13 insights fantasy football managers need to know ahead of Week 14

By / / Sports / 14 minutes of reading


If you’re still reading this — or any fantasy football article — you probably have something meaningful to play for in Week 14. Many of you are already set, having locked up your playoff berths and possibly a valuable first-round bye. But for plenty of others, this week’s matchup is a must-win to secure a playoff spot.

The topsy-turvy fantasy regular season comes to a close (for most) this week, giving way to the three-week playoff sprint to a championship.

Nothing is more nerve-wracking in fantasy football than having a meaningful Week 14 matchup. Embrace the sweat and enjoy the ride!

Here are some things fantasy managers should keep an eye on heading into Week 14 games, and beyond.

1. The 11-1 Chiefs have offensive line issues

Kansas City eked out another close victory, defeating Las Vegas 19-17 on Black Friday. A fortunate — and controversial — fumble recovery on a botched snap proved to be the deciding factor. This win comes just five days after a narrow three-point victory over Carolina, leaving Chiefs fans feeling unusually anxious for an 11-1 team. Two wins by a combined five points against a pair of teams that have combined to win five games will do that to you.

These back-to-back nail-biters have spotlighted one of Kansas City’s glaring weaknesses: offensive line play. Carolina and Las Vegas each sacked Patrick Mahomes five times and continually were able to pressure him. Wanya Morris has ended up in the record books, and not in a good way.

The Chiefs have allowed 32 sacks this season, tied for the 13th most in the NFL, despite playing only 12 games. They allowed 27 all of last season and 26 the year before. This week Kansas City faces off against an LA Chargers team that has 36 sacks — tied for the sixth most in the league.

2. Miami has a league-winner in the passing game… just not who fantasy analysts hyped up in August

There was plenty of hype and enthusiasm surrounding Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle this past summer. Let’s just say neither was the best pick to have made at their preseason ADP price. But another pass catcher has emerged in Miami, looking like a possible league winner at his position and one of the best ADP values in fantasy: tight end position Jonnu Smith.

During Mike McDaniel’s first two seasons, the tight end position in Miami was nonexistent for fantasy purposes. But Smith has turned the “tight ends cannot thrive in the McDaniel offense” narrative upside down. Things started out quietly for Smith during the first month of the season, with only one TE1 (Top 12) weekly finish over Miami’s first five games played.

But since Week 7 it has been total liftoff. Smith has averaged 17 fantasy PPG in this stretch — tied with Trey McBride and trailing only Brock Bowers (more on him later). He has already set career highs in catches and receiving yards. He has scored 20 points or more four times this season, including three games in a row. The underlying metrics are even more impressive.

Last season, David Njoku and Evan Engram helped propel teams to fantasy championships. This season, Smith has the feel of a player with the same sort of positional edge for fantasy managers heading into the playoffs.

3. Brock Bowers: Record watch check in

Last week, I wrote about Bowers and his collision course with breaking every rookie receiving record imaginable. He followed that up with one of his best performances of the season, finishing with 10 catches for 140 yards and a touchdown. His monster game resulted in 30.2 PPR points, continuing Bowers’ incredible post-bye-week scoring surge.

Bowers needs just three catches this Sunday in Tampa Bay to break Sam LaPorta’s rookie record for tight ends. He will likely accomplish that feat in the first quarter. While LaPorta’s rookie season was surrounded by significant hype, there’s no real comparison between their performances. Bowers’ dominance as a rookie is in a league of its own.

Bowers leads all players in receptions (84). Not bad for a 21-year old.

4. Jerry Jeudy: Smash game

Jeudy has completely rejuvenated his career during his first season with the Cleveland Browns. Once considered a can’t-miss prospect in Denver, Jeudy arrived in Cleveland with little fanfare in March after the Browns acquired him for a fifth- and sixth-round pick — a disappointing return for a player they drafted ahead of CeeDee Lamb and Justin Jefferson in the 2020 NFL Draft.

