Week 13 fantasy football rankings are here, along with a new fun list to argue. While trade deadlines have passed, debates roll on, and with Marvel’s Phase 4 wrapped up (and Christmas specials on their way), it’s time to rank Marvel stuff. Don’t worry, I still have your sleepers, starts and sits… and don’t forget!… check the 101 piece below for all the weather, wait/risk start questions and more before dropping in those questions.
#CheckTheLink-age
Waivers | Strength of Schedule Ranks
Fantasy Football 101 (starts, sits, trading, more)
All in Football (video pod)
2022 Week 13 Fantasy Football Sleepers
🚨 HEADS UP 🚨 These are sleepers. They will not mimic my rankings 100%. This is chasing upside and often carries more risk.
QUARTERBACK
POSSIBLY START: Trevor Lawrence, JAX — First, the Lions give up 3.3 more FPPG than any other team. Yes, part of that is due to the rushing touchdowns allowed (six), but that includes a rushing score for Geno Smith, Daniel Jones and Josh Allen. Every game in which Lawrence has completed at least 70% of his passes has resulted in 16.7+ points. The one game where Lawrence hit 18.7 points but failed to hit that completion mark (51.2%) came with a rushing touchdown against the Giants. The Lions are top-half of the league in allowing quarterback completions (64.7%) and are more likely to end up in a high-scoring affair at home.
RUNNING BACK
POSSIBLY START: Dameon Pierce, HOU — As mentioned in waivers, it’s Infinity Duck time. The worry can’t get worse, but if there is a get-right game, it’s against the Browns. Only the Bengals failed to have a double-digit running back score against the Browns, who have the highest APA for the position. They also lead the league in rushing yards (1,592) and rushing touchdowns (14) allowed. If Pierce can’t finish Top 20 in Week 13, he’s done.
HAIL MARY START: Kyren Williams, LAR — The Seahawks are another good matchup — just ask Josh Jacobs. Even before that, Leonard Fournette and Rachaad White had no problems running on the Seahawks, and the Seahawks have allowed the second-most receiving yards to running backs. Williams had 70.9% of the snaps in Week 12, but more importantly, 61.5% of the passing downs to just 37.5% for Cam Akers.
WIDE RECEIVER
POSSIBLY START: Allen Lazard, GB — Even with a line of just 3-2-24 in Week 12, Lazard still had the highest Snap% (100) and Route% (96.4) of all receivers and tight ends. Christian Watson’s breakout is definitely hurting Lazard a bit, but the Bears matchup is far from worrisome. The only issue is that some teams haven’t passed as much due to the ease of beating the Bears. That’s the other reason Lazard is a possible/sleeper start and not in the Top 30 guaranteed range. Mike White had no issues against the Bears last week, finding Garrett Wilson and Elijah Moore for a combined three touchdowns, and that’s the hope we can have for a Lazard touchdown, even with Watson getting his.
POSSIBLY START: Diontae Johnson, PIT — Johnson is still 25th in TmTGT% (24.9) and eighth in targets (94) among all wideouts. It hasn’t resulted in a touchdown… or even 85 yards. That’s the new Johnson… the old Jakobi Meyers? And it’s why DiontBAE is just a DiontMAY…be… start. On top of that, the Falcons can speed up the clock due to constantly running the ball, so the opportunity for 10 targets might be slim. Nevertheless, most receivers with 8+ targets against the Falcons have put up a Top 30 day… most.
HAIL MARY START: D.J. Chark, DET — Chark has played in five games, and just four with at least 65% of the snaps (just 15.9% in Week 11, first game back from Week 3 injury). In the four games, Chark has a 16.1 TmTGT% for a combined 23-9-114-2, and 13.2, 0.0, 6.1 and 8.6 points, respectively. As mentioned with Lawrence, this can be a sneaky high-scoring affair, especially with Jared Goff being better at home. Chark is worth a deep flier play for a touchdown.
