Entering Week 13, the margin for error is slimmer than ever, especially if you're on the fantasy football playoff bubble. With only two teams on bye and the majority of players available to start, avoiding potential landmines and busts like Zonovan Knight and Deshaun Watson is a must if you're trying to keep your season alive. Our Week 13 bust list is here to help inform your tough start 'em, sit 'em decisions.
Even "must-starts" can disappoint (psst, Dameon Pierce), but you won't find those types of guys among our bust picks unless we legitimately advise benching them. We aim to highlight players on the start 'em, sit 'em bubble -- not stars who will be started no matter what, and not players owned in just a handful of leagues. You might not have enough depth to bench the players on this list; moreover, you might just completely disagree with our choices. Either way, it's your team, so make the decisions that work best for you.
We fared well with last week's bust picks, predicting disappointing fantasy showings from Cam Akers, Elijah Mitchell, Cordarrelle Patterson, Daniel Jones, Brandin Cooks, Cole Kmet, Greg Dulcich, Juwan Johnson, Arizona's D/ST, and Cincinnati's D/ST, so we'll look to keep things rolling in a crucial week.
WEEK 13 FANTASY PICKS: Sleepers | Start 'em, sit 'em
Let's get into our Week 13 bust picks.
Week 13 Fantasy Busts: Running backs
Devin Singletary, Bills at Patriots (Sloan Piva). The Bills have been utilizing Singletary much more over the past few weeks, giving him an average of 15 carries per game in that span. He also scored two TDs when Buffalo dismantled the Pats in the wild-card round of the 2021 playoffs. Expect Bill Belichick and his perennially solid D to limit the fourth-year man's impact, just like they have most of their rushing opponents this season. New England has allowed the second-fewest TDs and the ninth-fewest yards on the ground.
Jeff Wilson Jr., Dolphins at 49ers (Vinnie Iyer). The 49ers have mostly stonewalled the running game of late, so JWJ's fantasy value will come down to a touchdown that he won’t get again. The revenge game can’t be forced.
Zonovan Knight, Jets vs. Vikings (Matt Lutovsky). Knight impressed last week with 103 total yards on 17 touches – the first offensive touches in his NFL career. He’ll likely continue to play ahead of James Robinson if Michael Carter (ankle) is out this week, but it’s also likely that Robinson will be active and get some work. If Knight’s touches are cut into by even a third, he’ll be a low-floor, low-ceiling flex against Minnesota’s above-average run defense.
WEEK 13 STANDARD RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers
Week 13 Fantasy Busts: Quarterbacks
Russell Wilson, Broncos @ Ravens (Piva). As if this even needs to be said at this point, Wilson is no longer a reliable fantasy option. And the Ravens flipped the script halfway through the season when they got healthy on defense and acquired elite linebacker Roquan Smith. The season-long stats might suggest Wilson has a plus-matchup, but the more recent trends tell us Kyler Murray owners should stream elsewhere if they can. Over its past three games, Baltimore has allowed just 219.3 yards and 1.3 touchdowns while tallying an average of four sacks. Broncos Country, let's hide.
Geno Smith, Seahawks at Rams (Iyer). The Rams are playing decent pass defense despite the lapse last week, and this will be a grind of a divisional road game for Seattle’s offense.
Deshaun Watson, Browns @ Texans (Lutovsky). The “revenge game” narrative is strong here, but Watson hasn’t played in an NFL game since January 3, 2021. We know he can be an elite option, but it’s tough to trust an inevitably rusty QB in his first game back. Houston has been decent against QBs this year (third-fewest FPPG allowed), partly because teams can just run all over them. Cleveland should ease Watson back into action by letting Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt handle the bulk of the workload, which will limit his fantasy ceiling.
WEEK 13 PPR RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers
Week 13 Fantasy Football Busts: Wide receivers
Donovan Peoples-Jones, Browns @ Texans (Piva). I like what we've seen on the whole out of DPJ this season, but it seems like Cleveland loses the games in which he's most heavily targeted. And in many of the Browns wins — like last week against Tampa Bay — he is all but forgotten as a downfield target. Houston also surrenders the most fantasy points in the NFL to RBs, so wideouts often pale in comparison because they aren't even needed. Plus, it's Deshaun Watson's first game in two years — there will be some growing pains. This is a Nick Chubb game, not a DPJ game.
JuJu Smith-Schuster, Chiefs at Bengals (Iyer). This isn’t a great matchup in the slot, and his snaps dwindled a bit coming off the concussion last week.
Chase Claypool, Bears vs. Packers (Lutovsky). Fantasy owners might be tempted to start Claypool now that he’s Chicago’s No. 1 receiver with Darnell Mooney (ankle) out, but there’s no reason to trust any pass-catchers in the Bears’ aerial attack. Green Bay just got run all over by the Eagles, but they held their own against the pass. For the season, they allow the fourth-fewest passing yards per game.
WEEK 13 DFS LINEUPS: DraftKings | FanDuel
Week 13 Fantasy Football Busts: Tight ends
Cole Kmet, Bears vs. Packers (Piva). It was fun while it lasted, Cole-blooded. Kmet enjoyed a three-game stretch through mid-November in which he scored a total of five TDs — pretty good, considering he has seven across his entire three-year career — but he has faded back into obscurity the past two weeks. Plus, Justin Fields is banged up and Green Bay flaunts an above-average front-seven that has allowed just 36.1 yards and 0.5 TDs per game to TEs.
Greg Dulcich, Broncos at Ravens (Iyer). He’s almost making plays, but that’s not good enough for real fantasy numbers.
Harrison Bryant, Browns @ Texans (Lutovsky). It's tempting to pivot to Bryant if you had David Njoku (knee), who we originally had in this spot earlier in the week. However, the matchup remains rough, and the Browns will likely be throwing downfield more with Deshaun Watson under center.
WEEK 13 DFS: Best values | Best stacks
Week 13 Fantasy Busts: Defenses
Kansas City Chiefs @ Bengals (Piva). The Chiefs have low-key put up some solid D/ST performances over the past few weeks, and their schedule for the fantasy playoffs looks nice and juicy. But we want no part of K.C. in Cincy facing Joe Burrow, Joe Mixon, Tee Higgins, and Ja'Marr Chase. Nope, no thank you.
Philadelphia Eagles vs. Titans (Iyer). It’s hard to get sacks and takeaways when the Henry hammer is pounding them.
Denver Broncos @ Ravens (Lutovsky). The Broncos struggled against Sam Darnold and the Panthers last week, so we’re not going to trust them in a second-straight game out East against a much better offense.
