Fantasy football free agents: Kyle Monangai and Bam Knight are essential pickups

Sunday the 13th of the NFL season was relatively quiet for fantasy purposes, with plenty of excellent performances in games early in the week, including great performances from Patrick Mahomes, AJ Brown and a pair of Chicago Bears running backs. Still, the Carolina Panthers entertained us on Sunday by beating the Los Angeles Rams, and fantasy managers enjoyed standout performances by Bijan Robinson, Davante Adams and lesser-roasted wide receivers like Adonai Mitchell and DaVaughn Vale.

Welcome to December! With the fantasy playoffs starting in Week 14 for many managers, an unfortunate wrinkle has been added to this season, including fantasy’s top option among those serving a very late bye week. Yes, Christian McCaffrey is not playing this time around in Week 14, through no fault of his own. Plus, we’ll miss the outstanding quarterback as well as the valuable Panthers running back from Monday’s New York Giants-New England Patriots tilt. Good luck with the lineup!

Every Monday, before the current NFL weekend ends, we will identify the players available at least 50% ESPN standard leagues worthy of your attention, from standard formats to deeper options. The NFL is a weekly league, and player evaluations and roles rarely remain static. It doesn’t matter how you acquire players for your fantasy roster, it just matters that you acquire them!

quarterback

Jacoby Brissett, Arizona Cardinals (50.2% of rosters in ESPN leagues): Brissett continues to produce top-10 fantasy efforts on a weekly basis, averaging 19.64 points in Sunday’s loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brissett has made seven starts, and his worst The performance consists of 18.68 points. Of course, the Cardinals will move up in class to face the Rams in Week 14, but Bryce Young scored 22.54 points to defeat the Rams on Sunday. It certainly seems like we can count on Brissett in the fantasy playoffs.

Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars (33.9%): Lawrence scored 21.66 points in an easy win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, although facing the Indianapolis Colts in Week 14 should be tough. The Colts are allowing quarterbacks 16.2 points per game in fantasy, which nearly matches Lawrence’s average this season. Although this is a different Colts defense than last season, Lawrence has had a lot of success against the franchise, including last season when he threw for 371 yards in a win.

Deep-League Options/Streamers/Random Ideas

• maybe washington commanders star jayden daniels (71%) Not available in your highly competitive league (wink, wink), but look at that roster percentage. he is available someone’s League! Even if the 3-9 Commanders aren’t playoff bound, Daniels (elbow) is certainly a possibility to return in Week 14 to face the Minnesota Vikings (who certainly have QB problems of their own). If not, backup marcus mariota (9.3%), who lit up the Denver Broncos in a one-point loss Sunday night, is worth it.

• New York Jets starter tyrod taylor (4.6%) scored 21.28 points in the team’s last-second win over the Atlanta Falcons, although most of his production came with 44 rushing yards and a touchdown. Still, he will face the Miami Dolphins this week, presenting a streaming opportunity. That’s more favorable than going with Tyler Shaw (5.3%) against the Buccaneers or Kirk Cousins ​​(4.8%) against the powerful Seattle Seahawks.

• Finally, four quarterbacks have their byes in Week 14. Keep Drake Mays, Jackson Dart and Brock Purdy on the roster, while Bryce Young (11.7%), despite his Week 13 heroics and upward trajectory, could be gone.

running back

Kyle Monangai, Bears (56%): The Bears embarrassed the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday with 281 rushing yards, as rookie Monangai and veteran D’Andre Swift combined for 39.8 fantasy points. Monangai is available in numerous leagues. The Bears won’t be able to replicate this torrid effort this week against the Green Bay Packers (or ever), but Monangai, with double-digit fantasy points in three consecutive games, certainly deserves more attention.

Bam Night, Cardinals (36.8%): We’re done speculating about when Trey Benson (57.6%) will finally return from his knee injury. Benson, who last played in Week 4, is eligible to return for a few weeks but remains a limited practice participant. Perhaps Knight, who averaged 16.8 points in Sunday’s loss and has scored in double figures in three consecutive games, scored four in a row against the Rams. Michael Carter (10%) is a reasonable deep-league flex if Benson also sits.

Deep-League Options/Streamers/Random Ideas

• falcons backup tyler alger (32.9%) scored his eighth touchdown of the season on Sunday, reminding fantasy managers that even if Bijan Robinson is amazing and we can’t rely on volume to backup him, at least Alger has value heading into the bye week. rams backup black quorum (12.6%) only has two touchdowns, but his situation somewhat matches that of Algier. Ahh, I wish these guys had a volume.

• chris rodriguez jr (12.3%) scored another rushing touchdown Sunday night, his fourth in six games, and he’s clearly in the running to return to the roster in Washington. This may not make much sense, as Rodriguez has only caught one pass all season, but the starting running back shouldn’t be available either.

