One-Hit Wonders or Here to Stay? Analyzing Week 13 Breakout Players: Rico Dowdle, Parker Washington, Jameis Winston, Pat Freiermuth and More

With week 13 of the NFL regular season wrapped up, it’s time for a couple final recaps of the action that took place.

Here, we’ll continue the one-week wonder or here to stay series, where we’ll identify fantasy standouts from the previous week of play and then determine if they are here to stay or just a one-hit wonder. Here’s last week’s story. Check back soon for the panic meter series.

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Running Backs

Rico Dowdle and Chris Rodriguez Jr. are the two running backs I want to discuss after week 13.

Dowdle rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries back on Thursday. He had 11 receiving yards on three catches and targets. It was one of his best fantasy performances of the season.

Dowdle is clearly the top Cowboys’ running back as the season winds down, but the offenses’ inconsistencies have led to some disappointing fantasy results at times for Dowdle. 

He had a favorable matchup in week 13, and has more favorable games ahead, so I actually believe Dowdle is capable of more good fantasy showings going forward. He might not score 20 fantasy points every week, but he could be a 15+-point guy at least from here on out. I’ll say he’s here to stay.

Rodriguez had his best showing of the 2024 season. He rushed for 94 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. 

Rodriguez only had 13 carries on the season coming into the game, but took advantage of some extra opportunities. He got 23 offensive snaps, which was far behind Brian Robinson Jr., but surprisingly ahead of Jeremy McNichols. Austin Ekeler was put on injured reserve before the game, so he won’t be around for several weeks.

I’m taking Rodriguez’s performance with a grain of salt after all but one of his carries came in the fourth quarter. I expect Robinson to continue to lead the way, and then McNichols and Rodriguez to fight for the leftover snaps/touches.

I think Rodriguez is a player to keep tabs on, but not trust as a fantasy asset, at least for the time being.

Wide Receivers

Parker Washington and Adam Thielen are the wideouts we’ll discuss this week.

Washington finished with 103 yards and a score on six grabs and 12 targets. It was easily his best game of the season - he set season highs in all those stats.

Christian Kirk has missed the past several games and Gabe Davis is also out now. Brian Thomas is still around, as is tight end Evan Engram, but there’s not many other proven pass catchers in Jacksonville that are healthy.

Washington played 80% of the team’s offensive snaps in week 14, and that should continue to be the case for the rest of the season. Washington might not perform this well every game, but he’s absolutely here to stay as one of the top Jacksonville pass catching options. 

He’s probably already playable in some deeper leagues, and while I’d consider him in standard leagues too, some tough matchups coming up probably means he’s only a true starting option in week 14, when several other teams have their byes.

Thielen had 99 yards and a score on eight receptions and 10 targets in week 13. It was just his fifth game of the season, but he set season highs in catches, targets and yards.

Carolina’s offense has looked much better of late, and that means several players are now entering the fantasy starting conversation. Thielen is definitely one of them.

Thielen led the team in every pass catching statistic in week 13, and is the veteran voice on an otherwise very young and inexperienced team. He only played 73% of the team’s offensive snaps, which trailed three other pass catchers.

The lower snap percentage is concerning, but it’s offset by a very favorable schedule ahead. I also think Thielen is here to stay as a weekly fantasy asset. He’s on the start/sit line as a flex option, but probably should be playing in week 14 at least because of all the bye weeks.

Quarterbacks

The performances of Jameis Winston and Bryce Young are the ones I want to discuss.

I’ve already written about Winston a bit in the Monday fantasy takeaways story, but he deserves some more attention. He was 34-of-58 passing for 497 yards and four touchdowns. Winston also threw three interceptions (including two pick-sixes), and rushed for 11 yards on three carries.

Winston isn’t afraid to sling the ball around the field, and had a very mixed showing on Monday. He’s thrown for at least 215 yards in his five starts, and it was the third time he tossed multiple touchdowns, but also the third time with multiple picks.

While the final line isn’t perfect, the big yardages and multiple scores lead to monster fantasy performances. Winston has three fantasy totals over 23 points since taking over as the starter, and has at least 13 points in the other games. 

I think Winston is here to stay as a weekly fantasy option, and I think he actually slots in pretty high most weeks. He’ll be one of the better options in week 14 despite a tougher clash against the Steelers.

Young appears to be figuring some things out as his second NFL season winds down. He had 298 passing yards, a touchdown and no picks on 26-of-46 passing in week 13. Young also rushed for 17 yards and a score on three carries.

Young has over 250 passing yards in the past two games. Since regaining the starting job in week 8, Young has 1,082 passing yards, six touchdowns and three picks across five games, while adding in 82 rushing yards and a score on 15 scrambles.

It’s not elite fantasy production, but for those of you in deeper leagues, Young would be a fine weekly starting option. He’s got more favorable matchups ahead too, so maybe he’ll appeal to some standard league owners as well. I think Young is here to stay as a streaming option for the remainder of the season.

Tight Ends

Pat Freiermuth and Dalton Schultz are two tight ends we need to discuss after week 13.

Freiermuth went for 68 yards and a touchdown on six catches and seven targets this week. 

It was his second straight game with over 50 receiving yards. He’s gotten 11 targets over the past two games after just 10 over the previous four games combined. He hadn’t been over four targets since late September actually.

Pittsburgh’s offense erupted in week 13, but Freiermuth’s matchups remain pretty favorable moving forward. It’s not like his week 13 showing was anything too spectacular either, so it definitely feels replicable. I’d say Freiermuth is here to stay as a possible weekly fantasy TE streaming option.

Schultz had 61 yards and a touchdown on five grabs and seven targets this week. It was his first time over 50 yards in the past four games, and his first touchdown on the season.

There’s room inside the Texans’ offense for Schultz to be consistently involved, and maybe week 13 was a step in the right direction. His positive momentum could be erased with another poor showing in his next game though, so I can’t confidently say if he’s here to stay or not.

If I had to guess, I’d say more big games are coming, since Schultz also has a very favorable schedule ahead. If you don’t add Schultz this week, keep a very close eye on him moving forward.