Week 13 is upon us. A mere two weeks separate us from entering the fantasy playoffs with a chance to seize championship immortality. This week's result could help play a part in determining your overall happiness for 2026. What are YOU prepared to do about it?! Sit back and hope, or get ready to set the best fantasy lineup of your life, baby!

This brings us to today's goal: 10 mostly fantasy-relevant things to know ahead of Week 13 that ideally will help make you both a better fantasy manager and overall person.

Since Thursday is Thanksgiving, I'll be getting all cute with the first four sections and focusing on the positional groups playing on Thursday. We'll also subjectively rank some Thanksgiving food, because who doesn't love an excuse to hate on fraud ass turkey?

1. The Turkey: QBs are set up well all over the place on Thursday
2. The Gravy: Derrick Henry looks poised to erupt while America struggles to stay awake
3. The Stuffing: Five of fantasy's top-nine WRs are suiting up this Turkey Day
4. The Cranberry Sauce: Travis Kelce got his legs back
5. What man-coverage splits can we take advantage of for Week 13?
6. Week 12 RB Report: A new RB1 in the windy city?
7. The DST corner: Dolphins profile as a quality Week 13-14 streamer
8. Two key Week 13 ranking questions and answers
9. Subjectively ranking the best Thanksgiving food
10. Three bold calls for Week 13

As always: It's a great day to be great.

1. The Turkey: QBs are set up well all over the place on Thursday

My Thanksgiving Day QB Rankings:

Note that listed rankings refer to each player's overall rank among every player in Week 13, not just on Thanksgiving.

QB2 Patrick Mahomes: The Chiefs have been adamant every offseason that the deep ball will be returning to their offense, but through 12 weeks Mahomes is just 30th in completion rate on passes thrown 20+ yards downfield (34.6%) among 40 qualified QBs. Good news: The Cowboys rank among the league's bottom-four defenses in completion rate (46.7%) and EPA allowed per dropback (+1.13) on passes thrown 20+ yards downfield this season.

QB3 Lamar Jackson: Has missed the first practice of the last three weeks with knee, ankle, and now toe injuries. The latest issue (again) isn't expected to impact Jackson's availability, but clearly these issues have limited the two-time MVP's ability on the ground.

Jackson fantasy points per game from rushing:

• 2019: 10.8
• 2020: 9.5
• 2021: 7.4
• 2022: 7.9
• 2023: 7
• 2024: 6.87
• 2025: 3.7

QB7 Dak Prescott: Currently playing some of the best football of his career.

QB9 Joe Burrow: Obviously the best version of Joey B is an absolute dawg, but we should consider the possibility that Burrow is operating at less than 100% coming off his turf toe injury. The other time we've seen him function with limited mobility came in early 2023 due to a calf injury–the results were not good.

Burrow in the first month of 2023:

• Week 1: 82 pass yards-0 TD-0 INT, QB32
• Week 2: 222-2-1, QB21
• Week 3: 259-0-1, QB25
• Week 4: 165-0-0, QB28

QB16 Jared Goff: Probably the biggest difference for this Lions offense with Dan Campbell calling plays has been the willingness to embrace the passing game. Don't let Campbell's tough, rugged, extremely-caffeinated demeanor fool you: The man knows that throwing the ball is key in 2025, and accordingly Detroit has posted a +4% dropback rate over expected (7th) over the past three weeks after having a lowly -6% (30th) mark in Weeks 1-9.

QB20 Jordan Love: Playing through a bad left AC joint injury certainly won't help Love's ability to play better under pressure. Sure, the man is always good for a fadeaway dime every so often; just realize as a whole we're looking at one of the game's best QBs from a clean pocket, who suddenly becomes dirt average from a muddled one.

Love EPA per dropback:

• Clean pocket: +0.56 (1st)
• Under pressure: -0.34 (21st)

2. The Gravy: Derrick Henry looks poised to erupt while America struggles to stay awake

My Thanksgiving Day RB Rankings:

Note that listed rankings refer to each player's overall rank among every player in Week 13, not just on Thanksgiving.

Henry's per-month splits reflect the reality that he only gets better as the weather gets colder, and now we're looking at the absolute nut matchup against a Bengals defense that has struggled to slow down RBs of basically all shapes and sizes this season.

Consider: Cincy has allowed 33.5 PPR points per game to opposing backfields this season! That's easily the worst mark in the NFL this season–and you have to go back to the 2021 Jets to find the last time someone was worse.

