Fantasy football: Start-em, sit-em players for Week 13
By Jay Marsdale
Sit-em: Devin Funchess (CAR) @ New Orleans
The emergence of Devin Funchess as a true No. 1 receiver is what made former Carolina receiver Kelvin Benjamin expendable. Funchess has been great since his promotion to top target, but this week is one to look elsewhere for your fantasy football team.
Carolina thought they would have star tight end Greg Olsen back for the rest of the season, but that doesn’t looked to be happening after he was re-injured last week. Funchess will have to continue being the focal point of the Carolina passing game.
That puts a ton of pressure on his shoulders for the Carolina playoff run.
The Panthers are traveling to New Orleans for this Week 13 matchup and that leaves Funchess in a tough matchup on the outside. Funchess is the only threat on the outside for the Panthers, so he will be shadowed by the excellent rookie Marshon Lattimore. Lattimore has quickly risen to be one of the top corners in the NFL, and Funchess is going to find out why this week.
With Olsen out of the lineup, that takes the great Saints safety Kenny Vaccaro away from having the responsibility of stopping Olsen. He is freed up to double Funchess, as well as shadow quarterback Cam Newton more. Newton has been running more this season, but with Vaccaro spying him, the running lanes are going to be tighter for Newton. This offenses runs with Newton. If he is slowed down to some extent, the entire offense struggles, including Funchess.
Fantasy football players have figured out how good this Saints defense has become and they are avoiding them accordingly. This week that leaves Funchess as the fantasy player to avoid along with most of the Panthers offense. This division rivalry will be competitive, but not a high-scoring one for fantasy players to exploit.
Other options: Sterling Shepard (NYG) @ Oakland and Larry Fitzgerald (ARI) vs. Los Angeles Rams