Fantasy Stat Pack: Week Fourteen
If you follow me on Twitter, you’ve probably noticed a series of tweets I share on a weekly basis regarding player and team defensive performances, all from a fantasy lens. I’m going to be sharing some of that same information with you here.
I use this each week as I am making my own lineup and waiver wire decisions and thought you might find this valuable as well.
Note: The scoring system used for this data is always PPR with four points for passing touchdowns.
All year to date fantasy ranks are based on total points.
Quarterbacks
Week Thirteen QB1s (top 12 scorers)
QB1 Patrick Mahomes, KC
QB2 Josh Allen, BUF
QB3 Russell Wilson, SEA
QB4 Derek Carr, OAK
QB5 Philip Rivers, LAC
QB6 Jameis Winston, TB
QB7 Nick Mullens, SF
QB8 Marcus Mariota, TEN
QB9 Carson Wentz, PHI
QB10 Ben Roethlisberger, PIT
QB11 Lamar Jackson, BAL
QB12 Deshaun Watson, HOU
For the second straight week, Bills rookie Josh Allen is a top-five fantasy quarterback, making him an intriguing option for the rest of the season and spiking his dynasty value. Derek Carr and Nick Mullens posted what feel like fluky performances, while rookie Lamar Jackson finally cracked the top 12 after flirting with it the first two starts of his career.
Year to Date QB1s
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QB1 Patrick Mahomes, KC
QB2 Drew Brees, NO
QB3 Cam Newton, CAR
QB4 Ben Roethlisberger, PIT
QB5 Matt Ryan, ATL
QB6 Jared Goff, LAR
QB7 Andrew Luck, IND
QB8 Philip Rivers, LAC
QB9 Russell Wilson, SEA
QB10 Aaron Rodgers, GB
QB11 Deshaun Watson, HOU
QB12 Kirk Cousins, MIN
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger jumps from QB6 to QB4 on the strength of his big game while Falcons veteran Matt Ryan fell from QB3 to QB5. The injury finally caught up to Bears Mitch Trubisky, who fell out of the QB1 range and Russell Wilson, thanks to six straight QB1 games, moves into the top twelve scorers.
QB1 Games this Season
10 Patrick Mahomes
9 Andrew Luck
8 Ben Roethlisberger, Cam Newton, Deshaun Watson, Matt Ryan, Russell Wilson
7 Jared Goff, Philip Rivers
6 Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Kirk Cousins
Most QB1 Games Allowed
8 ATL, TB
7 CIN, KC, WAS
6 NE, NO, PHI, PIT, SF
5 CAR, CLE, DEN, JAX, LAR, NYJ, OAK
4 ARI, BAL, CHI, DET, GB, IND, LAC, MIA, SEA, TEN
3 BUF, DAL, HOU, MIN, NYG
NFC South squads Atlanta and Tampa Bay sit atop this list and remain easy targets for fantasy players when choosing quarterbacks. With a new head coach on the sidelines, Packers superstar Aaron Rodgers must be drooling at the sight of the Falcons defense. As if you needed more of a reason to start Drew Brees in the fantasy playoffs, he gets to face the Buccaneers defense. The only slight concern is he’s doing it on the road. In Week One, Brees ripped this defense for a QB2 finish.
Philip Rivers (vs. CIN), Lamar Jackson (vs. KC) and…gulp…Eli Manning (vs. WAS) all have nice matchups as well.
Five teams have allowed just three QB1 games this season, which is tied for the best in the league. Digging into the timing of some of these top fantasy performances sheds more light on our decisions. The Vikings haven’t given up a QB1 game since a three-game early season stretch that concluded in Week Five. This week, the face the red-hot Russell Wilson in Seattle. Advantage, Russ.
The Giants (vs. Mark Sanchez) and Bills (vs. Sam Darnold or Josh McCown) haven’t given up a QB1 game since Week Seven are should continue that streak in this week’s soft matchups. Finally, the pair of Texas-based teams, Houston and Dallas, have spread out their QB1 games but face difficult matchups this week. Dallas hosts quarterback Carson Wentz and the Eagles while the Colts and Andrew Luck travel to Houston looking to bounce back from last week’s stinker. The Texans defensive numbers have been masked by a weak as water schedule, so don’t be scared off of Luck this week.
