Week 13 NFL Fantasy Football: Start ’em, bet ’em

• Launch Bo Nix: The Denver Broncos Rookie has been a consistent fantasy starter over the past two months, and the matchup with the Cleveland Browns won’t be enough to slow him down.

• Sit DeAndre Hopkins: From a fantasy perspective, that is Kansas City Chiefs have changed their receivers too often to count on Hopkins every week.

• Unlock your benefit with a PFF+ subscription: Get full access to all of our in-season fantasy tools, including weekly rankings, WR/CB matchup charts, weekly projections, the starting sit optimizer, and more. Register now!

Estimated reading time: 13 minutes

Deciding who to start or sit in fantasy football can be as easy as checking PFF rankings and selecting the higher ranked player. This Start Sit column takes things a step further and examines why a typical starter might struggle in a given week or why an overlooked player might perform well. While common starters often remain the best choice, we’ll also focus on the borderline players who are worth considering.

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QUARTERBACKS

START

Bo Nix, Denver Broncos

Nix had a slow start to the season, but since Week 5 he has averaged 21.3 fantasy points per game, ranking fourth among quarterbacks. He ranks in the top six in passing and rushing attempts among quarterbacks during that span. Combined with his excellent volume, his overall PFF grade of 83.3 ranks him eighth at the position.

The Broncos are facing this Cleveland Browns this week. Cleveland has the third-highest team pass rush grade and the second-worst team coverage grade. Most of their pressure comes from Myles Garrettwho has the highest PFF pass rush grade among healthy fullbacks this season. Luckily for Nix, he almost always positions himself on the right side of the defense, putting him against it Garett Bolles. Bolles has the third-highest PFF pass blocking rating among tackles this season.

While Garrett will inevitably put some pressure on Nix, which will result in some lower quality throws, that heat should also result in a higher scramble rate for Nix. He completes 13% of his dropbacks when under pressure, compared to 5% without pressure. From a fantasy perspective, this should allow Nix to perform better than the average quarterback against the Browns defense.