Daily Newsletter: NFL Week 14 Sleepers and Busts (Dec. 7th)
Welcome to our daily newsletter! As we gear up for Week 14 of the fantasy football season, we’ve got you covered with key sleeper picks and busts to help you make the best lineup decisions.
Sleepers
Zach Charbonnet
We kick off the Week 14 sleepers section with a running back stepping into a starting role. I’m currently expecting Kenneth Walker to miss this week's huge game against the Arizona Cardinals, which should award us the full Zach Charbonnet experience. Charbonnet handled 93% of the RB touches in this backfield in the two games that Walker missed earlier this season. He’s also performed well any time we’ve seen him with an expanded role dating back to last season – and has the pass catching ability to put up a big fantasy performance in these spot starts.
Calvin Ridley
Ridley is primed for a huge game this weekend in a revenge match-up against his former team. He’s quietly been a consistent fantasy asset since the DeAndre Hopkins trade – averaging just under 10 fantasy PPG. I’m more interested in the ceiling, however, which I think is there this week. Jacksonville has essentially been the worst pass defense in the NFL this season, and they play heavy man-coverage. Ridley has fared much better vs man coverage as opposed to zone – and has a massive discrepancy in actual yards vs Air Yards over that six game sample sans Hopkins. I think he pops for at least one huge game prior to the end of the season, and there’s no better time than Week 14.
Sam Darnold
Darnold has been a feature in this section and the bust section at times this season, but I’m buying back in this weekend. Minnesota carries one of the highest implied team totals on the board this week at 25.5 points in a home date with the Falcons. Being at home is important, with Darnold averaging just south of 20 fantasy PPG there this season. Atlanta’s defense has been slipping in recent weeks – but it’s clear this Vikings offense likes home cooking and I think we could see a top-6 or 7 QB score from Darnold in Week 14.
Busts
Chuba Hubbard
The arrival of Jonathan Brooks is finally here, and Hubbard is going to be the main guy affected. Despite earning a contract extension recently, Hubbard saw his touch% drop below 60% last week while we saw a big snap increase for Brooks. Brooks was a relatively high draft pick for the Panthers this past year and it would make sense that they want to see what they have him in to close out the season.
Adam Thielen
It’s not often that I have players from the same team in this section, but I’m completely out on Carolina this week despite how well Bryce Young has been playing as of late. Philadelphia is a different animal on defense right now. They’ve effectively been the best pass defense in football since their bye week – and have allowed the lowest receiving yards and third-lowest passing yards in the league. Thielen is coming off a monster game against the Buccaneers – but I’m not expecting him to replicate that in this match-up.
Justin Herbert
Herbert and the Chargers have been playing some exceptional football as of late, but I want to pump the brakes a bit this weekend against the Kansas City Chiefs. For starters, Ladd McConkey is extremely banged up and even if he plays I can’t trust that he’s 100%. It’s hard to overstate what he’s done for this offense and he’s basically been one of the most valuable non-QB’s in the NFL this season. Kansas City is also a very good defense, as a result the Chargers carry just a 20 point team total into Sunday.
Written by Ben Hossler