Whether you’ve clinched a playoff spot or are fighting for your fantasy football life, adding these players will help you win in Week 13.
We are just one week away from the fantasy playoffs and hopefully, most of us have a spot locked up and we are already planning ahead for Week 14. Surprisingly, there are still free agents that need to get added before the playoffs begin.
Know your league’s tiebreaker rules because I have seen it come into play multiple times where one owner doesn’t know the rules and ends up losing because of it. Here are the Week 13 free agents that you should add to your teams.
Josh McCown, Trevor Siemian or Case Keenum
Why should you add a quarterback this late into the season? Every league has tiebreakers and you would be surprised how often that it comes into play. If you have a smart commissioner, they would have should have set the tiebreaker to bench points. If this is the case, you need to add a starting quarterback to make sure you have more bench points than your opponent. Don’t drop anyone who has value for your team but if you have an extra defense or a fifth or sixth wide receiver, drop them and add one of these three QBs.
Josh Gordon, Wide Receiver, Cleveland Browns (available in 65 percent of ESPN leagues)
I wrote about adding Gordon a couple of weeks ago but he is eligible to return to the field in Week 13. If you add him, that doesn’t make him a must-start. You want to add him so nobody else in your league adds him and he goes off and that eliminates you from the playoffs. Add him to play defense against the rest of your league. If he goes off next week and you have them and need a third receiver or a flex play with high upside, then Gordon can come into play for you.
Gordon is still young and has shown his upside by finishing as the number one wide receiver in his age-22 season. If Gordon goes off in the last month of the season, he could be a top 10 wide receiver next season. He has been productive with poor quarterback play and that can easily be the case for the Browns next season. What’s the worst that’s going to happen if you roster Gordon? You don’t play him this year. He is worth the add if you are 10-2 or 2-10.
Los Angeles Charges Defense (available in 57 percent of ESPN leagues)
The Chargers defense has scored nine, 21 and 17 fantasy points over the last three weeks. They face the Cleveland Browns in Week 13 then get the Washington Redskins, Kansas City Chiefs and finish the year against the New York Jets. None of those matchups scare you and the Chargers might have the best pass-rushing defense in the league. If you have been playing defense roulette for the whole year and need a streaming defense that will finish the year strong, the Chargers are a good defense to add.
Charles Clay, Tight End, Buffalo Bills (available in 53 percent of ESPN leagues)
Now that Tyrod Taylor is the starting quarterback (for now) and Clay is healthy, this makes him a top 10 tight end for the rest of the season. Clay is still the team’s leading receiver and he missed three games this year. This tells me how much of a connection that he has with Taylor and both should finish the season strong. Clay makes for a solid play for the rest of the year and if he’s in your league I would grab him if he’s available.
