Week 13 Fantasy Football Watch: Watson’s Return Plus Beckham Jr. and Other Players to Sign
For most of the season, Week 13 has been highlighted on the calendar for some of the risk-taking fantasy managers. The reason?
Deshaun Watson
Watson, who was suspended during the offseason for the first 11 games this year for sexual misconduct, is set to make his first start since January of 2021. With injuries knocking out some starting quarterbacks such as Matt Stafford and Justin Fields, some fantasy managers are eager to see him take the field.
While many are excited to start him, they should do so with caution. Watson has not played in what is almost a year now and hasn’t even made a start with his new team.
If possible, avoid starting Watson this week until after this weekend, when more will be known about how rusty he is. Overall though, Watson could turn into a huge advantage down the road and into the fantasy playoffs. He has plenty of talent in the outfield with Amari Cooper, Donovan Peoples-Jones and David Njoku which will help him rack up fantasy points.
Odell Beckham Jr.
One of the biggest storylines of the season continues to be Odell Beckham Jr. and what team he will sign with.
Beckham, who is coming off an ACL tear in the Super Bowl seems to have narrowed his teams to the Cowboys and Giants while the Bills, Ravens and Chiefs remain in the conversation. But if Watson seems to be too big of a risk, Beckham is easily more risky.
First off, Beckham isn’t even on a team and likely won’t be for another week. Even when he does come back, his health and recovery is a big unknown and his production will be much lower than usual.
Here are a few situations for Beckham depending on what team he signs with:
Giants: Beckham will more than likely be the WR1 since Sterling Shepard is out due to injury and Kenny Golladay isn’t getting targets. Expect him, as long as he’s healthy, to become Daniel Jones’ main target in New York which could lead to a good amount of fantasy points for him.
Cowboys: If Beckham goes to the Cowboys, expect very few fantasy points out of him. Dak Prescott already has a ton of targets to use like CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup. In addition, the Cowboys also have a loaded backfield with the two-headed monster in Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard.
If Beckham signs with the Cowboys, don’t expect much out of him in terms of fantasy points.
Week 13 Adds
Christian Watson
If you haven’t tried to add Christian Watson at this point, then you’re doing something wrong.
Over the past three weeks, Watson has broken out scoring 32.7, 21.1 and 21 points in those games using PPR scoring. Expect him to continue to have a big role on the Packers and continue to produce points for fantasy owners.
Isaiah McKenzie
McKenzie had more targets on Thanksgiving day than Gabe Davis and now his fantasy value seems to be exploding. While this was a great performance for him and could be a viable option for those in desperate need of a wide receiver, don’t put too much faith in one performance.
With the coming weeks being the fantasy playoffs for many, the waiver wire will be the best friend of many fantasy owners, but be sure to choose wisely or your season could be busted.
Ethan Ellis is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email ece5133@psu.edu.