Running Backs
Week Thirteen RB1s (top 12 scorers)
RB1 Tarik Cohen, CHI
RB2 Todd Gurley, LAR
RB3 Christian McCaffrey, CAR
RB4 Phillip Lindsay, DEN
RB5 Ezekiel Elliott, DAL
RB6 James Conner, PIT
RB7 Chase Edmonds, ARI
RB8 Jeff Wilson, SF
RB9 James White, NE
RB10 Dalvin Cook, MIN
RB11 Saquon Barkley, NYG
RB12 Nick Chubb, CLE
Bears pass-catching back Tarik Cohen exploded for an overall RB1 game as his team tried to come back against the Giants, and nearly succeeded. Many other top backs stayed hot last week but the names that stand out are clearly Cardinals rookie backup Chase Edmonds, who scored twice, and little-known Jeff Wilson. When starting back Matt Breida was injured for the 49ers, Wilson took advantage, serving as a weapon in the running game and as a receiver. Breida has already been ruled out for Week Fourteen.
Year to Date RB1s
RB1 Todd Gurley, LAR
RB2 Saquon Barkley, NYG
RB3 Christian McCaffrey, CAR
RB4 Alvin Kamara, NO
RB5 James Conner, PIT
RB6 Ezekiel Elliott, DAL
RB7 Melvin Gordon, LAC
RB8 James White, NE
RB9 Kareem Hunt, KC
RB10 Tarik Cohen, CHI
RB11 Phillip Lindsay, DEN
RB12 David Johnson, ARI
The injury to Chargers back Melvin Gordon cost him a couple of spots in the season-long rankings as he fell from RB5 to RB7. David Johnson (RB10 to RB12) and Joe Mixon (RB12 to out of top 12) also saw small drops. The career-best game for Cohen pushes him inside the RB1 range as the RB10.
RB1 Games this Season
11 Todd Gurley
10
9 Saquon Barkley, Melvin Gordon
8 Christian McCaffrey, Alvin Kamara
7 Ezekiel Elliott, James Conner
6 James White
5 Kareem Hunt, Joe Mixon, Kenyan Drake
Most RB1 Games Allowed
9 ATL, CIN
8 KC, MIA
7 ARI, NYG
6 CLE, DET, IND, SEA, TB
5 BUF, DEN, HOU, LAC, PHI
4 CHI, NYJ, OAK
3 CAR, DAL, GB, JAX, MIN, NE, NO, PIT, SF, WAS
2 BAL, LAR, TEN
The Falcons and Bengals have each allowed nine RB1 games on the season. That should be great news for Packers back Aaron Jones, assuming he can reclaim the bulk of the backfield work from Jamaal Williams. Also, the Bengals pose a nice matchup for the Chargers backfield though Melvin Gordon is likely to miss another game. That puts both Justin Jackson and Austin Ekeler in play for this first week of the fantasy playoffs.
The Chiefs (vs. Gus Edwards), Dolphins (vs. Sony Michel & James White), Cardinals (vs. LeGarrette Blount) and Giants (vs. Adrian Peterson) are each near the top of this list as well, giving the running backs mentioned here favorable matchups.
With only two RB1 games allowed all season, the Ravens, Rams and Titans each pose difficult matchups for opposing running backs. This weeks that means Spencer Ware (vs. BAL), Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen (vs. LAR) and Leonard Fournette (vs. TEN) should be downgraded. With that said, I’ll still be rolling out Fournette and Cohen in my lineups.
Wide Receivers
Week Thirteen WR1s (top 12 scorers)
WR1 Keenan Allen, LAC
WR2 Antonio Brown, PIT
WR3 Dante Pettis, SF
WR4 Zay Jones, BUF
WR5 Golden Tate, PHI
WR6 Davante Adams, GB
WR7 Jaron Brown, SEA
WR8 Chris Godwin, TB
WR9 Jordy Nelson, OAK
WR10 Adam Humphries, TB
WR11 Robert Woods, LAR
WR12 Courtland Sutton, DEN
Fantasy owners came away from Week Twelve frustrated with the wide receiver position as a whole. Some of the season’s best and most consistent wideouts were complete flops and the top 12 included surprises like Zay Jones, Dante Pettis, Jaron Brown, Jordy Nelson and Adam Humphries. With DeSean Jackson expected to miss more time and Emmanuel Sanders done for the year, we should get used to seeing the Bucs wideouts and Courtland Sutton on these lists.
Year to Date WR1s
WR1 Adam Thielen, MIN
WR2 Davante Adams, GB
WR3 Antonio Brown, PIT
WR4 Tyreek Hill, KC
WR5 Michael Thomas, NO
WR6 DeAnre Hopkins, HOU
WR7 Julio Jones, ATL
WR8 Odell Beckham, NYG
WR9 Juju Smith-Schuster, PIT
WR10 Keenan Allen, LAC
WR11 Mike Evans, TB
WR12 Stefon Diggs, MIN
Those Week Thirteen busts I mentioned above led to a lot of moving and shaking among the season-long ranks. Tyreek Hill fell from WR2 to WR4, Julio Jones also dropped two spots from WR5 to WR7 and Sanders fell out of the WR1 group altogether and now we know he won’t return. Antonio Brown moved up from WR6 to WR3 as the biggest riser and Keenan Allen jumped into the WR1 group with his huge Sunday night game.