Maybe the Bengals are turning a corner, they've allowed relatively low 111 and 107 rushing yard totals over the last two weeks, but even then we could see Henry simply fall into the end zone multiple times like he did last week. After all, this Cincy defense remains dead last in scoring this season as well.

Quick hits:

Did someone say anytime TD?: Packers RB Josh Jacobs. Has scored 28 TDs in 28 games with Green Bay. Not too shabby–here's to hoping Jacobs' knee is close to 100% ahead of Thursday.

Who would be Planet Earth's RB1 if we faced the aliens in a football game to save civilization?: Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs. With all due respect to Jonathan Taylor: I do think Gibbs' pass-game ability necessitates him getting starting duties in this scenario. Especially lately–no RB has improved their yards per carry more in the last six weeks relative to the first month and a half of the season.

There could be a workload shift here: Bengals RB Chase Brown. Backup RB Samaje Perine (ankle) was listed as a full participant in Monday's estimated practice report, meaning he should be back to working as the offense's No. 2 RB. Expect Brown to still get plenty of touches, but the usage discrepancy has been apparent with and without Perine involved this season.

Brown with and without Perine:

• With (8 games): 62% snaps, 68% rushes, 49% routes, 11.2 PPR points per game
• Without (3 games): 89% snaps, 83% rushes, 82% routes, 17.6 PPR points per game

Due for positive TD regression: Cowboys RB Javonte Williams. Scored nine TDs on 148 touches during his first eight games of the season, but has racked up 61 scoreless touches over his last three games. Williams continues to run hard and rack up plenty of yardage; just realize the featured back of the league's fourth-ranked scoring offense is Tropic of Cancer-levels of overdue for a trip back to the end zone.

Don't call it a comeback: Chiefs RB Kareem Hunt. He's been here for years, and Hunt is (again) racking up fantasy points with PPR RB11, RB17, RB20, and RB5 finishes in his last four games. Of course, Isiah Pacheco (knee) is expected to return this week, but I'd still bet on Hunt being the primary goal line option for a Chiefs offense implied to score a gaudy 27.25 points in Jerry World.

3. The Stuffing: Five of fantasy's top nine WRs are suiting up this Turkey Day

My Thanksgiving Day WR Rankings:

Note that listed rankings refer to each player's overall rank among every player in Week 13, not just on Thanksgiving.

But the top *duo* certainly resides in Dallas. Overall, both George Pickens (20, PPR WR4) and CeeDee Lamb (14.9, WR9) have worked as top-10 options at the position through 12 weeks of action. It's surprising to see the latter still rank this high considering his average includes an injury-induced goose-egg and Lamb is tied with Davante Adams and Jerry Jeudy atop the league-wide drop leaderboard (8).

Ultimately, just 13 offenses produced multiple top-12 WRs in PPR points per game in the same season in 10 years entering 2025. It sure seems like Dallas is poised to produce the next tandem, although the going won't be easy against a Chiefs defense that has allowed the second-fewest PPR points per game to opposing WR rooms this season.

Quick hits:

No spitting on the Turkey: Bengals WR Ja'Marr Chase. The ceiling for Chase might as well be the moon in this matchup without Tee Higgins (concussion). After all, the 25-year-old talent has saved some of his best performances for the Ravens over the years.

• Week 7, 2021: 8 receptions-201 yards-1 TD
• Week 16, 2021: 7-125-0
• Week 5, 2022: 7-50-0
• Week 18, 2022: 8-86-1
• Wild Card, 2022: 9-84-1
• Week 2, 2023: 5-31-0
• Week 11, 2023: 2-12-1
• Week 5, 2024: 10-193-2
• Week 10, 2024: 11-264-3

The YAC Gawd: Chiefs WR Rashee Rice. 65% of Rice's receptions have produced at least five yards after the catch this season. The next-closest player is Khalil Shakir … at just 56%!

The Sun God hasn't exactly owned the Packers over the years: Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown. Look, you should never bench St. Brown in fantasy land. Not even if there's a fire. With that said: The Sun God has relatively ridden the struggle bus in recent matchups against the Lions' NFC North rival, posting 4-55-0, 6-49-0, 5-56-1, 9-95-0, 7-56-1, 5-43-0, and most recently 4-45-0 receiving lines since 2022.

