🚑 Another Sunday, Another Brutal Injury

Taylor went to Lambeau? Ok, they really are in love…

In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, we’re asking for your feedback:

I’m not sure how many times we can say “Please turn off injuries” or “Make the injuries stop,” but here we are again after a particularly brutal Sunday.

😭 Tank Dell is out for the year

This one stings real bad. The red-hot Texans rookie WR suffered a fractured fibula in yesterday’s game vs. the Broncos.

What makes this one particularly brutal is it didn’t even take place on a normal passing play. Nope, the big-brained coaches in Houston thought it made sense to use him as an interior blocker on a friggin’ QB sneak.

Dell, who was specifically drafted because QB CJ Stroud wanted him, finishes his rookie season with an impressive stat line:

• 47 catches

• 709 yards

• 7 TDs (Texans rookie record)

• 3 100-yard games

Like Stroud, it’s not going to be easy to move past this one. It sucks.

😭 Kenny Pickett is going to miss time

Right when things were starting to turn around for the Steelers, their starting QB suffered a serious ankle injury that will require a surgical procedure and keep him out at least a few weeks, if not more:

The Steelers play on a short week vs. the Patriots on Thursday, so we’ll see Mitch Trubisky get the start for that game, and perhaps the rest of the season.

It’s an unfortunate, injury-riddled start to Pickett’s career.

😭 Full injury round-up

Here’s a laundry list of the other injuries we’ll be monitoring throughout the week…

• Christian Watson (hamstring)

• Rhamondre Stevenson (ankle)

• Derrick Henry (head)

• Brian Robinson (hamstring)

• D'Andre Swift (undisclosed)

• Marquise Brown (heel)

• Amari Cooper (head)

• Derek Carr (head, back)

• Tyler Higbee (head)

• Marvin Mims (ribs)

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Peter is here to share his six big takeaways from Week 13. Take it away, Pete...

🥜 Deebo goes nuts

There’s a carousel dynamic to the Niners’ offense where you never know which of their offensive weapons is going to pop up for the massive game.

Yesterday was definitively a Deebo Samuel game:

His yards-after-catch heroics also propelled Brock Purdy to a QB1 performance and he politely waved ‘bye’ to the Eagles fans on his way out.

🍽️ Nico Collins devours the leftovers

While the Texans lost Dell for the year, Nico Collins stepped up in a massive way.

The second-year WR totaled 191 receiving yards and 1 TD vs. the Broncos while commanding a target on 42.9% of his routes.

He won’t be on any benches going forward:

🕰️ Tyreek & Mike Evans, like clockwork

It’s easy to take for granted what Tyreek Hill and Mike Evans are doing week in and week out this year.

In Week 13, they sang a familiar tune:

• Hill vs. the Commanders: 5-157-2

• Evans vs. the Panthers: 7-162-1

In fact, yesterday marked the 14th game of Evans’ career with 150+ receiving yards. Only seven have more and Hill is one of them.

👿 The revenge of the veteran RBs

Fantasy players, myself included, are often guilty of harboring an age bias when it comes to drafting. We want the young, ascending backs, not the ‘ol has-beens.

Well, in Week 13 three veteran RBs finished at the top of the position and collectively shoved all of us youth chasers in a locker:

1. RB1: Alvin Kamara (14-51-2, 6-58)

2. RB2: Derrick Henry (21-102-2; 1-18)

3. RB3: James Conner (25-105-2)

Kamara and Henry’s numbers aren’t big surprises necessarily—it is “DHember” after all—but Conner’s performance is especially impressive against a tough Steelers defense.

Yesterday was a good reminder to always respect your fantasy elders.

📈 The next generation of Elite TEs make their mark

The WR and RB positions might have been dominated by veterans in Week 13, but it was the young guns who led the way at TE.

Sam LaPorta (9-140-1) and Trey McBride (8-89-1) currently sit as the TE1 and TE2 after big games against the Saints and Steelers, respectively.

Just imagine how good they’d be if they had an international superstar cheering them on from the box each week!

🧠 Don’t forget about Puka Nacua

There’s been some worry about Nacua’s fantasy value after his incredible start to his career, but he got things back on track in a big way on Sunday with 105 receiving yards and a TD.

The big TD play, where he put his speed on full display, pushed him over 1,000 yards receiving on the season.

The Cincinnati Bengals head to Jacksonville to take on the Jaguars on Monday Night Football and Geoff Ulrich has you covered with everything you need to know to bet the game. Looking for a peak behind the curtain? Check out his best bet below…

Per Geoff, “The Bengals played their first regular season game without Burrow last week, and the results went as expected: ugly. Cincinnati barely managed to clear 250 total yards and scored 10 points.

