Even if Week 13 is a bit more stable than what we just experienced in Week 12, there is the ever-present injury news and late-season decisions to be made by organizations. These decisions directly impact us, as well. The good news is that the nature of this week’s matchups point us in a few directions that are relatively easy to follow.
Based on our expected Week 13 DFS game flow analysis and Week 13 Games to Target published earlier, we can carry our thoughts into actual lineup positions. The long list of players that fit the requirements set forth by the projected flow of the game was cut dramatically by the requirements set forth by salaries.
Below are Sporfolio’s DFS Week 13 Plays:
Quarterback
Kyler Muray – Kyler Murray generally finds his way into daily fantasy lineups on a regular basis because of the upside that he brings via his legs. His floor is as high as any quarterback we have seen in the last few years, and his ceiling is potentially endless — the more he runs, the more valuable his yards become. Against an excellent Los Angeles Rams defense, however, the ceiling appears capped. Not so fast. The Rams’ defense has, indeed, been great in 2020, but its lone letdown came against the Bills. In that game, quarterback Josh Allen — who also thrives when running — tossed four touchdowns and ran another one into the endzone. The Rams’ offense should have no trouble scoring, and that puts the ball back into Murray’s hands with an avenue for success.
Philip Rivers – We’ve turned to quarterback Philip Rivers in select bursts over the course of the 2020 season, and “select” is the appropriate word for his matchup against the Houston Texans. The Indianapolis Colts have finally started churning out points at an excellent rate, and they will now face a Texans defense that ranks third-worst in yards-per-game. More specifically, Houston has allowed at least 400 yards in two-of-its-three prior divisional games. The Colts do spread the ball around on offense, Rivers serves as an excellent way to gain exposure to Indianapolis without pinpointing a specific pass-catcher.
Sam Darnold – It may seem crazy, but here we are continuing to advocate for rostering players on the New York Jets. In a week loaded with elite high-priced options, finding cheap players is a necessity, and Sam Darnold checks a lot of boxes. For starters, we have high expectations on a good game from the Raiders offense, so the game flow should be in favor of heavy volume for Darnold. Aside from the right game flow, Darnold also has a positive matchup as well. With the exception of one poor weather game against the Browns, the Raiders’ defense has allowed over 300 total yards in every single game this season. On top of that, it ranks 27th in the league in total passing yards allowed, so the matchup really could not be much better. Given his price, his matchup and the projected game flow, Darnold makes a lot of sense this week especially given the fact that for one of the first times this season, he and his full complement of wide receivers are healthy.