The TD gods are cruel: Ravens WR Zay Flowers. Caught a TD on his sixth target of the season … and has received 71 targets without a single score since. Of course, Flowers is averaging a career-best 9.9 yards per target and continues to look the part of a rather great real-life WR, but the fantasy booms simply haven't been there. Luckily the busts have also largely been absent: Flowers has finished no better than the PPR WR23, but no worse than the WR32 in nine of 10 games since his overall WR1 season debut.

Definition of boom or bust: Lions WR Jameson Williams. The Lions' dynamic No. 2 WR has gained 66-plus yards and found the end zone in four of his last six games … while posting goose-eggs in the other two contests. Sigh. Such is life when sharing an offense with two bona fide superstars in St. Brown and Gibbs. Here's to hoping Williams gets going again this Thursday, but it won't be easy against the league's ninth-ranked defense in fewest PPR points per game allowed to opposing WRs.

Choose your fighter: Packers WRs Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, and Dontayvion Wicks. The Lions run the most man coverage in the league and have allowed 15 scores to opposing WRs this season–tied for the second most in the NFL. A look at the man/zone splits from Green Bay's WRs reveals that it could in fact be Mr. Wicks who benefits most from this matchup.

Packers WRs targets per route run vs. man/zone coverage:

• vs. man coverage: Wicks (28%), Doubs (27%), Watson (19%)
• vs. zone coverage: Doubs (19%), Watson (19%), Wicks (14%)

Hit on a deep ball once challenge: Chiefs WR Xavier Worthy. Has unfortunately only connected on one of 19 targets thrown 30-plus yards downfield over the past two seasons (including playoffs). While Worthy isn't completely free of blame, I'd argue there's more blood on Mahomes' hands when it comes to looking at this lack of downfield chemistry.

The fun Thanksgiving sleeper: Bengals WR Mitch Tinsley. Has only seen 12 targets all season … but has caught two TDs! The most recent score came in a one-on-one battle with ace Patriots CB Christian Gonzalez, and Tinsley even had the audacity to stare Gonzo down after the fact. That's alpha behavior, man. Anyway, the absence of Higgins (concussion) means Tinsley should see something close to a full-time role alongside Chase and Andrei Iosivas–don't be surprised if the preseason superstar takes advantage of more single coverage against the Ravens' man-heavy secondary.

Don't sleep on a big play: Cowboys WR KaVontae Turpin. The reigning first-team All-Pro returner also moonlights as a WR and occasional RB for the Cowboys' high-flying offense. Turpin might be lucky to weigh 150 pounds soaking wet, but make no mistake about it: There's game-breaking speed here. Overall, Turpin's 22.36 MPH top ball carrier speed from last season trails only Jonathan Taylor (22.38) over the last two years.

4. The Cranberry Sauce: Travis Kelce got his legs back

My Thanksgiving Day TE Rankings:

Note that listed rankings refer to each player's overall rank among every player in Week 13, not just on Thanksgiving.

Whether it's the engagement, offseason training, or some sort of black magic witchcraft that the public doesn't know about: Kelce has re-emerged as one of the position's biggest threats with the football in his hands.

Quick hits:

The most unlucky TE in Week 12 was…: Cowboys TE Jake Ferguson. Ferguson got tackled at the one-yard line and didn't score on the same drive *twice* during the team's comeback win over the Eagles. A full list of these occurrences from last week:

Tackled at the one-yard line and did NOT score a TD on the same drive in Week 12:

• Patriots RB TreVeyon Henderson (x2, different drives)
• Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson (x2, same drive)
• Cowboys RB Javonte Williams
• Lions RB David Montgomery
• Steelers RB Kenneth Gainwell
• Patriots RB Terrell Jennings
• Eagles WR DeVonta Smith
• Packers WR Dontayvion Wicks
• Titans WR Xavier Restrepo
• Cowboys TE Jake Ferguson (x2, different drives
• Patriots TE Hunter Henry
• Rams TE Colby Parkinson
• Saints QB Tyler Shough (x3, 2 different drives)
• Patriots QB Drake Maye
• Cowboys QB Dak Prescott
• Panthers QB Bryce Young

Death, taxes, TEs balling out against Cincy: Ravens TE Mark Andrews. It really is incredible how many TEs have balled the hell out against the Bengals this season. From Hunter Henry (7-115-1), to Colston Loveland (6-118-2), to Pat Freiermuth (5-111-2): The list goes on and on. Overall, Cincy has allowed a league-worst 23.6 PPR points per game to opposing TEs–the 5.7 point difference between them and the second-worst team (Jaguars) is the same as Jacksonville and the league's 11th-ranked defense against the position!

