The Rookie Report: Week 13

In fantasy football, rookies are often the most confusing players to evaluate. Due to their inexperience and lack of sample size in the NFL, they are susceptible to inconsistency and volatility, creating chaos for your fantasy team. To help get a better understanding of how to deal with rookies, each week, I’ll be writing a column breaking down some of the most important rookies for fantasy and helping you decide how to value these players moving forward. Welcome to the Rookie Report.

Notes: Touches for running backs are calculated by adding carries and targets. An asterisk (*) next to a player indicates that they were on bye in Week 13.

Quarterbacks

Note: Patriots rookie sensation Mac Jones was not included in the initial publishing of this article as he played on Monday Night.

Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars

Lawrence was once again nothing special for fantasy, finishing with a measly 6.8 points as the Jaguars dropped to 2-10. He’s averaged just 12 fantasy points per game this season and isn’t worth rostering for the fantasy playoffs.

Zach Wilson, Jets

Wilson had his first standout fantasy performance of his career this week, throwing for two touchdowns and finishing as the QB5. It’s promising to see this upside in Wilson, but the Jets are far too poor on offense for the #2 overall pick to have any fantasy value this season.

Trey Lance, 49ers

Lance continues to be the backup quarterback for the 49ers, and will not be fantasy-relevant as long as that remains.

Justin Fields, Bears

Fields missed Sunday’s game with injury as the Bears started Andy Dalton against the Cardinals. Given his missed time and inconsistency while starting, I wouldn’t be treating Fields as much more than a desperation option if he comes back in time for the fantasy playoffs.

Mac Jones, Patriots

Mac threw just three passes total in the Pats win over the Bills Monday Night, meaning he was irrelevant for fantasy. He's not worth rostering for the home stretch of the fantasy season.

Running Backs

Note: Patriots rookie RB Rhamondre Stevenson was not included in the initial publishing of this article as he played on Monday Night.

Najee Harris, Steelers

Najee turned in yet another solid performance, racking up over 100 scrimmage yards in the Steelers’ dramatic win. Continue to treat him as a rock-solid RB1 for the final stretch of the fantasy season.

Javonte Williams, Broncos

With Melvin Gordon ruled out on Sunday, the entire fantasy community united in hyping up Javonte, and boy did he deliver. With the first real opportunity as the feature back in an offense of his career, Javonte carved up the Chiefs to the tune of 178 scrimmage yards (102 on the ground, 76 through the air) and a touchdown. These magnificent dual-threat capabilities gave fantasy managers a taste of what could be to come if the Broncos move on from Gordon. If MG3 returns, Javonte will return to being a low-end RB2 / FLEX option, but he’s a legitimate RB1 when he’s the top dog in the backfield.

Michael Carter, Jets

Carter missed this week as he remains on IR. He can return by Week 15 at the earliest, so he’s nothing more than an IR stash for your fantasy lineup as well.

Elijah Mitchell, 49ers

Mitchell continued his dominance of the SanFran backfield this week, getting over 20 carries for the third straight week. With fellow rookie running back Trey Sermon going on IR, Mitchell should continue to be the RB1 for the 49ers and is a weekly top-24 option.

99 seconds of Elijah Mitchell making plays pic.twitter.com/F3kIiC7INC

— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) November 30, 2021

Kenneth Gainwell

Seemingly out of nowhere, Gainwell saw 17 touches on Sunday and finished as a top-15 option. With Miles Sanders injured once again, Gainwell is worth a deep-bench stash in deeper leagues, especially in PPR. Don't spend any more than 5% of a FAAB budget on him though.

Rhamondre Stevenson, Patriots

Stevenson saw 24 carries on Monday Night as the Pats ran a whopping 44 times. Backfield mate Damien Harris left the game with a hamstring injury, meaning Stevenson could be in line for an increased workload after his bye week in Week 14. He's FLEX-able even with Harris healthy, and is a top-15 option with him hurt.

Wide Receivers

Ja’Marr Chase, Bengals

Chase had his fourth straight disappointing fantasy performance this week, finishing with just 52 receiving yards (It’s worth noting that he also dropped a sureshot long touchdown). He’s yet to exceed 60 yards since exploding for 201 yards in Week 7, and has been rather touchdown or bust. However, Chase remains the overall WR6 on the season, and I’d trust the talent and continue to fire him up as a top-15 option each week.

DeVonta Smith, Eagles

While the Eagles' offense seemed to get a boost with Gardner Minshew under center, Smith was not one of those beneficiaries. He finished with just two catches for 15 receiving yards, marking his sixth straight week with under seven targets. Pair his boom-or-bust tendency with a lack of chemistry with Minshew, and Smith is nothing more than a FLEX play.

Jaylen Waddle, Dolphins

Waddle continued his hot streak this week, getting fed another 11 targets for 90 yards. Currently 6th in the entire NFL in targets, Waddle is the Dolphins' most dynamic offensive player and has played well enough to be a top-24 fantasy option and the WR position week in and week out.

Rashod Bateman, Ravens

Bateman was MIA on Sunday, getting just one target for no yards. He’s cooled down severely since a promising start to his rookie campaign, and probably isn’t much more than an end-of-the-bench desperation option for the fantasy playoffs.

Amon-Ra St. Brown, Lions

St. Brown deserves acknowledgment for his performance this week, as the former USC receiver had 12 targets for 86 receiving yards including a game-winning walk-off touchdown to get the Lions their first win of the season. Given the lackluster play of the Detroit offense, St. Brown doesn’t have much fantasy value at all, but it’s promising to see his upside.

Elijah Moore, Jets

Moore finally was able to produce with Zach Wilson this week, catching his sixth touchdown of the season and looking like the true #1 in the Jets passing game. The overall WR2 since Week 8, Moore can safely be FLEX-ed for the home stretch of the fantasy season.

Tight End(s)

Kyle Pitts, Falcons

Pitts was mediocre yet again for fantasy, having under 50 receiving yards. He hasn’t caught a touchdown in the United States this season and has six straight weeks with under double-digit fantasy points. He might have to be in your starting lineup because of the lack of talent at the TE position, but certainly taper your expectations for the rest of the season.

Pat Freiermuth, Steelers

Freiermuth was decent for fantasy, but failed to get into the end zone. He can be treated as a back-end TE1 option each week.