10 Fantasy Football Takeaways From Week 13: Jameson Williams And Bucky Irving Come Back To Life

Week 13 is in the books, meaning most fantasy leagues have one game to go before the playoffs. These are the 10 storylines you need to know before Week 14.

1) Jameson Williams stuffing me into a locker

Jamo haters (of which I am apparently one): We had them right where we wanted them.

The Jamo truthers were waving the white flag in front of their loved ones on Thanksgiving, only for Amon-Ra St. Brown to tweak his ankle, turning Williams into the WR1 overall. Williams logged a 40 percent target and turned his 10 targets into a career-high in catches (seven) and yards (144) with a touchdown. He had been targeted on 14 percent of his routes up until Week 13. That more than doubled to 32 percent in Week 13. Assuming St. Brown misses a game or two, the Williams truthers will win the war.

2) MVP check-in

The sportsbooks are calling MVP a two-horse race, with DraftKings listing Drake Maye (-135) as the favorite and Matthew Stafford (+125) the only viable underdog. No one else is close and all other major books agree. This feels more or less accurate. Maye is second in the league in YPA and first in completion rate. He leads the league in passing yards, albeit with the advantage of having a Week 14 bye, giving him an extra game. There simply aren’t other contenders out there. The past 12 winners have been quarterbacks. Save for one, all of them played for a team that won at least a dozen games. Every MVP’s team won its division. Those benchmarks all but rule out Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen, the two best quarterbacks not considered among the favorites. Even if the Chiefs win out, they cannot hit a dozen victories. Per The Athletic’s playoff simulator, the Bills can win out and will still be underdogs to take home the AFC East crown. So, who is the rightful favorite between Maye and Stafford?

Of note, PFF has the Patriots with the better line in pass-pro this year, though that could change down the stretch with New England losing multiple starters in recent weeks. The rather minor discrepancy in team receiving grade, on the other hand, feels like a miss from PFF, but what do I know? If I had a vote, Maye is the runaway winner for this award. Per the numbers, he is on a worse offense and has done far more than Stafford, but the latter’s touchdown total—32, currently—will weigh heavily on the minds of voters.

3) Jordan Love MVP case

Love doesn’t have the counting stats to win the award, but he’s playing MVP-caliber football. PFF has him graded as their No. 3 overall quarterback. He is at the top of the EPA chart on a per-play basis. It’s easy to point to Love’s low passing volume and the Packers’ run-run-pass approach as reasons for his inflated efficiency. I don’t buy that. Love leads the league in YPA (11.6) on third or fourth-and-long (7+ yards to go). He has three sacks on 61 such dropbacks. His 93.9 PFF passing grade on these plays leads the league by a wide margin as well. Love isn’t a play-action merchant either. He has the benefit of play-action on 26.1 percent of his throws. That rate ranks 20th among qualified passers. He gains .2 YPA on play-fakes and his completion rate actually falls slightly. Love has six touchdowns and one pick on play-action. For reference, Stafford uses play-action on 37.5 percent of his attempts, gains 1.0 YPA, and has 15 touchdowns with no interceptions on these plays.

4) Tyrod Taylor vs. Justin Fields

I don’t care too much about which horrid Jets starter is better for real-life purposes. MVP discussions aside, I’m a fantasy in bio man at heart. For fantasy purposes, Taylor is better for both on both the volume and accuracy fronts.

Taylor is slightly more accurate while throwing significantly farther downfield. When looking both players’ complete games—the right two columns—Taylor adds a higher number of catchable passes backed by an additional 80 air yards. This is how we get Adonai Mitchell going for 100 yards on Sunday.

5) There is no way Max Brosmer could be worse… right?

Wrong. Starting in place of a concussed J.J. McCarthy on Sunday, Max Brosmer led the Vikings to the worst game of the year by EPA per dropback. Pro Football Focus assigned Brosmer a passing grade of 22.8. For reference, the lowest season-long grade this year is 49.7, held by Dillon Gabriel. McCarthy is a few spots above Gabriel at 52.8. Brosmer’s 40.5 percent accurate throw rate is 50th out of 50 qualified quarterbacks. The 9.5 percent gap between him and the second-worst passer is equal to the gap between No. 49 and No. 28.

6) Bucky Irving’s role

Bucky Irving returned to the lineup in Week 13 after a two-month absence because of shoulder and toe injuries. The Bucs seemingly held him out as long as they did to get him back at full strength, without any restrictions on his usage. He was only on the field for 54 percent of the team’s snaps, but the Bucs put the ball in his hands on over half of his offensive reps. Irving ultimately turned this role into a 16/71/1 rushing line with two grabs for an additional 20 yards. This is almost certainly the floor for his workload going forward. The Bucs are favored in all of their remaining games and every one of their opponents is giving up an above-average number of fantasy points to opposing running backs.

7) Brian Thomas Jr.’s return doesn’t go as well

The title says it all here. Irving got back into the lineup and gave his fantasy backers hope with a strong showing. BTJ returned after missing a few weeks with a high-ankle sprain and dropped another dud. He caught two passes for 28 yards. Thomas Jr. logged his lowest target rate (.11) and target share (13 percent) of the season in Week 13. Liam Coen moved BTJ into the slot for 37.9 percent of his routes. Thomas Jr. was unstoppable out of the slot last year, averaging over three yards per route from the inside. That has not been the case for him in 2025. He is averaging a dismal .33 YPRR from the slot this year. It seems like things are going to get worse before they get better for BTJ.

8) The decline of the Indianapolis empire

For the first two months of the year, the Colts were getting away with it by taking Daniel Jones’ weaknesses and turning them into strengths. That, however, has all but disappeared.

Through two months, the Colts were among the best teams in the NFL when throwing on third or fourth down with 7+ yards to go. They were nearly the best offense by EPA per play when their quarterback was pressured. They have fallen to a below-average passing attack on these high-leverage plays since Week 8. They’re far from the worst team when Jones is pressured or when a pass call is obvious, but they’re no longer elite, or even above the median.

9) Panthers backfield split

The Ricossance appears to be winding to an end. Rico Dowdle managed 18 carries in Week 13. Chuba Hubbard was hot on his heels with 17 attempts. Hubbard was far more effective, rushing for 83 yards compared to 58 for Dowdle. He also added 41 yards and a touchdown through the air. Dowdle got banged up in the Panthers’ win over the Packers a month ago. Since then, Hubbard has bested him in PFF rushing grade, yards after contact per carry, yards per carry, and yards per route run. We’re back to a true committee, and it’s no longer a foregone conclusion that Dowdle will have the weekly efficiency edge.

10) Chicago’s elite ground game

There was no way to see this coming, but Ben Johnson brought a phenomenal ground game to Chicago when he left Detroit. Chicago ranks third in yards before contact per carry. ESPN has them with the fifth-highest run block win rate as a team. PFF has graded their line as the fourth-best unit in run blocking. This culminated in a true show of trench warfare domination on Black Friday when the Bears ran for 281 yards in a win over the Eagles. They had two 100-yard rushers for the first time in over 40 years. Kyle Monangai led the way with 22 attempts for 130 yards and one score. D’Andre Swift wasn’t far behind with an 18/125/1 line. Swift ran the majority of the routes and saw two targets to Monangai’s one.

The Bears are going all in on their run-first identity as of late. They opened the year with a -2% PROE during the first six weeks. That has fallen to -4% in their subsequent seven games. There should be enough volume in this backfield for both backs to exist as RB2s.