NFL Player News

Young had one of the best outings of his NFL career. Young made anticipatory throws time and again, trusting his pass catchers against a tough Kansas City secondary. Young stood strong in the pocket on a handful of critical completions in the second half and appeared far more comfortable than usual in the pocket. He showed poise when flushed outside the pocket too. This was just the third time in Young’s NFL career in which he averaged more than 7.5 yards per attempt, all while Panthers receivers dropped a few well-thrown balls. If Week 12 marks a turning point in Young’s career as a viable starting quarterback, he could hold some fantasy value down the stretch. That includes Week 13 against an exploitable Bucs defense.

Hockenson’s role took a hit in Week 11 and he caught just two passes for 13 yards. Minnesota platooned him with Josh Oliver and even gave Johnny Mundt a few reps. Oliver missed Week 12 with an ankle issue, paving the way for Hockenson’s 2024 breakout. Hockenson cleared his previous season-high by over 40 yards and hit triple-digits for the first time since Week 10 of the 2023 season. Even if Oliver returns next week, Hockenson has done enough to maintain a high-volume role going forward. He will be in the top half of the TE1 ranks for Week 13 versus the Cardinals.

With the Bucs coming off bye, Bucky Irving saw a new season high 18 touches. That included a 12-5 first half advantage over White. Disastrously, Sean Tucker mixed in for a goal-line vulture. The Bucs tried to get him another one on the very next series, but this time Tucker fumbled. He would touch the ball only one more time all day despite the Bucs playing with a big lead. Maybe this is about to be narrowed back down to a two-man rotation again. With Irving clearly having the lead, White has settled in as a mediocre FLEX option, but one reliably positioned to see 10-12 weekly touches.

Stover has consistently been in the ancillary receiver force for the Texans, with multiple targets in every game in his last four. He scored on a busted coverage on Houston’s first play from scrimmage, and out-targeted Dalton Schultz for the first time. It’s likely that this was just a flash-in-the-pan performance, but Stover is on the field plenty for the Texans and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he eventually overtook Schultz as their main tight end in 2025.

Akers entered the week with 26 touches on a near 1B role over his past two appearances. Aaron Jones put plenty of space between himself and Akerrs versus the Bears with 22 carries to Akers’ three. He also caught three balls while Akers reeled in his only target for a six-yard gain. Akers remains the clear backup to Jones but doesn’t have standalone fantasy value heading into Week 13.

Active for the first time since injuring his hamstring in Week 7, Evans predictably led the Bucs in receiving. He was out-caught by Bucky Irving and out-targeted by Sterling Shepard, but strange things happened in a game where the Giants did not bother to compete. Evans was not snap-counted and appeared normal physically. He looks ready to contribute as a WR1/2 for the stretch run. Even with all 32 teams active for Week 13, we’ll just go ahead and label Evans as a WR1 against the Panthers.

Ojulari is in the midst of one of his best seasons as a pro. Through 11 games, the veteran pass rusher has recorded six sacks and has 28 tackles on the year to go with 10 TFLs. We don’t yet know the severity of his injury, but it’s possible the Giants will be without one of their top pass rushers in Thursday’s game against the Cowboys.

Jones opened the day with a lost fumble at the goal line. He was hit behind the line of scrimmage and had the ball knocked out while attempting a second-effort push toward the end zone. He has struggled to punch in his looks near the end zone this season but made fantasy managers whole in the third quarter with a score from three yards own. Jones also easily out-carried backup Cam Akers, who ran three times and caught his only target. Firmly ahead of Akers in the pecking order for touches, Jones is a staple of the RB2 ranks heading into Week 13 versus the Cardinals.

No one on the Giants covered themselves in glory in Tommy DeVito’s 2024 starting debut, but Tracy had one of the roughest afternoons. With the G-Men trailing 23-0, Tracy lost a goal-line fumble on their opening drive of the second half. Disastrous, especially when paired with his giveaway against the Panthers in Week 10. Book-ending a bye week with fumbles is going to be a massive issue for any rookie, though the go-nowhere Giants lack incentive to bench Tracy. That being said, he lost a goal-line look to Devin Singletary the following drive and didn’t see another touch until there were five minutes remaining. We will still fire Tracy up as a Week 13 RB2 against the Cowboys’ awful run defense, but there is growing volatility here.

Raymond exited Sunday’s game against the Colts and did not return to the field. When discussing player injuries after the game, head coach Dan Campbell made light of several players’ injuries while saying Raymond’s was “a little more serious.” It sounds like Raymond is at risk of missing some time and is probably a long shot to play in Week 13 against the Bears on a short week. Raymond was held without a catch in Sunday’s win.

Dell had a 39-yard catch to set up Houston’s second touchdown drive, but otherwise was more of a bystander than you’d like and had a key ball over the middle defensed by Jarvis Brownlee in the fourth quarter. We suppose if he was ever going to live up to the WR3/FLEX hype it would be against the Jaguars next week, but Dell hasn’t been in the end zone in a month and doesn’t have a 10-target game all season.