FantasyNFL

Start ‘Em/Sit ‘Em: 11 Fantasy Football Players With Sweetheart Matchups In Week 13

by Dan Fogarty | 6:19 pm, November 28th, 2012

Each week, Pat Mayo of RotoExperts.com will being you 11 fantasy football players with favorable matchups. This week, Mayo says it’s time to embrace an emerging star.

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1.1. CJ Spiller

With Fred Jackson easing back into action coming off his concussion, chatter surrounding the Bills backfield was how the carries would be distributed. Sunday didn’t exactly deliver a concrete answer, but there we’re encouraging signs for Spiller owners nonetheless. First, CJ touched the ball 15 times to Jackson’s seven – although you can expect that gap to shrink as Jackson gets healthier – still an encouraging sign nonetheless. Second, Chan Gailey has finally identified he needs to get both his stars on the field at the same time, something they played with earlier in the year. Then, Jackson lined up in the backfield with Spiller flanked on the outside. Against the Colts, Gailey flipped the situation. Spiller primarily set up behind Ryan Fitzpatrick and Jackson landed outside the numbers. The result should render 15+ touches for Spiller, and against the soft Jags defense, that could be good for around 150+ yards.

2.2. Colin Kaepernick

It’s time to believe. Midway through every season, one quarterback escapes from backup Hell to lead your team to victory. This year, it’s Kaepernick that has emerged as a Fantasy Ghost Rider, execpt he probably can’t jump a motorcycle from goal post to goal post. But I have no evidence to the contrary. Think of Kaepernick as an upgraded version of Tim Tebow: Better arm, more effective runner, playing behind an excellent offensive line that allows his skills to flourish. We’ve now had to two weeks of evidence that he can remain a Top 10 QB the rest of the way. Kaepernick took advantage of a weak Saints defense, and absolutely lit up the Bears - No easy task. In a divisional matchup with the Rams, on turf, there’s no reason he won’t post another big week. All bets are off if Alex Smith is named the starter, though.

3.3. Chad Henne

Listen, I’m no fan of Chad Henne, but a trip to Ralph Wilson Stadium is a basically a one-off PED for quarterbacks. The Bills have been susceptible to the run this season – OK, sieve-like – but since Mario Williams returned from his surgery, they’ve held opponents to under 100+ yards on the ground in two straight games. Not an issue for Jacksonville, they can’t run anyway. That allows Henne to take to the air and full make use of his best weapons, Cecil Shorts and Justin Blackmon.

4.4. Jamaal Charles

Since his two-week downswing in Weeks 8 and 9, Charles has returned to the elite-ish back you gambled a second-round on. And it’s all about his opportunity. Averaging 20+ touches the last three games, Charles crossed double digit points in each contest. An impressive feat considering he plays in an offense that shows an aversion to the forward pass - Romero Crennel is just lining up his next gig, the 1903 Harvard job. Carolina is middle of the pack stopping the run, but has shown significant problems slowing speedsters that can hit the edge, and Charles may be the league’s best at running off tackle.

5.5. Trent Richardson

If you’re not starting Richardson every week, let a matchup against the Raiders force him into your lineup. The Browns bulldozer has posted double digit Fantasy points in eight of 11 contests this season, including four straight, and hasn’t played a defense nearly as terrible as Oakland’s. No longer. The Raiders made Ben-Jarvis GreenEllis look like Eric Dickerson last Sunday, and have allowed the opposition’s primary ball carrier to find the endzone in five of the past six games.

6.6. Hakeem Nicks

It appears Nicks is finally healthy. Terrific news for Fantasy owners that suffered through an injury riddled first half, topped only by Greg Jennings’ 13-week joyride. Building on his pre-bye, 9-catch outing, Nicks finally returned to the endzone against the Packers - his first score since September 14th. He’ll continue his ascension back into the position’s elite against Monday in Washington. The Redskins have been the second most generous unit to opposing WRs.

7.7. Jacob Tamme

Staking shekels Tamme would rekindle his torrid half-season affair with Peyton Manning on draft day turned out to be an unmitigated disaster. Quality performances have been sparse. The relationship has seen a few sparks lately though. Tamme cracked 48 yards the last two week and even found the dancing area against the Chiefs. Expect success to persist against the Bucs and their complete lack of pass defense. Plus, he presents one of the more enjoyable Sunday experiences, screaming ‘TAMME’ in a South Park Timmy voice after every catch. Aggravating to people around, extremely pleasurable to do – it’s a lock.

8.8. New York Jets D/ST

Almost universally owned to being the year, the Jets defense has been justifiably dropped as the weeks have rolled by. Coming off another minus-outing against the Pats Thursday night, the New York is surely to be available in the majority of leagues after waivers pass Tuesday. Scoop it up for a plug-and-play this week. It really doesn’t matter who’s under center for the Cardinals, each of their QBs act like a 25-year-old virgin - willing to take any pass, seemly unconcerned who it’s to. While no longer an elite unit, the Jets still have enough defensive playmakers to capitalize on a desperate situation.

9.9. Pierre Garcon

Don’t call it a comeback! Or do, it’s inconsequential. Regardless of the proper nomenclature, Lucky Pierre has returned to ranks of ‘startable’ once again. Dogged with a foot injury most of the season, Garcon reached a tipping point with Fantasy owners. Many of which cut their losses and dumped him onto free agency for generic hot-receiver du jour. Mistake. With Robert Griffin under center, Garcon has Top 15 potential the rest of the year, and a date with Giants, in primetime, is the perfect spot to showcase his clout.

10.10. Ryan Broyles

For the entire season, I’ve been waiting for the Lions to show Titus Young Sr. – not to be confused with the newborn, Titus Young Jr. – a seat on the bench and offer the explosive Broyles a longer look. Guess what? It happened, and Broyles delivered, large. Young is likely to make his return to the field this week, but don’t pencil him back onto the field so quickly. In his six catch, 126-yard Thanksgiving performance, Broyles flashed the one skill that has plagued Young for his career – the ability to actually catch the ball tossed his direction. If Detroit’s staff isn’t completely clueless – questionable – they’ll conclude Broyles simply must be involved.

11.11. Shayne Graham

The Texans are no strangers to scoring, which has proved prodigious for Shayne Graham owners. He has attempted 10 field goals over the past three games and Tennessee has been overly generous to kickers - ceding an average of 10 Fantasy points a game to the position.

Start preparing now for the new Fantasy Hoops season with the RotoExperts Xclusive Edge Fantasy Basketball Package. You get the complete and deluxe draft kit, plus in-depth regular season and playoff coverage.

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