Josh's status is trending Downs for Week 13 📉

We’d be having much bigger, more prominent discussions about Puka Nacua’s season if he never got hurt. In his four healthy games this season, he’s been the definition of a fantasy WR1… catch up on that and more when you listen to yesterday’s takeaways episode of the Upper Hand Fantasy Podcast!

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• Quarterback drama running rampant through Jets, Giants, and Raiders facilities as the fantasy playoffs approach

  • We’ll touch on each individual situation and lay out some potential outcomes for each here, beginning with the Jets. Reports have popped up over the Jets’ Week 12 bye that there’s internal pressure for interim HC Jeff Ulbrich to bench QB Aaron Rodgers, but he came out yesterday and reiterated that Rodgers would ‘absolutely’ start in Week 13 against the Seahawks. Rodgers has thrown the ball plenty this season and volume hasn’t been an issue for the Jets WRs, though an uptick in the quality of the offense wouldn’t hurt anyone, either. Longtime serviceable backup Tyrod Taylor waits in the wings and could provide a spark should the Jets decide to turn to him at any point this season. Meanwhile, Tommy Devito was named starter once again for the Giants against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving. This on the heels of a disastrous performance against the Buccaneers at home, although he was able to salvage Malik Nabers’ day by hyper-targeting him in the second half. With Dallas trailing by at least 20+ points in six straight home games going into this matchup, let’s hope that Devito can deliver targets to Nabers at a similar rate in another strong matchup. As for the Raiders, their turnstile under center continues to turn with Gardner Minshew now out for the season due to a broken collarbone. HC Antonio Pierce indicated that Aidan O’Connell has been activated ahead from IR ahead of Friday’s game, and Raiders beats seem to be optimistic that he can make a return this week. That would be the lesser of two evils considering Desmond Ridder is the other option, but expectations should be tempered regardless with a tough matchup against the Chiefs on tap on Black Friday.

• Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence returns to the practice field Monday, status for Week 13 to be determined later in the week

  • How Doug Pederson still has a job remains a mystery and is a side note to this primary piece of news, but I felt it was worth mentioning as the Jags gear up to retake the field following their well-timed Week 12 bye. A return from Lawrence would work wonders for the Jaguars offense, particularly for the likes of rookie WR Brian Thomas Jr. and TE Evan Engram. Both have barely been skating by as fantasy relevant options over the past two games with Mac Jones at QB, and it hasn’t helped either that Jacksonville has faced two tough matchups in the Vikings and Lions. For as unforgiving and unideal as his situation is around him, Lawrence has been a generally strong fantasy QB1 over his past five games: he’s scored at least 18 points in four of his last five while depending on rushing production (specifically 3 TD in the past two games). If Lawrence would ultimately suit up in Week 13, Brian Thomas Jr. would re-enter the soild WR2 conversation wile Engram could be treated as an excellent high-floor option at tight end. We won’t know who’s starting until later on this week in an attempted play on gamesmanship, but if Lawrence is in, the top two pass catchers in Duval should be, as well.

• Colts WR Josh Downs considered ‘week-to-week’ with shoulder injury suffered in Week 12 vs Lions, unlikely to play in Week 13

  • The report comes from NFL Network’s Ian Rapaport on the heels of Downs’ worst statistical performance since Week 7. The second-year receiver reportedly played through the ailment to finish the game against Detroit, but now faces a short recovery ahead of Indy’s next game against the Patriots. While the injury could certainly be partially to blame for Downs’ underwhelming performance this past weekend, the Colts offense as a unit did little to help Downs get things going, either. Without him in the lineup in Week 13, fantasy managers can raise the bar slightly into the WR3 realm for Michael Pittman Jr. The matchup against the Patriots isn’t bad at all for the Colts, but with Anthony Richardson still struggling after completing less than 50% of his passes last week, this could very well become a Jonathan Taylor game – especially if Indianapolis is able to build any kind of lead on New England. Should Downs end up missing this next weekend’s game, fantasy managers will have to brace for an extended two-week absence, as the Colts have their bye in Week 14. Keep an eye out for Adonai Mitchell as well next week, as we’ve seen him step up into all three slot, X, and flanker roles over the course of the season.

Demario Douglas (WR - New England)

• Rinse and repeat of what has been here for what seems like each week over the last month.

• Douglas extended his trend of 5+ targets, 4+ catches, and 9+ fantasy points in all but one of the seven games with Maye at QB (over 30% snap share).

• Again, he's not going to be a week-deciding WR either in a positive or negative way, but he will give you a safe and steady option to plug in as a WR3/FLEX option in PPR formats.

• He's probably the best option you're going to find on waivers this late in the season at WR.

Xavier Legette (WR - Carolina Panthers)

• Even with Adam Thielen returning from IR, Xavier Legette kept pace with his numbers over the last month, posting another decent outing (4 catches on 6 targets for 56 yards, 9.6 points).

• That now makes for four of his last six games with 9+ points and three of his last four with 4+ catches and 6+ targets.

• The game scripts should remain pass-friendly and it looks like Legette is relatively established as Bryce Young's go-to WR at this point in the season.

• He's not an ideal lineup option but is someone who could be plugged in as a FLEX if necessary.

Jeremy McNichols (RB - Washington Commanders)

• It's the time of the year when injuries will make one or two random backup RBs fantasy football heroes - McNichols may be in line to be the next back to step up.

• Brian Robinson exited Week 12 with an ankle injury after having returned in Week 11 from a multi-week absence to another ankle injury. Meanwhile, Austin Ekeler exited late in the game, suffering a concussion with 9 seconds left in the game that forced him to be hospitalized.

• It looks fairly likely that both will miss Week 13 with the Commanders' Week 14 bye approaching, and the potential is there for Robinson to miss beyond Week 14 if his injury is as serious as it initially looked.

• That means McNichols is the next man up, having already looked solid in limited work this season, tallying 4.9 YPC on the year. He also posted totals of 20.4 points in Week 4 (when Ekeler was inactive) and 10.4 points (when Robinson was inactive).