We’re back with the weekly fantasy previews! This time I’ll be tackling the afternoon window and primetime slate while Anthony heads the early slate of Week 13’s stacked lineup in his return. If you haven’t already, check out his early window preview by clicking on the link below!

Don’t forget to read Larry Vannozzi’s weekly weather report to make sure you’re prepared for last minute alerts about mother nature’s plans in NFL cities across the country. Also, check out Brian Shade’s projection model to help you predict and prepare for this week’s slate of fantasy football!

Picks: Odds are from DraftKings. Picks are for entertainment purposes only. Check out the Wager Pass for legit gambling talk.

Start Sit Decisions: Start your studs. Otherwise, these are yours and yours alone to make. Hopefully my previews help provide context to assist you in making an informed, matchup winning decision.

Week 13 Positional Rankings: QB’s and RB’s courtesy of Jon Mosales, WR’s courtesy of Robert Szolosi, TE’s courtesy of Max Silveira, and D/ST’s courtesy of Brandon Furtado

BYE WEEKS: NONE

Matchup: Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers

Location: Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina

Date: Sunday, December 1, 2024, at 4:05pm EST

Nate’s Lock: Mike Evans AT LEAST 70 Receiving Yards and 1 Touchdown (+371)

The Quarterbacks: (CAR) Bryce Young continue his improved play since taking over as the Panthers QB for the second time this season, finishing with his best weekly positional performance on the year. He finished as the QB14 on the week against the defending Super Bowl Champs in Week 12. He set a season-high with 263 passing yards in a near-victory over the AFC’s top team, and he’s also recorded his best rushing efforts in his last two consecutive games. Now, he gets a divisional matchup with the Buccaneers in Week 13, who allow the second-most fantasy points per game to opposing QBs on the season. Even though there are no teams on bye this week, Young could be a viable QB2 in superflex leagues given his improved recent play and the highly-favorable matchup. (TB)  Despite cooling off a bit with some bad injuries to his weapons mid-season, Baker Mayfield remains the QB4 in FPPG on the season. With Mike Evans back in the fold last week after a five-week IR stint spent nursing a hamstring injury, Mayfield saw his first top-10 finish since Week 8, finishing as the QB9 in Week 12. Despite only throwing one touchdown in his last two games, Mayfield scored his third rushing touchdown on the season last week, after only scoring one in the entire 2023 season. Carolina is another weak opponent for fantasy QBs, allowing the sixth-most points to the position in 2024. With two very forgiving defenses squaring off, the ceiling is opened up quite a bit for both quarterbacks relative to their typical respective performances. Mayfield should be locked inf or a QB1 with elite upside, assuming his talented running backs don’t absorb all the team’s scores on the ground.

The Running Backs: (CAR) In rookie Jonathon Brooks‘s NFL debut, the top RB prospect saw just two touches on five snaps, making him far from fantasy viable. Unfortunately, it’s looking more and more like Brooks won’t make an impact in the entire 2024 fantasy football regular season. Meanwhile, Chuba Hubbard managed to have a strong day against what has been the toughest defense for fantasy RBs in Kansas City last week. Hubbard finished as the RB10 in Week 12, despite only coming down with 1-of-5 targets for two yards through the air. This receiving role has been a pleasant consistency in Hubbard’s lead-back duties for Carolina, and his targets should amount to much more against the Buccaneers in Week 13, who allow the second-most receiving yards per game to opposing RBs on the season. Brooks is a stash at best for playoff bound teams, while Hubbard will have RB1 upside in this matchup, which could be his fourth-straight finish as an RB1. (TB) In Week 12, veteran RB Rachaad White played his second-lowest snap share of the season, and ceded much of the receiving work out of the backfield to rookie Bucky Irving against the Giants. White carried the ball 12 times for 37 yards and a touchdown and caught his lone target for 10 yards to finish as the RB16 on the week, while Irving was the RB4 overall in Week 12, carrying the ball 12 times for 88 yards and a touchdown, and also reeling in all six of his targets for 64 more yards through the air. Sean Tucker was also promised more touches, and got the ball on all five of his snaps, including vulturing a red zone touchdown early in the game. White and Irving are both still playable as RB2s with upside, but Irving is another big game away from separating himself a cut above White. Tucker is a stash who would likely see a fantasy-relevant role if either of the aforementioned backs were to miss time for any reason.

