Key Starters and Tough Calls - Lineup Spotlights for Fantasy Football Week 13 Include Deshaun Watson, Justin Fields And WR Sleepers

December 4, 2022

Scott breaks down his fantasy football lineup starts/sits for Week 13 (2022). He spotlights key NFL players to start, and tougher lineup start/sit decisions.

Every week, I share some of my favored players to go with when dealing with challenging lineup decisions. These choices are based on my Premium Weekly Lineup Rankings, available as part of the RotoBaller NFL Premium Pass. Enter promo code KING at checkout for a discount and get access to my ranks in all formats, plus a full roster of tools and analysis for the 2022 fantasy football season.

We feature players that you should lean to in tough calls, and guys who may exceed expectations this week are also highlighted, so you can feel even more confident about starting them. Skill position analysis here is based on my PPR rankings. When considering each player for your lineup, check my rankings to see exactly where they are positioned when compared to your other possible lineup choices.

Scott Engel was the No. 2 overall fantasy football accuracy ranker on fantasypros.com in Week 9.

Running Backs – Fantasy Football Week 13

Najee Harris

Harris is aiming for his third game in a row with a rushing TD. He has 90+ rushing yards in two of his past three games. We should know by Sunday morning whether Harris is fully capable of taking most of the workload or not. He was removed from Pittsburgh’s injury report, though, so the oblique issue may not keep him from performing to his potential. Harris has played better since the Steelers came off a Week 9 bye, and if he is fully cleared for action, then you should start him as usual.  My rule is, if the NFL team approves the player for usual game activities, then I don’t hold him out based on injury concerns.

You can’t be overly concerned about a limited workload or a re-injury if an NFL team clears the guy to go with his customary workload. More often than not, he should be good to go if the medical staff gives him the thumbs up. When you sit a player when there are no reports of him being on a pitch count, you run a big risk of missing out on a good game, much like with Josh Jacobs last week. Harris is unlikely to perform at a Jacobs-like level, but the Falcons rank 26th in Fantasy Points Per Game allowed to running backs.

Christian McCaffrey

Staying on point with not being too concerned about an injury outlook when a player is off the injury report, do not consider benching McCaffrey. The only questions are how much will the other San Francisco RBs take away from him in terms of touches, and who will get that work.

Does Christian McCaffrey look ready?
pic.twitter.com/sDDlPknLUj

— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoNBCS) December 2, 2022

McCaffrey has finished with 15 to 18 touches in each of his past four games, and he should stay in that range. I wouldn’t expect his workload to be reduced more when the 49ers have already shown they won’t use him as heavily as Carolina did. As for who could see complementary work, both Jordan Mason and Tevin Coleman might split the rest of the carries, but we may not know how that scenario will play out until the game is actually in progress.

Rachaad White

Leonard Fournette appears set to return in Week 13, so White no longer is a surefire starting option like he was last week. But he is likely going to still get a lot of touches, possibly more than Fournette. White had career highs in receptions (nine) and scrimmage yards (109) last week and he is aiming for his third game in a row with 100+ scrimmage yards. The Buccaneers aren’t going to pin him to the bench with Fournette back.

Fournette, though, has five TDs from scrimmage in his past five home games and we should see him function at least as a frequent complement to White. I am recommending White as a high-end RB3 for more possible upside, and Fournette is more in low-end RB3 territory.

Zonovan Knight

The undrafted rookie impressed in his pro debut in Week 12. He set a franchise record with 103 yards from scrimmage. Now it appears that “Bam” Knight is ticketed to at least get significant touches as part of a timeshare. He ran hard last week and Robert Saleh seemed to approve of his determined, physical running style.

The likely scenario is for Knight to be useful as a fantasy flex option while Ty Johnson also sees some touches, especially as a pass-catcher out of the backfield. The Vikings have the worst pass defense in the NFL and rank 26th in receiving yards allowed to RBs, so Johnson deserves some deeper flex consideration. James Robinson has a chance to get back into the mix, but Knight simply looked better than Robinson has as a runner and he should get legitimate flex consideration for Week 13.

Wide Receivers – Fantasy Football Week 13

Richie James

He led the Giants with five catches on six targets last week, and James had his fifth career receiving TD last week. He is aiming for his third game in a row with a TD catch and James is worthy of lineup consideration if you are digging deeper for a WR or flex play in Week 13. One of his TDs came in garbage time two games ago, but James did also have two five reception games at the beginning of the season.

Wan’Dale Robinson is out for the season and James will be needed to step forward again in a very important NFC East matchup with the Commanders.

Olamide Zaccheaus

Zaccheaus is another guy to consider as a deeper play. His snap counts have consistently been at 70-plus percent since Week 9, and Zaccheaus averages 15.5 yards per reception.  He is now the clear No. 2 WR for Atlanta, and the Steelers allow the most Fantasy Points Per Game to WRs.

D.J. Chark

Here is another lower-tier nifty play at WR. Chark gets a “revenge game” against the Jaguars this week, in what should be a high-scoring matchup. He had 147 receptions for 2,042 yards and 15 TDs in 43 games (2018-21) with Jacksonville. Chark had his second TD reception of the season and he played on 73 percent of the snaps last week. The Jaguars rank 21st in FFPG allowed to WRs.

Courtland Sutton

Sutton led the Broncos with six catches for 75 yards in Week 12. He is aiming for his fourth game in a row with 5+ catches and his third in a row with 75+ rec. yards. Sutton has 52 receptions, his third career season with 50+ catches. He only has one TD reception this season on the league’s lowest-scoring offense, but Sutton has registered 12.5-plus PPR points in each of his past three games. Baltimore ranks 27th in FFPG allowed to WRs, so Sutton is capable of posting respectable fantasy numbers again this week. He is producing adequate fantasy totals despite Denver’s offensive struggles.

Quarterbacks And Tight Ends

Deshaun Watson practices for the first time as the Browns starting quarterback this regular season. #Browns pic.twitter.com/KO9Vpolxa4

— Hayden Grove (@H_Grove) November 30, 2022

Deshaun Watson

I am not recommending Watson as a fantasy starter in his Browns debut. He has missed 11 games this year and did not look good when we briefly saw him in the preseason. Watson ranks second in NFL history with a 104.5 career passer rating (min. 1,500 attempts). But his layoff from game action has been too extensive to expect him to deliver much of what we saw in the past in Week 13. Cleveland can lean on its running game against the NFL’s worst rush defense and won’t have to look to Watson for significant heroics yet. He has to get comfortable with a new team before we can raise expectations.

Justin Fields

He is off the injury report for Week 13, and Fields is expected to play despite dealing with a recent shoulder issue. As I indicated in the RBs section of this article, I am not going to sit Fields if there are no reports of any limitations. His game is to be a running QB, and my take is that if he was not able to perform as he usually would, he might be held out or would be a game-time decision. Green Bay ranks 26th in rushing yards allowed to QBs, so I will not recommend benching Fields unless you have another top 5 fantasy QB option.

Tyler Conklin

This is also a revenge game week for Conklin as he faces the Vikings. He played for Minnesota from 2018 to 2021. Conklin had three receptions for 50 yards last week and he is suddenly back on the fantasy radar again with Mike White at QB for the Jets. The Vikings have the worst pass defense in the league and rank 23rd in FFPG allowed to TEs.

Scott Engel's fantasy and betting analysis is also featured at The Game Day.

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