We're in the week just before the stretch run, the last quarter of the season with Week 13 of the 2015 NFL season as there are a lot of questions still to be answered and a lot of football remaining.
While the FanDuel-users portion of the Rotowire & Fanduel Fantasy Football Championship is over, the RotoWire Staff competition continues this season.
Andrew Fiorentino had a big week 12 picking up 153.80 points, one of the best totals for the season. Andrew is a feast or famine with 165.38 points in the third week and no points with Week 11 that I believe was mention in this column earlier this season. Tate McIntyre compiled only 99.80 points last week, but still leads with 1,495.54, a little more than four points ahead of Shannon McKeown with 1,491.38. McKeown moved up the charts with a big week of 138.70 points. The top five are actually only separated by a little more than 40 points so Week 13 could see some movement not only in the top five, but in the top 10.
For Fiorentino the two big spark plugs last week were Seahawks QB Russell Wilson and Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr.. Wilson scored 35.2 points, one of the best last week, as part of the shootout with the Steelers. The Giants scored only 14 points last week in the loss to the Redskins, but that doesn't seem to affect Beckham who registered 24.7 points for his owners. He was also added by 19 points from Browns WR Travis Benjamin on Monday Night Football and Chargers TE Antonio Gates returned to his golden days and collected 19.3 points for Fiorentino. Here is how the Top-10 shakes out in the Expert Competition after 12 weeks. You can see the full standings here.
1. Tate McIntyre (tamc10) 1,495.54
2. Shannon McKeown (rotoshannon) 1,491.38
3. Peter Schoenke (rotopeter) 1,482.68
4. Peter Merrill (black26) 1,459.08
5. Josh Collacchi (JCollacchi) 1,454.76
6. Ed Kensik (chicagoed) 1,446.14
7. Joel Bartilotta (joelbartilotta) 1,440.20
8. Josh Fathollahi (jashfath) 1,423.90
9. Jake Letarski (rotojakeski) 1,422.38
10. Adam Wolf (rotosomething) 1,419.06
For Week 13 the Philadelphia Eagles might just be the tonic for the New England Patriots and Tom Brady. Despite the loss of TE Rob Gronkowski and WR Julian Edelman, the Pats might get the return of WR Danny Amendola and this might be the coming out party for WR Brandon LaFell. The Eagles have allowed the second most passing touchdowns in the league with 25 -- only New Orleans has allowed more touchdown tosses.
Don't forget no Gronk as Rob Gronkowski is out at least for this week. Depending on how much you have left in your dollars, Carolina TE Greg Olsen is money for the Panthers and Carolina QB Cam Newton's favorite receiver especially with no prominent WR for the Panthers.
Value Plays
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick:Jets vs. Giants
Price: $7,500
While the Jets are known for their running game, they have shown that they can throw the ball and tied for eighth in the league for passing touchdowns with 22 behind the 'Bearded One' Fitzpatrick. Also take in that the Giants have given up the most yards per game in passing, a shade more than 309 yards per game. While Mr. Fitzpatrick has trimmed his beard, he's still been solid.
QB Alex Smith: Kansas City @ Oakland
Price: $6,600
Smith has seven touchdowns in the last two games at Oakland while playing even with the run-oriented Chiefs. While the Raiders are much improved, Oakland has allowed the fourth most passing yards in the league at 283 passing yards per game and 19 total touchdowns this season through the air. The Raiders defense is better against the run so Smith will be looking to throw to his top targets TE Travis Kelce and WR Jeremy Maclin.
RBDavid Johnson: Arizona @ St. Louis
Price: $5,900
It's David Johnson's shot at running the ball and the Cardinals like to run the ball. At the beginning of the year many were raving about the Rams defense especially on the run, but as the season has gone along the defense has fallen apart. It has gotten so bad that St. Louis is 22nd against the run while the Cardinals offense averages 115 yard per game on the ground.
RB Javorius Allen: Baltimore @ Miami
Price: $6,800
Allen, call me Buck, should have a break out week against the Dolphins who have the worst defense against the run this season with almost 139 yards per game. Ravens QB Matt Schaub was serviceable in his first game replacing Joe Flacco, but you would think Baltimore coach John Harbaugh would hand the ball off to Allen. He has been working well after taking over for Justin Forsett broke his arm and was lost for the season. While his running numbers don't shock you (12 carries for 55 yards last week against the Browns), he is a big target in the passing game especially in the red zone and caught four passes for 29 yards but more importantly a 13-yard touchdown catch.
WR DaVante Parker: Miami vs. Baltimore
Price: $5,200
Before the season there were a lot of people talking about Parker as being the next big Dolphins receiver, but he's been a major disappointment while barely getting on the field. He finally broke out with four catches for 80 yards and a touchdown while being targeted 10 times. In addition Rishard Matthews broke multiple ribs and is out indefinitely. The Dolphins want to see what they have in Parker so he's a cheap pickup at $5,200 against a porous Ravens secondary.
WR Brandon LaFell: New England vs. Philadelphia
Price: $6,600
Philadelphia has allowed the second most receiving touchdowns in the league with 25, only New Orleans has more with 30. In addition the Eagles have allowed seven receiving touchdowns in the last two weeks. While Danny Amendola might return to the lineup, LaFell will be the prime target for QB Tom Brady. Also TE Rob Gronkowski has been ruled out for Week 13 so Brady's targets are limited.
TE Scott Chandler: New England vs. Philadelphia
Price: $5,300
Even when starting TE Rob Gronkowski was in the game last Sunday, New England QB Tom Brady was throwing Chandler's way. While he only caught five passes for 58 yards on one touchdown, Chandler was targeted 11 times and goes up against one of the worst passing defenses in the league in Philadelphia.
High Risk/High Reward
TE Greg Olsen: Carolina @ New Orleans
Price: $6,600
With New England TE Rob Gronkowski out with an injury, Olsen is the number one price tight end at $6,600. The Saints allow the most fantasy points to tight ends and Olsen has already showed that he can capitalize on the poor New Orleans defense. In Week 3 Olsen caught eight passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns. He was also targeted 11 times in that game.
RBDoug Martin:Tampa Bay vs. Atlanta
Price: $7,600
The combination of Lovie Smith as a head coach loves to run the ball and Atlanta who has allowed 15 touchdowns to running backs this season equal a good safe bet that Martin will hit the end zone. In addition Martin is only behind Adrian Paterson for the rushing title. The Buccaneers are third in the league in running the ball with 141 yards per game. The Falcons have given up the second most rushing touchdowns in the league with 13, only behind Detroit.
Steer Clear
RBTodd Gurley: St. Louis vs. Arizona
Price: $8,400
Gurley has been impressive this season, but found out its not easy against a tough defense like last week against the Bengals where he ran nine times for only 19 yards. He faces an even stiffer defense that will probably stack the box and dare St Louis Rams QB Nick Foles to throw the ball. Arizona has allowed only 91.1 yards per game and seven touchdowns this season.
RB Adrian Peterson: Minnesota vs. Seattle
Price: $9,100
Peterson is the man in Minnesota and there is no doubt that they will try to run him, but Seattle has only allowed a little less than 93 rushing yards per game and only nine rushing touchdowns. In the sixth week Peterson struggled against Kansas City at home with only 60 rushing yards on 26 carries and non touchdowns. This could be the start of two tough weeks for Peterson who will travel to face an extremely tough Arizona defense in Week 14.