The Wide Receivers: (CAR) David Moore popped for the best game of his career against the Chiefs last week, catching 6-of-10 targets for 81 yards and a touchdown, finishing as the WR9 overall on the week. Rookie WR Xavier Legette was next best on the team, catching 4-of-6 targets for 56 yards in a mediocre outing, while veteran WR Adam Thielen caught 3-of-4 targets for 57 yards in his return to the lineup from a ten-week stay on injured reserve with a hamstring injury. I expect Moore’s game to be more of an outlier, while Legette and Thielen should be the top targets of the offense more often than not. They get a date with the Buccaneers in Week 13, who allow the eighth-most fantasy points to opposing wideouts on the season. Combined with the improved play from QB Bryce Young in recent weeks, and the Panthers top pass-catchers enter the realm of fantasy-viability in PPR formats. (TB) Given how regularly involved the running backs and tight end Cade Otton is involved in the passing game on a weekly basis, the return of Mike Evans to the starting lineup leaves little room for fantasy production for the rotation of middling receivers behind him in the offense. In his return to action last week, he caught 5-of-6 targets for 68 yards against the Giants. Hopefully, Evans will have a better chance to eat after getting his legs back under him in his first game since returning, with a great matchup against Carolina on deck. Evans has been sensational against Carolina at times throughout his career, and they are a beatable secondary despite only allowing the ninth-fewest fantasy points to the position this season. The future-Hall of Famer will be a mid-to-high WR2 in this NFC South bout in Week 13.

The Tight Ends: (CAR) Rookie Ja’Tavion Sanders has been pretty great for the Panthers as a pass-catching tight end option over the last month or so of the season. Unfortunately, he suffered a neck injury in Week 12 that has held him out of practice all week, making his Week 13 status unlikely. If he can’t go, the remaining tight ends on the roster are not talented enough or involved regularly enough to draw fantasy appeal. (TB) Cade Otton got shut down by the Giants last week, catching just 1-of-3 targets for 30 yards in his most disappointing performance in weeks. After averaging 10 targets per game over his last four outings, Otton was stymied by a New York defense that allows just under six half-PPR fantasy points to tight ends per game, the second-lowest mark in the league. The Panthers are giving up the second-most fantasy points to opposing tight ends this season, so hopefully Otton will be able to bounce back in Week 13. However, his spike weeks may lesser and less often with the return of Mike Evans to the fold in Tampa Bay as of last week.

Matchup: Los Angeles Rams at New Orleans Saints

Location: Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana

Date: Sunday, December 1, 2024, at 4:05pm EST

Nate’s Lock: Derek Carr OVER 1.5 Passing Touchdowns (+110)

The Quarterbacks: (NO) Derek Carr has been the QB18 in FPPG this season, and he’s done most of his damage on big plays to a handful of different pass-catchers this season. He’s thrown at least 248 passing yards and two touchdowns in each of his last two games, without turning the ball over in either game. Now, he gets a date with the middling Rams defense that allows the 16th-fewest fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks on the season. Carr is still without his top pass-catchers, but he’s making it work with what he’s got, and he can still be a serviceable QB2 with big play upside. (LAR) Matthew Stafford has back-to-back top-8 overall QB finishes in two consecutive performances, and has proven to be a fringe-QB1 in leagues with six-point passing touchdowns since his top weapons Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua have made their way back into the starting lineup for the Rams. After throwing just three touchdowns in his first six games to start the season, Stafford has thrown 12 in his last five, including two four-touchdown performances. The Saints allow the 10th-fewest fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks this season, but have been among the league’s worst in missed tackles, making for a favorable environment for the YAC machines running routes for them. Stafford will have QB1 upside in Week 13 against New Orleans.

