NFL Week 13 fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em

• Start Trevor Lawrence: Lawrence has been a consistent fantasy starter over the middle of the season, and he has a great matchup against the Lions' defense.

• Sit Devin Singletary: Singletary has been one of the least efficient starting running backs and facing a Patriots defense that will make the situation even worse.

• Start Foster Moreau: The Raiders tight end has been a worthy fantasy starter recently and is facing a Chargers defense that has allowed plenty of yards to the position this season.

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

Deciding who to start or sit can be as easy as looking at the PFF rankings and starting the player ranked higher. This start’em, sit’em column goes a step further, looking into why someone you might typically start might not have a good week, or why someone overlooked might have a good week. In many cases, it’s the usual starters who should star, but we want to explore the borderline players, too.

QUARTERBACKS

START

Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars

Lawrence has finished among the top 10 fantasy quarterbacks in five of his past six games.
The Jaguars have the fifth-best matchup for quarterbacks this week, according to PFF's strength of schedule tool.
They face the Lions, who have allowed the most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season, with an average more than three points worse than any other team.
The Jaguars’ offensive line has the biggest edge over the Lions’ defensive line in the passing game among all matchups this week, according to PFF's offensive line/defensive line matchup chart.
The Lions have the second-lowest rate of perfectly covered plays this season.

Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys

Prescott has finished as a top-10 fantasy quarterback in three of his past four games.
His 0.53 fantasy points per dropback ties him for ninth among quarterbacks this season.
The Colts have been good at slowing down quarterbacks this season, but they’ve also faced only two with a PFF passing grade above 72.0 this season.
Indianapolis has the fifth-lowest PFF team pass-rush grade.
Prescott is averaging 8.1 yards per attempt without pressure and 6.7 with pressure this season.

SIT

Tom Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Brady has stayed outside of the top 12 among fantasy quarterbacks in each of his past six games.
His 0.36 fantasy points per dropback ties him for seventh-worst among quarterbacks this season. Five of the six below him have been benched at some point this season.
Brady has yet to earn an 80.0-plus PFF passing grade in a game this season. He accomplished that eight times in 2021.
The Buccaneers have the fifth-worst matchup for quarterbacks this week, according to PFF's strength of schedule tool.
Tampa Bay is the favorite on Monday Night despite the poor play on offense, which could lead the Buccaneers to run the ball frequently.

Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings

Cousins has scored the 17th-most fantasy points among quarterbacks in the past three weeks despite having the fifth-most passing attempts in that time.
His 7.4-yard average depth of target is the fifth-lowest among current starting quarterbacks.
The Vikings face the Jets, who have allowed the eighth-fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks this season.
New York has by far the highest team coverage grade this season (89.7) and the fourth-best pass-rush grade (80.6).
Cousins sports a 77.0 PFF pass grade without pressure and a 57.8 mark when facing pressure.

RUNNING BACKS

START

Cordarrelle Patterson, Atlanta Falcons

Patterson is averaging 5.2 yards per carry, which is seventh-best for running backs with at least 75 carries this season.
The Falcons' offensive line has the biggest edge over the Steelers' defensive line in the run game among all matchups this week, according to PFF's offensive line/defensive line matchup chart.
Three of the past five teams to face Pittsburgh have gained 110 yards or more from their running backs.
Patterson’s playing time has slowly but surely been on the rise since he returned from injury.