WR1 Games this Season
8 Adam Thielen
7 Antonio Brown, Julio Jones
6 Michael Thomas, Stefon Diggs
5 Davante Adams, DeAndre Hopkins, Odell Beckham, Keenan Allen, Mike Evans, Tyreek Hill
4 Emmanuel Sanders, Tyler Boyd, Brandin Cooks
Most WR1 Games Allowed
11 NO
10 CAR
9
8 GB, TB
7 CLE, DET, LAR, PHI, SEA
6 ARI, CIN, TEN, WAS
5 ATL, DEN, MIA
4 CHI, KC, NYJ, PIT, SF
3 DAL, JAX, LAC, NE, NYG
2 BAL, BUF, MIN, OAK
1 HOU, IND
As they’ve done for much of the year, NFC South teams dominate this list. The Saints, Panthers and Buccaneers are three of the four worst teams when it comes to allowing WR1 performances. With the Saints and Bucs facing off this weekend, there could be fireworks. Every wideout in that game should be considered, including the obvious calls like Mike Evans and Michael Thomas but also including Chris Godwin, Adam Humphries and Tre’Quan Smith.
The Panthers travel to Cleveland, which could mean a second straight big game for veteran receiver Jarvis Landry, who broke his cold streak last week. Also, the Packers poor pass defense should allow Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley to bounce back from their subpar performance last week.
Tight Ends
Week Thirteen TE1s (top 12 scorers)
TE1 Travis Kelce, KC
TE2 Jared Cook, OAK
TE3 Zach Ertz, PHI
TE4 Austin Hooper, ATL
TE5 Eric Ebron, IND
TE6 Anthony Firkser, TEN
TE7 Levine Toilolo, DET
TE7 George Kittle, SF
TE7 Kyle Rudolph, MIN
TE10 Demetrius Harris, KC
TE11 Jordan Thomas, HOU
TE12 Ian Thomas, CAR
As has been the theme all year long, the tight end spot in Week Thirteen was a complete head-scratcher, with names like Anthony Firkser, Levin Toilolo and Demetrius Harris among the TE1s for the week. Panthers rookie Ian Thomas is no fluke though and he will be taking over for the injured Greg Olsen, who is out for the year with yet another foot injury.
Year to Date TE1s
TE1 Travis Kelce, KC
TE2 Zach Ertz, PHI
TE3 Eric Ebron, IND
TE4 George Kittle, SF
TE5 Jared Cook, OAK
TE6 Austin Hooper, ATL
TE7 OJ Howard, TB
TE8 Jordan Reed, WAS
TE9 Trey Burton, CHI
TE10 Jimmy Graham, GB
TE11 David Njoku, CLE
TE12 Kyle Rudolph, MIN
We’ve seen little change on this list all season. Travis Kelce, Zach Ertz, Eric Ebron and George Kittle long ago established themselves as the top weekly options. If you don’t have one of those four locks, you’re completely focused on matchups to make your upside call.
TE1 Games this Season
11 Zach Ertz
10 Travis Kelce
9 Eric Ebron, George Kittle
8
7 OJ Howard
6 Jimmy Graham, Trey Burton
5 Austin Hooper, Jared Cook
Most TE1 Games Allowed
10 TB
9 KC
8 CAR
7 IND, NE
6 ATL, CIN, CLE, DAL, HOU, JAX, OAK, PIT
5 ARI, CHI, DET, LAR, MIA
4 BAL, DEN, LAC, MIN, NYG, SF, WAS
3 BUF, GB, NYJ, SEA
2
1 PHI, TEN
0 NO
Many of the same defenses we’ve discussed at other positions and in other weeks are also targets at the tight end spot. That means solid matchups for tight end David Njoku (vs. CAR) but the other options facing the Bucs, Chiefs, Colts and Patriots are just too shaky to risk during the fantasy playoffs.
The Saints have yet to allow a TE1 game all season, though they could be tested this week by Buccaneers tight end Cameron Brate. I would’ve felt much better about this if OJ Howard were still healthy. The Eagles (vs. Dallas) and Titans (vs. Jaguars) will certainly keep their hot streak going against these teams who don’t feature their tight ends.
Finally, here’s the full defensive chart you might’ve already seen on Twitter.
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