The Green Bay Packers will face the Detroit Lions in Week 14. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Packers skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 14 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Jordan Love, QB
Is it possible that Jordan Love is developing into a quarterback who is increasingly valuable to the Packers and decreasing value in our game?
After throwing an interception in eight straight contests, Love has now gone three straight games (51 attempts) without a miscue like that. Green Bay has strung three wins together as a result, but his streak of games with under 21 fantasy points has been extended to six.
On Thanksgiving, we saw Love post a 7.2 aDOT, his second-lowest mark of the season — another number that can limit fantasy appeal while upping the winning equity of the franchise that pays him.
These Lions were just lit up for 30 minutes by Caleb Williams (second half: 15 completions for 222 yards and three scores), but that’s proven to be the exception against them, not the norm.
Love’s passing production, Week 9:
- 7.0 yards per attempt (his second-worst of the season)
- 11.9 yards per completion (his third-worst of the season)
- Zero TD passes (only such game this season, minimum 25 attempts)
The quality of quarterbacks on bye this week inflates Love’s ranking and allows him to check in as a low-end QB1, but I’d suggest approaching with caution.
Josh Jacobs, RB
That’s now three straight games with at least 22 touches and a score for Josh Jacobs as a part of an offense that is seemingly hitting its stride at the right time.
We have plenty of evidence that he can pound between the tackles, so seeing him produce out in space is great for his ceiling projection the rest of the way. On Thanksgiving, he took a dump-off pass and turned it into a season-high 49-yard gain thanks to a single hard cut that left the linebacker stumbling.
We’ve now gone three straight games since the last 20-yard run from Jacobs, but that impact hasn’t been felt by fantasy managers due to 132 receiving yards over that stretch.
He piled up 108 yards on 15 touches against this strong Lions defense back in Week 9 and I’m projecting Green Bay to want to function through him this week — going blow-for-blow with this juggernaut isn’t the best way to down Detroit.
MarShawn Lloyd, RB
Appendicitis landed MarShawn Lloyd on the reserve/NFI list in the middle of last week, resulting in another four-week absence at the minimum and almost assuredly ending his rookie campaign.
There’s no need to continue holding onto Lloyd in redraft leagues. Josh Jacobs is under contract for another three seasons, making redraft value a long shot next season for Lloyd in anything but a handcuff capacity.
Christian Watson, WR
Christian Watson has posted an aDOT of 20+ yards in each of his past four games, a role that can carry significant upside if the shots connect.
That’s a big “if.”
For him to capitalize on those deep shots, he has to shake free and finish the play. The offense in Detroit gets plenty of attention, but this defense has been trending up for six weeks now, making Watson a difficult sell — and that’s before factoring in the mind-numbing concentration drops that pop up from time to time.
Ahead of Week 13, Jordan Love expressed optimism in his deep threat, but I’m going to need more than lip service to have me giving Watson a Flex look. He’s seen his on-field target share decline each season, and with Romeo Doubs (concussion) expected back, there are too many mouths to feed to feel good about rolling the dice on a highly volatile player in a difficult matchup.
Dontayvion Wicks, WR
Dontayvion Wicks had a chance on Thanksgiving to make good on the preseason hype. The Dolphins aren’t an intimidating matchup, and with Romeo Doubs (concussion) sidelined, playing time was as available as it’s been at any point this season.
He was on the field for 88.7% of Green Bay’s snaps (23 routes run), but he mustered just 30 yards, ranking fifth on this team in pass-catching PPR points for the week. With Doubs expected back on Thursday night and a much more prohibitive matchup, Wicks seems to have missed his window.
I’m keeping him rostered through this final week of byes, but if the receivers ahead of him on this depth chart leave Detroit healthy, I’ll be moving on from Wicks this time next week as I look to optimize my lineups for the short-term sprint that is the postseason.
Jayden Reed, WR
Jayden Reed showcased strong efficiency as a rookie last season (25.2% over expectation) and has only gotten better this year (+51.6%). As a multi-league manager of Reed’s, I can tell you that three straight games (and five of six) with under four receptions is beyond frustrating when you see how potent he is with the ball in his hands, but this is a situation where I’m content to trust the process.
Jordan Love missed him on a deep target on their second play from scrimmage last week; if that connects, the final stat line looks different. He did score twice on Thanksgiving, one of which came on a well-designed screen pass where they leveraged his YAC ability. The team is clearly cognizant of what its WR1 can do; in my opinion, it’s only a matter of time until we see them roll out a Deebo Samuel Sr.-like game plan around him.
Reed turned six targets (16.2% target share) into five catches and 113 yards in the Week 9 game against Detroit. He had a 41-yard catch in that game, more yardage on a single catch than any of his teammates produced for the entire game.
I think looking for 15-ish PPR points in this game is reasonable, and if it turns into the type of shootout that the sportsbooks are expecting, there is the potential for Reed to have your matchup in a great spot heading into the weekend.
Romeo Doubs, WR
Romeo Doubs (concussion) sat out last week, but all signs were pointing to his return this week. Unfortunately, he isn’t quite ready just yet.
While this would have been good news for the Packers as they try to keep up with the Lions, it shouldn’t matter for fantasy managers. We are nearing two months since the last time Doubs scored, and with just three games over 50 receiving yards, there’s nowhere near enough of a floor to gamble on the marginal upside.
Tucker Kraft, TE
Tucker Kraft caught six of seven targets against the Dolphins on Thursday night, matching his season-highs in both catches and yards in the process. The production was good to see, though I’m going to need to see more than one week of optimistic usage to offset a three-game run that saw him total 60 receiving yards.
The big tight end was able to turn six targets into just 34 yards against the Lions in Week 9, and I think that’s probably closer to what we can expect. If I roster Kraft, I’m not excited about playing him, but as an involved player in a weather-proof game with a total north of 50, you’re not going to be able to manufacture a better scenario.