam Thielen has battled a hamstring injury for more than a month, which has kept him out for three of the last four games and severely limited him in the two times he has played in the last five chances. 

When Thielen injured his hamstring on a touchdown reception early in the Week 7 matchup with the Lions, we saw the initial rise in Kyle Rudolph's numbers. He caught five of six targets in that game for 58 yards and a touchdown. Since, Rudolph found the end zone four more times, all of which came in the last three games. Rudolph leads all Vikings with 10 red-zone targets on the season, and he converted those into seven receptions and four scores.

Thielen remains limited in practice, and according to Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com, he had a "slight scare" with the hamstring injury earlier in the week. If Thielen plays, there's no telling how reliable he'll be, so Rudolph should remain an important part of the offense. The Seattle Seahawks have been one of the 10 easiest matchups for tight ends in the last month, which is just another reason to plug Rudolph into your lineup for Week 13.    

Benny Snell Jr., RB, Pittsburgh Steelers

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Replacing James Conner (shoulder) hasn't been easy, and the Pittsburgh Steelers haven't been able to pull it off with just one player. Jaylen Samuels has been the top option with 12 fantasy points per game over the last month after Conner missed three out of four games during that span, but it's not like Samuels has been reliable on the ground. That's why Snell got a chance last week.

In the last four games, Samuels had 29 carries for 71 yards and no scores. Snell wasn't on the field in November until last week due to a knee injury. However, his return was successful with 21 carries for 98 yards. He also led the backfield with a 49 percent snap share compared to Samuels' 30 percent.

Conner's shoulder was healthy enough for a limited practice Thursday, but he's far from a lock to play against the Cleveland Browns this weekend. If Snell handles a similar workload on the ground and from a snap standpoint, he'll be worth a look, assuming Conner is out, as the team clearly doesn't have trust in Samuels to be anything more than a receiver.

All stats, unless otherwise indicated, courtesy of FantasyPros, NFL.com and Pro Football Reference.