The Los Angeles Rams will travel to take on the New Orleans Saints in Week 13. Here’s the final injury report and start-sit advice for every skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy football 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.
And if you’re looking for all the latest injury updates around the league, our Final Week 13 Injury Report is live and updated with the very latest for all 32 teams.
Matthew Stafford, QB | LAR
Stafford’s Injury Status for Week 13
Stafford is not listed on the injury report this week.
Week 13 Start-Sit Advice for Stafford
Matthew Stafford’s accuracy was on full display in New England on Sunday, and that is what it takes for a QB like this to return value. His 69-yard touchdown strike to Cooper Kupp was placed perfectly to beat the Cover 0 defense, and he dropped a 19-yard dime into the bucket for a Colby Parkinson score.
He’s been strong in the four weeks since getting his two receivers back (go figure!), posting a 6.6% pass touchdown rate, up from 1.5% through Week 7. That all sounds great, but guess what? He’s only the 10th-best per-game QB over that stretch, one that resembles much more of a ceiling than a realistic expectation.
We know the Eagles have the ability to sustain long drives, something that limits the possession count, and they are the fifth-best red-zone defense in the league. I’m not confident in projecting top-15 numbers for a pocket passer like Stafford in this matchup — I’d rather take my chances on Anthony Richardson (vs. DET) this week.
Kyren Williams, RB | LAR
Williams’ Injury Status for Week 13
Williams is not listed on the injury report this week.
Week 13 Start-Sit Advice for Williams
Kyren Williams is an auto-start due to his role and the upside of this offense, but there is no denying that there is more risk in this profile today than there was a month ago.
That’s now three straight games finishing outside of the top 20 for Williams, a run that has, not surprisingly, coincided with his touchdown “drought.” The scoring opportunities will sort themselves out with time, though this isn’t the week to bank on that with the Eagles giving rushing scores to opposing running backs at the third-lowest rate through 11 weeks.
What has me more worried was the zero-target showing from last week, his second such game of the season. If that sustains, there is a week-ruining floor to at least consider moving forward.
You’re not making any actionable changes, though I would lower expectations a touch from where they stood not long ago.
Cooper Kupp, WR | LAR
Kupp’s Injury Status for Week 13
Kupp is not listed on the injury report this week.
Week 13 Start-Sit Advice for Kupp
Cooper Kupp has scored or caught 7+ passes in all four games since his return from injury, highlighted by a two-score game last week in New England. That performance was buoyed by a 69-yard strike that came as the result of the Patriots bringing an all-out blitz.
It’s a play that counts but not one that I expect too many teams to tempt fate with against this offense at full strength.
There’s one minor concern to consider in this specific matchup, but we are splitting hairs.
Weeks 1-9:
- Puka Nacua: 11.3 aDOT
- Cooper Kupp: 6.0 aDOT
Weeks 10-11:
- Nacua: 11.0 aDOT
- Kupp: 10.5 aDOT
It’s a small sample and, in general, Kupp’s lengthening of his target is a net positive, but the Eagles allow the fewest 15+ yard WR receptions per game (2.5), and with Nacua being the more efficient downfield threat (7.6% more yards per route run), that brings in a bit more risk than you might assume in this spot.
I prefer Nacua to Kupp this week, but both are top-15 plays that you’re locking in without a second thought.
Demarcus Robinson, WR | LAR
Robinson’s Injury Status for Week 13
Robinson is not listed on the injury report this week.
Week 13 Start-Sit Advice for Robinson
The Rams are back to functioning at a high level (26+ points scored in three of their past four games), and we all know what that means — an ultra-condensed distribution of touches.
In last week’s win over the Patriots, Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp saw 70.4% of Matthew Stafford’s targets. Add in the elite scoring ways of Kyren Williams when Los Angeles reaches the red zone, and the path for Demarcus Robinson to fall into fantasy value is close to nonexistent.
Robinson bridged October and November with a pair of multi-score games, and that resulted in him being rostered with confidence. With his teammates back at full strength, Robinson is on the chopping block if you need to create roster space.
Puka Nacua, WR | LAR
Nacua’s Injury Status for Week 13
Nacua is not listed on the injury report this week.
Week 13 Start-Sit Advice for Nacua
If you extend Puka Nacua’s past five regular-season games in which he has been on the field for at least half the offensive snaps, his 17-game pace is 126 catches for 2,071 yards and seven scores.
Yes, he’s that good. We saw it on the 38-yard catch-and-run on Los Angeles’ first drive last week, we saw it again on his sprawling 12-yard touchdown (somehow his first score of the season), and we see it seemingly every week from this second-year star.
PUKA. NACUA.
📺: @NFLonFOX | #RamsHouse pic.twitter.com/YqWw9l9ikK
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) November 17, 2024
We’ve seen four WR1s victimize the Eagles for 20+ PPR points (Jayden Reed, Chris Olave, Mike Evans, and Ja’Marr Chase). While Cooper Kupp is great, Nacua, who has seen his yards per route, target share, and red-zone target rate all improve from his historic rookie campaign, profiles as the top dog in this passing game.
