Fantasy Football position previews: Top plays in Week 13

BOSTON -- Week 12 was great for fantasy football owners because there were no bye weeks to deal with. That luxury is long gone in Week 13.

There are six teams on a bye this week, meaning a good chunk of fantasy owners will be scouring the waiver wire to fill some important spots at an important point of the season. With only a few weeks left, every win and every point is even more paramount.

So we once again turn to CBS Sports fantasy football expert Chris Towers, who brings us his top plays at each position. And in this week, he's suggesting plenty of replacements should you have a hole to fill on your roster.

Quarterbacks

Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen are both on byes, so there goes a few of the usual suspects in the top 5 quarterback rankings: 

1. Jalen Hurts vs. San Francisco
2. Patrick Mahomes at Green Bay
3. Dak Prescott vs. Seattle
4. Justin Herbert at New England
5. Tua Tagovailoa at Washington

If you desperately need a quarterback this week, Towers suggests seeing if Matthew Stafford or Jordan Love are still available. They may not, and both have difficult matchups, but Towers has them as top-15 options.

"If they aren't available (and chances are, they aren't), you should be looking for one of these names: Gardner Minshew (40% rostered) or Kenny Pickett (31%). I don't necessarily love either option, but Minshew's got a decent matchup against the Titans, while Pickett looked much more comfortable in the first game of the post-Matt Canada era and gets a terrific matchup against the Cardinals, who are allowing the sixth-most points to opposing quarterbacks this season," writes Towers.

If you want to start a Patriots' quarterback this weekend... first off, what are you thinking?!?! Secondly, it's Bailey Zappe making the rankings this weekend over Mac Jones, with Zappe ranked 26th out of 26. 

Check out Chris Towers' full quarterback rankings for Week 13

Running Backs

Here are your top 5 running backs this week:

1. Christian McCaffrey at Philadelphia
2. Alvin Kamara vs. Detroit
3. Jahmyr Gibbs at New Orleans
4. Travis Etienne vs. Cincinnatti
5. Jonathan Taylor at Tennessee

While bye weeks aren't hurting the crop of running backs as much as other positions, a lot of owners will be looking to fill a void on their roster this weekend. Towers has a few suggestions:

"If you need immediate help, the best option for Week 13 might be someone like Miles Sanders (65% rostered) or Tyler Allgeier (69%). Neither is an excellent starter, but they should be in line for double-digit touches, something we can't necessarily say about Antonio Gibson (59%), Rico Dowdle (41%), or Samaje Perine (27%)," writes Towers, who also likes Royce Freeman on the L.A. Rams.

As for Sunday's Patriots-Chargers matchup at Gillette Stadium, Towers has L.A.'s Austin Ekeler as the No. 6 running back this week, with Joshua Kelley at No. 47. New England's Rhamondre Stevenson sits at No. 18, while Ezekiel Elliott is ranked 39th.

Check out Chris Towers' full running back rankings for Week 13

Wide Receivers

The wide receiver position is being hit the hardest by byes this week, with studs Stefon Diggs, Davante Adams, and DJ Moore all off, as well as Zay Flowers, Jordan Addison, and Jakobi Meyers. Sure, there are still plenty of talented receivers, but those guys will be missed by fantasy owners.

Towers has a few suggestions, though don't think these guys alone will win you your week.

"Sure, none of them are likely to be must-start Fantasy options, but Jayden Reed (68%), Rashid Shaheed (66%, though he's dealing with a leg injury that has his status for this week in question), and Demario Douglas (58%, dealing with his second concussion of the season, so his status is very much in doubt as well), all have flashes considerable upside recently, and Curtis Samuel (37%) is coming off a 12-target, 100-yard game in Week 12, so they could all be useful this week," writes Towers. "Digging a little deeper, Jalin Hyatt (9%) is coming off his first career 100-yard game, while Greg Dortch (2%) has 17 targets over the past two games." 

Here's the top 5 at the position in Week 13:   

1. Tyreek Hill at Washington
2. Keenan Allen at New England
3. Amon-Ra St. Brown at New Orleans
4. CeeDee Lamb vs. Seattle
5. AJ Brown vs. San Francisco

The Patriots' secondary will obviously have its hands full with the Herbert-Allen connection this weekend, but L.A.'s Quintin Johnson also checks in at No. 48 and Jalen Guyton is at No. 54 (out of 60). New England's DeVante Parker and JuJu Smith-Schuster barely make the list at No. 57 and No. 59, respectively.

Check out Chris Towers' full wide receiver rankings for Week 13

Tight Ends

Towers is really high on Pittsburgh tight end (and Massachusetts native) Pat Freiermuth this weekend after his nine-catch, 120-yard showing against the Bengals last week. Freiermuth rounds out the top 5 at tight end, so go get him if he's available in your league.

1. Travis Kelce at Green Bay
2. Trey McBride at Pittsburgh
3. Sam LaPorta at New Orleans
4. George Kittle at Phladelphia
5. Pat Freiermuth vs. Arizona

If you're looking for a tight end playing in Foxboro this weekend, L.A.'s Gerald Everett is at No. 13, while Hunter Henry sits at No. 19. 

Check out Chris Towers' full tight end rankings for Week 13

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• Fantasy Football