The Cincinnati Bengals will face the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 13. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Bengals skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 13 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Joe Burrow, QB
If you remove the weird Week 1 loss to the Patriots, Joe Burrow’s 17-game pace is 4,869 passing yards, 46 touchdowns, and seven interceptions (2011 MVP Aaron Rodgers: 4,643 yards, 45 touchdowns, and six interceptions).
Burrow has strung together three straight top-two finishes (in those games: 1,035 passing yards with 12 touchdowns and just one interception), and while projecting that level of success against an elite defense that gets the benefit of the mini-bye, there’s no way to drop him outside of the top six at the position this week.
Chase Brown, RB
Chase Brown has three straight top-10 finishes, a streak not amassed by Alvin Kamara, Breece Hall, Jahmyr Gibbs, or De’Von Achane this season. He’s been nothing short of special, and there’s really no reason to think we will see that change any time soon.
Brown has at least five receptions in three consecutive games (82 touches with 16 coming in the red zone over that stretch) and has ripped off a 20-yard carry in four of his past six contests. The efficiency on the ground hasn’t been there lately (last five games: 3.6 yards per carry), but as a focal point of this elite offense, there’s no reason to nitpick.
Khalil Herbert, RB
Khalil Herbert, for me, isn’t in the same tier as a Ray Davis or Tyler Allgeier handcuff, and thus he can be cut loose as the value of every single roster spot increases down the stretch.
Chase Brown is being used as a true bell cow, and while Herbert is technically the next man up, his playing just 3.9% of Cincinnati’s offensive snaps since being acquired indicates that, even should an injury occur, this team isn’t ready to unleash the former Bear.
Instead of hanging onto Herbert, I’d rather roster a boom/bust receiver that has access to a weekly ceiling and can thus help me out if I’m in desperation mode.
Ja’Marr Chase, WR
The last time we had the pleasure of watching Ja’Marr Chase ball, he was busy scoring twice against the Chargers, his fourth multi-TD reception game of this season. In the history of this beautiful game, only three times has a player under the age of 25 had more such games in a single season:
- Gary Collins (1963)
- John Jefferson (1978)
- Rob Gronkowski (2011)
For the season, Chase has produced 38.1% over expectations and has seen the end zone in five straight games. In previous seasons, I’d worry about a floor performance against an elite Steelers defense that is rarely beaten down the field (third lowest opponent passer rating on bombs through 12 weeks), but Chase’s aDOT is 18.3% lower than Tee Higgins’ this season.
The Bengals offense operates with essentially no room for error due to the limitations of their defense, and that has elevated Chase from Tier 1 to WR1 in my weekly rankings.
Tee Higgins, WR
How good is Tee Higgins?
Ja’Marr Chase is a walking highlight reel, and that results in Higgins’ statistical star not shining quite as bright as it should. His on-field target share is 27.4% this season, 4.6 percentage points ahead of his previous career high and a level of involvement that has allowed him to record four straight games with over 75 receiving yards (four touchdowns in those games).
The target volume is one thing and the 116 air yards per game is another (20 more than any other season of his career). I don’t mean to put undo pressure on Cincinnati’s tandem, but that’s exactly what I’m going to do.
2004 Marvin Harrison Sr. and Reggie Wayne:
- 26.5% PPR production over expectation
- 2.24 PPR points per target
- 16.6% of receptions were touchdowns
2024 Chase and Higgins:
- 28.4% PPR production over expectation
- 2.29 PPR points per target
- 14.4% of receptions were touchdowns
Higgins’ name may not come with the same fanfare as that of Chase — it should. Both receivers are matchup-proof options that are more than capable of putting your fantasy team on their shoulders for the remainder of the season.
Mike Gesicki, TE
The last time we saw Mike Gesicki was Week 11 against the Chargers, a zero-catch performance that left fantasy managers disappointed in a game in which the Bengals scored 27 points.
We’ve seen the role come and go for Cincy’s TE (five games with fewer than three targets and four games with over four targets), but Gesicki is consistently given the opportunity to earn targets, which is enough for me if I’m streaming the position.
Over the past two weeks, Gesicki has run a route on 87 of 115 Joe Burrow dropbacks (75.7%). This team is only going to go as far as the offense will take them, and it’s clear that they are plenty comfortable with their fate in the hands of their franchise quarterback.
Gesicki’s floor is a low one, but with a ceiling volume projection that is well ahead of the other tight ends in this tier, he’s plenty viable, even in a tough matchup.