Week 13 of the Fantasy Football season has arrived and it's time to dive into five matchups to target in this slate. Each position presents one player in fantasy leagues to consider starting or streaming if available for the week.
All stats and data are sourced from PFF and Sports Info Solutions. Rostered percentages are sourced from Yahoo Fantasy leagues.
San Francisco 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo - 59% rostered
As we all know, Garoppolo is quite a nice punching bag for those who watch football. But brushing that aside, he's been a wildly steady fantasy football option throughout the majority of this season. Since taking over in Week 2, Jimmy G has topped 15 fantasy points in seven of his 10 games. His most recent weeks aren't his best, with just a 13.3-point and 15.9-point performance in two of his last three games, though Garoppolo has a clutch matchup against the Miami Dolphins coming up in Week 13.
Just two defenses have allowed more fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks than the Dolphins. They've allowed the 13th-most passing yards and passing touchdowns, though they've been better in yards per coverage snap, ranking 18th in that metric league-wide.
Houston Texans RB Dameon Pierce - 96% rostered
Pierce is obviously widely rostered and he should be — he's been an absolute stud all season. But, the rookie has struggled mightily the past two weeks, totaling just eight fantasy points in both games combined. Pierce has just 16 rushing yards in totality over the past two weeks.
Yet still, I'm suggesting Pierce remain in your lineups heading into this week because of his juicy matchup against the Cleveland Browns. Just one team — the Texans — allows more fantasy points to opposing running backs this season. Cleveland ranks 12th in rushing yards allowed, third in rushing touchdowns allowed, and 11th in yards after contact (YAC) per attempt. Oddly enough, Pierce excels at breaking tackles as he ranks eighth in broken + missed tackle percentage per attempt among all running backs.
New York Jets WR Garrett Wilson - 82% rostered
The Jets were slowly becoming almost an unstartable offense under Zach Wilson though the switch to Mike White made a noticeable difference. The good news heading into this week is that White will once again start.
One of the biggest beneficiaries of the switch was Wilson, who has the pedigree to explode moving forward throughout the rest of the season. Sure, Wilson likely won't score two touchdowns and 26.4 fantasy points consistently, but we are talking about a former first-round pick who's scored 17 or more points in three of his last four games and has topped 90 receiving yards twice over the same stretch.
Wilson's matchup against the Minnesota Vikings is a fruitful one that should be taken advantage of. The Vikings allow the fifth-most fantasy points to the position, but Wilson in specific is projected to line up against a lackluster cornerback in Akayleb Evans. Just one cornerback is allowing more fantasy points per route than Evans. Wilson has top-10 upside at the position this week.
Dallas Cowboys TE Dalton Schultz - 97% rostered
The tight end position continues to be shaky this season and Schultz doesn't stray far from that narrative. He's coming off a season-best 19.1-point performance on the back of two touchdowns, though his matchup this week is worthy of a start, regardless of how he performed last week.
Schultz's main coverage defender — Bobby Okereke — has allowed the sixth-most yards per coverage snap to tight ends among all qualifying defenders this season. The Colts as a whole haven't performed much better, allowing the 12th-most yards and ninth-most touchdowns to opposing tight ends.
Seattle Seahawks D/ST - 69% rostered
The Seahawks get the pleasure of playing the Los Angeles Rams in Week 13. Sure, the Rams will be starting John Wolford this week instead of Bryce Perkins, but the Kansas City Chiefs were able to put together an 11-point performance against the Rams last week. The Rams are still without Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp, and Allen Robinson. This is a great matchup to take advantage of.