This week, zero NFL teams are on bye, but there were four holiday games earlier in the week, so the Sunday slate features 10 games.
Who are the best players to plug in your DFS lineup in Week 13? Using DraftKings’ prices, let’s build a daily fantasy football lineup that could win big this weekend!
Week 13 DFS Picks
- QB: Baker Mayfield (@ CAR), $6,600
- RB: Chase Brown (vs. PIT), $6,200
- RB: Bucky Irving (@ CAR), $5,800
- WR: Tee Higgins (vs. PIT), $6,600
- WR: Ladd McConkey (@ ATL), $6,100
- WR: Marvin Harrison Jr. (@ MIN), $6,000
- TE: Cade Otton (@ CAR), $4,500
- FLEX: Calvin Ridley (@ WAS), $5,700
- DST: Patriots (vs. IND), $2,500
DFS Strategy: A Buccaneers Stack Against the Panthers
Why do we have three Tampa Bay Buccaneers in our lineup? Well, it’s a combination of them being terrific bargains, producing at a high level as of late, and having a terrific matchup against the Carolina Panthers.
Baker Mayfield is the QB4 on the season and he played well last week against the New York Giants with Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan back in the lineup. The Panthers are allowing the fifth-most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks (22.64), so Mayfield could be poised for a big game.
Watch Baker on the lead block 😭😭😭
How can you not love Baker Mayfield?!
📺: #TBvsNYG on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/wuCgzLl5kn— NFL (@NFL) November 24, 2024
If we’re betting on Mayfield going off, it makes sense to insert Bucky Irving and Cade Otton into our lineups as well. Irving is coming off his best game of the season, rushing 12 times for 56 yards and a touchdown while also catching six passes for 64 yards. Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen said that coming out of Tampa Bay’s Week 11 bye week, they recognized that they needed to get Irving more touches, and they did just that in their blowout win over the Giants. Now, Irving faces a Panthers defense that is allowing the most fantasy points per game to RBs (23.7). Carolina ranks dead last by a large margin in nearly every run defense stat, so Irving is a must-play this week, particularly at $5,800.
As for Otton, he was quieter last week, catching only one pass for 30 yards. However, Carolina has been dreadful against tight ends this season, allowing by far the most touchdowns per game to the position (.82) and the second-most yards per game to tight ends (66.91). No team is allowing more fantasy points per game to tight ends this year, so Otton should have a strong bounce-back game.
Tee Higgins Is Underpriced
How good is Tee Higgins?
Ja’Marr Chase is a walking highlight reel, and that results in Higgins’s statistical star not shining quite as bright as it should. His on-field target share is 27.4% this season, 4.6 percentage points ahead of his previous career high and a level of involvement that has allowed him to record four straight games with over 75 receiving yards (with four touchdowns in those games).
The target volume is one thing and the 116 air yards per game is another (20 more than any other season of his career). Let’s put Cincinnati’s tandem’s production into context.
2004 Marvin Harrison Sr. and Reggie Wayne:
- 26.5% PPR production over expectation
- 2.24 PPR points per target
- 16.6% of receptions were touchdowns
2024 Chase and Higgins:
- 28.4% PPR production over expectation
- 2.29 PPR points per target
- 14.4% of receptions were touchdowns
Higgins’s name may not come with the same fanfare as that of Chase, but it absolutely should. Both receivers are matchup-proof options that are more than capable of putting your fantasy team on their shoulders for the remainder of the season.
Excellent Matchups for Ladd McConkey and Marvin Harrison Jr.
Since 2010, three rookies not drafted in the first round have caught at least five passes in seven of their first 11 games: Michael Thomas, Puka Nacua, and Ladd McConkey. His ability to shake free while also making exceptional contested catches looks sticky.
The only thing missing from this profile is valuable looks, but I’m tempted to chalk that up to weird variance rather than anything given his skill set. We’ve gone four straight weeks without McConkey seeing a red-zone target, which is illogical for a player with a 73.7% catch rate on balls thrown five or fewer yards downfield.
The floor is enough to justify your confidence and a ceiling outcome is possible against the Atlanta Falcons, who rank 28th in opponent slot completion percentage (74.6%) and 29th in fantasy points per game allowed to WRs (23.18).
Marvin Harrison Jr. has a great matchup as well. Against wide receivers, the Minnesota Vikings defense is allowing the most receiving yards per game (188.6), the second-most receptions per game (14.7), and the fifth-most touchdowns per game (1.18). This is why Minnesota is giving up the third-most fantasy points per game to WRs (25.09).
Playing Harrison is admittedly risky, as he has been the definition of a boom-or-bust player throughout his rookie season. However, Kyler Murray continues to throw to him and he has at least three deep targets in three of his past four games, so this is a bet that he can score against the Vikings’ secondary.