Fact or Fiction: Fantasy Football Outlooks for Tyrod Taylor, Chuba Hubbard, Dontayvion Wicks, Adonai Mitchell, Devaughn Vele

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Justin's fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks for Week 14 of 2025. He looks at surprising performances from Tyrod Taylor, Chuba Hubbard, Dontayvion Wicks, Adonai Mitchell, Devaughn Vele.

Welcome back to Fact or Fiction, our weekly look at some of the most surprising performances from the previous week in the NFL. This week, we've got two different New York Jets players to talk about, which seems pretty weird considering how bad the Jets' offense has been all year.

Of course, one good game isn't proof of anything. Just look at last week, where a different Jet, John Metchie III, had a big game, only for him to follow that up with a disappointing Week 13, catching four passes for 19 yards.

So, let's talk about some Week 13 performances and project if they mean anything going forward. Today, we'll be talking about Tyrod Taylor, Chuba Hubbard, Dontayvion Wicks, Adonai Mitchell, and Devaughn Vele.

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Tyrod Taylor, QB, New York Jets

Week 13 stats: 19-for-33 for 172 yards and a touchdown, eight carries for 44 yards and a touchdown -- overall QB7

The Jets basically had no semblance of a passing game with Justin Fields under center. The move to Taylor has helped that a bit, as he's gone over 170 yards in all three games that he's started this season. Fields, for comparison, went over that mark four times in his nine starts while averaging 139.9 passing yards per game.

So, the Jets do have a better pass game now, but it's notable that for Taylor to finish as a QB1 this past week, he had to score his first rushing touchdown since 2021.

Tyrod takes it himself!!!

ATLvsNYJ on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/PALeDTeH0A

— NFL (@NFL) November 30, 2025

Taylor is a solid veteran quarterback who raises both the floor and ceiling of his weapons, but it's hard to really see a reason to trust him in fantasy going forward. As I said, it's a middling performance if you subtract the rushing score, and I'm not going to project a 36-year-old journeyman to suddenly start scoring a bunch of rushing touchdowns.

One issue here is that the Jets don't have a lot of good receiving options, which lowers Taylor's ceiling since there aren't players who'll reliably catch the ball and make plays once they have it. We're going to talk later in this article about Mitchell, the one receiver here who might be worth something, but it's a rough landscape beyond Mitchell.

All that's to say that fantasy managers don't need to rush out and add Taylor off the wire. He's got upside if you need a streamer in two-quarterback leagues, but that's really the only format where I want any part of him.

Verdict: Fiction

Chuba Hubbard, RB, Carolina Panthers

Week 13 stats: 17 carries for 83 yards, two catches for 41 yards and a touchdown -- overall RB5

Hubbard entered 2025 as the Panthers' starter, but a two-game absence opened the door for Rico Dowdle. Hubbard saw double-digit touches in his first two games back, but had just 15 carries over the next four games.

Against the Rams, Carolina went heavy with the run game, with Hubbard and Dowdle combining for 35 carries. 17 of those went to Hubbard, who finished with 83 rushing yards and also caught a 35-yard touchdown pass.

It was a good showing, but the best-case scenario here is just that the Panthers' coaching staff looks at this and decides to keep splitting the work around 50-50 instead of letting Dowdle handle most of it.

That's definitely not a bad thing for Hubbard, who was unplayable in fantasy over the past month. More touches mean that you can use him in your flex spot, but the fact that Dowdle exists is going to limit his upside.

Verdict: Fiction, but he's playable in fantasy

Dontayvion Wicks, WR, Green Bay Packers

Week 13 stats: six catches for 94 yards and two touchdowns -- overall WR3

Predicting fantasy production in Green Bay is a nightmare at this point. This week, it was Wicks who finished as Green Bay's top receiver, catching six passes for 94 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

On 4th down, Dontayvion Wicks makes an incredible catch for the touchdown @packers up 10-0

GBvsDET on FOX/FOX One/Tubi
Also streaming on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/56vQWJ7RxQ

— NFL (@NFL) November 27, 2025

Wicks set season-high marks in receptions, yards, and touchdowns, and had his second-most targets of the season. He did this despite playing 49 percent of snaps while Christian Watson played 84 percent and Romeo Doubs played 73 percent.

Those snap counts feel like the most notable thing here. Watson immediately stepped back into a key role once he was healthy, and Doubs only had 20 yards this week but found the end zone. It's true that Doubs' numbers have been down for the past month, but he's still a tick ahead of Wicks in the pecking order.

Fantasy managers can take note of Wicks, but considering this was his first time all season to finish with more than 44 receiving yards, he's probably not going to move the fantasy needle.

Verdict: Fiction

Adonai Mitchell, WR, New York Jets

Week 13 stats: eight catches for 102 yards and a touchdown -- overall WR6

At the beginning of November, the Colts traded second-year wide receiver Mitchell to the Jets, with Indianapolis giving up on a player who had failed to really do much of anything since being drafted. In 25 career games with the Colts, Mitchell averaged just 2.8 targets per contest.

Since arriving in the Meadowlands, everything has changed for Mitchell. He has at least six targets in each game, and in Sunday's upset win over Atlanta, he had the best game of his NFL career, catching eight of his 12 targets for 102 yards and a touchdown.

Mitchell's clearly a talented player, but drops and bad decision-making plagued the first year and a half of his career. His first game in New York looked like it was more of the same as he brought in just one of his six targets, but the Jets stuck with him and were rewarded with Sunday's big showing.

Does this make him worth playing in fantasy? Ehh, maybe. With Taylor under center, the Jets' passing attack is marginally better than it was with Fields under center, so there should be enough targets available for Mitchell to keep getting these opportunities, but I'm not quite sold on him being able to reliably post good numbers each week. If you're willing to accept the risk of a bust week, though, then Mitchell's upside makes sense as a WR3/flex play.

Verdict: Fact, in the sense that he's playable in fantasy as the Jets' only real weapon, but he'll likely be a boom-or-bust option

Devaughn Vele, WR, New Orleans Saints

Week 13 stats: eight catches for 93 yards and a touchdown -- overall WR8

The Saints traded for Vele in August and proceeded to barely use him for weeks, averaging 0.7 receptions for 6.0 yards over the first nine games of the season.

What a throw by Shough 🎯

What a catch by Vele 🙌

📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/yS9bPOvCmU

— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) November 30, 2025

That's changed over the last two games, as Vele is averaging 5.5 receptions for 65.0 yards, in large part because he had eight catches for 93 yards and a touchdown this week against Miami.

New Orleans is a mess. Chris Olave has been banged up but played against Miami. Tyler Shough has been pretty good over the last three games, but still feels like a ticking time bomb. The run game is currently being led by Devin Neal, a sixth-round rookie.

Vele is the No. 2 receiver on a team with no receiver depth, making him playable in deep formats, but with the fantasy playoffs on the horizon, it's really, really tough to trust Vele in most formats, because trusting him also implies that you're trusting Shough to keep playing well. I can't trust that.

Verdict: Mostly Fiction, but there might be deep-league appeal

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