The Running Backs: (NO) Alvin Kamara‘s ceiling has been capped in recent weeks with the heavy involvement of Taysom Hill in the offense, who ran for 135 yards and three scores on the ground the last time the Saints took the field in Week 11 vs. the Browns. While Kamara remains the RB4 in FPPG on the season, he’s only finished higher than the overall RB14 in a given week once since Week 4. Probably not a coincidence, but this also lines up with an apparently broken hand that Kamara has been playing through since suffering the injury in Week 5. With Hill eating heavily into his potential workload, Kamara has to be downgraded to the high-RB2 range in the current state of the Saints’ offense. The Rams allow the 11th-most fantasy points to RBs on the year, and Kamara will have the room to succeed as long as he can see enough volume. (LAR) Kyren Williams hasn’t been the same outstanding fantasy RB option he was at the start of the season, as the team has shifted back to a pass-first scoring offense. Unfortunately, despite the shift, Williams has seen his role in that department vanish, failing to record a target in each of his last two performances. At least Williams, was able to get back in the end zone for the first time since Week 8, which marked the return of both of Stafford’s top wideouts to the starting lineup. Williams remains the RB10 in PPG on the year, but since Week 9 he’s the RB30 in FPPG, averaging under 10 a game. Still, he has a stranglehold on the Rams’ RB snap share, and could log his first top RB finish in over a month against the Saints, who allow the third-most fantasy points to opposing RBs on the season. 

The Wide Receivers: (NO) The Saints come out of their Week 12 bye with Marquez Valdes-Scantling as their top wideout. MVS has more touchdowns in two games with QB Derek Carr than he had in two whole seasons with Patrick Mahomes. MVS is at least good enough to get open downfield, which has been an area Carr has excelled at this season, finding himself on red zone throwing long bomb touchdowns seemingly every week. None of the other receivers on the roster are talented or involved enough to draw fantasy appeal, but MVS can be started as a WR4 dart throw against the Rams. Chris Olave is nearing a return from a concussion-induced IR stint, and should have no trouble reclaiming a large role in the passing game upon his return. The Rams allow the 11th-most fantasy points to opposing wideouts to date. (LAR) Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua have been rolling as of late, and are among some of the easiest set-and-forget starts in fantasy football, regardless of how well the other is performing. Kupp is the WR3 in FPPG this season, while Nacus is the WR7 in FPPG if you exclude the two games he recorded under a 40% snap share, due to injury and disqualification. The Saints allow the 10th-most fantasy points to opposing wideouts this year, and both star WRs have elite upside in this matchup, once again. Due to the matchup, Demarcus Robinson could be in streaming consideration for deep leagues, but it’s more of a TD or bust play as long as both Kupp and Nacua are active.

The Tight Ends: (NO) Taysom Hill broke fantasy football again, going off for 38.5 half-PPR points in Week 11, catching 8-of-10 targets for 50 yards and carrying the ball seven times for 138 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Hill didn’t throw a pass in this one, but he did just about everything else with the football on his hands, logging his second TE1 overall weekly finish and jumping to TE2 in FPPG on the season with his earth-shattering performance against the Browns. Hill’s dynamic role possesses a fantasy ceiling that is untouchable by basically every other tight end in the league. The Rams allow the 11th-most fantasy points to opposing tight ends this season, and the ninth-most to opposing ball-carriers. Juwan Johnson also caught all three of his targets for 30 yards and a touchdown in Week 12. The injuries at the WR position for the Saints could keep Johnson in the back end of streaming TE options, regardless of Hill’s commanding presence. (LAR) Colby Parkinson caught a touchdown in Week 11, but no Rams tight end has seen more than two targets in over a month, or since the return of Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua to the lineup. This team can be safely avoided for fantasy tight end help, especially in a week with no teams on bye.

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