Fantasy Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame member Bob Harris and Gary Davenport have well over 40 years of experience as fantasy football analysts, with three Football Writer of the Year Awards between them. They know their stuff—or at least that's what they tell themselves.
Each week during the 2025 season, Harris and Davenport are going to come together here at Footballguys to answer five of that week's biggest fantasy questions.
Feasts have been had. Calories consumed. Thanksgiving has come and gone once more. And it brought with it three games that went exactly like no one expected. If those games were any indication of what we can expect from Week 13, it's going to be a wild ride. And Haris and Davenport are here to guide you through it and to a stretch-run win.
OK. Harris is. Davenport is still hopped up on tryptophan. We're trying to wake him.
All Hail King Max
It has been a year at the quarterback position—as if injuries to high-end starters earlier in the season weren't bad enough, now players like Buffalo's Josh Allen and Baltimore's Lamar Jackson have posted dud weeks at the worst possible time.
With the benefit of 12 weeks on hindsight, if you had to ride with one quarterback into the fantasy postseason, who would it be? Who is your favorite fantasy spot-start in Week 13, and why is it Max Brosmer?
Harris: It's Brosmer because he plays with Justin Jefferson and for Kevin O'Connell. I say this, realizing J.J. McCarthy should also be benefiting from those things.
But talking to people who cover the Vikings on a daily basis, including Matthew Coller of PurpleInsider.com, McCarthy is a long-term project. The Vikings know this. Meanwhile, we've heard reports that Brosmer, an undrafted out of Minnesota this year, has impressed behind the scenes.
I don't want to overstate the case. Any enthusiasm for Brosmer is based on the hope that Jefferson can get the kind of production he did over a five-game stretch in 2023. With Kirk Cousins sidelined by a torn Achilles tendon, Jefferson was WR3 overall playing with Joshua Dobbs, Jaren Hall, and Nick Mullens.
All we need from Brosmer is that level of play.
As for my late-season QB of choice, Matthew Stafford will be my guy.
I know. He doesn't run the ball, and he's not Drake Maye, the likely choice of the masses. And I'd be fine with him.
But given an opportunity to stan for an old guy, I'll do that by reminding you Stafford has thrown multiple touchdowns with zero interceptions in five-straight games. He's been QB2 over that span, scoring an average of 23.4 points per game.
Better still, the Rams' remaining schedule isn't all that daunting. After the Panthers this week, the Rams face the Cardinals, Lions, Seahawks, and Falcons through Week 17.
Davenport: Stunner. Harris took the quarterback who has 57 touchdown passes since his last interception. Knock me over with a feather.
Of course, I probably shouldn't throw stones, because I'm going with the player who, entering Week 13, is still No. 1 at the position in Allen. Yes, Allen's clunker last week in Houston was jarring. And Buffalo's wide receiver corps isn't scaring anyone. But the week before said clunker, Allen became the first player in NFL history to throw for three scores and run for three more in the same game—twice. Facing Pittsburgh's bottom-dwelling pass defense Sunday, look for Allen to rebound in short order—and his tremendous rushing upside can't be ignored.
Jackson, on the other hand? It don't look good, man. It don't look good.
The spot-start situation under center this week is—not good. If Daniel Jones (What the broken what?) of the Indianapolis Colts and Baker Mayfield (shoulder) of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers can't go, there are going to be folks rolling out some unattractive options at quarterback—options like Tua Tagovailoa of the Miami Dolphins.
Even during the Dolphins' two-game winning streak, Tagovailoa has been a fantasy non-factor. He's had 20 fantasy points in a game twice this season, and the New Orleans Saints possess a top-10 pass defense. But Tagovailoa is at home coming of an off week in what should be a winnable game—even for the Dolphins. The ports for this week's storm aren't appealing. But the waters are at least a little less choppy in the Bay of Tua.
Hard Charging
There are some late-chargers at the running back position—the likes of Cincinnati's Chase Brown, Carolina's Rico Dowdle, and Ashton Jeanty of the Las Vegas Raiders are top-10 running backs in terms of PPR points per game over the last month.
Which second-half-surger has the best chance to continue his momentum deep into the fantasy playoffs? Who is the best Week 12 option for fantasy managers who need a running back band-aid?
Harris: My rest-of-season choice is Chase Brown. As Late-Round Fantasy's JJ Zachariason noted this week, Brown has played three straight games without Samaje Perine. In those contests, he's seen route shares of 86, 83, and 77 percent with target shares of 31, 21, and 12 percent. He's averaging 19.6 fantasy points per game over his last four.
While the return of Perine isn't great news, the return of Joe Burrow might be.
Nonetheless, this is mainly about the schedule, specifically a run against the Bills, another tilt with the Ravens, Dolphins, and Cardinals down the stretch. Those Week 16 and 17 matchups are difference makers.
The Band-Aid this week, assuming you don't have Omarion Hampton or Trey Benson coming off IR this week (if they do), has to be Devin Neal.
The sixth-round pick soaked up his most extensive playing time last Sunday against Atlanta, after Alvin Kamara exited the game with a knee injury in the first quarter. Neal totaled seven carries for 18 yards and five catches for 43, setting season highs in carries, catches, and receiving yards in the 24-10 loss.
Sure, Taysom Hill got more carries after Kamara left last week, and may be a bigger factor in the red zone. But he's still listed as a tight end, and Neal at least showed he can contribute to the passing game. As Footballguy Sigmund Bloom noted in his Week 13 Offensive Sleepers, "Neal should be a frequent checkdown target for Tyler Shough against an underrated Dolphins pass rush."
Davenport: I'm going to go with a back who wasn't mentioned yet—one fantasy managers waited for with all the patience of a four-year-old who was told his haircut would be followed by ice cream—TreVeyon Henderson of the New England Patriots.
Like Brown, Henderson is enjoying some fantasy redemption right now—as it happens, all it takes is a couple of long scores and a three-touchdown game to convince Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel that you can, in fact, play. Last week against the Cincinnati Bengals, Henderson dominated the backfield touches even with Rhamondre Stevenson back. After he faces a New York Giants run defense allowing the most rushing yards per game in the NFL, Henderson's grip on that backfield will be all the stronger.
The backfield in Pittsburgh has turned into what amounts to a full-blown committee, with Jaylen Warren (18 touches) and Kenneth Gainwell (16 touches) just about splitting the workload down the middle last week against Chicago. Six of Gainwell's touches were receptions, and he eclipsed 120 total yards while facing a shaky Bills run defense that has allowed the third-most PPR points per game to running backs in a contest where a negative game script is a real possibility. Gainwell has a legit chance at a top-20 Week 13.
