Tue Dec 2nd 2025

Week Thirteen Dynasty Takes

Week Thirteen Dynasty Takes

Hot Start & Slow Finish

• Thanksgiving is my favorite weekend of the year. I love the family, food, and football. This year it started with a bang. The three Thanksgiving Day games had the highest combined over-unders in the history of Thanksgiving Day games.  They lived up to the hype on the field and in dynasty lineups. The three games combined for 160 points and produced five of the top ten scoring quarterbacks of the week. It was a fantastic fantasy performance by five of the six teams. Baltimore was the only team that underperformed, but more on them later. The week got off to a white-hot start, but then slowed considerably on Sunday. Sunday's action disappointed dynasty managers, and notable players had terrible games. Many of the most reliable fantasy assets still have good games, but very few had win-your-week kind of games. Only two running backs scored more than 21 points on Sunday and only six wide receivers did. The Thursday and Friday players stole the show this week. I hope Monday night's game plays out more like those games than the slow finish on Sunday.

Right and Wrong

• Right on Jakobi Meyers
  • I placed my bets on Meyers in two ways this season. I traded away Jacory Croskey-Merritt and Chris Rodriguez for him in one league, and I drafted Meyers late in the Scott Fish Bowl. He's now fully acclimated to his role on the Jaguars' offense and had his best game of the season, scoring 21 points. He benefited from Parker Washington's early injury, but he earned the most targets on the team even after Brian Thomas returned to play. He'll be a steady part of my dynasty lineup in the playoffs and in my Scott Fish Bowl playoff run, where I am the 5th-highest-scoring team overall and have advanced to the third round in the playoffs. If Washington's injury lingers, he'll help me even more.
• Wrong on Baltimore's Offense
  • I also placed my bets twice on the Ravens' offense getting hot at the end of the season to help my teams in the playoffs. I twice gave away a 2026 first-round pick for Derrick Henry. While he's not been terrible, he hasn't carried my teams since I made those trades, though I have started him every week. In one league, I am not even going to make the playoffs because I have Henry, Lamar Jackson, and Mark Andrews in my starting lineup. In the other league, I am the defending champ, and my team is loaded, so I have continued to win even though Henry's performances the last few weeks have been average. I saw several managers make trades near the deadline for Jackson and Henry. It's not worked out well for them either.

Injury Report

• Amon-Ra St. Brown
  • St. Brown has carried dynasty teams this season, but now it looks like he will miss a few weeks with an ankle injury.  The Lions have not placed him on IR, so hopefully, he will get back for the dynasty playoffs. Jameson Williams was the primary benefactor on Thursday, and he will continue to get more looks in Brown's absence, making him a must-start in dynasty lineups down the stretch.
• Marvin Harrison Jr.
  • Harrison injured his heel and could not return to the game on Sunday. As of this article, the severity is unknown.  Michael Wilson's hot streak stopped on Sunday, even though he had a decent game. If Harrison misses time, I'd still expect Wilson to get more looks and be a viable starter in dynasty lineups.
• Aaron Jones
  • Jones was visibly upset after leaving the game with a shoulder injury on Sunday. Jordan Mason once again becomes a borderline starter with Jones out. I say borderline because I want nothing to do with anyone in the Vikings' terrible offense right now. I've kept Justin Jefferson in my lineups because I feel like I have to, but I've benched Jordan Addison in all of my leagues, and he's one of my most rostered players.

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Stock Up

Gunner Helm

• The week after my Longhorns upset their rival Aggies, I wanted to mention two former Longhorns whose dynasty stock is on the rise. Helm has had seven targets in each of the last two weeks and scored 23 combined points over that span. He's yet to replace Chig Okonkwo in the lineup fully, but they are both now receiving more than 60% of the snaps, and Helm is getting far more targets. The Tennessee offense is terrible, so Helm is not a startable player, but it's nice for his dynasty managers to see his role increasing.

Adonai Mitchell

• Earlier this season, I wrote about Mitchell as a stock-down player. I went as far as to say he was borderline droppable. Since his trade to the Jets, he's changed my mind. I did not think he was droppable from an athletic and skills standpoint. I just thought his opportunities were over in Indianapolis, since he was in the doghouse with the coaches, and Alec Pierce drastically outperformed him this year and stole Mitchell's job. Now he's making the most of his opportunities with the Jets, though. He was the 6th highest scoring receiver this week with 24 points. He was targeted 12 times and had an excellent touchdown catch on an underthrown ball by Tyrod Taylor, who is making the offense move compared to Justin Fields. He has an opportunity to earn a starting role with the team as they continue to rebuild.

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Stock Down

Travis Etienne

• Bhayshul Tuten is more steadily eating into Etienne's workload.  This week, it was more noticeable than in previous weeks. He had his second-highest snap-count percentage of the season this week with 29%.  He also got some goal-line work and scored a touchdown. Etienne had his lowest snap count rate of the season with 59% and his least productive fantasy game of the year. After four weeks in a row scoring more than 15 fantasy points, he scored just five this week. I've not given up on Etienne, but I'm watching this backfield more carefully after this week.