At this point, the trade value Cleveland paid seems absolutely criminal. Jeudy has become Jameis Winston’s preferred target and is thriving in his new role. Heading into this past Monday night’s game, Jeudy had scored 12.9 points or more in four consecutive games. However, not even the most optimistic Jeudy fantasy manager could have anticipated what unfolded in Denver.

In a revenge game against his former team, Jeudy delivered a fantasy performance for the ages.

Jeudy is now tied for fifth in receiving yards (880).

5. But what about Surtain Island?

Lets put it mildly: Denver Broncos cornerbacks not named Patrick Surtain struggled mightily matching up against Jeudy. But once again, one of the best defenders in the league, and a true shutdown artist at cornerback, more than held his own.

Earlier in the year, I wrote about Surtain’s impact on opposing wideouts. Fantasy managers can rest assured this week: the wide receivers on their fantasy team have no danger of being on Surtain island. The Broncos are on their bye week. Surtain will return in Week 15 to wreak havoc on whoever he lines up against.

In Week 17, Surtain will square off against Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins of the Bengals, a potentially hazardous matchup for fantasy managers during championship week.

6. Bucky Irving: League winner

Last week, I wrote about Irving’s takeover of the Tampa Bay backfield. Well, it is time to take another moment to reflect on the league’s most exciting rookie running back. Irving followed up his 27.2 point performance in Week 12 with 27.5 points in Sunday’s win over Carolina. He did so with 152 rushing yards — a career high and the most from a Tampa Bay rookie since 2013.

Irving leads all rookies in rushing yardage and total yards from scrimmage, surpassing the 1,000-yard mark last week. He is also second among rookies in touchdowns (6).

Fantasy managers rostering Irving could be in for a treat if they make it to Week 17 — the Buccaneers face a Panthers defense that Irving shredded in their previous matchup.

7. Breece Hall injury watch

Hall’s status for Week 14, and potentially the rest of the season, is up in the air. He missed practice Thursday and Friday, and is being listed as doubtful.

Hall is dealing with a knee injury and played only 61.3% of the Jets snaps in Week 13. He had never played fewer than 71.4% in any previous game this season. Braelon Allen should be stashed everywhere and offers RB2 value in any game Hall misses.

8. James Cook’s TD numbers

Cook and the Bills steamrolled the 49ers 35-10 in Week 13. Once again, Cook found the end zone, this time on a majestic 65-yard run in the snow. He has now scored 12 touchdowns this season — the most for any skill position player during the Sean McDermott era in Buffalo.

Cook’s 7.6 yards per carry in Week 13 were a season high. Buffalo is using him in a more expansive role this season. In 2023, Cook only had one rushing touchdown inside the 10 yard line. This season, he already has eight. He will continue chasing the record books and has a real chance to make a significant move up Buffalo’s all-time rushing touchdown list. With two more scores, Cook will tie LeSean McCoy and Willis McGahee for the third-most rushing touchdowns in a single season.

9. Arthur Smith’s fantasy football redemption song

Last season, Arthur Smith became a popular punching bag for frustrated fantasy managers. Anger mounted over the perplexing usage of Drake London and Kyle Pitts, and it boiled over at times with how Smith chose to employ Bijan Robinson. Smith was eventually fired as the Atlanta Falcons head coach but quickly landed in Pittsburgh as offensive coordinator.

This past Sunday, the Steelers erupted for 44 points and 514 yards of total offense — a stark contrast to the Matt Canada days, during which they never once surpassed 400 yards in a game.

Oh, and maybe Smith wasn’t entirely to blame for Kyle Pitts’ lack of production.

Pittsburgh is averaging 24.7 PPG on the season — the 10th-highest average in the NFL. This is a massive improvement from the previous two years, when they finished bottom seven with marks of 17.8 and 18.1, respectively. Smith’s successful run in Pittsburgh could be short lived. He is being mentioned for multiple jobs including a recent rumor connecting him to the New York Jets.

Smith was also linked to the University of North Carolina — his alma matter — but he apparently turned that job down.

But Smith was not the only NFL coach linked to a stint in Chapel Hill recently.

10. Bill Belichick in the age of NIL

Belichick returning to coaching has been rumored for months. But few would have guessed UNC is a job he is considering.

