Brian Thomas Jr. Fantasy Hub: Week 13 Injury Update, Start/Sit Advice, Projections, and More

The Jacksonville Jaguars will face the Houston Texans in Week 13. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding WR Brian Thomas Jr.

Is Brian Thomas Jr. Playing in Week 13?

Thomas is not listed on the injury report this week, so barring any setbacks, he is on track to play this weekend.

We’ll continue to monitor the Jaguars’ injury report. You can also visit and bookmark our NFL Injury Tracker and Fantasy News Tracker for the latest updates.

Should You Start or Sit Brian Thomas Jr. in Week 13?

Splash plays and volume were the calling cards of Brian Thomas Jr. to open this season, but September’s success won’t pay the bills during the winter months.

• Thomas had three straight games with at least eight targets early on — he hasn’t had a single game like that since
• Thomas had two 55+ yard receptions during a three-week stretch — he doesn’t have a 30-yard grab in over a month

Accepted logic for rookie receivers is that they take time to assimilate to the speed of the professional game and offer more production as their first season wears on. That sounds great as a blanket statement, but when we are talking about an entirely different situation now than two months ago in terms of the surrounding pieces, struggles like this aren’t all that surprising.

I’m holding my dynasty shares of Thomas without question, but we are trying to win Week 13 in this article, and I don’t think there’s a path to doing that. We know the quarterback play is a problem, and facing the defense that ranks third in non-blitz sack rate isn’t exactly the recipe for fixing that.

I’d rather take the assumed quantity of looks, even if the quality is in question, of a player like Jakobi Meyers this week and until proven unwise to do so.

Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Week 13 Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.

Brian Thomas’ Jr. Fantasy Points Projection in Week 13

As of 8 AM ET on Sunday morning, Thomas is projected to score 11.6 fantasy points in PPR formats. This includes 2.3 receptions for 68.8 yards and 0.4 touchdowns.

Check out the free PFN Fantasy Start-Sit Optimizer for the latest projections and advice for your lineups this week.

PFN Insight on the Titans' Defense

The last two weeks have seen a wide contrast in performances from the Tennessee Titans. In Week 12, they ranked third, their best performance of the season and third top-five outing. This past week, however, was Tennessee's worst performance (31st); it was their fourth game ranked inside the bottom 10.

As those numbers suggest, this has been a strange unit. The Titans looked promising at times in the first month but have been very middling ever since. Tennessee's three wins have coincided with three of their four best defensive performances this year, with a loss in Week 1 due to the offense's complete collapse.

The improvements this year have come in the run defense and in stopping third-down conversions (34.75; eighth). Tennessee has tightened up its per-play defense, helping it bounce back some from a 20th-place finish last year before the coaching change.

Tennessee's defense hasn't been bad this year, and it's helped them win some games. Yet, the overall result so far is just league-average.

For more insight on all other team defenses, head to our PFN Defense+ Metric Analysis. 

Brian Thomas’ Fantasy Ranking

Our Weekly Consensus PPR Rankings are below — both positional and overall. They were last updated at 11:40 AM ET on Sunday, December 8. If you're in a Superflex league, make sure you check out our Weekly Consensus Superflex Rankings.