• vikings can go together Jordan Mason (53%) against the Commanders as Aaron Jones Sr. (shoulder) continues to have trouble staying on the field. Mason is averaging 4.7 yards per rush.

• We don’t know if the New Orleans Saints will get starter Alvin Kamara (knee) back for Week 14, but the rookie devin neal (42%) Was the only running back to record a rushing attempt in Sunday’s loss to the Dolphins. He averaged 9.9 points and could possibly do so again this week against the Buccaneers.

• In addition to keeping the amazing McCaffrey and the capable Tyrone Tracy Jr. on the roster during their bye weeks, fantasy managers should also retain all four options for the Panthers and Patriots timeshare (Rico Dowdall, Chuba Hubbard, Treveon Henderson, Raimondre Stevenson). Hubbard (63.5%) may be available in your league. If his annoying timeshare with Dowdle is back up again, why not pick him up this week before Week 15?

wide receiver

Adonai Mitchell, Jets (2.7%): A week later we discussed the relatively new jet John Mechie III (10.1%), Mitchell (a former Colt) had a stellar performance, averaging 24.2 points, catching passes for 102 yards and scoring his first touchdown. Tyrod Taylor is a nice upgrade over Justin Fields at QB. Which Jet WR do you want? Well, the Mechie is a low-yardage option, which has upside. The Dolphins, and beyond, go with Mitchell, a young, speedy deep threat who averaged 14.0 yards per reception.

Christian Watson (52%) and Dontavian Wicks (1%), Packers: Wicks was the Thanksgiving Day star with 28 points, his first game with double-digit points all season. Watson took 10 shots in that game. Perhaps all three Packers WRs, including Romeo Doubs (72%), are worth watching for the important Week 14 game against the surprising Bears, but one will never know which receiver to play.

Alec Pierce, Colts (53.7%): Pierce scored 17.8 points in Sunday’s loss to the Houston Texans, but he continues to stake his claim as the top option for QB Daniel Jones, who suddenly isn’t so reliable. Michael Pittman Jr. caught only one pass on Sunday, and the last time he surpassed 30 receiving yards was in Week 9. Blame Jones if you want, downgrade Pittman a bit, and bring the undervalued Pierce into the lineup for Week 14 against the Jaguars.

Deep-League Options/Streamers/Random Ideas

• Saints star Chris Olave is one of the top 10 fantasy wide receivers on the season, and he scored his fifth touchdown on Sunday, but the second-year man devaughn vale (0.6%) had a better game with 23.3 points, including his second touchdown. Vale has claimed 15 goals in the last two matches, and he could continue his success against the Buccaneers this week.

• Detroit Lions star Amon-Ra St. Brown (ankle) will likely miss one or more games, so deep draft picks may want to consider isaac tesla (1%). The Arkansas rookie is having a strange season, with touchdowns on half of his six receptions (11 targets), which is quite unsustainable. Still, if he gets more goals in the coming weeks, he’s probably a legitimate sleeper.

• Keep the leading WR for each Week 14 bye team: Tetaroa McMillan, Stefon Diggs, Wan’Dale Robinson and Ja’Waun Jennings, but that’s it. Although he’s a great story, it’s time to move on from Ricky Pearsall (64.6%), as he hasn’t shot that well since Week 3.

tight end

Brenton Strange, Jaguars (22%): Strange scored 13.5 points on Sunday, including his first touchdown of his shortened, seven-game campaign. In Week 14 Strange faces a Colts defense that is leading in fantasy points allowed to tight ends. This tight end is moving towards TE1 territory.

Dalton Schultz, Texas (51.6%): Schultz scored 12.5 points Sunday, the sixth time in eight games he’s reached double figures — and he didn’t rely on the TD, as he has only one this season. He’s doing it with volume and receiving yards.

Deep-League Options/Streamers/Random Ideas

protect

• Buccaneers D/ST (23%) Hosts the Saints in Week 14. Some of us remember the last time these teams met, when the Buccaneers held the Saints to just three points in Week 8 and the D/ST unit scored 25 fantasy points. Recurrence is certainly possible.

• Commander D/ST (2.7%) is one of the worst in fantasy this season, averaging 2.1 points per game, ahead of only the Giants and Bengals. Anyway, did you watch Minnesota’s offense in Week 13? It didn’t score.

• For those looking for D/ST units with a little more pedigree bill d/st (45.2%) scored 17 points against the Steelers but will face a tough test with the Bengals. Eagles D/ST (53.5%) looked terrible in the loss to the Bears, but it faced a Los Angeles Chargers offense that likely will be without Justin Herbert (hand), although the quarterback may attempt to play after surgery.

• Dolphin D/ST (13.6%) scored 13 fantasy points against the Saints on Sunday, and the Jets are next. This is a major streaming opportunity in fantasy. If the Dolphins have moved to your league, also consider the Jets (8.8%). While the first matchup between these teams in Week 4 was a relatively high-scoring affair, we shouldn’t anticipate a repeat in this case.