Welcome to the Monday edition of the Daily Dose newsletter, our “Fantasy Fallout” day. In this article, you will get a quick rundown of the relevant things we learned from the week’s games from Thursday through Sunday. 

We won’t talk about every single player and we usually won’t spend time on studs who go nuts (no one needs to be told to start Saquon Barkley right now!), but rather, the idea is to update you on usage trends, injuries, and other relevant things to help your decisions with your teams.

Bears at Lions

• For the third week in a row, a different WR saw double-digit targets to lead the Bears trio in targets. This week it was DJ Moore, turning 16 targets into 97 yards and a TD. Keenan Allen converted his eight targets into 73 yards and two TDs as the Bears stormed back in the second half only to have poor clock management cost them a chance at OT. All three Chicago wideouts (including rookie Rome Odunze) remain weekly starters for most fantasy teams.
• Caleb Williams struggled in the first half but roared back to throw for 256 yards and three TDs against a stout Detroit defense. The Bears fired head coach Matt Eberflus after this loss, so a situation to monitor as interim offensive coordinator, Thomas Brown, was promoted to interim HC. 
• Sam LaPorta had two TDs in the Lions 23-20 win, but he only totaled six receiving yards on six targets. LaPorta has yet to see more than six targets in a game and remains a volatile starter at TE.
• The Lions leaned heavily on RB David Montgomery, who out-touched Jahmyr Gibbs 24 to 11. Gibbs had a costly fumble at the end of the first half, but he should bounce back next week as the Lions face the Packers. 

Giants at Cowboys

These are the top players to consider adding from waivers this week. Unless otherwise noted, all players below are available in greater than 50% of Yahoo leagues (as of Sunday evening).

Week 14 teams on bye: Broncos, Colts, Commanders, Patriots, Ravens, Texans

QB Pickups

Russell Wilson, PIT, Week 14 vs CLE

• Russ is coming off of a 414-yard, three-TD eruption in a shootout win over the division-rival Bengals. He now has multiple TD passes in half of his six starts for the Steelers this season. Wilson generated a 9.6 YPA and a TD in a loss at Cleveland in Week 12.
• Low-priority add. Wilson is a fine QB streamer in a mediocre matchup against a division rival. It’s not the most inspiring spot but look at that list of teams on bye above… we’re missing Bo Nix, Anthony Richardson, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, Lamar Jackson, and C.J. Stroud from our fantasy lineups this week.
• 10% or less of FAAB.

Will Levis, TEN, Week 14 vs JAX

At this point in the season, most trade deadlines have passed so the “Buy Low, Sell High” article no longer makes sense! In its place, on Wednesdays we will give you a quick summary of each game’s important information to know and pay attention to as you get ready for your lineup decisions in these key weeks to end the season and into the playoffs.

Packers at Lions

• Spread/Total: DET -3, 51.5
• Weather: Dome
• Key Injuries to Monitor:
  • Romeo Doubs, WR, GB 
• Matchup Notes:
  • Second matchup between teams, first was played in wet weather in Green Bay in Week 8.
  • Detroit opponents pass at the second-highest rate in the league.
  • Packers WR Jayden Reed has gone over 100 receiving yards three times this season – all three of Green Bay’s losses.

Saints at Giants

This article is intended to highlight some players who may have a positive or negative weekly outlook relative to their baseline value. 

“Starts” are players who might generally be on fantasy benches but might have a terrific perceived matchup or game script/environment, or the potential for an expanded role due to past performance or injuries to teammates or opponents. 

“Fades” are players who were likely drafted as fantasy starters or have performed as automatic starters lately but face a particularly tough week due to a poor matchup or a lack of short-term role clarity due to an injury, etc. 

Here are a few of my notable starts and fades for Week 14 of the 2024 NFL season, with some notes on my thought process included:

QB

Start: Will Levis, TEN (vs. JAX)

• Levis threw a pair of TD passes to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine last week and now has multiple TD passes in three of his last four starts after missing a few games in the middle of the fantasy season with a shoulder injury. He’s built a nice rapport with a talented group of playmakers this year, including Calvin Ridley, Tony Pollard, and NWI.
• Tennessee hosts the Jags and their league-worst defense this week in a game with the lowest implied point total (39.5). Normally, a mistake-prone QB in a low-total game isn’t the best place to look for a QB spot start, but we’re missing Bo Nix, Anthony Richardson, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, Lamar Jackson, and C.J. Stroud from our fantasy lineups during this brutal week of byes.
• Levis and the Titans’ offense have been playing well and now get the benefit of the literal best defensive matchup on a week we’re replacing as many as half of the usual starting QBs in 12-team, single-QB leagues. I like him as a back-end starter in those formats this week.