TIGHT END
HAIL MARY START: David Njoku, CLE — Honestly, just play Njoku. Since Week 3, Njoku has just three single-digit scores compared to four double-digit games, with two of the single-digit efforts still netting 7.3 and 9.2, and the other being his first game back and limited. Even with that limited game and missed time, Njoku is TE8 since Week 3 and fifth in FPPG. Oh, and he gets a matchup with the Texans this week.
Fun with Rankings!
Ranking Marvel Phase 4
With Marvel Phase 4 wrapped up now that The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special has aired — and it starts Christmas watching season too — I figured, “Why not rank all of Marvel’s Phase 4?” Well, you could argue against it since it was a lot of “meh,” but we’ll have fun arguing the ranks anyway, right? It’s essentially the tight end position of TV/movies — a couple of great ones and a lot of, eh, I guess so.
- Spider-Man: No Way Home — Travis Kelce of Phase 4. It’s this and then everything else, as No Way Home is the best superhero movie to date.
- Loki — Terrific. This is how you plant seeds and make a Marvel series.
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — Dramaction? Great and tasteful transition. My main issue is outside of introducing Namor, the new Black Panther, and Ironheart (which they didn’t even say her name), nothing develops outside of potential future tie-ins.
- WandaVision — Sure, later episodes explain some of the first few, but man, the first three episodes — and arguably some of the finale — give this show a low floor despite the high ceiling. It’s Gabe Davis.
- The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special — Ties up some threads, checks in on everyone, and has some good laughs. Add it to your Christmas movie list.
- Thor: Love and Thunder — I understand the hate, I just don’t agree with most of it. Is it a throwaway Marvel movie? Sure, but most of Phase 4 was somewhat throwaway and loosely tied. It was still fun.
- Hawkeye — It’s Die Hard as a superhero show… and more Christmas than Die Hard is. Why the hate?
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness — Some redundancy from WandaVision for Wanda, but even so, and with the love-it-or-hate-it music scene (I hated it) and focus more on Wanda than Dr. Strange, this movie was a good one.
- What If…? — Teased us with the Dr. Strange episode (that it could be a big part of the movie’s plot), but we got superhero zombies and more interesting “what if’s.”
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings — Another fun movie, even with an over-the-top, CGI-fest of an ending (and too much Awkwafina).
- Black Widow — Due to release timing (pushed back), it’s misplaced in the overall story arc. Still a decent mix from the norm with more spy-ish stuff.
- I Am Groot — Short fun… though, one episode is pretty dark.
- Werewolf by Night — I have a feeling some loved it. It was okay. Similar to the GotG special, a themed (Halloween) short film that’s fine for what it is.
- Falcon and the Winter Soldier — Pretty meh. I could just tell you Sam Wilson is the new Captain America… which you probably already knew and assumed.
- Moon Knight — As messy as it was trying to work your way through the plot. As with a lot of Phase 4, credit to Marvel for trying new things, but this feels like one that didn’t “stick” to the wall.
- She-Hulk: Attorney at Law — Speaking of trying new things… I’m not even sure She-Hulk knew what it wanted to be, or try, from episode to episode. Just watch this instead.
- Ms. Marvel — I tried. Really tried. I couldn’t even finish this though, and sure, it probably works to get teens invested in Marvel material, but I’m long past that demographic. Get off my lawn!
- Eternals — Woof. Cool effects and action, but… that’s it.
Week 13 Fantasy Football Projections
🚨 HEADS UP 🚨 These can differ from my rankings, and my ranks are the order I’d start players outside of added context, such as, “Need highest upside, even if risky.” Also, based on 4-point TDs for QB, 6-point rest, and Half-PPR
Projections Download Link
***These are NOT updated Sunday morning, FYI***
Week 13 Fantasy Football Rankings
🚨 HEADS UP 🚨
- We found a solution to the rankings widget issue by using Fantasy Nation (via Football Diehards). All three scorings work and are editable by me (unlike before), and the widget will let you scroll on Android (browser) without using two fingers! YAY!
- Updated regularly, so check all the way up to lineups locking.
(Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)