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Week 13 Fantasy Football Bold Predictions: Taysom Hill in for surprising test

Every week, our Yahoo fantasy football crew will reveal their boldest predictions for the action ahead. It’s time to get bold for Week 13!

Falcons set to slow Taysom Hill

Dalton Del Don: The Falcons have played much better since firing Dan Quinn, going 4-2 after an 0-5 start. The defense has completely shut down the run, which means Taysom Hill will need to beat them Sunday, and there’s now more game film on the limited passer. The Saints’ offense didn’t have to do much last week while facing a Denver team without a quarterback, yet Hill quietly has four fumbles and a pick (with seven sacks) over 2.5 games since Drew Brees got hurt. Meanwhile, Atlanta’s defense quietly has the fourth-most QB pressures (hurries/knockdowns/sacks) this season, and Sunday’s game script could prove favorable with Julio Jones likely to return on offense. The Saints have also been dealing with injury issues along their offensive line, so I’m boldly predicting the Falcons finish as a top-12 fantasy defense this week, also making them a fine DFS play at the minimum $10.

Alvin Kamara’s recent struggles continue

Scott Pianowski: Latavius Murray outscores Alvin Kamara this week. I’m not even sure how bold that is; it’s certainly within the plausible range of outcomes, and it happened last Sunday in Denver. A lot of boxes get checked here: Taysom Hill’s skillset is not a good fit for what Kamara does well, Kamara might be seeing less work because of a nagging foot injury (with the idea that they want him healthy in January), and Murray has been tremendous the last three games (5.8 YPC).

If you roster Kamara, you’re hoping sooner or later the Saints get back to giving him high-return work, perhaps as a reward for how gracefully he’s handled the lessened role recent games. But I think we have to at least consider that the setup is different right now. Hill generally runs when a play breaks down (as opposed to checking down), and he’s proven dynamic as a goal-line power option. Sean Payton can’t ignore what’s working right now.

Fire up David Montgomery with confidence

Andy Behrens: David Montgomery has produced just two 20-point fantasy performances this season and he’s only made three visits to the end zone, so he’s basically never in the RB1 discussion. But that changes this week as the Bears host Detroit, a team that’s allowed 133.4 rushing yards per game, a league-high 17 rushing scores and the most fantasy points to opposing backs. Monty has a decent shot at a top-five positional finish. His rest-of-season fantasy schedule is terrific (DET, HOU, MIN, JAC), so we can expect him to move up the scoring leaderboard in the closing weeks.

[Week 13 Fantasy Rankings: QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | FLEX | DST | Kickers]

Game script will make Keelan Cole a factor

Matt Harmon: Keelan Cole will score a touchdown and post 90-plus yards. Hate to say it, but Mike Glennon looked pretty good last week. He was eighth among quarterbacks in EPA per play last week. We’re talking about a “fine” backup quarterbacking level of “good” here, folks. That’s all we can ask out of Glennon or really anyone that takes snaps for Jacksonville. This sets up well for Keelan Cole, who leads the team in routes run over the past four weeks. People keep wanting to make Laviska Shenault the second-fiddle to D.J. Chark but it has never come close to happening. Cole could thrive once again if Chark is still banged up. The big-play slot receiver has a good matchup against a Vikings defense that is a bit better in the second chapter of 2020, but still let Robby Anderson rip through them last week and let D.J. Moore get wide open for at least three big plays Teddy Bridgewater missed him on. With how well Kirk Cousins and the offense is playing, Jacksonville will have to put up points in catch-up mode.

Ryan Izzo a deep-league flier at tight end

Liz Loza: Ryan Izzo scores his second career touchdown in Week 13. The former Florida State product didn’t draw a single look last Sunday. That’s not particularly surprising, as the Cardinals have consistently quieted the position and are, therefore, rarely targeted over the middle of the field (70 total targets to TEs). The Chargers, on the other hand, have allowed the fifth-most fantasy points and four scores (including a wide-open Dawson Knox last Sunday) to opposing TEs over the last four weeks. The pass-catching options in New England are decidedly thin, and Izzo is consistently logging a snap share above 80 percent. He won’t get peppered and he’s touchdown-dependent, but that’s the position in 2020. Fearless Forecast: 3-38-1

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