No Tee Higgins, no problem?: Bengals TE Mike Gesicki. Gesicki's performance in five games with Higgins sidelined last season:

• Week 1: 3 receptions-18 yards-0 TD (4 targets)
• Week 2: 7-91-0 (9)
• Week 8: 7-73-0 (8)
• Week 9: 5-100-2 (6)
• Week 10: 4-30-0 (9)

Gesicki posted a solid 67% route rate in Week 12 with 93% of his snaps coming in the slot or out wide. Giddyup!

Gotta love a random first TD bet: Lions TE Brock Wright. Wright has posted solid 64% and 73% route rates in two games with Sam LaPorta (back, IR) out of the picture. His +2500 first TD odds are the 11th-highest mark in the game and right next to Packers RB3 Chris Brooks (+2700). While I am in fact a life-long losing gambler, a wise woman once said: Scared money don't make money. Brock Wright first TD, let's get it!

5. Which man-coverage splits can we take advantage of for Week 13?

Last week this section highlighted Amon-Ra St. Brown (duh, but yay!), Tee Higgins (Christian Gonzalez is a DAWG), Rome Odunze (not great), and Isaiah Hodgins (hey, he scored!).

Win some, lose some: Either way, the goal of this section is to try to find WRs who have fairly extreme man/zone splits and are facing bad defenses that happen to run a lot of man coverage. Cool? Cool.

Overall, there are just seven defenses that have run man coverage on more than 30% of their opponent's pass plays this season. Each defense's rank in EPA allowed per dropback is also listed in parenthesis.

1. Lions (41.8% man coverage, 17th in EPA allowed per dropback)
2. Broncos (39.3%, 4th)
3. Browns (37%, 3rd)
4. Giants (36.3%, 23rd)
5. Steelers (35.3%, 15th)
6. Jets (34%, 28th)
7. Ravens (33.9%, 20th)

We already discussed how Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks profile as the most-likely man-beaters out of Green Bay, while it's pretty obvious that Ja'Marr Chase should simply see all the work he can handle against the Ravens. With this in mind: We'll focus on the Patriots, Bills, and Falcons WR rooms ahead of their winnable man-heavy matchups.

• Patriots WR Stefon Diggs: Has a team-high 27% target share against man coverage this season–nobody else is above 16%! We saw Diggs tear up the last man-heavy defense he faced (9-105-0 vs. the Jets) and now he gets a Giants defense very much in peril after firing their defensive coordinator. The biggest concern is simply routes: Diggs rather inexplicably posted a season-low 54% route rate in Week 12 just one game after posting a season-high 89% mark in Week 11.
• Bills WR Josh Palmer: Look, Khalil Shakir will probably still lead the way in targets, but it's actually been Palmer (17%) and Keon Coleman (20%) who lead the Bills in overall target share vs. man coverage this season. We haven't seen the ex-Charger earn more than five targets in a game since Week 1; just realize the pieces are aligned for a rare boom against the Steelers' league-worst defense in PPR points per game allowed to the position.
• Falcons TE Kyle Pitts: The actual No. 1 in target share vs. man coverage in Atlanta is Drake London (26%), but it was surprising to see Pitts (24%) so close. Typically TEs feast more against zone coverage. Of course, fifth-year TE hasn't scored since Week 4 and has gone four consecutive games with under 40 yards–there's a low floor here–but I like Pitts' chances of rectifying both cold streaks against a Jets defense that has allowed more receiving TDs to opposing TEs (7) than anyone other than the Bengals (13).

6. Week 12 RB Report: A new RB1 in the windy city?

Workhorse alert: 13 teams featured one single RB on at least 70% of their offense's snaps in Week 12: Jonathan Taylor (90% snaps), Chase Brown (89%), Christian McCaffrey (83%), Saquon Barkley (83%), Ashton Jeanty (80%), De'Von Achane (80%), Javonte Williams (76%), Devin Neal (74%), Jahmyr Gibbs (74%), Kareem Hunt (73%), Breece Hall (72%), Woody Marks (71%), and Tyrone Tracy (71%).

