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Unexpected fantasy football performances and waiver wire sleepers and trade targets for Week 13 (2023). Will these NFL players sustain their Week 12 success?
Happy Week 13 and hope everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Luckily, some games managed to come close to the food quality with some entertaining matchups that went down to the wire.
However, as is customary with most weeks this season, there were also a few dreadful matchups. To anyone who had the misfortune of watching the New York Giants take on the New England Patriots, I empathize with you.
With a mixture of good and bad play, some unexpected boom performances sprouted up as well. Some of these were pretty solid, so there is the possibility that these guys break out down the stretch. Before I babble on any longer, let’s get into this week’s boom performances.
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Surprise Fantasy Football Performances
Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers
One of the most surprising outcomes of the Thanksgiving slate was the Green Bay Packers taking down the Detroit Lions. Now, a few years ago that would’ve been the expected outcome, but the roles have flipped this season with the Lions breaking out.
But in Week 12, the roles seemed to revert as Green Bay looked strong behind the impressive play of their quarterback Jordan Love. After struggling for most of the season, things have picked up lately for the first-year starter as he’s looking like the player the Packers drafted him to be.
During a win over the Lions on Thanksgiving, Love completed 22 of 32 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns along with three carries for 39 yards. That impressive stat line resulted in 26.62 fantasy points, making Love the QB3 in Week 12.
This could be the start of something special for the Packers quarterback. Although he failed to meet the high expectations out of the gate, he’s been putting things together. If available, he could be a high-reward option off waivers for QB-needy rosters heading into Week 13.
Rashee Rice, Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs have desperately needed some consistency at wide receiver this season. A team that employs the best quarterback in the NFL should at least have some adequate weapons to throw to, and outside of tight end Travis Kelce, there’s been slim pickings in Kansas City.
But in Week 12, they may have found their guy. Rookie wide receiver Rashee Rice has been flirting with a big outing for most of the year, and he finally had a big one against the Las Vegas Raiders.
During the Chiefs’ win, Rice caught eight of 10 targets for 107 yards and a touchdown. His career day led to 20.7 half-PPR points, making him this week’s WR3.
Rice is almost certainly rostered in most leagues, so this isn’t a player you should have the luxury of claiming off of waivers. However, if you have him, there is the chance he moves into every week starter territory considering he’s the only wide receiver in Kansas City who’s flashed throughout the season.
This offense is a sleeping giant, and Rice could be the perfect weapon to wake it up.
Jalin Hyatt, New York Giants
While you may have been averting your eyes from the worst game on the Week 12 slate, there was a slight breakout performance that many have been waiting for this season. Rookie wide receiver Jalin Hyatt has been pretty quiet since being covered heavily during the draft season.
With the Giants being such a disaster for most of the year, it’s been hard for the speedster to stack up solid performances. However, in Week 12, he finally had some real success.
During a win over the New England Patriots, Hyatt caught five of six targets for 109 yards. Along with his first 100-yard outing in the NFL, he was able to rack up 13.4 half-PPR fantasy points, making him the WR23 this week.
It’s going to be hard to trust Hyatt as a consistent option on a weekly basis, especially in this offense. But that shouldn’t discourage you from picking him up off of waivers. Hyatt is a low-risk option who could pay off considering his big play upside.
Christian Watson, Green Bay Packers
In addition to Jordan Love’s great day, second-year wide receiver Christian Watson finally had the performance people had come to expect of him. After his strong rookie season, many thought Watson would be a true breakout candidate in 2023.
Unfortunately, he’s disappointed for the most part as both injuries and an inexperienced offense have combined to put a damper on his sophomore season. This week, however, we got to see some of what made him so special last year.
During Green Bay’s upset win over Detroit, Watson caught five of seven targets for 94 yards and a touchdown. That outing resulted in 17.9 half-PPR fantasy points and a WR10 finish.
With this offense finally clicking, there is the chance that Watson ends up taking off during the final stretch of the season. The Packers have some solid matchups coming up, so if you held onto the second-year receiver this whole time, your patience may pay off after all.
Tyler Higbee, Los Angeles Rams
With a solid matchup against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 12, many were counting on Los Angeles Rams skill position players to get them through the week. Considering the Rams put up 37 points, you’d expect at least one of their two stud receivers, Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, to go off right?
Wrong, but tight end Tyler Higbee had a solid outing at least. Higbee has always been a player who seems like he does better than he actually does, and today wasn’t much different other than a couple of factors.
Against the Cardinals, Higbee caught all five of his targets for 29 yards and two touchdowns. His solid end zone role led to 17.4 half-PPR fantasy points, making him the TE1 in Week 12.
There really isn’t much to say when it comes to Higbee’s performance other than the two touchdowns being a nice bonus to what normally would’ve been a ho-hum day. He’s a name you can pick up off of waivers, but try to not expect two touchdown outings every week.
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