Fantasy Football Week 13 Rookie Report: Which WRs could take us deep in the playoffs?

This week’s Rookie Report is going to concentrate on the wide receivers. Maybe we’re not going to find 2021 Amon-Ra St. Brown, but there are some gems to be mined in this stream of talented wideouts.

These players have been growing into greater roles, and are getting into that weekly discussion of every-week starters. And like we did with the Running Back Report, we’re going to focus on what these players could do in the next two weeks with the fantasy playoffs on the line.

Could one or more of these players send you to your league’s tournament — and then win you the big prize?

Rashee Rice, Kansas City Chiefs

The draft strategy of “When in doubt, draft a Patrick Mahomes receiver” seems to be paying off with Rice. And it’s none too soon. After the Kansas City dropfest that was laid out for the country to see on Monday Night Football against the Eagles in Week 11 (yes, it was raining), fantasy football aficionados were very intrigued to see how Andy Reid veered the offense against a Raiders defense that has been tough on the passing game.

Yes, they got a healthy dose of Travis Kelce, with 26 routes. Right behind him was Rice with 25, and he also led the team with 10 targets. Many were short-to-intermediate throws, as his aDOT was just 4.2 on the day, but the volume cannot be denied. And what he does after the catch can be wonderful. Here is a good chunk of the 70 yards after the catch he compiled last week:

Green Bay is the opponent in Week 13, and with ace cornerback Jaire Alexander battling injuries, it could mean further expansion of the role for Rice. Then Week 14 brings with it a great matchup against the Bills, and points should be aplenty that day. Rice will be in the must-start discussion then.

Jayden Reed, Green Bay Packers

The declarations have been made and the results are in: Reed is the top wideout for the Packers. And going into the waiver wire period Tuesday, Reed was rostered in just 48% of leagues. By today, that number has grown to 57%.

During his three-game streak with at least one touchdown scored, what stuck out were how many more air yards Christian Watson saw over Reed, 311-148. Though it was Reed who outdid Watson on actual receiving yards: 164-138. So while Watson was running long routes and seeing plenty of shots that came up empty, Reed has become that go-to receiver for Jordan Love during his own surge.

A rematch of Super Bowl I is happening Sunday, and while Reed may not bring back memories of Max McGee in the inaugural championship game, the rookie will have a tall hill to climb (monitor his health though, as he's been managing a chest injury) against a Chiefs defense that is allowing the eighth-fewest fantasy points to wide receivers. If you have a playoff spot on the line in Week 14, get Reed into the lineup against the Giants, who have allowed the fourth-most receiving yards to wide receivers this season.

Tank Dell, Houston Texans

Who on their preseason bingo card had Dell as the WR11 after Week 12, just ahead of Brandon Aiyuk and Davante Adams? To say this rookie who was mostly a waiver wire pickup for people early in the season could be a league-winner is beyond fun.

Dell has been on an unreal tear Weeks 9-12, as he’s been targeted a team-high 43 times and turned it into 25-369-5. That’s good enough for WR3 in that range, for a cool 20.5 fantasy points per game. Not bad for a smallish receiver (5-10, 165 lbs.) who quarterback C.J. Stroud lobbied for the Texans to pick in the third round of the NFL Draft.

His next two games, however, may be his toughest (and he's nursing a calf injury). In the last three games, the Broncos are allowing an average of 196.0 passing yards per game. That’s this week’s Texans opponent. At least that one will be home. Then comes a road trip to the Meadowlands to take on the Jets, whose pass defense is limiting wide receivers to a league-low 1,282 receiving yards and three touchdowns.

It won’t be easy riding the Tank to the fantasy playoffs.

Zay Flowers, Baltimore Ravens

There were questions about who was going to step into the large void left behind by Mark Andrews after he suffered a potentially season-ending injury. Flowers seemed to run the routes most similar to Andrews, and in the most recent Sunday night game against the Chargers, a national audience saw the rookie take a step forward.

Catching five of eight balls for 25 yards and a score, he added a 37-yard fourth-quarter touchdown that iced the Ravens’ 20-10 victory. The past two weeks, Flowers ran 66 routes, 16 more than the next-closest Baltimore pass catcher. He’s running a route on 95.7% of the Ravens’ total pass attempts. His role is only going to continue to grow.

He won’t be able to help fantasy managers this week with the Ravens on a bye, with the Rams coming to Baltimore in Week 14. Marquise Brown posted 88 yards against the Rams last week, with DK Metcalf going 5-94-1 the week prior. Flowers will be in full bloom then, with great matchups against the Jaguars, 49ers and Dolphins in the fantasy playoffs.

Jalin Hyatt, New York Giants

It has been easy to avoid all Giants other than Saquon Barkley for fantasy since UDFA Tommy DeVito took over when Daniel Jones went out for the season. Just write them off and look at other teams. There are a few other NFL teams like that.

Then Week 12 happened and Hyatt emerged as someone at least to consider, for the rest of the season.

Hyatt came into the season with a great pedigree, drafted in the third round of the NFL Draft as the 2022 Fred Biletnikoff Award winner for Tennessee. There was talk about him being purely a deep threat at the beginning, as route running was not considered his strong suit by the NFL scouting community.

He was starting to gain some traction after catching a couple of long balls for 89 yards in Week 2, but he caught more than two balls just once through Week 11. Against the Patriots last week, the Giants started to pepper Hyatt with targets as 18 of his 21 routes were split out wide. It was clear that DeVito was going to lean into Hyatt’s speed and take some shots with him.

Hyatt drew 120 air yards last week, 11th in the league. He did it on just six targets, with all but one player ahead of him last week having more targets: Jalen Guyton also had six looks. If the Giants are going to start taking more shots with Hyatt, he’s someone to consider as a home run threat the remainder of the season; the way Giants are bleeding points, they’re going to have to swing for the fences. Only the Commanders, Bears and Cardinals have allowed more points.

This week the Giants are off, but in Week 14 they host the Packers and their beat-up secondary. The Green Bay pass rush has turned it up, and the Giants’ offensive line has been rough at best, but for a flex play with the playoffs on the line, going deep for Hyatt could pay off with just one long ball connecting.