🔥Monday Morning Fantasy Football Recap

Before the 2024 NFL season even started, the San Francisco 49ers were considered to be one of the most fantasy-friendly teams in the league. All of Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and Brock Purdy were drafted to be starters in just about every league. Eventually, players like Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall also would emerge, and one would think this team under a Kyle Shanahan offense would be a fantasy gold mine.

Unfortunately, that has all been proven wrong.

A combination of injuries, inefficiency, play-calling catastrophes, and bad luck have led the 49ers to a 5-7 record and things are likely about to go from bad to worse. The Christian McCaffrey injury (more on that below) might be the final nail in San Francisco’s season as they are now last in the NFC West and three games out of a Wild Card spot.

What was once a fantasy playground has become a nightmare, with perhaps only George Kittle left as a usable fantasy asset.

The Deep Dive Fantasy Newsletter will hit your inboxes four days a week this season and each Monday I will bring you the highlights, lowlights, injury reports, and Monday Night Football look-ahead all here in one place.

First up are the top fantasy football headlines from a wild Week 13.

💪 Jayden Daniels and Terry McLaurin Light Up the Titans

A date with the Tennessee Titans got the offense for Washington back on track as they blew out the Titans 42-19 at home. Jayden Daniels was the top quarterback heading into Sunday Night Football with 240 total passing and rushing yards plus three passing touchdowns and one rushing score. Of Daniels’ 30 pass attempts, eight of them went to Terry McLaurin. McLaurin caught eight passes for 73 yards and two touchdowns to lead all wide receivers in fantasy scoring on Sunday. With still four games to go for Washington, McLaurin’s nine touchdowns are already two more than he has had in any other season in his career.

🏴‍☠️ Bucky Irving Officially Takes Over

In a tough, overtime contest against the Carolina Panthers, the running back torch was officially passed to Bucky Irving in Tampa Bay. In that game, he amassed 25 carries and three targets for 185 total yards and a touchdown. Rachaad White assumed backup duties with 11 carries and one target. Irving likely would have had some of those touches as well if he had not tweaked something in his hip that caused him to miss a couple of series in the second half. Over his last three games, Irving has 424 total yards and three scores as he clearly emerges as the lead back for the Buccaneers run towards a playoff spot.

🐏 Kyren Williams Has Company

Kyren Williams still made fantasy managers happy with his 115 total yards and a touchdown on Sunday, but Week 13 was apparently the week where Williams entered into somewhat of a timeshare with rookie Blake Corum. Williams had 15 carries and one target while Corum had eight carries for 42 yards. Williams only played around two-thirds of the snaps, which is his lowest rate of the season. This would have made more sense if this game had been a blowout, but it was a one-score game throughout, meaning Williams might have seen more rest down the stretch, or Sean McVey thinks Corum deserves more run. If Corum is available, he might be worth a speculative add here.

✊ Nick Westbrook-Ikhine is Apparently Inevitable

Nick Westbrook-Ikhine is starting to stretch the boundaries of what is possible in terms of touchdown scoring. He now has eight touchdowns in his last eight games and this is with only about a 20% target share. What’s most shocking is not just that he has eight touchdowns in eight games (after two against Washington on Sunday), but that he has eight touchdowns in his last 20 receptions. We have never seen anything like this, and it’s clearly an unsustainable pace. That’s at least what history tells us, but NWI is breaking the mold as we speak.

🐯 Wide Receivers Shine as Steelers-Bengals Shoots Out

In one of the year’s most fantasy-friendly shootouts, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cincinnati Bengals 44-38 in Cincinnati on Sunday. Both Russell Wilson and Joe Burrow were excellent (despite some sloppy turnovers) and that allowed the star wide receivers from each team to post massive fantasy performances.

George Pickens led the Steelers with 74 yards and a touchdown on six targets including a patented moon-ball catch from Wilson. Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins combined for 19 targets on Joe Burrow’s 37 pass attempts. Chase caught six passes for 86 yards and a touchdown. Higgins chipped in with 69 yards and a score. With Chase Brown and Najee Harris also scoring, no fantasy-relevant player was left out of the offensive bonanza.

