Week 13 DFS fades and players to avoid

There should have been a giant memo last week that read, “Do not play DFS.” From Brandin Cooks not seeing a single target to Amari Cooper totaling just 22 yards in a great matchup to Russell Wilson throwing for just 151 yards and not scoring a single touchdown against the Buccaneers, it was not the most predictive week. As a matter of fact, it’s a week to forget.

This is a new week and your process should not change because of one bad slate, so ours won’t either. Here in the fades of the week, you will find two quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers, and one tight end who you’ll want to keep out of your DFS lineups, unless you want shades of Week 12. Whether it be too high of a projected ownership, not enough upside to justify their price, or just a flat-out bad matchup, these are the players you can immediately cross off your list.

Quarterbacks

Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers (at Seahawks)

It’s not like things have been going well for Newton this season, as he’s averaged just 19.1 fantasy points per game, which ranks 11th among quarterbacks. If you were to remove his game against the 49ers back in Week 2, he would actually average just 17.7 points per game. So when you look at his schedule and see him playing on the road in Seattle this week, you need to stay away. The Seahawks have not been the same defense that they’ve been in years past, but they are still a top-four defense in pass coverage. They were missing Earl Thomas and DeShawn Shead last week, and while it’s unclear if they will be back for this game, one thing we do know is that Newton will be without his starting left tackle Michael Oher, starting center Ryan Kalil and backup center Gino Gradkowski. Kalil and Oher didn’t play in Week 12, where Newton completed just 14 passes. It was the second week in a row where Newton has completed less than 50 percent of his passes. It’s more than possible that Newton runs in a touchdown because the Seahawks have allowed three of them to quarterbacks, but the upside just isn’t there to justify paying up for him.