Fantasy Football Start ’em, Sit ’em: Week 13 RBs Include Rhamondre Stevenson

Happy Thanksgiving! Ah yes, the most glorious day of the year has arrived and it brings a jam-packed week of football with it as always. Seriously, what is better than a day devoted to stuffing our faces full of incredible food? Just make sure not to take too long of a nap afterward because the Fantasy Football Playoffs are just two weeks away, so we must also stuff our lineups full of points! As injuries and pesky committee backfields continue to cloud the outlook, making the right fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em calls at the RB position requires diligent work. Hopefully, you’ll be thankful you took the time to read our advice below by the end of the long weekend.

As a reminder, players like Saquon Barkley, Christian McCaffrey and Derek Henry will still be started in lineups weekly. It’s the RB2 and FLEX spots where things can get a bit trickier. To help you make some of these tough decisions, check out our weekly fantasy football rankings and read on for our Week 13 fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em analysis at RB.

Wide Receivers — Week 13 Fantasy Football Start/Sit

Tight Ends — Week 13 Fantasy Football Start/Sit

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Fantasy Football Start ’em, Sit ’em: Week 13 RBs

Start: Rhamondre Stevenson Fantasy Outlook vs Colts

Expert Consensus Ranking (ECR) Rank: 24

It would be very easy to be a turkey and sit Rhamondre Stevenson after he scored more fantasy points on a successful two-point conversion than he did in the entire rest of last week’s game. However, we encourage fantasy managers who want to win their matchups to trot the New England Patriots lead back out once again. In fact, Stevenson could very well prove to be the meat and potatoes of your Week 13 lineup thanks to a favorable matchup against the Indianapolis Colts. On the season, Indy has allowed over 142 rushing yards per game and gives up the fifth-most PPR points per contest to opposing RBs.

Stevenson’s fantasy production has been volatile throughout the 2024 NFL season. As the Colts do figure to have several edges defensively in this matchup, getting Stevenson and the ground game going early and often will be vital for the Pats in this matchup. His red zone usage could also play a role, as the Colts have allowed 10 rushing touchdowns to opposing backs this season. Stevenson’s ECR ranking of RB24 is a bit of an overreaction to last week’s dud performance. He has a prime opportunity to bounce back and post a top-20 finish at the position.

RELATED | Week 13 RB Fantasy Football Rankings + Insights

Start: Najee Harris Fantasy Outlook vs Bengals

ECR Rank: 26

When stuffing a Thanksgiving turkey, it’s important to fill every last crevasse. The same is true when making fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em decisions to stuff a fantasy lineup full of points. What better way to do that than with an RB who gets the ball stuffed in his belly at a very high rate? The phenomenon of Najee Harris playing less than 50% of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive snaps yet garnering a wealth of carries continued last week. If Harris is going to continue seeing 16-20 touches per game as he has in the last five contests, it doesn’t matter how many snaps he is on the field for.

The problem last week was that Harris failed to do a whole lot on the ground in a bad Thursday night spot against Cleveland. The Steelers will take on another division foe from the state of Ohio in Week 13, but this time, they will be on extended rest. What’s more, the Cincinnati Bengals defense is a shell of what it has been in recent years, particularly up front. Entering the week, Cincy has allowed just shy of 130 rushing yards per game, and opposing RBs have reached pay-dirt 11 times on the ground against them. Do not let last week’s disappointing effort or the increased involvement of Jaylen Warren distract you from Harris’ RB2 potential in this matchup.

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Sit: Chuba Hubbard Fantasy Outlook vs. Buccaneers

ECR Rank: 16

If there was ever a player who could be compared to Thanksgiving cranberry sauce (a personal favorite of yours truly), it would be Chuba Hubbard. Unfortunately, he might prove to be a bit more tart than he will sweet in Week 13. Some expected Hubbard’s workload to take a hit last week with Jonathan Brooks making his long-awaited NFL debut. That was not the case, as Brooks had all of two carries. While it seems safe to assume that number will only grow larger moving forward, Hubbard’s real concern this week is the matchup.

The Panthers will play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first of two late-season matchups between the NFC South Division rivals on Sunday. If one just bases fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em decisions on blind numbers, the Bucs would appear to be a positive matchup. However, when one digs a little deeper, this is not exactly the case. Where Tampa has gotten burned by RBs this year is in the passing game. Thus, the run defense itself is much better than a mere “fantasy points allowed” statistic would suggest. Hubbard could find himself running into an immovable wall anchored by Vita Vea all afternoon. He should be graded much lower than his ECR ranking of RB16.

Sit: James Conner Fantasy Outlook vs. Vikings

ECR Rank: 21

For much of the season, James Conner has been as automatic in fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em as pumpkin pie topped with homemade whipped cream is for Thanksgiving Day dessert. Believe it or not, I fell victim to a mysteriously lackluster pumpkin pie just last year, but that’s beside the point. There’s always one dish that lands on the table that underwhelms significantly. While Conner will be difficult to remove from Week 13 lineups entirely, managers might be a bit disappointed when all is said and done.

Excluding the Arizona Cardinals’ bye which came in Week 11, Conner is mired in a stretch that has seen him average less than three yards per carry in three of the last four games. Last week was particularly discouraging as he only managed eight rushing yards on seven carries. On Sunday, he will have to contend with a Minnesota Vikings defense that comes in allowing the fewest rushing yards of any team and the third-fewest PPR points on average to opposing RBs. Benching Conner entirely will be tough to do, but he is a low-end RB2 at best in this difficult fantasy matchup.