Rico Dowdle

• The tables turned this week as the Panthers gave Hubbard more touches than in previous weeks, and it paid off for them in their upset win over the Rams' strong defense. Hubbard got 59% of the snaps compared to Dowdle's 42%. Hubbard averaged 4.8 yards per carry on his 17 carries compared to Dowdle's 3.2 yards per carry on his 18 carries. It's just a one-week sample size, but the assumption that Dowdle would take over the backfield and tank Hubbard's dynasty value may be a hasty assumption. Hubbard is the Panther with a contract beyond this year, whereas Dowdle is on a one-year deal. Dynasty managers should not give up on Hubbard yet.

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Young Guns

Kyle Monangai

• It's lazy to compare the Bears' offense to the Lions since Ben Johnson is their new head coach, but the Monangai-Swift backfield sure reminds me a lot of the Montgomery-Gibbs backfield. Monangai was a monster on Black Friday, as was Swift. They finished as the 7th- and 3rd-highest scoring running backs of the week. Both had goal-line carries and touchdowns this week, but in recent weeks, Monangai has had more of the short-yardage role. He's starting to become a player dynasty managers can expect to score every week. He's scored a touchdown four weeks in a row. He's the hammer in their run game, and he's getting it done every week. I have no shares of Swift, but I know dynasty managers love the season he's having, and those with Monangai are thrilled about a possible future starting running back they found at the end of rookie drafts this season. I'm glad I did in one league.

Jayden Higgins

• Higgins did not do anything outstanding this week, but his role in the Texans' offense is solidified, and he's contributing well with opportunities for growth.  Since the Texans' bye week, he has averaged nearly six targets per game, and he's scored a touchdown every other week. On Sunday, he had a season-best 65 yards receiving. Nico Collins is still the alpha for the Texans, but Higgins is developing into a reliable wingman that could soon be startable in dynasty lineups. He's improving, and his role has increased, so his dynasty managers should be excited about Higgins.

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Old-Man Strength

A.J. Brown

• Squeaky wheel Brown is the highest-scoring wide receiver this week after his outstanding efforts in the Eagles' loss to the Bears on Black Friday. He had a season high in targets, catches, and yards. He's been a very unreliable starter this year, but dynasty managers know better than to remove him from their lineups because he can have games like this at any time. It's the first time this season, though, that he's put together back-to-back top-twelve weeks in fantasy. If he can keep it going, he'll be a major part of dynasty championships. I only have Brown in one league, but I am the top team in that league despite his inconsistencies this year. If he can keep this up, it's just the boost I'll need to win a championship.

Jordan Love

• I listed Love in the stock-down portion of this article, but he proved me wrong this week after his incredible game on Thanksgiving Day.  I still think his production is too inconsistent and expect that to continue, but I'll give him his due this week as he torched the Lions defense with four touchdown passes to three different receivers. Maybe Christian Watson and Dontayvion Wicks are the keys to unlocking the offense.  They dominated the targets on Thursday with 10 and 7, respectively. The rest of the Packers combined for 12 targets. The frustration I've had with the Love-led offense the last few years is that no one emerged as an alpha to dominate the target share. Each week, it seems like there's a different leader. Let's see if Watson and Wicks, especially Watson, can become the alpha WR-1 that Love needs.  

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Waiver Watch

Tyrod Taylor

• Taylor is available in almost all of the one-quarterback leagues.  He's worth adding as the season comes to an end, as a depth piece in case of injuries, or as a streaming starter after how he's performed in his two starts. He was the 9th highest scoring quarterback this week with 23 points.  He'd be hard to trust in a playoff game, but a dynasty team with an injured quarterback could be helped by adding him.

David Sills

• Sills is apparently the Drake London handcuff. He's come out of nowhere to score a touchdown in each of the last two games while London was injured. He played 70% and 84% of the snaps, too. He's bounced around the NFL for years, but he's had his two best games in the last two weeks. He used to tear up my Longhorns when we played West Virginia, and was a super sleeper in rookie drafts back in 2019 when he signed with the Bills as an undrafted free agent.

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Dynasty Trades

Kyren Williams and Blake Corum <=======> Jordan Addison and Chimere Dike

• A rebuilding team in this league was shopping the Rams' backfield for weeks, begging for a competitive team to bite. He finally got a taker and added two young receivers in the deal. It's a fair deal given each manager's needs, but I would prefer to have more control over the Rams' backfield than the two young receivers, whether I were a contending or rebuilding team. Williams is the most valuable player in the deal, with Addison a close second, but the ability to lock up the Rams' backfield is more beneficial. Dike has had a solid rookie season, but the Titans are years away from having a productive offense. The Rams' offense, on the other hand, will be a top-scoring team as long as Sean McVay is their coach.

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