Welcome to another edition of our weekly fantasy football Start ‘Em Sit ‘Em. In this series, we’re here to help you set your lineups and put yourself in a position to win your fantasy football matchups each week. With nine weeks in the books, it’s time to take a look at Week 13 of the 2023 NFL and fantasy football season.

These players will be those “less-obvious” players that you’re on the fence about starting as your WR3 or Flex type of options. Nobody needs to tell you to start Patrick Mahomes or Christian McCaffrey.

Start ‘Em Sit ‘Em Week 13

Week 13 Start Em

Brock Purdy QB – San Francisco 49ers @ Philadelphia Eagles

After suffering through a three-game slump with five interceptions, Brock Purdy came back strong with more than 290 passing yards and three passing scores in back-to-back games. He has thrown seven touchdowns and just one pick in his last three games and looks to be back to the form we know him for. Sturdy and dependable.

This week, the 49ers take on the Eagles in a beautiful quarterback matchup. Over their last four games, the Eagles have given up 321.8 passing yards per game and 11 passing touchdowns. They are also sporting the sixth-highest D-PAC Rating (5.66) against quarterbacks and the second most fantasy points per game to the position. You’d want to start any quarterback in this situation and Purdy is the lucky guy this week.

Jaylen Warren RB – Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Arizona Cardinals

Now that the Steelers have established a tandem running back attack, Jaylen Warren is a considerable fantasy start every week. He’s seen at least 12 touches in four straight games while compiling over 100 total yards in three of those contests. He’s also hauled in at least three receptions in four of the last five weeks. Najee Harris has caught three or more balls in just two of the last five games.

Now, the Steelers host the Cardinals who have been hemorrhaging fantasy points to running backs. Across their prior five games, running backs with at least 10 carries have averaged 4.7 YPC, scored nine total touchdowns, and exceeded 75 rushing yards five times against the Cardinals. There aren’t a lot of matchups where you can safely start multiple fantasy runners, but this is one of them. Get Warren (and Harris) in your lineups this week.

Josh Downs WR – Indianapolis Colts @ Tennessee Titans

After a two-game lull where Josh Downs saw just four targets, his stock shot back up with 13 targets in Week 12. While he only caught five of them, the opportunity is there when the Colts need to air out the ball. From Weeks 5 through 8, Downs caught at least five passes, scored twice, and surpassed 70 receiving yards three times.

Week 13 will be the second time this season where the Colts and Titans face off. In their previous meeting in Week 5, the Colts quarterbacks threw for 253 yards with six catches and 97 yards going to Downs. Before last week, the Titans had allowed five receiving touchdowns in the previous three games with three wide receivers tallying at least 90 receiving yards.

With such a positive matchup and Gardner Minshew locking in on his two top targets (Michael Pittman) each week, we could see some explosive results from Downs in the very near future.

Chigoziem Okonkwo TE – Tennessee Titans vs. Indianapolis Colts

As we’ve mentioned before, this is a really gross bye week situation. I wouldn’t consider Chigoziem Okonkwo a gross option, though. He’s coming off his highest yardage total of the year (45) and headed into a heated divisional rivalry in Week 13. Sometimes, you just need a solid stat line in these kinds of weeks and Okonkwo will give that to you.

The Colts, who face Will Levis and the Titans this coming week, are not a soft defense against tight ends. However, they’re not super tough, either. What they’ve been allowing is pleasantly consistent. In the last six games, Indianapolis has allowed five receptions and 51.2 receiving yards per game to the position. Also in those six games, tight ends have tallied at least 43 receiving yards in five of them with the exception being Taysom Hill and the Saints.

For a one-week stopgap, Okonkwo is a fine choice. He likely sneaks into the top 10 tight ends with all the bye week teams and has the safest floor of just about any other option outside of the elites.

Week 12 Sit Em

Jared Goff QB – Detroit Lions @ New Orleans Saints

In five games on the road this season, Jared Goff has thrown six of his 18 touchdown passes with two against the Chargers in Week 10. He is as unreliable for fantasy on the road as he is reliable at home. We’ve mentioned it many times. With the next matchup against New Orleans, it doesn’t seem that the trend will change this week. In their last seven games, the Saints have allowed 1.3 passing touchdowns and 209.7 passing yards per game with just one quarterback surpassing 220 passing yards in that span.

Even in a week where we have multiple bye weeks to navigate, Goff is still a risky pick. Do yourself a favor and find another quarterback this week if you can.

Zach Charbonnet RB – Seattle Seahawks @ Dallas Cowboys

We waited all this time to see what Zach Charbonnet could do with the workload of a primary running back. He hasn’t impressed with 3.2 yards per carry and 127 total yards on 39 touches in two games. The 14 receptions in his last three games are promising but a string of difficult matchups hurts his immediate potential. Facing Dallas, San Francisco, and Philadelphia in the next three weeks would be daunting for any NFL running back. For a rookie, it’s downright bleak.

This week against Dallas is especially unattractive as they have scored at least 33 points in each of the last three games, forcing teams to abandon the ground game. Even with the bulk of carries, Charbonnet doesn’t have the floor you want for fantasy football purposes.

Chris Godwin WR – Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Carolina Panthers

To call Chris Godwin’s fantasy season to this point ‘disappointing’ would be an understatement. He’s cracked 60 receiving yards just three times in 2023 and he hasn’t done it since Week 7. He’s caught more than four balls just once in the last four weeks with no touchdowns in that time. We were all expecting much more from Godwin. Clearly, it’s just been the Mike Evans show as Baker Mayfield continues to feed him each week.

For wide receivers, a meeting with the Panthers is not something to look forward to. It’s not that they’re tough against the pass, but more that they’re so beatable on the ground that teams don’t need to pass as much. Since Week 6, no player has eclipsed 64 receiving yards against Carolina and only one wide receiver has scored in the span.

If you weren’t already benching your Godwin shares by now, you really ought to. The Tampa Bay passing game isn’t as prolific as it once was and there’s no sign of us seeing a marketable improvement this season.

Hunter Henry TE – New England Patriots vs. Los Angeles Chargers

The struggles of the Patriots passing attack are well documented. Needless to say, there’s certainly going to be some big changes coming in the near future. For now, it’s all a fantasy minefield with no reliable choices. Hunter Henry is at the top of the list after putting up his second goose egg of the season. Even in a plus matchup against the Chargers, there’s not much hope other than a possible touchdown. If he doesn’t score, you’re looking at an awful week at the position. Just avoid all the Patriot pass-catchers until further notice. Like 2024.

Don’t forget to hit us up on Twitter with any of your lineup questions. You can find Benjamin @FFRabbitDad and Brendan @OBryanBren. If you have a question, we will give you some guidance. After all, we want you to win!

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