Despite the poor showing on offense, their complex, bend-but-don’t-break defense under guru Lou Anarumo held the Steelers to 16 points and kept the game close. Jacksonville might have a little more success, but they also don’t have the incentive to run up the score against a non-division opponent.”

⌨️ Michael Thomas has finally logged off. Probably the smart move.

📺 Everything we learned from Week 13. Ian and Dwain have you covered.

🧀 How do you beat the cheese heads? This guy found the answer.

🤔 The Eagles get another tough draw in Week 14. Pick your side.

🏃 Sometimes you play football…sometimes you do cardio.

🤝 When they score, you score. Best TD bet for MNF.

🐅 A cat fight on Monday Night Football. Everything you need for MNF betting and the DFS showdown slate.

🎠 It’s very hard to find a starting QB. Just ask the Jets.

✍️ Can you trust Travis Etienne tonight? Player breakdowns for MNF.

🚾 A watercooler scored a TD yesterday?! SHOUT OUT TO OUR FELLOW WATERCOOLER.

🧮 Who will lock up a Top 2 pick? The Patriots are on fire!

🤢 Seriously, the Patriots are making history. In the most embarrassing way possible.

We're humans who play fantasy football, so we are prone to overreact. Today, Kendall overreacts to a darkhorse MVP candidate…

Are you superstitious? Well, you might be after the unlucky Week 13 we just witnessed. Let’s go through some of the injuries we saw…

• Not only did poor Steelers fans have to wait this game out, but the team also lost quarterback Kenny Pickett midway through the second quarter due to an ankle injury. 

• The Saints almost made a comeback over the Lions, but in the process lost their starting quarterback Derek Carr to a shoulder injury and he also entered concussion protocol. 

• (This isn’t an injury but we were forced to watch this game, which no one deserves)

But other than that, how was your Sunday? Thankfully we did have some stellar performances that need overreactions, so here we go.

🏆️ Tyreek Hill for MVP

Seriously, why not? Maybe we’ve talked about this before. Tyreek Hill is playing absolutely out of his mind this season. Remember when he vowed that he would be the first player in NFL history to have 2,000 receiving yards in a season? Well, he is on pace to do just that, and he’s doing it in style too.

He had 157 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday and according to the Miami Herald, he is on pace for 2,098 yards throughout the full 17-game season (if he plays in their final five games).

A wide receiver has never won the NFL’s MVP award, but Hill is making a case for himself to be added to the conversation. The Miami Dolphins have not won a playoff game since 2000, but this team is primed to make a run. This is a better team than we saw in 2022 — they are healthier, their offense is explosive, their defense is ranked highly, and they seem to be one of the most well-rounded teams. 

Hill should be a more favored MVP candidate because he elevates those around him, including Tua Tagovailoa. I know there isn’t one without the other (typically why quarterbacks are always favorites for MVP), but we just can’t ignore what Hill is doing this season. He’s going to break Calvin Johnson’s single-season record of 1,964 yards which was set in 2012 and is pushing for 2,000. He won’t win it, but he deserves to be in the conversations. 

📣 Let’s stop talking about Aaron Rodgers now, please

Anyone who reads this newsletter is too smart to believe all the rumors and false hope the Jets were pushing that quarterback Aaron Rodgers could return this season.

The team activated his 21-day practice window on Wednesday, but it’s clear for many reasons why Rodgers won’t play again this season. First, Rodgers has said he wants to protect himself from further injuries, meaning that he needs to be in peak game shape — something that probably won’t happen since he tore his Achilles just months ago on September 11th. 

The other reason why Rodgers won’t return? Because the Jets will be out of playoff contention. “Kendall, how is this making Overreaction Monday? We already knew this?”

I’m so glad you asked.

This is the last time we will talk about it, but the Jets could have been in playoff contention this season AND could have had serious conversations about Rodgers returning in late December if they had made the right moves, like maybe even signing a quarterback like Joshua Dobbs or even Joe Flacco?

The Cleveland Browns went through plans A, B and C just to keep their team in conversations. The Jets just hoped Zach Wilson would blindly lead them to the promised land (or at least keep them afloat) until Rodgers could return.

Was Flacco phenomenal? OF COURSE NOT. But he passed for 254 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. If you put Flacco on this Jets team weeks ago they would be in playoff conversations

With a talented team, it still confuses me why you wouldn’t do everything in your power to give them the best chance to win. Here’s to next year.