Chase now has 13 touchdowns and is on pace for 17. That would be the most by a wide receiver since Davante Adams’ 18 in 2020.

🐦 Target Monster Trey McBride

Trey McBride now has 27 targets, 24 receptions, and 229 yards in his last two games combined. He still does not have a touchdown, because apparently the Cardinals don’t want him to have one in 2024, but he has become the dominant tight end down the stretch (non-Brock Bowers division) and should remain TE1 through the fantasy playoffs. What was most encouraging about McBride’s performance against the Minnesota Vikings is that he still got this much volume in a game where Arizona purposefully tried to get Marvin Harrison Jr. more involved as well (12 targets, 60 yards, one touchdown).

Christian McCaffrey left in the second quarter of the blizzard game in Buffalo on Sunday night after a fast start. He was immediately taken to the locker room with a knee injury and did not return. After the game, Coach Shanahan described it as a PCL injury, and potentially one that could keep McCaffrey out the rest of the season. Needless to say, if Jordan Mason was dropped in your league, run - don’t walk - to go grab him off waiver wires.

Trevor Lawrence had just come back from a shoulder injury in Week 13 when he was forced to leave with a concussion on a very dirty hit from a Houston Texans player. Considering the severity of the injury and how Lawrence was immediately taken from the game, there is a strong possibility that Mac Jones is back under center in Week 14 instead of Lawrence.

Ladd McConkey was a top-ten wide receiver in Week 13 with nine catches for 117 yards on 12 targets. Unfortunately, McConkey was forced to leave the game against Atlanta with a knee injury that has been giving him trouble for some time. At this point in time, we do not know if McConkey will miss any games, but his role has been growing (25% target share), and he would be a devastating loss for an emerging Chargers team.

Demarcus Robinson made a couple of amazing plays in the LA Rams game against New Orleans, but a hand injury forced him out of the game after a couple of big catches. Robinson has only minimal value with Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua healthy, but he has been reliable and is a wonderful deep-league stash if we get word he is fully healthy.

Rashod Bateman did not record any fantasy stats in the important game against the Philadelphia Eagles, eventually being ruled out with a sore knee. Bateman has been a fringe fantasy receiver but has had big games lately. Meanwhile, Tylan Wallace and Nelson Agholor stepped up their participation, but Diontae Johnson never played. More information on Bateman should be available after the team’s Week 14 bye.

Taysom Hill was carted off the field Sunday with what was later reported to be a serious knee injury that will likely end Hill’s season. It’s the latest in a long list of injuries to the New Orleans offense, but this one especially hurts because of Hill’s ability to be so versatile and play the Swiss Army knife role this team so desperately needed. Hopefully, he makes a full recovery for next season.

Dallas Goedert was forced to leave the game against Baltimore with a knee injury, and he was unable to return to the game. Goedert did have his second touchdown of the season before exiting with the injury, but the truth is his role has been diminished with the emergence of Saquon Barkley as their primary weapon. Expect the Eagles to take it slow with Goedert considering the division lead and Super Bowl aspirations. Expect more news early in the week on this injury, although reports from Monday state he may have avoided major injury.

Monday Night Football Play on Bleacher Nation Fantasy.

Rushing Yards: Jerome Ford (+3) OVER Bo Nix

Earlier in the 2024 season, it was clear that the Denver Broncos were taking their new shiny toy out for a spin to see what exactly they had. As they worked with Bo Nix on his throwing and accuracy, they encouraged him to run and scramble when necessary. That means he had more than 25 rushing yards in five of his first seven games. Since that time? Different story.

As the Broncos look to clinch a playoff spot, it’s clear they want to keep their franchise quarterback healthy. He is not running anymore, having had five yards rushing or fewer in three of his last four games. The Broncos want him to stay in the pocket and use his rocket arm to make big plays.

With Jerome Ford splitting duties with Nick Chubb and being spotted three yards in this matchup, it’s an easy pick to go drive a Ford.

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There are more articles on 4for4.com discussing all things Week 13 in the NFL. Check back throughout the week for much more.