Do you have tough lineup decisions to make on Sunday? We’ve got you covered. Welcome to your one-stop shop for Week 13 fantasy football start/sit advice. In this article, Jeff Pratt and Dan Johnson highlight one pick from each of their positional start ’em, sit ’em articles for this week’s slate. Check out each article for a deeper dive into that position!
Quarterback
Sit ‘Em: Daniel Jones (Indianapolis Colts) vs. Houston Texans
Daniel Jones looks like a cheat code if you only stare at the spreadsheet. He sits at +77.78 total EPA with +0.188 EPA per play and a 51.9% success rate. He’s added +60.86 passing EPA at +0.164 EPA per dropback and another +16.92 rushing EPA at +0.394 per carry. On third down he sits at +0.201 EPA per play with a 45.7% conversion rate, plus +0.182 EPA per play in the red zone and positive two-minute production. That is an elite efficiency profile front to back.
I still do not want him anywhere near my Week 13 lineup. Houston is a nightmare draw right now. They sit at the top of the league in defensive EPA, allow roughly 170 passing yards per game, and get home with real pressure. They finish plays with sacks and already sit near the top of the turnover table. Now drop an efficient but still hit-prone quarterback behind a shaky Colts line while he manages a fibula issue. That is not the spot to test trust the metrics.
Check out all of Dan’s start/sit Week 13 QBs here!
Running Back
Start ‘Em: Tyrone Tracy (New York Giants) at New England Patriots
I must give credit where credit is due. Tracy was one of my sit selections at running back last week, mostly due to concerns over Devin Singletary vulturing touchdowns and a formidable matchup against the Lions. Tracy failed to find the end zone once again, but he still managed to rack up 16 fantasy points.
The Purdue product commanded the backfield, rushing 20 times for 62 yards and adding three receptions for 68 yards. Meanwhile, Singletary saw 11 total touches, racking up 73 yards.
Tracy’s performance set himself up nicely to take on a Patriots defense that, on paper, is strong against the run, but didn’t look the part against Cincinnati. Milton Williams’ absence was apparent, as Chase Brown rushed 19 times for 107 yards. Tracy holds low-end RB1 value as a bellcow against New England on Monday night.
Check out the rest of Jeff’s Week 13 RB start/sit picks here!
Wide Receiver
Sit ‘Em: Alec Pierce (Indianapolis Colts) vs. Houston Texans
In a year full of surprises, maybe one of the biggest ones has come in the form of Alec Pierce, who has emerged as arguably the league’s best big-play threat. Pierce has played a pivotal role in the Colts’ offense becoming the best in the league. The 25-year-old is leading the NFL in yards per catch with 21.1.
Pierce has put himself in week-to-week fantasy relevance territory, scoring double-digit fantasy points in five of his nine games despite only finding the end zone once. Prior to Indy’s Week 11 bye, he had scored 17.5 and 18.4 points, respectively. Then, last week, he saw a season-low two targets, catching only one of them for 26 yards. After carving out a consistent target share, Pierce’s involvement dropped off a cliff. That’s a concerning development, considering the Colts’ impending matchup with Houston. The Texans allow the third-fewest passing yards and fourth-fewest fantasy points to receivers, setting the stage for another underwhelming outing for Pierce.
Check out the rest of Jeff’s Week 13 start/sit WR picks here!
Tight End
Colby Parkinson (Los Angeles Rams) at Carolina Panthers
Colby Parkinson is what happens when a role player turns every target into a haymaker. He sits at +9.70 total EPA with +0.462 EPA per target and a 71.4% success rate, absurd efficiency even before you remember this is a tight end, not a slot receiver. That line comes on 21 targets and 19 catches, a 90.5% catch rate that screams trust from Matthew Stafford and trust from Sean McVay in the routes they hand him.
The red-zone profile is even louder. Parkinson has nine receptions on ten red-zone targets, which is basically cheat-code territory. When the Rams get inside the 20, he functions like a power back in a tight end body: efficient, on time, brutally simple. Carolina has already coughed up 65 catches, 799 yards, and five touchdowns to tight ends, bottom-ten across every fantasy leaderboard. They are light in the middle of the field, light in the tackling, and living on a pass rush that rarely hits Stafford’s tier of pre-snap control.
The spread tells the rest of the story. Los Angeles is laying a big number and should live in scoring range all afternoon. That is the exact script where Parkinson’s “limited” volume matters more than raw targets. He is not grinding five-yard outs on second-and-seven; he is catching seam balls, boots, and red-zone daggers.
In PPR formats, Colby Parkinson should start over every fringe option outside the clear top tier. The role is narrow, but every snap he gets carries touchdown oxygen.
Check out the rest of Dan’s Week 13 start/sit TE picks here!
Those are Dan and Jeff’s start ’em, sit ’em Week 13 fantasy football picks! Stay tuned for more fantasy advice next week.
All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.