Belichick’s father was a longtime college assistant at Navy, with a brief stop in Chapel Hill along the way. His son, Steve, is currently the defensive coordinator at the University of Washington. Belichick obviously has deep connections to the college game, but it would still be absolutely surreal to see him competing against Dabo Swinney and Mario Cristobal on Saturdays instead of grimacing and glaring on an NFL sideline on Sundays.

There’s also another job that could potentially open up. While the “fire Brian Daboll” sentiment among fans in New York doesn’t seem to be shared by management, the situation could worsen for the 2-10 Giants.

11. Malik Nabers: Injury watch

I live on Long Island, and I truly hate having to write about fantasy-relevant New York players dealing with potential season-ending injuries. Unfortunately, Breece Hall isn’t the only New York player causing concern for fantasy managers this week. Giants rookie wideout Malik Nabers is now dealing with a hip injury, requiring a late-week MRI.

Nabers has been a usage monster all season long and the focal point of the Giants offense. According to Fantasy Points Data, Nabers leads the league in target share (33.6%), first-read rate (43.1%), and targets per game (11.4). Despite his elite usage, the Giants rank dead last in points per game (15.3), and they’ve been even worse over their past three games, averaging just 14.7 PPG.

If you’re considering defensive streaming options for the Giants’ remaining schedule, here are a few candidates to target:

12. Ladd McConkey’s first-half record

McConkey was outstanding this past Sunday, setting a Chargers rookie record with 105 receiving yards in a half and leading all players with a 50% target share. Among rookies, McConkey trails only Brock Bowers in receiving yards this season.

His role within the offense continues to grow, and with J.K. Dobbins on IR, Greg Roman has designed even more plays to highlight the rookie’s exciting skill set. McConkey’s 60% first-read rate was the highest of any player in Week 13, further demonstrating his increasing importance. The rookie is quickly becoming a star.

Unfortunately, McConkey’s status for Sunday is uncertain after he left the game late with a knee injury. The Chargers will hope to have their playmaker available for a crucial road matchup against Kansas City this week.

13. Michael Penix watch in Atlanta

So about that $180 million dollar quarterback signing. Kirk Cousins has been remarkably awful lately. Over his past three games, he has thrown six interceptions, fumbled the ball four times, and has failed to throw a TD pass. His weekly fantasy finishes: QB19, QB28 and QB32.

Cousins threw four interceptions in Sunday’s loss to the LA Chargers, and it was even worse to watch — several other passes could have resulted in even more turnovers. He leads the league with 13 picks, and he has thrown for only 17 TDs — eight of which came against Tampa Bay. If you remove the two Buccaneers games, Cousins has a TD-to-INT ratio of 9:12.

This week, Cousins faces off against his former team, the Minnesota Vikings, who lead the league in interceptions (18). Another disastrous performance could be the final straw for Cousins. Reports are already starting to surface that the Falcons “love Michael Penix.”

Atlanta was criticized by many for double-dipping at the quarterback position — signing Cousins to a big-money deal while also selecting Penix Jr. with the No. 8 overall pick. However, that decision now looks fortuitous as Cousins’ grip on the starting job becomes shakier with each interception he throws.

(BONUS) 14. Wide Receiver production is down at the top

Regular-season scoring has been driven by elite performances from multiple running backs, compounded by a relatively low number of injuries at the position. It has certainly been a year for running backs.

But if it feels like wide receiver production is down, that’s because it is.

Will it remain the year of the running back in the fantasy football playoffs? Or will there be a wide receiver scoring revenge tour? We will find out soon.

(Top photo of Jonnu Smith: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images)





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About The Author

Avatar of Rachel Thomas
Rachel Thomas is a writer who focuses on arts, automotive, travel, and fashion. She also writes about her hobbies: cooking, reading, and playing video games. Rachel has been a writer for Free Press Georgia since 2016. In that time she has written about everything from the best restaurants in Atlanta to how to make your own face mask at home. When she's not writing for FPG she spends her time with her husband and two cats in their apartment.

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