Getty Sam Darnold of the New York Jets
Welcome to Fantasy Football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em for Week 13 of the NFL season. In this week’s quarterback edition, we feature a budding fantasy starter out of New York, plus a struggling former first-overall draft pick gifted with a dream matchup.
* Reminder: Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em is intended to present you with the non-obvious choices for your fantasy lineup. We dig deep into player matchups, scoring trends, and other factors to best help you with your fantasy decisions. Superstars such as Patrick Mahomes will not be found in this column. If you’re looking for players of his caliber check out our weekly fantasy football quarterback rankings.
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QB: Start ‘Em
Start of the Week: Sam Darnold at CIN
Over the past three weeks only four players, regardless of position, have scored more fantasy points than Sam Darnold. Over that span, Darnold has tossed seven touchdowns to just one interception, averaging 25.4 fantasy points and never scoring below 21.7 points. Erase the matchup with the woeful duo of Mason Rudolph and Duck Hodges from Cincinnati’s resume, and they’ve allowed an average of 25.69 fantasy points to the position over their last six games.
Aaron Rodgers at NYG
Don’t lose faith just yet. While Rodgers has averaged just 10.8 fantasy points over the last three weeks, there is reason to be optimistic about the former elite fantasy option this week. That reason? The New York Giants defense. Every non-rookie quarterback to start and finish a game against the Giants this season has scored at least 20.54 fantasy points. The G-Men have allowed 10 touchdowns to the position over their last four games.
Carson Wentz at MIA
Wentz is taking a lot of heat from media and fans at the moment, however, most people don’t like to point out that he’s been down his top three receivers and his starting running back. That number of injuries would put nearly any quarterback behind the eight-ball. Yet, if there was a game where you could get away with backup-caliber skill-players at your disposal it would be against Miami. The Dolphins allow the third-most fantasy points to QBs this year, and have allowed an average of 29.21 points and seven total touchdowns to the position over the past two weeks.
Sleeper: Jared Goff at ARI
Goff has scored below seven fantasy points in three consecutive games. With no bye weeks from this point on, it’s understandable if you don’t want to risk playing a player who’s presented such diminutive returns for the majority of the season. However, it make be a risk worth taking a chance on. No defense has allowed more fantasy points to the QB position this season than the Arizona Cardinals.
QB: Sit ‘Em
Sit of the Week: Jimmy Garoppolo at BAL
Garoppolo has strung together two solid performances in a row. However, I’m still not sold. What I am sold on is the Baltimore Ravens defense. Baltimore has held opposing quarterbacks to an abysmal average of just 7.07 fantasy points over the last three weeks. Jimmy G has completed an average of fewer than 15 passes in half of his last six games.
Jeff Driskel vs. CHI
After some early success while taking over for the injured Matthew Stafford, Driskel came crashing down to reality a week ago, tossing three interceptions. Driskel has now averaged just 208 passing yards over his last two games. Chicago has allowed the sixth-fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks this year. The Bears have allowed an average of 161.5 passing yards over the past two weeks. To make matters worse, Driskel is dealing with a hamstring injury at the moment, leaving his availability for Thursday in question.
Philip Rivers at DEN
Denver has actually taken a bit of a step back defensively over the past two weeks. Still, they allow just 13.44 fantasy points per game to QBs this year, the fourth-fewest in football. The Broncos have surrendered an average of 185 passing yards in 10 of their 11 games this season. Philip Rivers has averaged 13.04 fantasy points over his last four games while accounting for seven turnovers over his last two games.
Buyers Beware: Dak Prescott vs. BUF
Chances are you’ve ridden Dak all the way to the playoffs. However, after a 7.88 fantasy point outing a week ago, and matchups with Buffalo and Chicago lined up over the next two weeks, you may want to start working your magic on the waiver wire. The Bills allow the third-fewest fantasy points to QBs this year. They’ve also held half of their last eight opponents at the position to single-digit fantasy outings.
- *Check out our other Week 13 Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Ems to further optimize your lineups
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READ NEXT: Fantasy: Quarterback Rankings Week 13
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Fantasy Football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em Quarterbacks: Week 13