Those damn injury gods: The two main parties involved that are being impacted by injuries: Neal taking over for Alvin Kamara (knee) and Hunt leading the backfield in Isiah Pacheco's (knee) absence. The former is expected to lead the way should Kamara miss time, although Audric Estime likely won't be a healthy scratch this time around, and longtime vulture Taysom Hill will probably stay annoyingly involved, as well. I'm treating Hunt as a similar RB3 as Neal: Pacheco will likely take away some touches, but Hunt has played well enough (especially in short-yardage situations) to likely still warrant at least 10-15 carries.

Still a bell-cow, wouldn't sweat it: RBs who didn't quite rack up a near every-down role in terms of snaps, but continued to dominate their backfield's overall touches and should be continued to be relied on in fantasy lineups of all shapes and sizes include:

• Bijan Robinson (RB5 in PPR points per game)
• James Cook (RB6)
• Kyren Williams (RB11)
• Travis Etienne (RB14)
• Derrick Henry (RB16)
• Rico Dowdle (RB17)
• Quinshon Judkins (RB22)
• TreVeyon Henderson (RB25)
• Aaron Jones (RB29)
• RJ Harvey (RB31)

A similar sentiment is true for whoever winds up starting at RB for the Packers and Chargers, while at this point *both* Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell are in the borderline RB2 conversation–especially ahead of this week's prime matchup against the Bills' 30th-ranked defense in PPR points per game allowed to opposing RBs.

The Times They Are A-Changin': Could Da Bears have a new RB1? It sure looks like it based on Week 12 usage, although I'd caution in assuming D'Andre Swift is poised to completely exit the picture because of one fumble. After all, it sure seemed like the Bears were mostly just rotating their RBs on a drive-by-drive basis, and Monangai mostly pulled away due to his drives lasting longer than Swift's. Still: We've seen Ben Johnson shrink the touch and snap discrepancies plenty in past weeks already; it'll be tough to expect too much out of either RB moving forward ahead of this less-than-ideal schedule:55

• Week 13 at Eagles: 18th in PPR points per game allowed to opposing RBs
• Week 14 at Packers: 10th
• Week 15 vs. Browns: 9th
• Week 16 vs. Packers: 10th
• Week 17 at 49ers: 15th

Muddled committees are so lame: And the Commanders, Titans, and Cardinals largely continue to insist on deploying just that. None of the involved backs crack my top 24 and shouldn't be relied on with any sort of high-end confidence as long as these gross rotations persist.

The king is back: Buccaneers RB Bucky Irving (shoulder) is tentatively expected to make his long-awaited return this Sunday against the Cardinals. Obviously at his best Irving is one of the game's more electric playmakers with the football in his hands, although it's worth mentioning that he was quite bad on the ground to start the season. Not having Tristan Wirfs didn't help matters, but the ascension of Sean Tucker and a desire to not overload Irving could perhaps lead to a lesser workload than what we saw out of the gate. That's why I have Irving ranked as a mid-tier RB2 (RB14) as opposed to a locked-in top-eight option at the position.

TD dependent early-down grinders: Feature David Montgomery and Zach Charbonnet, who simply don't have high enough touch floors to be overly relied on during any given week.

Is Kenneth Walker pulling away in Seattle?: Kind of! Charbs will probably always remain a nuisance at the goal line, but Walker has continued to look like the better RB and has accordingly seen his usage tick up over the past few weeks. Note that Week 10's wonky usage was heavily influenced by the Seahawks seizing a 38-7 halftime lead over the Cardinals.

Low-ish rostered handcuffs to stash if possible: The following dudes were under 35% rostered on ESPN and/or Yahoo at the beginning of the week and are seemingly *one* injury away from being AT LEAST a top-20 weekly option at the position:

• Jaguars RB Bhayshul Tuten (52% available on Yahoo)
• Falcons RB Tyler Allgeier (56%)
• Titans RB Tyjae Spears (65%)
• 49ers RB Brian Robinson (73%)
• Eagles RB Tank Bigsby (81%)
• Rams RB Blake Corum (84%)
• Dolphins RB Ollie Gordon (92%)
• Ravens RB Keaton Mitchell (97%)

My preferences in order: Corum, Robinson, (tier drop), Tuten, Allgeier, (tier drop), Spears, Bigsby, (tier drop), Mitchell, Gordon.

7. The DST corner: Dolphins profile as a quality Week 13-14 streamer

The below chart denotes fantasy DST matchups through the rest of the season based on the opponent's rank in fantasy points allowed to opposing DSTs. Blue is an easy on-paper matchup, red is bad.

