Did you have wide receiver Doug Baldwin on your starting roster in week 12? How about Markus Wheaton?
Likely, your roster didn’t field those wide receivers. But Baldwin finished with the most points among wide receivers with 32, while Wheaton went for 26.10 points.
It’s just another indication that wide receivers can be found, as long as you don’t mind taking a few lumps along the way of having a bad week or two.
Here’s our start ’em, sit ’em guide for week 13 for wide receivers.
Daily fantasy start of the week
Brandon Marshall vs. New York Giants
Will anyone step up to win the NFC East? We’re beginning to think no one will win this division.
The Giants should be the team to beat, but failed to show up last week against Washington. We’re not sure if New York will show up this week either. What we can be certain about, though, is that the pass defense won’t be there against the Jets.
That’s why we’re going with Marshall in DFS.
The Giants are by far the worst defense in the NFL against the pass. The Giants allow 309 yards through the air per week, more than 25 yards more per game than New Orleans, which owns the second-worst pass defense.
And Marshall has shown consistently to get into the end zone as the primary option for Ryan Fitzpatrick as a red zone threat. Marshall has nine touchdowns this season, with receiving touchdowns in four consecutive games.
The Giants have such a bad pass defense that we’re willing to bank on that in DFS and go with Marshall, who should provide a discounted price compared to some of the top-tier options in the NFL.
Start
Devin Funchess vs. New Orleans Saints
Funchess didn’t do much in the beginning of the season. That shouldn’t be too surprising since he was a rookie who was supposed to fill in for Kelvin Benjamin.
Now, it appears Funchess is getting more comfortable in that offense, and against the Saints, we like Funchess as a quality option.
Don’t worry about last week’s output. He was only targeted four times against the Cowboys, but that game was all about milking the clock after Carolina’s defense dominated.
The week before, Funchess received eight targets, and we anticipate him to have that same kind of attention this week. The Saints have been awful against the pass this season, owning the second-worst pass defense in the NFL.
Funchess has continually gotten better, and he’ll show that improvement this week.
Kendall Wright vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Wright returned last week with little success against a bad Oakland Raiders secondary.
But don’t give up on Wright just yet.
He was targeted seven times last week, and although he only caught two of those targets, we’re not worried. Last week was the first game for Wright since week 8. With the development of Marcus Mariota, we like Wright’s ability to score points, especially against a Jaguars secondary that has been leaky this season.
Jacksonville will stuff the run, but won’t do much against the pass. The Jaguars are a bottom-10 defense against the pass, and this matchup should be a solid one to exploit for Wright owners.
Daily fantasy sit of the week
Sammy Watkins vs. Houston Texans
Watkins showed fantasy football owners for a half what he is capable of last week. He totaled 158 yards receiving and two touchdowns in just the first half last week against Kansas City.
However, in the second half, he was held without a catch, once again displaying the frustration many fantasy football owners have with Watkins.
Quarterback Tyrod Taylor is inconsistent and doesn’t drive the ball downfield enough to utilize Watkins’ full potential. And against the Texans, that will hurt Watkins’ value.
Houston has been a new team in recent weeks, and is third-best against the pass in the NFL. The Texans will harass Taylor, forcing him to check down more, eliminating Watkins as an option in DFS.
Sit
Doug Baldwin vs. Minnesota Vikings
It’s been a good stretch for Baldwin and the Seahawks.
In the previous three games, Baldwin has more than 100 yards receiving in two of them, and four touchdowns.
Last week, Baldwin tallied three touchdown catches as the Seahawks have turned the corner on a disappointing season.
But we’re not banking on Baldwin against the Vikings. Minnesota will force Baldwin to get open, something he hasn’t had to face in the last few weeks against sub-par pass defenses. The Vikings also employ a solid pass rush, which should hinder quarterback Russell Wilson.
It’s been a good ride, but we just can’t trust Baldwin with racking up the receiving yards. The Seahawks’ pass offense is inconsistent and that will show once again this week against Minnesota.
Davante Adams vs. Detroit Lions
We’ve liked Adams during the past few weeks because of how many targets he’s had from quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
In three of the previous four games, Adams has 11 or more targets in each contest. The only problem is that he hasn’t registered more than 100 yards receiving, likely because he can’t seem to catch anything that comes his way.
He’s had an issue with dropping balls consistently, and last week was horrendous, with two catches on 11 targets. Head coach Mike McCarthy called him out after the game, which signals to us that he likely won’t see near as many targets this week against the Lions.
We anticipate the Packers to run the ball more with Eddie Lacy returning back to form. Adams may not see the same playing time and if Rodgers has lost confidence in him, then he’s likely going to take a backseat to James Jones.
