Week 13 Fantasy Football Stars Who Will Struggle: Daniel Jones, Terry McLaurin, and More

Last week's attempt at finding weekly fantasy starters who would struggle to live up to expectations was OK, though there were no big wins:

• Dak Prescott and the Cowboys started off poorly but came on with a vengeance, overcoming a 21-0 deficit to beat the Eagles 24-21. Prescott put up huge numbers: 354 passing yards on 9.8 per attempt with two touchdowns and an interception, while adding nine yards and a touchdown on the ground.
• Ashton Jeanty was inefficient running the ball (50 yards on 17 carries), but he built up some volume and added eight catches for 58 yards and a touchdown, making him a top-eight RB in all scoring formats.
• Justin Jefferson led his team with four catches and 48 yards, but the Vikings were totally shut down by the Packers, and Jefferson was left with a disappointing day by his own lofty standards.
• I wasn't excited about picking Tyler Warren, still expecting a decent day from the tight end, but there weren't any better options for stars with tough matchups. Warren caught five passes for 45 yards, a mediocre day. That makes it a successful pick, as he was outside the top 12 tight ends on both standard and PPR scoring.

No one really tanked, but two of them were outside the fantasy starters, so that's a decent day, with a 50% hit rate. Let's do it again and pick one weekly fantasy starter at each offensive position who will struggle to meet that level in Week 13. Most stats are from NFL.com.

Use FantasySP's defensive rankings to find the players and teams with the toughest matchups each week!

Quarterback

Daniel Jones, Indianapolis Colts vs. Houston Texans

Jones has two things working against him in Week 13. The first is the easier part: Houston has allowed the fewest yards per pass attempt and the fewest fantasy points per game to quarterbacks, generally looking like maybe the best defense in football.

The tougher thing to determine is the severity of Jones' injury, as he has a small fracture in his fibula but is going to play through it. He could be limited in how well he moves/runs, but I'm more worried about Jones aggravating the injury and having to leave the game. There's a lot of risk here this week.

While he has been very good, Jones also gets a fantasy boost from doing a little running and, especially, finding the end zone five times. It's reasonable to assume that he won't be using his legs as much in the red zone, particularly with Jonathan Taylor around, so Jones could lose a little value.

Throw in Warren, maybe his best receiver, getting a late questionable designation because of an illness, and there is just a lot working against Jones in this one. He's a player better left on the bench unless you really have no other option.

Running Back

Rico Dowdle, Carolina Panthers vs. Los Angeles Rams

Dowdle isn't exactly as star on the level of a guy like Derrick Henry, who was listed here recently, but he burst onto the fantasy scene this season after a decent year with Dallas in 2024. Dowdle is on pace to add over 150 rushing yards, 80 receiving yards, and 3.5 total touchdowns to last year's numbers, and that's despite Dowdle not really being heavily involved over the first month.

Most importantly, Dowdle is far outpacing Chuba Hubbard, both in volume and efficiency. Hubbard missed two weeks, and while he came back and was more involved, Dowdle has been on the field much more over the past four games, leaving Hubbard playing backup snaps. Dowdle is a true RB1 in Carolina.

The matchup here is the main problem, as the Rams have allowed the eighth-fewest yards per rush attempt and the second-fewest fantasy points per game to running backs, regularly shutting down the position. Only two teams have gotten 100 rushing yards from their backs against LA, and Henry in Week 6 is the only RB who has reached 100.

The Rams also haven't given up much receiving production to backs, only really getting beaten by the 49ers through the air. Dowdle is no Christian McCaffrey, so I'm not looking for him to add much in the passing game this week.

Without any easy avenues to fantasy points, Dowdle is unlikely to have a big game. He could build some volume simply because he touches the ball a lot, but he will probably top out somewhere in the middle with a lower floor.

Wide Receiver

Terry McLaurin and Deebo Samuel, Washington Commanders vs. Denver Broncos

I'm not sure if either guy truly qualifies as a “weekly fantasy starter” right now, but since it's a question, I'll give you two players. McLaurin missed three straight games and seven out of eight before the team's Week 12 bye. In four games, McLaurin has 13 catches for 203 yards and a touchdown, underwhelming stats.

Samuel was the top guy most of the time in McLaurin's stead, and he leads the team in targets, receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. Tight end Zach Ertz is second in each of those categories, and no wide receiver on the team is closer than 38 targets, 37 receptions, or 245 yards from Samuel.

Washington is still missing quarterback Jayden Daniels, who is in his second stretch of missed games this season. Marcus Mariota is a solid backup, but there's a reason he isn't a starter in the league; he's a low-ceiling player.

The matchup is also brutal here, as the Broncos have allowed the sixth-fewest yards per pass attempt and the fewest fantasy points per game to wide receivers. Denver has been one of the toughest pass defenses in the league for a few years now, and they have kept it up on their way to a 9-2 record, just a half-game back from the best record in football.

Without their top quarterback and with the matchup heavily against them, both McLaurin and Samuel are better left on the bench this week. Neither guy is likely to have a big day unless they can break a big play or find the end zone, and that's not a recipe for fantasy success.

Tight End

Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders @ Los Angeles Chargers

If you look at the season-long numbers without context, it seems like Bowers is way down from last season. While that may be true superficially, the second-year tight end played through a knee injury in Weeks 2 through 4 after getting hurt in the second half of Week 1.

He then missed three games and returned after the team's Week 8 bye, looking much more like himself. In the three games Bowers played hurt before sitting out, he averaged 4.7 catches but just 40.6 yards per game with no touchdowns, looking like a tight end rather than his team's top receiver (which is how he was drafted in fantasy).

In Week 1 and the four games since returning, Bowers averaged 6.2 receptions and 77.6 yards per game with three touchdowns (though they all came in one game). That's more like the production we expect, as Bowers topped 100 yards in two of those games and 50 yards in two others. He never reached 50 yards in the three games he played injured.

The matchup here is the issue, as the Chargers have given up the fourth-fewest yards per pass attempt and the sixth-fewest fantasy points per game to tight ends. These teams played in Week 2, the first in which Bowers was playing hurt, and he caught five passes for 38 yards.

That's not a total dud, particularly in PPR, but again, we expect Bowers to perform like a WR1, not a tight end. Now at something closer to full strength, it makes sense to expect more of his top form, but with the matchup heavily against him, it might be better to expect stats closer to that first matchup.

Owners probably aren't benching Bowers, as he might be the best fantasy tight end in the game when healthy, but beware that this could be another slow week, like when he caught just one pass for 31 yards against Denver in Week 10.