We've been beating the TB DST drum for quite some time, and while they remain a quality play for the next five weeks, keep an eye on the health of Baker Mayfield (left AC joint), as being forced to deal with the ups and (mostly) downs from Teddy Bridgewater wouldn't be ideal–especially this week against the competent Jacoby Brissett-led Cardinals.

My favorite one-week streamers at the position:

• Dolphins DST (2.3% rostered on ESPN): Get the Saints, Jets, and Steelers during the next three weeks. Credit to this group for holding the Bills and Commanders to just 13 points each before their Week 12 bye. While this group couldn't generate any pressure to start the season, they rank eighth in pressure rate since Week 4 (39.4%), something that could certainly cause problems for rookie Tyler Shough (5 sacks taken last week).
• Chargers DST (29%): Get the Geno Smith-led Raiders, who are fresh off allowing *10* sacks against the Browns. Nobody on Los Angeles should be compared to Myles Garrett, but still: There's plenty of upside here for a group that is more available than they should be due to their Week 12 bye
• Falcons DST (36%): Jets QB Tyrod Taylor has taken two, four, three, and three sacks during his four extended appearances this season. The three worst QBs this season in terms of sack rate are: Justin Fields (11.7%), JJ McCarthy (11.2%) … and Taylor (11%).

8. Two key Week 13 ranking questions and answers

I'll be publishing an early rankings column midday Monday throughout the season that gives my top-12 QB/TE and top-24 RB//WR alongside some honorable mention picks while also answering a handful of questions regarding some of the week's biggest storylines. You can read the full Week 13 piece here, but I also wanted to highlight the two biggest questions and answers I had.

*Law and Order Music*

These are their stories.

Is Michael Wilson REALLY this f*cking good?

It's a question worth asking after the third-year WR turned in ANOTHER electric performance during the Cardinals' overtime loss to the Jaguars. The production in two games without Marvin Harrison Jr. (appendix) has been nothing short of startling:

• Week 11: 15 receptions-185 yards-0 TD (18 targets), PPR WR1
• Week 12: 10-118-0 (15), WR9 (pre-MNF)

The Next-Gen route charts reflect the reality that Wilson is being deployed as a legit No. 1 WR on his way to earning production all over the field. Sure, Jacoby Brissett has thrown a whopping 106 passes over the last two weeks, but Wilson has managed to demand 31% of those opportunities–and he's looked good doing it!

And those were just the highlights! Wilson has also shown quality chemistry with Brissett on easier underneath targets that aren't as sexy to replay.

If we trapped an alien in a basement for two weeks and forced them to watch every snap that Wilson and Harrison have played over the last two seasons with zero background knowledge on either player, who do you think they would believe to be better at football? Makes you think!

Up next is (another) winnable matchup against a Buccaneers defense that was just shredded by Matthew Stafford and company on Sunday night football. IF Marv is again sidelined, I'm inclined to ride the wave and rank Wilson as a legit borderline WR1 ahead of guys like Ladd McConkey, Emeka Egbuka, the Eagles ballers, and even Justin Jefferson. What a time to be alive.

We'll be forced to adjust the ranks if Marv does return to action (we of course do that throughout the week anyway over at Fantasy Life), but I'd struggle to assume Harrison simply returns and unseats Wilson as the offense's go-to option at WR. Wilson would tentatively come in as more of a borderline WR2 next to guys like Rome Odunze, Stefon Diggs, and Zay Flowers should Harrison return, while the 2024 NFL Draft's fourth overall pick would land more in the boom-or-bust WR3 range with Jauan Jennings and Jameson Williams.

Who left some serious meat on the bone in Week 12?

"Unrealized air yards" measure the total amount of air yards on incomplete targets. This helps identify players who had all sorts of fantasy-friendly downfield opportunities, but they simply couldn't come up with completions for one reason or another.

Anyways, eight players had at least 75 unrealized air yards in Week 12 (pre-MNF):

• Raiders WR Tre Tucker (171)
• Jets WR AD Mitchell (153)
• Saints WR Chris Olave (110)
• Eagles WR DeVonta Smith (98)
• Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb (94)
• Bears WR Rome Odunze (84)
• Texans WR Jayden Higgins (79)
• Buccaneers WR Emeka Egbuka (78)

And here's the wild part: That Tucker number doesn't even fully describe the amount of meat that Geno Smith left on the bone on Sunday. Contrary to popular belief, I am NOT a doctor, or offensive coordinator, or a former QB (I did once throw an interception in a 7-on-7 as a senior in high school), but these incompletions sure seemed to be the fault of Smith.

