Dynasty Fantasy Football Six Pack: Week 13 Storylines to Watch
Welcome to week 13. Football will be played and dynasty leagues will be changed. We are entering playoff season soon. Hopefully you do not have a trade deadline. If so, it is time to make those deals.
Let’s look into six storylines for the week.
Revenge Games
There are a ton of revenge games this week. Some we will talk about later. One I wanted to note was the Dolphins vs 49ers – Mike McDaniel coming back to San Francisco. I do not know if this is a revenge game as they seemed to leave on amicable terms. But this game still has notable dynasty assets involved. McDaniel has provided Tua Tagovailoa with a scheme and playbook to support the quarterback and his weapons. For the 49ers, Christian McCaffrey is expected to play in full.
AJ Brown will play the Titans albeit in Philadelphia. He started strong but has fallen off a little over recent weeks. Meanwhile, Treylon Burks is ascending.
Battle of the Animal
In a battle of 4-7 teams, the Lions and Jaguars are in an interesting spot. Jacksonville has their franchise quarterback while Detroit is looking for one. This is a fun game:
- Trevor Lawrence continues to impress
- D’Andre Swift is not on the injury report
- Christian Kirk continues his true breakout year
- Jameson Williams has returned to practice; although my bet is he does not play this week
This matchup is intriguing to me because it appears to be two young teams turning their franchises around. One team will win, while one team will come away with a higher draft pick. Both teams will continue to build their culture, develop their players, and look forward to the 2023 season.
Must-Wins
Joe Mixon is still in concussion protocol and Ja’Marr Chase looks to return from his hip injury in week 13. Cincinnati have a critical game against the Chiefs. The Bengals are tied for first in their division and have a must-win game. On the flip side, the Ravens need to win their game against the Titans too.
The aforementioned Dolphins and 49ers both need to win, but only one will. The Dolphins need a win to tie with the Bills and the 49ers need to win to hold their division lead. If they do not, and the Seahawks beat the Rams, there will be a tie.
I know there is a lot of ‘if this happens or this happens then this will be the result’. But we are in the heat of divisional races. It is an important time for the NFL but there are dynasty tidbits to extract. Coaches may need to lean on players – we saw this in week 13’s Thursday night game with James Cook.
Pay attention to which players on must-win teams are getting the ball.
NFC North – The Future?
Justin Fields was a full participant in practice on Thursday this week. He looks to start against the Packers this week. Aaron Rodgers said he will be playing this week. If not, Jordan Love will be getting the start. This is where the questionable future tagline comes from. Rodgers is dealing with his injuries but is a tough competitor and wants to play. However, the Packers are 4-8 and it may not behoove the franchise to risk Rodgers. It should be noted the Packers could potentially make the wild card if they do win the remaining five games, this also means a few other teams losing games to make this happen.
Fields will lead this division for years to come, the Packers may need to see what they have in Love. Playing dynasty, we likely have varying opinions on Love and we have ridden this rollercoaster since he was drafted.
Odell Watch
Odell Beckham has begun his visits with the potential suitors for his talents. He visited the Giants on Thursday. He will complete his visits with the Bills and Cowboys through Monday. He was cleared to play on 11/27 so we should finally expect a decision relatively soon. Those teams’ records?
- Bills: 9-3
- Cowboys: 8-3 (game on Sunday)
- Giants: 7-4 (game on Sunday)
Beckham cares about the field, meaning he prefers grass. The Giants will have grass for the 2023 season. We all have known about the recent movement to get rid of turf because it has a higher rate of injuries compared to grass.
He has also mentioned he wants this next team to be his last – and a winner. I am not sure if he will care about his role, but if he does want to be a top option then it seems the Giants would be the choice. The Bills have Stefon Diggs and the Cowboys have CeeDee Lamb.
At the end of the day, Beckham is coming off his second ACL injury and is 30 years old. He has his Super Bowl ring and may be content with being a piece of the puzzle at this current time.
First Game Back
Deshaun Watson plays his first game in two years. The Browns quarterback will arguably have his best supporting cast. The Browns travel to Houston for this game. We have no idea what the game plan will be; run the ball with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, let Watson air it out, or have a balanced approach. Without having played in a long time, there may be some rust to shake off. I think it is fair to assume Watson has been throwing the ball to receivers over the last couple of years, but the game speed is different.
The Texans are ranked 16th in passing yards allowed and are dead last in rushing yards allowed. This may mean the Browns want to ease Watson into the system and have a game to let the run game (literally) carry them to victory.
Despite being 4-7 the Browns have an opportunity to make the playoffs. Similar to the Packers situation, they will need to win and Watson may be the spark this team needs to make the push. The Browns play in the early slate at 1pm.
Discussion
We are 13 weeks in and the best part is the dynasty season is still alive. I hope your team is in the playoff hunt and hope you add some assets to help push for the championship.
Cheers to week 13.
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