Woohoo. It’s Thanksgiving week. All 32 NFL teams are in action in Week 13, and the regular season is winding down. Hopefully the holidays treat you well. I plan to “utilize” my knife and fork to put a dent in the turkey and mashed potatoes. Well, you wouldn’t use a knife and fork on mashed potatoes, but you understand.
Looking back at Week 12, we didn’t have a ton of change and strange things in fantasy football. Six teams were on a bye, so that probably helped. And three losing teams that might make some changes also were off.
The important utilization stats, and any notable changes to future fantasy usage, were short and sweet this week.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family, and I appreciate your readership. That is one thing I am very thankful for, especially after 2020 showed us that our lives can be upturned rather quickly. Hopefully you are hurtling toward a fantasy football trophy, and this piece has helped in some small part.
Cleveland Browns WR Jerry Jeudy
Cleveland Browns WR Jerry Jeudy is quickly becoming a dependable fantasy football option.
Originally drafted with the No. 15 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos, Jeudy has been good, but not great, in his career. He certainly hasn’t been a bust, but he also has never been a player fantasy managers have said to themselves, “Man, I absolutely MUST have Jerry Jeudy.”
It’s more like, “Ahh, why not? Gimme Jeudy, and let’s see what happens.”
He has been a steady contributor with 14.4 yards per reception in his career, and he has 14.3 yards per catch in 2024. So, what has changed? Believe it or not, WR Jameis Winston is bringing out the best in him.
In Jeudy’s first seven games in Cleveland, he had 21 receptions for 266 yards and one score. Once the team traded WR Amari Cooper to Buffalo (that helped) and Winston took the reins of the offense from the injured QB Deshaun Watson, Jeudy has looked like a WR2 in all fantasy leagues, especially PPR formats. He is averaging nine targets per contest, too.
Jeudy is averaging six receptions in his past four games, and he has gone for 73 or more yards in each of the outings. In fact, he posted six receptions for 85 yards on six targets in the snow globe game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night.
New York Giants offense
The New York Giants appear to be in tank mode. There is no other way to explain their moves this past week.
The team not only demoted franchise QB Daniel Jones but replaced him with QB Tommy DeVito, who wasn’t even that good at Syracuse, rather than the more viable NFL option, QB Drew Lock. They’re not trying to win now — they’re trying to lose now and get that top overall pick. It’s obvious.
For fantasy purposes, the offense was a disaster in Week 12 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The team had 17 first downs, including just five on the ground — with 245 total yards — and most of that coming late in the second half. New York had 4.4 yards per play, it was sacked four times, and went 1-for-3 in the red zone.
WR Malik Nabers is still a stud, and he had a respectable six receptions for 64 yards on nine targets. But, fantasy managers with designs on the playoffs have to be steamed, as he goes from low-end WR1 status to low-end WR2 working with DeVito.
WR Wan’Dale Robinson had five receptions, and he might actually benefit from the change. He’ll get plenty of work on the short to intermediate routes.
In the running game, RB Devin Singletary is an afterthought, although he did have a rushing touchdown in garbage time. Rookie RB Tyrone Tracy Jr. continues to see a long look, and he had 13 total touches with four receptions. With lesser quality QB play, he might see more receptions as a safety valve option, slightly increasing his PPR fantasy appeal.
However, as far as Tracy is concerned, the Giants figure to be behind A LOT. And, that likely means the running game is abandoned early on, so any gains he has in the passing game evens out with fewer carries and less production in the run game. Teams are likely to stack the box, daring DeVito to throw. If you were the opposing defensive coordinator, wouldn’t that be your plan?
Denver Broncos WR Courtland Sutton
Denver Broncos WR Courtland Sutton has suddenly emerged as a WR1 in all fantasy leagues, and it’s amazing to see.
I admit, I was wrong about QB Bo Nix coming out of college. I thought he was overdrafted, and his first season would be a complete mess. He wasn’t, and it’s not. Sutton has been the biggest beneficiary of the quality passing play.
It hasn’t been all great. Remember, we’re still just a handful of games removed from a goose egg in New Orleans. And, Sutton had 68 or fewer receiving yards in each of his first seven games, with four or fewer grabs in six of those contests.
However, since Week 8 in Carolina, Sutton has 36 receptions for 467 yards and three touchdowns in five games. That’s a decent season for some receivers. He has been targeted at least eight times in each of those outings, too, and that’s what you want to see heading into the fantasy playoffs.
Seattle Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Seattle Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba is another receiver fantasy managers are thankful for at this time of season.
JSN put on another show in Week 12 against the Arizona Cardinals, going for six receptions, 77 yards and a touchdown on seven targets.
In Smith-Njigba’s past four games, he has at least six receptions and 69 yards, scoring three times. Since an egg-laying in Week 7 at Atlanta, JSN has emerged as a WR1 in most fantasy formats.
DK Metcalf was nicked up, and Tyler Lockett is long in the tooth. Smith-Njigba stepped up, and it appears he is now the go-to guy in the Pacific Northwest. Metcalf can’t be happy, but it seems he never is anyway. The latter still has four or more catches in the past three games, but he is now the second fiddle to Smith-Njigba.
