Week 13 Fantasy Football Sneaky Starts

It’s Week 13, so you know what that means! No, I’m not talking about turkey day games. The big news is that there are only two games left until the Fantasy playoffs. For many managers, the only way to secure your ticket is to win out the remainder of your games. Let’s take it one game at a time, and start your road to dominance with our Week 13 Sneaky Starts.

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Week 12 Recap

We had another 50-50 weekend for our Sneaky Starters.

Kenneth Gainwell was our best call, finishing as a Top-10 running back. He had 92 yards on the ground, despite only receiving 10 attempts. He also caught six of six targets for another 30 yards. Even with Warren playing, Gainwell had a great day, just like we predicted.

Christian Watson ended up with a good call by the slimmest of margins. Forgive me for rounding up his 9.9 ppr points to meet our double-digit threshold, but since he finished as a Top-36 WR, I think that’s fair. He’s improving every week and is getting a lot of targets on important downs. It’s very possible he’s separating himself as the top dog in Green Bay.

Ricky Pearsall only ended with six yards on two catches. He was out there plenty and did receive an endzone target that ended up intercepted. He should have more value moving forward, but with everyone else healthy, it’s possible he is fourth on the team for targets.

Dallas Goedert was the wrong side of a coin flip in this one. You get either everything or nothing from this guy, and in Week 12, it was the latter.

Sneaky Start Season Tally: 22-23

Week 12 helped us get back on track a bit. Let’s see if we can continue in the positive direction with our Week 13 Sneaky Starts!

Check out all of our Week 13 Rankings: Flex Rankings | QB Rankings | RB Rankings | WR Rankings | TE Rankings

Week 13 Sneaky Starts

Xavier Worthy, Kansas City Chiefs WR @ Dallas Cowboys

With Rashee Rice back in the lineup, it’s easy to forget about any other Chiefs’ receiver. Xavier Worthy has quietly still received six targets per game since Rice’s return. I say quietly because in spite of the volume, he has averaged less than 50 yards in those games. He also hasn’t scored a single touchdown this season.

There’s good reason to think he can break both those streaks on Thanksgiving. That reason is the Cowboys defense.

Dallas is giving up the third-most passing yards per game in the league. They’re also giving up the second-most passing touchdowns per game.

The Cowboys are especially susceptible to deep bombs. This is (or at least should be) Worthy’s specialty. With Rice and Kelce soaking up the short-yardage targets, Worthy has been the main deep ball threat on the team. It hasn’t worked out much this year, but Kansas City is also electing to take more shots downfield than they have the past few seasons.

Some players have the ability to make your week with only one catch. Worthy hasn’t done that this season, but that doesn’t mean he can’t. With one of the best quarterbacks throwing him the ball and going up against one of the worst defenses, there’s a good chance this is Worthy’s week. Unlike some other deep-shot receivers, he also earns enough volume that you shouldn’t have to worry about a goose egg.

John Metchie III, New York Jets WR vs. Atlanta Falcons

We’re at the point of the season where I like digging extra deep for the sneaky starts. I’ll also admit that I’ve always been one to root for players who have had to overcome major life hurdles off the field. Metchie, having beaten a Leukemia diagnosis in his rookie year, is a player that I hope earns a nice, long playing career.

The odds are stacked against him, though. He’s already on his third team this season, and that team happens to be the Jets. That does give him an opportunity that not every player gets, a chance to shine in a starting role.

Garrett Wilson still has a few more weeks before he can come off the IR. The team also brought in Adonai Mitchell from the Colts at the deadline, but given his 3 catches on 13 targets with the team so far, I think his reputation for stone hands might turn out to be true. That leaves Metchie as the top wideout for the struggling team.

Metchie has scored in the past two games and also led the team’s receivers in yards in both. With Tyrod Taylor at quarterback, the team is willing to throw more, and the targets actually have a chance at being caught.

Atlanta has been hit or miss on defense, with more misses coming as of late. Expect the Falcons to focus on stopping Breece Hall and the run, which could open up more room for Metchie to operate. They will also be starting Kirk Cousins at quarterback, which should mean more stops for the Jets.

It won’t be a pretty game. But it could be close. Look for Metchie, who has more to prove than most, to step up in this one and have possibly the best game of his career.

Tyrone Tracy, New York Giants RB @ New England Patriots

While the giants have been splitting most of the running back duties between Tyrone Tracy and Devin Singletary, it seems like Tracy is starting to separate himself as the leader.

Tracy has seen his carries rise from 14 to 19 to 20 in his three games since Skatebo went down. He’s also averaged nearly three receptions since then. While he’s seen his yards-per-carry dip a bit in that timespan, that coincides with him getting more short-yardage work as of late. Singletary has been fine, but Tracy is clearly the superior player, and we should expect the coaches to continue giving him a larger slice of the pie.

The Patriots started the season as one of the best defenses against the rush, but we’ve seen the cracks starting to appear in recent weeks. While the team is still averaging under 90 rushing yards allowed per game on the season, they are giving up nearly 125 yards per game over the past three weeks.

Jaxson Dart will likely be able to return from the concussion protocol for this one. His rushing upside should create more space for the running backs. I wouldn’t be surprised if the team tries to get him to check down more as well.

Coming off a crazy-competitive game against the Lions, the Giants have shown that they still want to compete. Expect them to come into this one with more surprises and trick plays. In what could be another surprise, I think Tracy will have plenty of opportunities to score points on Monday night.

Isaiah Likely, Baltimore Ravens TE vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Just like I did with Metchie, I’m going for a super deep player with something to prove for this Sneaky Start.

The Bengals are allowing more fantasy points to Tight Ends than any other team in the league, and it’s by a large margin. They currently give up 15 points per game, which is five points more than the next team, the Jaguars. That’s 50% more.

While I could have easily written about Mark Andrews in this section, that’s not nearly as sneaky, and there’s reason to believe that Likely will be the better start here.

Likely started the season injured and was slowly integrated into the offense. During this time, Andrews had a much higher target share on the offense, but has seen his targets dwindle as Likely has gotten on the field more. The two have received nearly identical target shares over the past four weeks.

Andrews does have the advantage when it comes to redzone work and touchdown upside. He’s not much of a yardage play at this point in his career, though. Likely, on the other hand, is still a superb athlete who has great YAC ability.

Against the Bengals, Likely should have plenty of room to operate in the middle of the field, and I’d expect him to win out in targets and yardage in this one. Going against the worst team against his position, he should be due for his 2025 breakout game.

Make sure to check out all of our Week 13 Fantasy Football Rankings and Analysis!