Dominate Week 14 with Sal Vetri’s keys to a fantasy football victory.
Pick up and play: Nick Westbrook-Ikhine vs. JAX
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine had his best game of the season in Week 13, catching three of his eight targets for 61 yards and two touchdowns. This was his second top-10 finish at the position in the past three weeks. Westbrook-Ikhine has now scored eight touchdowns in his last eight games. It’s unlikely he continues to score a touchdown on 29% of his receptions this year (five times more than the league average), but based on his recent usage, that may not have to happen.
Westbrook is coming off a season high of eight goals. He has now achieved at least 20% of the Titans’ targets in four of his last five games. During this five-game stretch, he was able to post top-24 numbers in four starts. With six teams bye, Westbrook is a pick-and-play option this week. He’s up against the Jaguars who are allowing the most receiving yards per game and the second-most receiving touchdowns this season.
Sketchy spot of the week: Nick Chubb vs. PIT
Chubb quietly emerges from a worrisome game. In Week 13, Chubb caught a last-second touchdown to save his fantasy day and post 11.5 points. But overall, this was a poor performance from Chubb. He turned in nine carries for just 21 yards and even lost playing time to Jerome Ford in this game, who was two times more efficient with his carries. Chubb is now averaging just three yards per attempt this season, ranking 71st among all RBs. He has just one run of more than 10 yards and still hasn’t topped 60 yards in any of his six starts.
Things won’t get any easier for Chubb this week as he takes on the Steelers’ fourth-ranked defense. Pittsburgh is allowing just 90 total rushing yards per game, fourth fewest in the NFL. Chubb managed 18.5 fantasy points in Week 12 against Pittsburgh, but this was mainly due to two goal-line touchdowns in a bad weather game. He managed just 2.9 yards per carry against the Steelers earlier this year. Chubb is worth benching this week, assuming you have viable replacements.
Best spot of the week: Jakobi Meyers @ TB
Meyers records his fourth top-20 finish in his last five races. In Week 13 against the Chiefs, Meyers earned 11 targets, resulting in a strong 97 yards on six catches. Since the Raiders changed play-callers heading into their Week 10 bye, Meyers has earned a 25% target share (10.7 targets per game). This use is in the top 10 of all recipients in the past month.
Despite Aidan O’Connell taking over at QB in Week 13, Meyers was still able to produce at a high level. Dating back to last season, Meyers has now played eight games with O’Connell under center and is averaging over 13 fantasy points in those games.
This week, Meyers gets one of the best matchups you can find for a fantasy receiver. He’s going up against the Bucs who allow the third-most receiving yards per game and sixth-most fantasy points per game to WRs. Last week, Tampa allowed 99 yards and a touchdown to 34-year-old Adam Thielen. Expect another strong performance from Meyers this week.
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Sleeper of the week: Zach Charbonnet @ AZ
After a week of six-team byes, we may have to dig deep to find some players who can start in Week 14. Coming in is Charbonnet, who, despite being his own team’s RB2, has real standalone value. We saw this last week when Charbonnet totaled 41 yards and scored a touchdown on six touches. His snaps have increased in four straight games and he’s even taking work away from Kenneth Walker III in key situations. In Week 13, the Seahawks cut Walker after he lost seven yards on a carry in the red zone and brought in Charbonnet, who would score the game-winning eight-yard touchdown.
Charbonnet remains the backup for Walker, but he is a versatile defender who can catch passes and operate in the red zone. This week he faces the Cardinals’ 21st ranked tackle defense. Charbonnet is a top-three insurance option for the fantasy playoffs, but he’s also someone you can start if you’re in a pinch this week.
Return of the Week: Jauan Jennings vs. CHI
Jennings has been quiet for the past two weeks after being one of the hottest topics in fantasy in early November. But this needs more context, because it’s hard to blame Jennings for this two-game slump. Last week he played in a bad weather snowstorm in Buffalo. Despite this, he still managed to lead the team with 56 receiving yards; no other player on the 49ers topped 20 yards and Jennings’ 56 yards made up 60% of Brock Purdy’s passing production.
A week earlier against the Packers, Jennings operated with Brandon Allen as his QB. This was a unideal situation, but Jennings was still able to rack up a team-high seven goals and produce five catches for 40 yards despite playing with a QB who completed only 58% of his passes.
But now we’re heading into Week 14 and Jennings is getting good weather and a healthy Purdy back under center. This is enough for me to go back to Jennings as a starting point in fantasy. He still leads the 49ers since their bye week with a huge 32% target share, which is more than double George Kittle’s and 10% higher than Deebo Samuel’s usage during this span. Jennings remains the 49ers’ No. 1 receiver; make sure it’s in your lineup this week.
Must-start of the week: Rico Dowdle vs. CIN
Dowdle is finally getting a serious workload in Dallas. Over the past two games, he has averaged 22 touches and over 100 total yards. In Week 13, Dowdle produced the first 100-yard rushing game of his career on Thanksgiving against the Giants with four runs of 10+ yards per PFF, which was the most he had in a game this season. Dowdle gained 96 yards after contact in Week 13, another career high.
He’s moving in the right direction as we approach the fantasy playoffs. Dowdle was able to benefit from a strong match last week and this week he gets another great place. Dowdle and the Cowboys will take on the Bengals on Monday Night Football. Cincinnati’s defensive line has been suspect all season and it remained that way last week against the Steelers. Najee Harris totaled 129 yards and a touchdown against the Bengals in Week 13. Expect Dowdle to have another solid day; he’s a must-start this week with six teams byes.
Trending: Jonathon Brooks
Brooks saw action for the second time this season in Week 13 and his usage improved dramatically. In his first appearance in Week 12, Brooks played just 9% of the Panthers snaps and saw just 11% of the team’s rushing attempts. But in Week 13 against the Bucs, his usage increased to 21% of snaps and his rushing attempts tripled to 33% of the team’s carries. Neither Brooks nor Hubbard did much on the ground in this game, but Brooks looked healthy as a runner and pass catcher.
Brooks caught all three of his targets, including his first reception, which went for an explosive play of more than 15 yards, making two different defenders miss in open space. If this usage trend continues, Brooks will become a weekly FLEX option as the fantasy playoffs approach and the Panthers have a great fantasy postseason schedule for their RBs. They will face the Cowboys, Bucs and Cardinals who all rank in the bottom half of the league in run defense. Brooks is trendy and you can FLEX him this week if you have a bye week.
A backfield to watch: Kansas City
Isiah Pacheco returned for the Chiefs in Week 13 against the Raiders. We were told that Pacheco would have no restrictions on participating in this Black Friday matchup, but it was hard to believe that would be the case. The Chiefs were 13-point favorites against a poor Raiders team. It was unlikely that Pacheco would see a full workload.
In his first game since Week 2, Pacheco played 33% of the Chiefs snaps and handled 47% of the backfield carries. Pacheco converted this usage into eight touches for 49 yards. His 6.1 yards per touch provided greater efficiency than Kareem Hunt has shown in eight of his nine games this season. In Week 13, Hunt saw his worst usage of the year, playing just 40% of snaps and turning nine touches into 15 yards.
Pacheco had an explosive run of 34 yards in this game, which was twice as long as any run Hunt has had this season. Expect Pacheco to be expanded in the next one to two games and Hunt’s role to diminish even further. If you’re in a pinch this week, you can drop Hunt for someone you can actually start with in Week 14.