Clearly the Raiders weren't pleased with their offensive performance–they fired Chip Kelly before the clock struck midnight on Sunday, after all–although it'll be tough to expect too big of a jump in overall offensive efficiency unless Smith starts more closely resembling the gunslinger we saw in Seattle.

9. Subjectively ranking the best Thanksgiving food

Check out the Thursday edition of THE Fantasy Life Show for one cool thing on EVERY team playing in Week 13–but in the spirit of Turkey Day, let's break down the best and worst dishes from a consensus top-two holiday! (Disclaimer: I have been widely mocked my entire life for having terrible food takes)

1. Stuffing: The most elite Thanksgiving food out there *and* remains very good when re-heating throughout the rest of the week.
2. Mashed potatoes and gravy: Might be No. 1 on Turkey Day, but I give the slight edge to stuffing for re-heatability.
3. Sweet potato casserole with marshmallows: I wouldn't have a great argument against someone if they wanted to rank this No. 1.
4. Cranberry sauce: I love it. Many don't. I do. Deal with it. Fresh > canned.
5. Pumpkin pie: Only this low because who wants to save room for dessert on Thanksgiving? Unfortunately a victim of those circumstances. Undoubtedly elite, just not in the right situation. Basically the Myles Garrett of Thanksgiving food.
6. Mac and cheese: I love Macaroni and cheese. My wife and I even have a deal where if one of us wants it on any random night, we ask the other if they would like us to make it for them, and then we say yes. That's what marriage is all about. But yeah: I just don't really consider Mac and cheese a Thanksgiving food. It's the "Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?" debate of this holiday. But hey, it is good either way!
7. Green bean casserole: Not my thing, but I don't have a great reason other than I've generally been one of those stupid men who generally don't like icky green vegetables.
8. Bread/rolls: Still better than that stupid dry bird.
9. Turkey: The only reason we eat turkey is because of tradition. Everyone would be happier if we had steak, ham, hell, even chicken instead. But nope. Let's spend all f*cking day preparing this dry ass "bird" that can barely even fly.

Honorable mention: The great Scott Fish has brought it to my attention that "Snickers Salad" is a thing. Apparently another common W from the midwest. It looks absolutely spectacular, potentially even good enough to briefly distract Minnesota fans from the reality that their franchise is led by JJ McCarthy.

10. Three Bold Calls for Week 13

And I'm talking BOLD. No predicting Derrick Henry to have a big game, or Jaxon Smith-Njigba to have 100 yards: We're dumpster diving here in the pursuit of glory, but I swear there's legit reasoning to the madness (mostly in the form of my weekly mismatch charts):

1. Stefon Diggs gets back to balling, goes for 105 yards and a TD on Monday night. We're playing into the man-coverage advantage here against a Giants defense that is pretty bad to begin with. It'd also make sense if the Patriots are forced to rely more on their quick-passing game with multiple starting offensive linemen banged up.

2. RJ Harvey truly breaks out, hangs 120 total yards and 2 TDs on the Commanders. The usage was there in Week 11, but the production was not. I believe that changes on Sunday night against a Commanders defense that has allowed 28-plus points in four of their last five games. Especially specific prediction: I have a vision in my head of Harvey absolutely torching Bobby Wagner on a Texas Route for a 12-yard TD.

3. Tua Tagovailoa turns in a top-five performance, throws for 305 yards and 3 TDs vs. the Saints. The Dolphins quietly won three of four games before their Week 12 bye, even managing to demolish both the Falcons (34-10) and the Bills (30-13!). Nobody has a better advantage than the Dolphins this week in terms of combined pressure rate; giving Tua extra time to find Jaylen Waddle and De'Von Achane is a tall ask for any pass defense.

Last week: Rome Odunze (3-53-0) didn't rebound the way idiots (me) were thinking he might, David Montgomery put together his fourth-worst performance of the season instead of his second best, BUT Hunter Henry (7-115-1) did indeed torch the Bengals. Clearly the volatile and at-times straight-up random nature of football caused my first two predictions to fail, while the third correct call proves that I am a ball-knowing scholar.

Thank you all for reading and best of luck in Week 13 and beyond!