Week 13 Fantasy Takeaways

We are only one week away from the fantasy football playoffs and it has been an absolute roller coaster of a season. Once again preseason rankings can be thrown out the window and it’s become a battle of attrition as injuries are beginning to pile up. Disappointing Quarterback play has also been a headline as players like Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford, and Russell Wilson simply weren’t able to get it going this season. Hopefully, you’ve been able to navigate these waters and are still in the playoff hunt. If not you are probably still reading fantasy football articles because you are in some dynasty leagues and are looking toward 2023. Either way, I have you covered in this Week 13 fantasy football headlines article as I will be discussing the value of these players for the rest of 2022 as well as their dynasty value going forward.

Deshaun Watson’s Debut 

After over 700 days off, a trade to a new franchise, and an 11 game suspension Deshaun Watson made his 2022 debut in Week 13 against the Houston Texans. A matchup that would have been forgettable otherwise was packed with storylines this week and certainly had its fair of exciting plays. Just none were made by Watson. Cleveland was propelled by two defensive touchdowns and a special teams touchdown in what was an abysmal offensive performance. Watson completed 54.5% of his passes for 131 yards and an interception. For fantasy purposes, he was the QB28 and looked very rusty after a long layoff.

He ended up saying as much as well after the game and I’m not sure you can expect much for the rest of the season. There are only four weeks left in most leagues and you likely won’t feel comfortable starting Watson next week against the Bengals. His value exclusively lies in dynasty leagues at this point and he can be dropped in standard 1QB leagues. This performance doesn’t change much in terms of my dynasty rankings though. He’s coming off of a long layoff in a game that was going to come with a ton of distractions. He ranks just ahead of Quarterbacks like Kyler Murray and Justin Fields in my dynasty rankings as my QB7. 

The Quarterback Injuries 

It was quite a week for Quarterback injuries after a relatively healthy season for the position so far to this point in 2022. Not only will a couple of these injuries affect the NFL playoff races, but they will affect the playoff races in your fantasy football leagues as well.  

Jimmy Garropolo 

The most devastating news of the day was that Jimmy Garropolo suffered a broken foot that will end his 2023 season. He wasn’t even expected to be on the roster this year. Nonetheless, he was having an impressive season and had the 49ers in Super Bowl contention. While Garropolo likely wasn’t being leaned on in 1 QB leagues, this could be devastating for superflex teams who were getting top 15 QB production. Brock Purdy will likely be on every dynasty waiver wire, but it will be hard to depend on him as a starter. Obviously, Garropolo can be cut in redraft leagues and this drives his dynasty value back down to where it was last season as well. He will have a market, but it’s unclear how many teams will want to take a chance on a player that’s only been able to complete two seasons healthy in his career. Garropolo is a fringe top 24 Quarterback and is only rosterable in superflex leagues.  

Lamar Jackson 

Lamar Jackson suffered a knee injury as well and was quickly ruled out after leaving the first quarter of the Raven’s Week 13 matchup against the Broncos. While not a lot of information is available at this point, the Ravens are classifying him as between day to day and week to week. That is tough for fantasy football managers as we are getting into the playoffs. While he hasn’t been delivering those signature top 5 performances as of late, he has been a low-end QB1 for most of the season. Tyler Huntley is a very good backup too, but he will have a hard time replicating anything close to Jackson’s production. It remains to be seen whether or not Jackson plays in Week 14, but I would lean more than likely not at this point. Tom Brady, Derek Carr, Mike White, and Jared Goff should be popular waiver wire options in redraft leagues. 

Trevor Lawrence 

Lawrence suffered a scary looking injury in the second quarter as his leg was bent awkwardly. Thankfully he was able to walk off under his own power and never ended up missing a snap. It was a poor performance for Lawrence in what many fantasy analysts felt was a great matchup. He was the most popular Quarterback used on most DFS slates and I had him ranked as a top 10 Quarterback. He ended up finishing with just 179 yards and a single touchdown and was the QB16 on the week. Nonetheless, Lawrence has shown a lot of improvement this season and is a fringe top 10 Quarterback in dynasty leagues. While he might never live up to his generational prospect billing, he should continue to improve and be a starter in this league for a long time.  

Tua Tagovailoa 

Tua Tagovailoa also suffered an ankle injury and was taken out of the game against the 49ers. The Dolphins said this was merely precautionary though and that he would have returned to the game if needed. They also stated that he will be the starter in Week 14 leaving little for fantasy managers to worry about. However, Tagovailoa has been in some tough matchups the last couple of weeks and has had some quiet performances. He will be in another good matchup against the Chargers next week in what should be one of the best games of the week. He’ll firmly be in my QB1 rankings but I will be concerned if he isn’t able to get it going next week in a game that should be a shootout.