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Should I start Kareem Hunt, Isiah Pacheco, Xavier Worthy for Week 13? Fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks and recommendations for the 2025 NFL season.
The Kansas City Chiefs are set to take on the Dallas Cowboys in the afternoon game of the NFL's Thanksgiving slate. It will be a clash of two teams hunting for their spot in this year's playoffs.
Running backs Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco (knee) and wide receiver Xavier Worthy, all of the Chiefs, are set to play in the contest, with Pacheco returning from a two-game absence due to an MCL sprain.
The Cowboys have had one of the worst defenses in the NFL this season, but a few key players returning from injury and some trades have shaken up their depth chart and given them new life. So should you start Hunt, Pacheco, and Worthy for Week 13?
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Should I Start Kareem Hunt for Fantasy Football?
While Hunt scored 20.0 PPR fantasy points in Week 12, that doesn't automatically make him a good start in Week 13. Unfortunately for him, Pacheco is set to return, and he'll take back his "starting" role. Hunt will likely return to his role as the goal-line and short-yardage back.
Pacheco and Hunt have mixed in the other situations, with rookie RB Brashard Smith mostly getting minimal usage. That's made Hunt not super useful except in games where he gets rushing touchdowns. To be fair, he's had four rushing touchdowns in eight games with Pacheco and three in three contests without him.
Kareem Hunt makes it a one-score game 👀
INDvsKC on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/DUUlMWLZHF
— NFL (@NFL) November 23, 2025
The Cowboys had a horrible run defense. Keyword here is had, because they did an excellent job shutting down Philadelphia Eagles RB Saquon Barkley in Week 12. They held him to 22 yards on 10 carries, his lowest rushing average and total on the season.
Defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, and linebacker Logan Wilson have helped shore up the run defense. Hunt is a low-end flex with a lot of risk. He needs a TD to be startable.
Should I Start Isiah Pacheco for Fantasy Football?
This is probably not a great idea. He's supposedly healthy, but his knee could still be bothering him. Players pay through pain and with non-fully-functional joints, ligaments, tendons, and muscles all the time. A bit of painkillers make it work.
Pacheco has been a huge disappointment in fantasy this season, largely because his volume has been so much lower than in previous seasons. This is because he's highly inefficient, which is driven by his lack of vision and patience as a runner.
Andy Reid: Let me scheme up a great play to isolate Josh Simmons on the left side as a lead blocker to get a touchdown
Isiah Pacheco: Nah I'm good pic.twitter.com/YIKgptv58c
— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) September 6, 2025
Pacheco is also coming back from a knee injury that's caused him to miss three weeks. While he's supposedly healthy, players tend to rush back from injuries when the playoffs are on the line, and the Chiefs certainly haven't secured their spot.
Hunt, while inefficient, is capable of handling a big workload. He's not the athlete Pacheco is, but he has better vision and tends to hit the right roles, runs with patience, and still has a good amount of power. It's probably not worth starting Pacheco. He doesn't have a big pass-catching role and isn't the goal-line back.
You're probably relying on a touchdown to make him start-worthy.
Should I Start Xavier Worthy for Fantasy Football?
Worthy has been perhaps the biggest disappointment at wide receiver other than Jacksonville Jaguars WR Brian Thomas Jr. (ankle). He's dealing with a torn labrum in his shoulder, but he struggled most of his rookie season. That said, the matchup is excellent.
Worthy is the WR58 on the season, and though that includes his bye week and two missed contests, he's scored just the WR55 in PPR points per game. Maybe that's not super fair because he got injured in Week 1. Excluding that game, he's the WR49! That's great, right? Maybe if you want to lose your leagues.
On Sunday the Chiefs let Xavier Worthy play like a real receiver. Instead of a gadget player. All he did is get wide open... #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/H1FUERFmsg
— Price Carter (@priceacarter) November 25, 2025
There has been nonstop propaganda about Worthy since he joined the league. Surely if he's on the Chiefs and he's fast everything else will come naturally, and he'll be elite. The issues with his game get glossed over, though. He's not a good ball tracker, and regardless, his QB, Patrick Mahomes II, isn't a good deep-ball throwers.
Patrick Mahomes on the deep pass misfires:
“I'm just not making the throws — that's pretty much the biggest thing. Guys are getting open and giving me chances to make plays down the field; I just gotta give them chances to make plays.” pic.twitter.com/ywml5t0h9d
— KC Sports Network (@KCSportsNetwork) November 19, 2025
That's a controversial thing to say, but you can check Mahomes' deep passing stats for yourself. They're pretty ugly. Mahomes addressed his deep passing issues himself in an interview. Worthy has had minimal production on deep passes in his career.
This offense runs through Rice and Kelce. Worthy is a risky flex play that has upside because of the great matchup with a poor defense, so he could have a big game, but it's hard to trust him.
Who Should I Start Tool
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Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some common Week 13 fantasy football lineup decisions are regarding players like Kareem Hunt, Isiah Pacheco, Xavier Worthy. But not to worry, we are here to help make these decisions and build winning lineups in Week 13. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for Week 13 of the 2025 NFL season. Our free Who Should I Start? tool will help make your fantasy football lineup decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to start... all free! Get your winning lineups set, and make the right decisions.
Week 13 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players - Kareem Hunt, Isiah Pacheco, Xavier Worthy. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 13.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool, but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player's name. In the second box, search for the second player's name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our Who Should I Start? tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, enhanced search results with data to compare, and a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week, our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do is to select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circles), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Week 13 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 13 (2025)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 13 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular Week 13 searches and comparisons from our 'Who To Start' tool for Kareem Hunt, Isiah Pacheco, Xavier Worthy compared to others:
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