Good morning. Hope you and your squad survived the tidal wave of injuries in Week 13. We lost Lamar Jackson, Jimmy Garoppolo, Trevor Lawrence, Tua Tagovailoa, Kenneth Walker, Aaron Jones, Jaylen Waddle, Courtland Sutton, and Treylon Burks during Sunday’s action.

Some of these players returned and should be OK for Week 14. Others are likely to miss at least a week or more. Regardless, I feel personally targeted by the injury gods.

In some good news, Matt (one of your brilliant group of writers) got engaged this weekend! 

Lions Backfield - Swifty?

Thanks to The Athletic's Rest of Season Outlook, we're staying on top of everything. One highlight: Was the Jacksonville game a sea change in the value of the Lions running backs?

The Athletic supports this newsletter. If you're interest in reading articles straight from the pen of the best reporters in football, check out The Athletic.

WAIVERS

The season is won or lost on the waiver wire. A few weeks ago, we begged you to pickup Christian Watson.

Zonavan Knight was probably the best pickup last week. He's the priority, if available. This week, read below. 

RB: Cooking. Again.

James Cook led the Bills in rushing attempts (40%) in Week 13. For the first time this season, Cook finished as an RB1 in xFP/usage. Cook bests Bills starting RB Devin Singletary in YAC (3.3 to 2.6), evasion rate (19.6% to 12.9%), and YPRR (2.3 to 0.9). Now's the time to add Cook, if you haven't yet. He's winning this role. 

Here's the what we wrote two weeks ago:

• Cam Akers reclaimed the Rams' backfield in Week 13, scoring 18+ fantasy points. Kyrien Williams played a decent number of snaps, but Akers had 14 more carries and the same number of targets. Add if available.

• Jordan Mason isn't just a special teams player. Mason averaged 6.38 YPC, turning 8 opportunities into 51 yards as CMC's backup. RB Tyrion Davis-Price dressed but didn’t play a snap, while Tevin Coleman remained on the practice squad.

RECEIVERS

You've already grabbed and stashed Lions first-round WR Jameson Williams, so now it's time to get the second best waiver wire WR this week: Jahan Dotson. Dotson has been quiet since returning from his hamstring injury, but had a big W13 with 5/54/1 receiving on nine targets. He also had a NASTY spin cycle (video).

• Greg Dulchich is someone I hope you held strong to. After having a TD he scored taken off the board in Week 12, it looked like Dulchich was droppable. Wrong. Dulchich led the Broncos in targets (8), catches (6), and receiving yards (85) in a game where Sutton and Jeudy were hurt. Most importantly, Dulchich faces the TE-funnel Cardinals in Week 15.

• Zay Jones saw double-digit targets in Weeks 11 and 12 and another seven in Week 13. He won't win you weeks, but Jones won't lose them, either.

• Demarcus Robinson has had double-digit fantasy points in two of his last three games and, more importantly, seems well-established as the number two in the passing game behind Mark Andrews.

Titans TE Chigoziem Okonkwo played a higher percentage of the snaps (60%) and had a higher route participation than Austin Hooper. Both season-highs for the rookie, which translated to a season-high four catches for 68 yards in Week 13, per @AdamKoffler. Deep league add only.

Additional Reads

Other great content:

If you can pick up the KC Chiefs D/ST, do it. Per FantasyPoints, their playoff schedule is the stuff of legend: @ Den, @ Hou, Sea, Den.

Terry McLaurin has to be played now. It’s not close. In seven games with Taylor Heinicke, McLaurin has 40 catches for 578 yards and a TD. That’s a 97-1,400 pace. Giddy up!

Rashaad Penny is rehabbing out of state and is close to being able to come back. He said there is a chance he could make it back by the end of the year or playoffs.

And some D'Andre Swift hype:

Keep an eye on:

A helpful review of major injuries suffered by skill-players this weekend, by @SportMDAnalysis. 

Lamar Jackson - Video suggests PCL. Comments mean likely sprain +/- bone bruise, but not tear. Avg = 2-4 wks. Lean towards ~2 weeks.

Jimmy Garoppolo - Out for season. Pocket QB like Jimmy G should make full performance recovery by '23 season.

Trevor Lawrence - Looked bad af but he was able to run after. Likely a mild sprain w/some soreness this week, but not enough to cause stats impact Wk 14

Tua Tagovailoa - High ankles avg 2-3 wks, low would be played thru. Practice reports will tell story.

Michael Carter - RB low ankles avg 0-1 game. Good chance of coming back Wk 14. RBs return at 90% but w/elevated re-injury risk

Deebo Samuel - Weak game but was expected this soon after serious quad contusion. Look for rapid improvements Wk 14, 15

Joe Mixon - Would be big-time outlier if he doesn't get cleared in time for Wk 14. RBs return at full pre-injury production level

Ja'Marr Chase - Should reliably be plug and play WR1 status the rest of the season. Re-injury risk mildly elevated but not too concerning

QUICK SLANTS

• Kyle Allen has started two games for the Texans this year. Both defenses against Houston in his starts finished as the top defense of the week, scoring 18 (Miami) and 30 (Cleveland) standard points. Next week: Cowboys D/ST. Lord help HOU.

• The Broncos have scored 1.17 offensive touchdowns per game this year. If they finished the season with that rate, they'd be fourth-worst since 2011.

• Pete Carroll says Ken Walker “jammed his ankle” but doesn’t yet know that it means.

• George Pickens is reportedly “unhappy” with his target share with the Steelers. This comes after the Steelers rookie WR was spotted yelling “throw me fu**ing ball” as he made his way back to the sideline in yesterday’s game

• The Lions (5-7) are the favorite over the Vikings (10-2). We love you, Dan Campbell.

The Panthers waived Baker Mayfield, which means Cleveland will receive a 2024 5th-round pick via the trade. Would’ve been a 4th if Mayfield played 70% of snaps.

Ignore the noise today, do your job. Get after it!

Jake, Eddie, Matt & Coach Wehler.

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