Derek Carr, QB | NO
Carr’s Injury Status for Week 13
Carr is not listed on the injury report this week.
Week 13 Start-Sit Advice for Carr
Derek Carr is on a career pace in passer rating, yards per pass, and touchdown rate. Thanks to splash plays from Marquez Valdes-Scantling, his counting numbers have looked great over the past two games:
- 52 pass attempts
- 37 completions
- 517 passing yards
- Four touchdowns
- Zero interceptions
The injuries to the receiver room haven’t impacted Carr in a big way lately, but is that sustainable? The Rams are a top-five pressure defense, and if that makes stretching the field difficult, I’m not sure there’s much of a path to top-15 numbers without versatility or upside. That is why I’m looking elsewhere in all one-QB leagues and DFS contests, even on the fast track.
Alvin Kamara, RB | NO
Kamara’s Injury Status for Week 13
Kamara is not listed on the injury report this week.
Week 13 Start-Sit Advice for Kamara
Alvin Kamara has been among the most consistent performers in our game this season (top-20 back in nine of 11 games, including each of his past four), and it seems that run of production coming off of his bye is slowed by the defense that allows the sixth most points per drive to opposing offenses.
Am I in love with his profile? I’m not. Kamara’s fantasy point total has been below expectations in eight of his past nine, and he doesn’t have a 25-yard rush this season (183 attempts), but the versatility (eight straight games with at least four receptions) and volume mask those concerns.
If you want to use the limited ceiling potential that comes with efficiency as a reason to look elsewhere when constructing your main-slate DFS roster, go for it. When it comes to season-long, you’re playing Kamara without a second thought.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling, WR | NO
Valdes-Scantling’s Injury Status for Week 13
Valdes-Scantling is not listed on the injury report this week.
Week 13 Start-Sit Advice for Valdes-Scantling
Marquez Valdes-Scantling has 101 regular season games on his NFL resume. This is just the second time he’s cleared 15 PPR fantasy points in consecutive games despite spending his career, before these three games with the Saints, playing with Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, and Josh Allen. The only other instance came in Weeks 9-10 of the 2020 season — his next three game totals:
- 90 routes
- Eight targets
- Three catches
- 8.5 PPR fantasy points
The word “regression” doesn’t do this profile justice. The tricky part, of course, is settling on when the inevitable cliff comes. MVS has a 65-yard catch in consecutive games and the last player to do that in three straight was Tyreek Hill in 2018 with the Chiefs. I think it’s safe to say that Valdes-Scantling is not in that tier of receiver. But on the bright side, his role is trending in the right direction.
Valdes-Scantling’s snap shares with the Saints:
- Week 9 at Carolina Panthers: 43.2%
- Week 10 vs. Atlanta Falcons: 53.8%
- Week 11 vs. Cleveland Browns: 65.5%
That said, this Rams defense excels at creating pressure, and it doesn’t take a data scientist to tell you that such a matchup makes those deep routes difficult to connect on. He gets the benefit of playing on turf, which can amplify his straight-line speed, but without the benefit of any teams being on a bye this week, the odds of you having four receivers that I rank more favorably are high.
Taysom Hill, TE | NO
Hill’s Injury Status for Week 13
Hill is not listed on the injury report this week.
Week 13 Start-Sit Advice for Hill
You may have heard that Taysom Hill had himself a day the last time his Saints took the field.
Hill’s production in Week 11 vs. the Cleveland Browns:
- 18 passing yards
- 138 rushing yards and three TDs
- 50 receiving yards (36.4% reception share)
Hill ranked second in rushing yards for the week while seeing more targets than Puka Nacua and recording more catches than Tyreek Hill. Hopefully, you cashed in on the historic week. No matter what you think of New Orleans’ unique weapon, weeks like that simply don’t come around.
Forget the production and look at the usage. The fact that Hill was put in a position to post a crazy stat line like that is enough to keep him ranked as a TE1 for me this week, even without the benefit of having any teams on bye.
Over his past four games, Hill has averaged 10.3 traditional opportunities (targets + rushes) per game. Given the proximity of his average snap to the goal line, you’re starting him if you have him against a bottom-five yards-after-catch defense this weekend.
Juwan Johnson, TE | NO
Johnson’s Injury Status for Week 13
Johnson is not listed on the injury report this week.
Week 13 Start-Sit Advice for Johnson
Juwan Johnson scored in Week 11, but it required his first end-zone target since Week 1 and was yet another game with under 50 receiving yards. Anything can happen in New Orleans if they are going to give Taysom Hill as many touches as he’s had recently.
But, considering that they haven’t trusted Johnson with 25 routes in a game since mid-October, there’s no reason to go this far down the rankings.
The TE streamer tier is underwhelming, but there are a handful of options out there who are either a part of a productive offense (Dalton Schultz and Zach Ertz) or in the midst of seeing their role increase (Will Dissly and Ja’Tavion Sanders).