The Detroit Lions will face the Chicago Bears in Week 13 on Thanksgiving. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Lions skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 13 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Jared Goff, QB
While the Bengals need to squeeze every ounce of fantasy production out of Joe Burrow in order to have a chance to win, the Lions can win in half a dozen ways, and only a few of them require Jared Goff to produce in a helpful way for us.
Case in point? Detroit is angling for the conference’s top seed, and Goff has posted just one finish better than QB18 since Week 7. The Bears own the fourth-best red-zone defense, positioning themselves to potentially limit Detroit’s lethal run game (David Montgomery’s health could help with that as well).
Does that force Goff to win this game?
He’s been predictably potent at home (last three home games: 789 passing yards and nine touchdowns while completing 87.1% of his passes). The floor created by Goff’s profile has me ranking him ahead of Bo Nix and Patrick Mahomes when it comes to the back end of my QB1 tier.
David Montgomery, RB
David Montgomery suffered a shoulder injury last week and didn’t practice on Monday as a recovery day, but he’s been back on the field since, and Dan Campbell has expressed optimism about his pounding back being available despite the short turnaround.
I’ve adjusted my projections for the touchdown savant this week, but not in such a way that you consider benching him. I’ve dialed back his usage between the 20s as a result of the short week and the competitive nature of Weeks 14-15 (home games against the Packers and Bills).
Detroit wants the top seed in the conference and will work hard to get it during the fantasy playoffs for you, but you might have to be patient this week. Montgomery has scored in nine of 11 games this season, and extending that streak is certainly possible, but asking for him to touch the ball 15+ times is a step I’m not willing to take. That introduces a little bit of a floor that we don’t usually need to weigh.
Jahmyr Gibbs, RB
Jahmyr Gibbs was great last season and produced 7.7% over PPR expectations — he’s at +40.1% through 12 weeks this season!
He certainly has some early career Saquon Barkley to him, and with Detroit feeding him their first two carries inside the five last week, is it possible that they think that expanding his role with the playoffs coming up optimizes their offense?
Gibbs hasn’t finished worse than RB22 this season; that may not sound overly impressive, but when you consider the fact that Barkley has three finishes worse than that, it contextualizes just how special this kid has been in his second season.
Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR
The touchdown streak came to an end for Amon-Ra St. Brown last weekend in Indy (a franchise record eight straight games), and that resulted in an underwhelming performance from Detroit’s star receiver in a similar way to how his teammates have underachieved at various points this season.
Volume.
St. Brown is having a great season — if you had to guess, how many times has he reached 65 receiving yards in a game?
The answer is four, and two of them came back in September. This offense is so efficient and so productive on the ground that, should the touchdowns dry up for any one specific player, they are capable of plummeting down the weekly production leaderboard.
St. Brown is safer than any other pass catcher on this roster, and it’s not close, but he’s not immune to such performances. I like his chances of earning a turkey leg in Thanksgiving’s first game this week against a Bears defense that allowed 9.8 yards per pass attempt to the Vikings.
Jameson Williams, WR
Nobody is claiming that Jameson Williams is a perfect receiver, but the fact that he led the Lions in targets (seven) and receiving yards (64) in the easy win over the Colts last week was encouraging as he prepares for an advantageous matchup against a divisional opponent.
Chicago has given up at least 19 PPR points to a receiver four times this season. The names on that list:
- Jordan Addison (30.2 points in Week 12)
- Nico Collins (27.5 points in Week 2)
- Gabe Davis (21.5 points in Week 6)
- Christian Watson (19 points in Week 11)
All of those receivers have the game-breaker DNA. While the big plays have been spotty for Williams since the beginning of October, that doesn’t mean that potential has been removed from his profile, especially when playing on Detroit’s fast track.
Williams has earned at least five targets in three straight games. If he can extend that streak, I like his chances of returning Flex production across the board.
Sam LaPorta, TE
Sam LaPorta (shoulder) was plenty healthy following the missed game (93.1% snap share), and yet, for the seventh time in 10 games, he failed to reach double figures in PPR points. The role doesn’t look drastically different this year than last, but after posting a 21.7% on-field target share as a rookie, LaPorta has reached that rate just twice in 2024.
I’m going to keep ranking him as a fringe starter, hoping that the process pays off more than the statistical struggles. Detroit’s first pass play last week against the Colts was a designed short one to their tight end, seemingly in an effort to get LaPorta going. I like to see that, even if he managed just two catches for 14 yards the rest of the way.
If I’m going to lose these critical weeks, I’m comfortable in going down with a ship tethered to one of the most explosive offenses in the sport. LaPorta is my TE13 this week, checking in just behind a matchup play in Dallas Goedert (at Baltimore).