Injuries, injuries, and more injuries… This season of the NFL seems like the most injury-plagued campaign in recent memory judging by the obvious parity in the league’s standings. Heck, even the New England Patriots aren’t safe. In fact, they lost both their first game of the season and their top downfield threat in the same game this past Sunday night against the Broncos.
Having said that, New England’s tight end Scott Chandler tops our list of Week 13’s sleepers. And just like Chandler, the rest of the skill-position sleepers below are made even more attractive by way of other injured key players from their respective teams. Let’s take a look at all these worthy backups that could even give you that much-needed push for the fantasy season’s playoff stretch.
And if you’re in need of more advice for your virtual lineup, check out our Week 13 expert guide after this to see how the pundits around the web weighed-in on this weekend’s notable waiver wire gems.
[sc:Football ]2015 NFL Week 13 Fantasy Sleepers
Matt Hasselbeck – Quarterback, Indianapolis
[sc:NFL240banner ]If you haven’t gotten on board the Matt Hasselbeck bandwagon, then don’t bother, as many fantasy owners may have picked him up from the waiver wire already.
What the 40-year-old quarterback is doing is nothing short of remarkable. He has nearly single-handedly kept the Colts alive in the AFC South’s divisional race along with the surging Texans, and he’s doing it more methodically than Indy’s true starter at QB, Andrew Luck. Hasselbeck is now 4-0 as the Colts’ starting play-caller, and has only thrown an interception in one of those four games.
Last Sunday’s win over Tampa Bay also notched Hasselbeck his highest passing yardage output in a game for the season (312 yards). And with leaky pass defenses in Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, Miami and Tennessee up next, Hasselbeck could be in for more monster outings – as long as Luck remains on the sidelines, that is.
Shaun Draughn – Running Back, San Francisco
The San Francisco 49ers keep scraping the bottom of their barrel, and they continue to find unlikely contributions from unheralded players. Running back Shaun Draughn is one such player who has not been under a lot of fantasy owners’ radars given how generally unreliable the Niners are right now.
However, what many have failed to notice is that the undrafted free agent has had 20 carries and/or rushes combined in each of his last three contests with a solid 86.3 offensive yardage output per contest. Plus, with the games against the Bears, Browns, Lions and Rams left on the schedule, it won’t be long before Draughn finally reaches the end zone to give his fantasy value the credit it truly deserves, especially if the team opts to have Carlos Hyde (fractured foot) sit out the rest of the season.
Jermaine Kearse – Wide Receiver, Seattle
If you had Seattle’s Jermaine Kearse as a late-round pick from this year’s draft with the thought that he’d be a key cog for the Seahawks’ passing game, you probably gave up on the six-foot wideout by midseason. However, you may want to reconsider getting him back from the FA pool now, given that Jimmy Graham’s rocky season in Seattle has come to an end with a season-ending injury.
As an added bonus for those willing to take another shot at Kearse as a viable weekly WR3/flex option, Russell Wilson actually had a banner day in the air last Sunday by throwing for five TDs – two of them going to Kearse himself. The Browns, Ravens and Rams are still on tap for the Seahawks this season, and those are some games where Kearse can pretty much explode for another multi-TD day heading into the ever-crucial fantasy postseason period.
Scott Chandler – Tight End, New England
Speaking of multi-touchdown games, perhaps no other free agent on the market right now is in for an offensive outburst than New England’s Scott Chandler. Tom Brady’s favorite target, Rob Gronkowski, looks to be out longer than expected with his bruised knee, and Chandler actually did a swell job of filling in for his fellow tight end.
Chandler was targeted a team-high 11 times in the loss to Denver on Sunday night and managed to haul in five catches for 58 yards and a touchdown. The eight-year pro out of Iowa is even just an inch taller and five pounds lighter than Gronkowski, so Brady can pretty much treat Chandler as “Gronk Lite” with ease to keep the Pats’ frightening offense humming along in spite of the myriad of injuries that their receiving corps has had to deal with this 2015.
Andrew Franks – Kicker, Miami
Andrew Franks who?! Yup, he’s the Miami Dolphins’ rookie kicker, alright. Although the Fins have been utterly disappointing this entire campaign, Week 13 seems like the opportune time to take a flyer on the 22-year-old’s boot. Miami is set to host the lowly Baltimore Ravens this weekend, so Franks could definitely churn out some quality points by kicking from sunny Florida against the team that has given up the most points to kickers this season.
Redskins D/ST
Looking for another nice streamer for Week 13? Look no further than the Redskins’ defense.
Washington is suddenly in the thick of the NFC East race, and the team’s defense has certainly picked up its play in the process. The Skins’ D has allowed just 14 points to the opposition twice over its past three games, together with two defensive touchdowns over that three-game span as well. With the sputtering Cowboys up next, Washington’s defense will be all the more hungry to put the final nail into its division rival’s coffin once and for all.
Furthermoret, this unit could very well be a solid lock at the D/ST slot throughout the fantasy playoff stretch if its performance from this coming weekend does live up to its billing on paper. After Dallas, the Redskins get equally questionable opposing offenses in Chicago, Buffalo and Philly before they close out the season against the Cowboys once again.
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