Week 14 WR PPR Rankings

1) Ja'Marr Chase | CIN (at DAL)
2) A.J. Brown | PHI (at CAR)
3) Justin Jefferson | MIN (vs. ATL)
4) Amon-Ra St. Brown | DET (at GB)
5) Puka Nacua | LAR (vs. MIN)
6) Cooper Kupp | LAR (vs. MIN)
7) Mike Evans | TB (vs. LV)
8) Tee Higgins | CIN (at DAL)
9) CeeDee Lamb | DAL (vs. CIN)
10) Tyreek Hill | MIA (vs. NYJ)
11) Drake London | ATL (at MIN)
12) Ladd McConkey | LAC (at KC)
13) DK Metcalf | SEA (at ARI)
14) Calvin Ridley | TEN (vs. JAX)
15) Davante Adams | NYJ (at MIA)
16) Jaxon Smith-Njigba | SEA (at ARI)
17) Garrett Wilson | NYJ (at MIA)
18) Malik Nabers | NYG (vs. NO)
19) Jayden Reed | GB (vs. DET)
20) Jakobi Meyers | LV (at TB)
21) DJ Moore | CHI (at SF)
22) Marvin Harrison Jr. | ARI (vs. SEA)
23) Jauan Jennings | SF (vs. CHI)
24) Khalil Shakir | BUF (at LAR)
25) Jerry Jeudy | CLE (at PIT)
26) DeVonta Smith | PHI (at CAR)
27) Brian Thomas Jr. | JAX (at TEN)
28) Jaylen Waddle | MIA (vs. NYJ)
29) Keenan Allen | CHI (at SF)
30) DeAndre Hopkins | KC (vs. LAC)
31) Jameson Williams | DET (at GB)
32) Darnell Mooney | ATL (at MIN)
33) Amari Cooper | BUF (at LAR)
34) Jordan Addison | MIN (vs. ATL)
35) Adam Thielen | CAR (vs. PHI)
36) Rome Odunze | CHI (at SF)
37) Xavier Worthy | KC (vs. LAC)
38) Elijah Moore | CLE (at PIT)
39) Deebo Samuel Sr. | SF (vs. CHI)
40) Michael Wilson | ARI (vs. SEA)
41) Xavier Legette | CAR (vs. PHI)
42) Christian Watson | GB (vs. DET)
43) Nick Westbrook-Ikhine | TEN (vs. JAX)
44) Parker Washington | JAX (at TEN)
45) Marquez Valdes-Scantling | BUF (at LAR)
46) Wan'Dale Robinson | NYG (vs. NO)
47) Calvin Austin III | PIT (vs. CLE)
48) Quentin Johnston | LAC (at KC)
49) Joshua Palmer | LAC (at KC)
50) Tyler Lockett | SEA (at ARI)
51) David Moore | CAR (vs. PHI)
52) Demarcus Robinson | LAR (vs. MIN)
53) Ray-Ray McCloud III | ATL (at MIN)
54) Dontayvion Wicks | GB (vs. DET)
55) JuJu Smith-Schuster | KC (vs. LAC)
56) Keon Coleman | BUF (at LAR)
57) Jalen Tolbert | DAL (vs. CIN)
58) Tre Tucker | LV (at TB)
59) KaVontae Turpin | DAL (vs. CIN)
60) Sterling Shepard | TB (vs. LV)
61) Jalen McMillan | TB (vs. LV)
62) Tyler Boyd | TEN (vs. JAX)
63) Curtis Samuel | BUF (at LAR)
64) Darius Slayton | NYG (vs. NO)
65) Brandin Cooks | DAL (vs. CIN)
66) Tim Patrick | DET (at GB)
67) Odell Beckham Jr. | MIA (vs. NYJ)
68) Van Jefferson | PIT (vs. CLE)
69) Mack Hollins | BUF (at LAR)
70) Tutu Atwell | LAR (vs. MIN)
71) Mike Williams | PIT (vs. CLE)
72) Justin Watson | KC (vs. LAC)
73) Jalen Nailor | MIN (vs. ATL)
74) Jahan Dotson | PHI (at CAR)
75) Ricky Pearsall | SF (vs. CHI)
76) Andrei Iosivas | CIN (at DAL)
77) Jermaine Burton | CIN (at DAL)
78) Kevin Austin Jr. | NO (at NYG)
79) Bo Melton | GB (vs. DET)
80) Jamari Thrash | CLE (at PIT)
81) Malik Washington | MIA (vs. NYJ)
82) Jalen Reagor | LAC (at KC)
83) Greg Dortch | ARI (vs. SEA)
84) Devin Duvernay | JAX (at TEN)
85) Cedrick Wilson Jr. | NO (at NYG)
86) Allen Lazard | NYJ (at MIA)

Jacksonville Jaguars at Tennessee Titans Trends

Jacksonville Jaguars

Team: A 14-loss season remains a possibility for the Jaguars, and it would be their third in the past five seasons (the rest of the NFL has three to date over that stretch, with the Panthers, Bears, and Jets all having one apiece).

QB: Mac Jones has completed 86.8% of his passes, throwing less than 10 yards downfield (otherwise:11-of-39, 28.2%)

Offense: The Jags settled for two red zone field goals last week, matching their total from the previous five games.

Defense: On a yards-per-drive standpoint, the Jaguars offered up their second-best effort of the season against the Texans last week (29.3 yards).

Fantasy: Brian Thomas Jr. saw his targets total 215 air yards on Sunday against the Texans, his first triple-digit performance since Week 5 (vs. Colts).

Betting: The Jaguars are 11-6 ATS in their past 17 road games.

Tennessee Titans

Team: Three straight double-digit loss seasons is more likely than not to occur for the Titans, something this franchise hasn’t done since the Oilers did in in four straight from 1983-86.

QB: Will Levis has posted at least an 84.5 passer rating in four straight games (he had one such performance this season prior).

Offense: The Titans averaged just 21.9 yards per drive last week, their lowest mark since Week 6 (vs. Colts).

Defense: Tennessee allowed Washington to convert nine of 14 third downs on Sunday (in their two games prior, the Titans allowed eight third down conversions on 27 attempts).

Fantasy: We are into December, and 73.1% of Nick Westbrook-Ikhine’s PPR fantasy points this season have come via touchdowns.

Betting: The Titans have failed to cover five straight home games.