Thanksgiving week brought plenty to be thankful for if you played fantasy football. All 32 teams played, making it easy to start all of your healthy stars, while a lot of big performances from stars helped lift teams to key wins.
Things get much tougher in Week 13 as six teams are on bye, shortening lineups just two weeks shy of the postseason in most leagues. Let's look at the best pickups to make to bolster your lineup ahead of Week 13 with all rostered percentages based on Yahoo! leagues.
5 Top Fantasy Football Pickups For Week 13
5. Atlanta Falcons D/ST
In a week where a lot of fantasy teams will start backups in critical spots, finding any sort of point advantage can make a difference. There is a streaming defense worth grabbing in the Atlanta Falcons, who are a solid unit with a matchup against the New York Jets on tap for Sunday.
The Jets have been historically bad on offense this season as the combination of offensive line injuries, Aaron Rodgers' Achilles' injury, a lack of skill position talent outside of Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson, poor playcalling from Nathaniel Hackett and key penalties have made them a unit to pick on with defenses. The Miami Dolphins racked up five sacks, two interceptions and a touchdown against the Jets in Week 12 while allowing only seven points, totals that can swing a matchup in standard leagues.
The Falcons are only rostered in 10 percent of leagues and should be a plug-and-play unit for teams with a starting defense on bye or in need of a matchup boost. For those looking ahead to playoff matchups, the Houston Texans, Miami Dolphins, and Washington Commanders are the next three teams set to draw the Jets after Atlanta.
4. Curtis Samuel, WR, Washington Commanders
The wide receiver pool is set to take a big hit this week as Stefon Diggs, Davante Adams, Jordan Addison and D.J. Moore are among the top pass catchers who won't play in Week 13. One guy who could provide a boost in a spot start capacity is Curtis Samuel, who appears to be the flavor of the moment in the Washington passing attack.
Samuel feasted against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day, catching nine passes for 100 yards on a team-high 12 targets. The explosion is certainly surprising for Samuel, who has been a tertiary option behind Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson in the Commanders' offense, but his ability to work underneath coverage makes Samuel a great PPR option in fantasy leagues.
Having to rely on Samuel as a weekly play is scary but Week 13 is a unique circumstance since so many teams are on bye and the playoffs are near. It may be a dice roll to throw Samuel in your lineups but betting on a guy coming off a 100-yard performance is not a bad bet to make since his production could help Samuel earn more responsibility in this week's game plan.
The Commanders are set to play Miami in Week 13 and will need to score a lot of points to keep pace with the Dolphins, making a high-volume passing day likely for Sam Howell and company. Samuel is rostered in 28 percent of leagues and has a good shot to deliver a playable flex line in PPR leagues on Sunday.
3. Jordan Love, QB, Green Bay Packers
We talked about Love in this space last week after his explosive performance against the Los Angeles Chargers but it appears the audience was skeptical. There was certainly reason to be wary of Love's production since the Chargers have the worst pass defense in football but Love's rostered percentage only increased by six points, going from 46 percent to 52 percent.
Those six percent of owners who picked up and started Love got another gem as he put together a mouth-watering performance against the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day. Love delivered his best fantasy outing of the season, carving up the Lions' defense by completing 22-of-32 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns in Green Bay's 29-22 win.
There was also a bit of rushing juice for Love, who ran three times for 39 yards, but his improved passing numbers have been key to this surge. Love has thrown seven touchdowns against just two interceptions over his past three games while adding at least 268 yards through the air in every game.
Week 13 won't be easy for Love, who will face Kansas City's stingy pass defense on Sunday Night Football, but the Packers may find themselves in a volume-based passing attack against the Chiefs' explosive offense. Fantasy owners trying to find a one-week fill-in for Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson could do worse than dialing up Love in this game.
2. Jayden Reed, WR, Green Bay Packers
Much like his quarterback, Reed was a guy we covered in this space last week as a wide receiver to target. Reed's rostered percentage increased by 12 points week-to-week, but he is still at just 48 percent ownership, which is not nearly enough given his important role in Green Bay's offense.
Love looked Reed's way eight times on Thanksgiving Day and he nabbed four of them for 34 yards and a touchdown in the Packers' 29-22 victory over the Detroit Lions. The eight targets tied a season-high for Reed, who is jockeying with Christian Watson for the role of go-to-guy in Green Bay.
It is also encouraging to see that Reed has a nose for the end zone as his touchdown Thursday made it three consecutive games he's found pay dirt. One of those games saw Reed record a rushing touchdown last week so there is a bit of a poor man's Deebo Samuel in play in terms of Reed's usage going forward.
On a week where there are six teams on bye, Reed is a solid start against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 13. Game flow should work to the benefit of the Green Bay passing game, which could lead to another healthy dose of targets for Reed that he can hopefully convert into 60+ yards receiving and another touchdown.
1. Pat Freiermuth, TE, Pittsburgh Steelers
Any time a tight end demonstrates relevance in fantasy football it's worth highlighting. The position has seen better years as few options outside of Travis Kelce and Sam Laporta offer reliable weekly production, especially after Mark Andrews was lost for the season in Week 11.
The new tight end savior appears to be Pittsburgh's Pat Freiermuth, who has become a target monster over the past three weeks. Kenny Pickett dialed Freiermuth's number a whopping 11 times in Week 12 and he rewarded Pickett's faith with nine catches for 120 yards.
That effort marked a career-best for Freiermuth and is notable since it comes in the same week that the Steelers fired much-maligned offensive coordinator Matt Canada. New offensive play caller Mike Sullivan clearly found a system to help Pittsburgh complete passes over the middle of the field by feeding Freiermuth as often as possible.
Few people took notice of Freiermuth's return from injured reserve in Week 11 as he entered the weekend rostered in just 48 percent of leagues. That total figures to skyrocket after Freiermuth's explosion in Week 12 as he could start at tight end for most teams while offering serious flex appeal in a week when six teams are on bye.
