Week 13 Fantasy Football Strategy | Hank’s Bank
It’s Week 13 of the NFL season which means it’s also the last week of the fantasy football regular season. How’s your team looking? Are you simply waiting to find out who your first round opponent will be? Are you in the thick of a battle for playoff seeding? Do your playoffs start a week early in the form of a must-win regular season finale? No matter your situation, attacking Week 13 with a formidable fantasy football strategy will undoubtedly serve you well.
As always, Hank’s Bank is here to advise. We’ve got the cash starts that just might buoy your team to a playoff berth, investment adds that could pay huge dividends in the weeks to come, and our weekly streamer loan to help you out in a pinch. After all, when it comes down to crunch time, fantasy football strategy wins the day. BANK THAT!
Contents
Hank’s Bank Vocabulary Key
Cash: Start
Deposit: Bench
Asset: Trade Target
Transfer: Trade Away
Invest: Free Agent Acquisition
Loan: Weekly Streamer
Week 13 Banking
Cash: Corey Davis | WR | Tennessee Titans
To say the Titans offense found its mojo last week in Indianapolis would be an understatement. Tennessee throttled the Colts in a pivotal AFC South matchup and figures to stay hot against a Cleveland Browns defense that has a far better reputation than the actual stats would suggest. The glaring weakness of the Browns defense is the secondary, making Corey Davis a great fantasy football strategy start this week.
Davis has been steady in what has by far been the best year of his young NFL career. Working in tandem with A.J. Brown as Ryan Tannehill’s primary targets, Davis has had a minimum of three receptions in all but one game this season. He has three 100-yard games and has been quite efficient with his targets as well with a catch percentage of over 70% in all but three games. The best part is that Davis is somehow still available in over a quarter of ESPN leagues (67.9% ownership). If you’re in one of those leagues and need points this week, consider making roster moves accordingly.
Cash: Wayne Gallman | RB | New York Giants
One of the major areas of improvement for the Giants offense this season has come in the rushing attack. After Saquon Barkley was lost for the year to injury, the ground game was in shambles. However, in recent weeks, Wayne Gallman has been looking more and more like a workhorse back. And a productive one at that, thanks to shuffling along the offensive line. Gallman’s rushing attempts should cause any fantasy football strategy-savvy owner to salivate. He has seen a steady uptick in carries every single game, with a season-high 24 last week against the Bengals. Naturally, that led to one of his best stat lines of the year: 94 yards and a touchdown on 3.92 yards per carry.
The biggest concern here is whether or not New York will have any kind of aerial attack should Colt McCoy be forced to start for the injured Daniel Jones. If not, Gallman could wind up facing a stacked box and see game script take him out of the equation as well. Volume keeps Gallman in RB2 territory this week regardless.
Deposit: Tee Higgins | WR | Cincinnati Bengals
There are a number of receivers who face daunting matchups this weekend, but Tee Higgins and his cohorts in Cincinnati appear to have the worst situation of them all. Not only do they go up against a Dolphins secondary that features Xavien Howard and Byron Jones, but they also no longer have Joe Burrow throwing them the ball.
It was tough sledding with Brandon Allen at the helm last week against a Giants secondary that is not on par with Miami’s. Higgins saw his fantasy day saved by a touchdown reception, something that will be even tougher to come by this week. He’s left teetering on the WR3 bubble for me and is better off on your bench.
Invest: Latavius Murray | RB | New Orleans Saints
Taysom Hill playing quarterback has led the Saints offense to take on a new identity the last two weeks. While he has notably brought Michael Thomas back to a healthy target floor, Hill has also led the Saints to deploy a greater share of the backfield work to Latavius Murray, the clear-cut power back over Alvin Kamara. Last week in Denver, Murray racked up a season-high 19 carries for 124 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
The game script last week was ideal with a New Orleans victory never in doubt, but the performance speaks to why Murray needs to be rostered in all leagues heading into the Fantasy Playoffs. In addition to Hill changing the dynamic of the offense, Kamara has been dealing with an injury. If that lingers at all, Murray can expect an expanded role in the weeks to come. RB handcuff season is here, and Murray is one of the top fantasy football strategy considerations when it comes to meeting this purpose.
Invest: Isaiah Coulter | WR | Houston Texans
The bombshell fantasy news of the week came out of Houston on Monday with the announcement that receiver Will Fuller will miss the remainder of the season due to a suspension. With Randall Cobb on IR and Kenny Stills being released last week, that leaves Brandin Cooks as the only familiar wideout for Deshaun Watson. Keke Coutee is the popular add on the fantasy football strategy airwaves this week by virtue of his ascending to WR2 on the Texans depth chart, but rookie Isaiah Coulter is intriguing for those in deep leagues.
The role that Fuller vacates is that of an outside receiver. That is a skillset that Coutee does not possess. Coutee’s size positions him to be a slot receiver and could lead to competition for targets from tight ends Jordan Akins and Darren Fells over the middle of the field. Coulter is yet to make his NFL debut after being drafted out of Rhode Island but that is set to change this weekend. Houston has a daunting run of matchups the next few weeks as they draw the Colts twice and the Chicago Bears. With that said, Fuller’s targets have to go somewhere. In terms of an upside pickup that could prove to be a difference-maker down the stretch, Coulter is to be my preferred option.
Loan: Las Vegas Raiders D/ST
Only owned in 5.6% of ESPN leagues, the Raiders defense is a loan that is widely available for an optimal Week 13 matchup against the winless New York Jets. Turnovers and a sheer inability to score culminate in the Jets being the most favorable matchup for fantasy defenses on the season. Despite such sparse ownership, the Riders have fantasy football strategy appeal this week.
Las Vegas does have a myriad of injuries on both sides of the ball, with the availability of corner Damon Arnette and safety Johnathan Abram being of particular note heading into the weekend. Despite the talented receivers the Jets have, Sam Darnold continues to confirm that he is not an NFL-caliber quarterback each week. Even if they aren’t at 100%, the Raiders have a stream-worthy fantasy floor in this matchup.