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Fantasy Football Week 13: 5 Biggest Takeaways

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Dec 4, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears defensive end Akiem Hicks (96) knocks the ball away from San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) during the second half at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

The five biggest fantasy football takeaways from Week 13 of the 2016 NFL season.

Let’s not pretend like Week 13 was “just another week” when it comes to fantasy football. A lot of owners hopes and dreams were extended for another week, while others had theirs crushed. It’s sad to say and hard to believe, but yes; many owners’ fantasy football seasons are officially over.

Just like most weeks, it would be easy to look at every player on every team and see what players underperformed and what players inexplicably scored more points that anyone could have ever imagined, but I’m not going to do that. Instead, we will look at which dominant players really let their owners down and which players we need to pay attention to moving forward for those in the playoffs.

Here are the five biggest fantasy football takeaways from Week 13.

Dec 13, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Seattle Seahawks running back Thomas Rawls (34) is tented to by medical personal during the first quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

5. Get Your Handcuffs

It’s playoff time so that means you better have your handcuffs on your bench. As we saw yesterday, plenty of owners came very close to losing their RB1/2’s to injuries.

Houston Texans running back Lamar Miller left yesterday’s game with a rib injury. New Orleans Saints running back Mark Ingram aggravated his toe injury. Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin missed the end of the game with an injury. Seattle Seahawks running back Thomas Rawls missed some time after being looked at for a possible concussion.

All of these running backs either returned to game-action and/or appeared to have only suffered minor injuries. However, this is a reminder to fantasy owners that any running back can go down at any moment. There are no more bye weeks, so you can dump your fifth wide receiver and/or running back. At this point, it’s not about having a deep bench. Instead, it’s about having your insurance policies in order.

Dec 4, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Ladarius Green (89) runs the ball against the New York Giants during the first half at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Jason Bridge-USA TODAY Sports

4. Ladarius Green Finally Emerges

This one might be a tad personal for me because I loved the Pittsburgh Steelers signing of Ladarius Green back in March. Ben Roethlisberger and offensive coordinator Todd Haley never had a tight end as athletic and dangerous as Green. The thought was, with defenses forced to game plan against Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell, Green would get plenty of one-on-one opportunities. However, due to some bizarre ankle and/or head injuries, Green has been nonexistent for most of 2016.

He didn’t play in the team’s first eight games of the season and when he finally did get on the field, it wasn’t for many snaps. According to Pro Football Reference, Green only played in on 34 snaps between Weeks 10-12. In those 34 snaps he only combined for five receptions for 97 yards. From a fantasy standpoint it looked like 2016 was going to be a lost season for Green. That was until Week 13.

In Sunday’s game against the New York Giants, Green led the team in targets (11), receiving yards (110) and tied for the most receptions (6) and receiving touchdowns (1). Going into Monday Night Football, he currently ranks as the second-highest scoring tight end in Week 13. If you’re an owner who lost Rob Gronkowski or simply needs an upgrade, Green is the guy to target on the waiver-wire, because he is now a TE1.

3. Kaepernick Killed Some Owners

There were plenty of owners out there who put their fantasy football playoff hopes in the hands of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and rightfully so. The guy was averaging nearly 21 fantasy points per week in his six starts this season. Last week, he tied Drew Brees as the No. 1 fantasy quarterback for Week 12. Of course, owners should have started him yesterday against the Chicago Bears. As we all know now, it didn’t work out as we thought it would.

Kaepernick finished going 1-of-5 for four yards with six carries for 20 yards. That comes out to just two fantasy points. 27 other quarterbacks finished with a better fantasy day and we still have two quarterbacks left to play on Monday Night Football. I’m going to go out on a limb and say both of those quarterbacks put up at least three fantasy points. As a result, Kaepernick will finish as the worst fantasy quarterback for Week 13 out of all 30 starters (“Derek Anderson started for the Panthers!” Yeah, I’m not going to count that.)

I know this doesn’t make owners feel any better but just because it didn’t work out doesn’t mean it was the wrong decision. It just simply didn’t work out. Hell, Drew Brees, who I just mentioned was the No. 1 fantasy quarterback last week and for the entire 2016 season heading into Week 13, finished with a measly seven points. Were you honestly supposed to start Joe Flacco or Brock Osweiler over him? Absolutely not.

This unfortunately, is just fantasy football in a nutshell.

Dec 4, 2016; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell (19) is tackled by Los Angeles Rams defensive back Michael Jordan (35) during the second quarter at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

2. Malcolm Mitchell Could Be Gold

Last year the Seattle Seahawks had a rookie wide receiver by the name of Tyler Lockett. In the first nine games of the season, he didn’t do much. At that point in the season he only had 21 receptions and was averaging just over four fantasy points per week. He only had one receiving touchdown on the season and only had one game with at least five receptions. Then in Weeks 11-17, he really picked it up.

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The rookie finished the last seven games of the season with 30 receptions and averaged 9.5 fantasy points per week. He had five touchdown receptions and had three games with five-or-more receptions. The WR3’s late season run helped some fantasy owners make the playoffs and win some games in the process. It wasn’t a coincidence he had his first six-reception game, seven-reception game and 100-yard receiving game after the Seahawks tight end, Jimmy Graham, missed the rest of the season with a knee injury.

This year, Patriots rookie wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell is poised to do the same thing.

Over the last three games without Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, Mitchell has combined for 17 receptions, 222 yards and three touchdowns on 22 targets. On Sunday, he set a season and career high in targets (10) and receptions (8). Although Mitchell doesn’t possess the same game-breaking ability as Lockett, his ceiling appears to be higher due to the Patriots pass-first offense. To give you an idea how big his ceiling is, in 2015 DeAndre Hopkins was the sixth-best fantasy wide reciever and he averaged 13.2 fantasy points per week. Mitchell is averaging 13 fantasy points per week over the last three games.

Dec 4, 2016; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) gets up after being sacked by Detroit Lions defensive end Devin Taylor (98) during the second half at Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Detroit defeated New Orleans 28-13. Mandatory Credit: Crystal LoGiudice-USA TODAY Sports

1. Saints Offense Implodes

Nobody should ever have to tell you to start your Saints players. At the very least, nobody should have to convince you to start Drew Brees. The guy leads the NFL in touchdowns and passing yards and, going into Sunday, he was fantasy football’s No. 1 quarterback. Unfortunately, Brees and the entire Saints offense as a whole, had their worst game of the season.

Brees finished with zero touchdowns, three interceptions and seven fantasy points. It was his worst game of the fantasy season. Saints running back Mark Ingram finished 53 total yards and four fantasy points. This game is tied for his second-worst of the fantasy season.

Since Tim Hightower was integrated into the Saints offense in Week 8, he has never had a game with less than 10 touches or 55 total yards. Yesterday, he finished with three touches for nine yards and zero fantasy points. Rookie wide receiver Michael Thomas‘ 42 receiving yards and four fantasy points was the second-lowest he’s had in 2016.

Wide receiver Willie Snead‘s two receptions was the lowest he’s had in a game this season since Week 4. His three fantasy points was tied for the third-lowest of the 2016 season.

Up to this point, there couldn’t have been a worse time for this kind of game from the Saints and, as a result, a lot of owners fantasy season has come to a crushing end. Yet, in case you made the fantasy playoffs despite Drew Brees and the Saints low fantasy football output yesterday, you are starting most of them against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next week.

Do yourself a favor and don’t overthink it.

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