Fade:  Brock Purdy, SF (vs. CHI)

Some things in fantasy football are easy. We know we should start Ja’Marr Chase and Saquon Barkley. We know we should bench the backup running back who is only on our roster in case of injury. A lot of the decisions are made for us. However, there are a lot of things that are not so simple. All of the “in between” situations are what can make the difference between a few wins and losses, and therefore it can be the difference between a successful season or a failed season. Every Friday, we are here to help!!

I’ll take questions each week in our #fantasy-football channel in our Discord from people looking for Start/Sit advice and give my thoughts. This article on Fridays will feature a few of those questions and responses, so join our Discord to be a part of the conversation or ask questions of your own!!

Question 1:: Who would you prefer (1 or 2) between Rome Odunze, Xavier Worthy, Keon Coleman, and Jaylen Waddle? My other wide receiver and Flex are Malik Nabers and Tank Bigsby. (#VibeUnits)

Answer:: I would choose to bench Bigsby and play two of your listed receivers along with Nabers. Bigsby was great early in the season, but he has a very tough matchup against the Titans’ stout run defense and Mac Jones at QB. Bigsby has only been targeted six times all season, leaving him as a yardage-and-touchdown RB in a tough matchup. I would go with Waddle and Odunze for your other two spots. Waddle has shown the ceiling is there and is playing at home against a Jets secondary that is likely to be shorthanded. Odunze is a talented rookie who I think could see his role grow with a new head coach as the Bears look to 2025.

Question 2:: Baker Mayfield or Joe Burrow? (john58)

The weekend is here and it’s time to get our lineups set before Sunday’s full slate of games. Each week, the Saturday edition of the Daily Dose will feature my rankings for all players who have yet to play a game this week. Obviously this will not include the Thursday games, but feel free to hit me up in Discord if you have some tough decisions around guys who play on Thursday. 

Most of the leagues I play in are full-PPR, 12-team leagues and these rankings are designed for those settings – you may need to make some slight adjustments based on your own league settings.

QB:: 

1. Jalen Hurts
2. Josh Allen
3. Joe Burrow
4. Kyler Murray
5. Patrick Mahomes
6. Baker Mayfield
7. Russell Wilson
8. Tua Tagovailoa
9. Sam Darnold
10. Brock Purdy
11. Justin Herbert
12. Jameis Winston
13. Caleb Williams
14. Will Levis
15. Geno Smith
16. Matthew Stafford
17. Kirk Cousins
18. Aidan O’Connell
19. Cooper Rush
20. Aaron Rodgers
21. Mac Jones
22. Drew Lock
23. Derek Carr
24. Bryce Young

RB:: 

The theme of this article is, “Work smarter, not harder.” Every week we will give you the top Waiver Adds in our Tuesday article. However, you can make things a lot easier and less stressful by getting ahead of things with some players and situations. Doing so in a smart way can help you save FAAB or preserve high waiver priority in your league. 

Every Sunday I will give you a few players who stand out to me as great potential additions that can give you a leg up on your league mates. Look to add these players if you have players you are willing to drop, who get late-week injuries, or who are ruled out of their games and allow you to move them to an IR spot once they are officially inactive on Sunday morning.

Jameis Winston, QB, CLE

• Jameis had a massive game on Monday night against the Broncos, but a tough on-paper matchup with a Steelers defense that slowed him down in a blizzard two weeks ago has kept his ownership levels in check, as he is only rostered in 34% of Yahoo leagues currently. However, looking ahead, he has three nice matchups for the fantasy playoffs against the Chiefs, Bengals, and Dolphins. Kansas City’s defense has taken a step back and given up big games to Bryce Young and Aidan O’Connell in recent weeks, so it’s not as imposing as it first looks. Then, Cincinnati and Miami are potential shootouts.

Trey Benson, RB, ARI