FanDuel lineup tips and advice, Week 13: Already a few games down

On the other hand, there are some players with some prime matchups, and any time the Jets and Jaguars both play in a weekend, there are some nice defenses to play against.

When you're filling out your weekend FanDuel rosters, you're still looking for the right situations, and avoiding the silly ones. You want to have a running back against Indianapolis, you don't want anyone facing the Dolphins, that sort of thing.

Below is my weekly run through some strong and, in my mind, not-so-strong situations of the week. It's not comprehensive, obviously. There are 26 teams yet to play this week, and I picked 21 players from 21 teams to highlight. Rest assured, there is more than one member of the Colts I think will do well. More than one Bronco. More than one Packer and Patriot. And I would rather avoid way more than one member of the Jets.

• I touched on this in Thursday's rosters election page, but it's also not very complicated: Washington is terrible against opposing quarterbacks, and there's no reason to expect that to improve. Andrew Luck ($10,100) would be a fine investment in any matchup, home or away -- in a home game against that team? He looks very strong.
• This is certainly a soft and unverifiable factor, but Cam Newton ($7,900) is coming off of a bye, and you'd think the rest would help a running quarterback better than a non-running one. Also, while the Vikings tend to be pretty strong against quarterbacks, they struggle more against running backs, and for Newton, that matters at least as much.
• The story is always the same: The Broncos' prolific offense inevitably leads to the opposing quarterback putting up points in a mad scramble to keep pace. Alex Smith ($7,100) hasn't had much of a year, and his wide receivers have done even less, but for a cheap play, there's reason for optimism.

• The last time Matt Ryan ($7,500) had more than 15 fantasy points in a game, it was Week 4. The Major League Baseball regular season ended the same day. So, you know, it's been a while. I don't even care about home or road; I don't know how you trust him.
• If the Bills had any sort of non-EJ Manuel option, I figure they'd have benched Kyle Orton ($7,500) before last week. He produced in Week 12 against the Jets, but my nephew Grant could put up points on them. His very subpar performances in Weeks 10 and 11 are the takeaway, not the Jets-beating of Week 12.

• The way the Colts shut down the Jaguars' running game in Week 12 was out of nowhere; they had been brutal against running backs before that (Jonas Gray, come on down). Very quietly, Alfred Morris ($7,800) has been a top-10 running back this season anyway, and now he gets the Colts. On top of that, you'd have to figure a Colt McCoy offense would want to feature the run a lot.
• Speaking of shutting down the Jaguars a week ago, Denard Robinson ($7,200) had his worst game as a starter last week, but this week he gets an even cushier matchup against a Giants team that hasn't held running backs to single-digit fantasy points all season.
• This is dumpster-diving at its best, but with Jerick McKinnon hurt and unproductive, and Matt Asiata's continued insistence on being Matt Asiata, Ben Tate ($6,400) might get his first shot with Minnesota.

• Ryan Mathews ($7,000) has looked good since his return from injury -- better than six yards a carry over two games. But he now has a barking shoulder, and in Week 13 faces the league's single best run defense in the Ravens. Look elsewhere.
• It sounds like Latavius Murray ($6,700) will play Sunday as he works back from a concussion. And he'll be enticing, considering his huge performance on only a few touches in Week 12. But let's pump the brakes a bit. He's facing a good defense, and while I do like his long-term value, his successful and productive resume consists entirely of four carries.

• Everyone still loves A.J. Green, and if you can get him without wrecking your budget, obviously do that. But against the awful pass defense of the Buccaneers, Green's No. 2, Mohamed Sanu ($7,000) makes sense as well. He hasn't cooled off quite as much as expected with Green's return to prominence.
• Before the season, I debated who the Arizona receiver you'd want would be. Larry Fitzgerald or Michael Floyd? Michael Floyd or Larry Fitzgerald? Turns out it's John Brown ($6,500), almost no matter how you slice it. And with Fitzgerald likely out for another game, and Atlanta being super easy to get receiving yards against, this is a prime Brown week.
• Zach Mettenberger has started looking more competent as his starts have gone on. Meanwhile, the Texans are the single worst defense against wide receivers. As the much cheaper of the two Tennessee wide receivers, Justin Hunter ($5,900) could be a steal this week. (Also, he is succotash.)

• It's not just that the Bengals' defense shuts down receivers, though it does. And it's not just that players simply never stay as hot as Mike Evans ($8,400) has been of late on their own. It's really that Tampa Bay has another very good receiver in Vincent Jackson who will get his at some point. I would use Evans in all season-long leagues, but I'd avoid him this week in a weekly.
• Andre Johnson ($6,300) wasn't exactly lighting it up with Ryan Mallett as his quarterback, but he and Ryan Fitpzatrick never seemed to have any sort of a connection. If you are using a Houston receiver, just go with DeAndre Hopkins.

• Not that you needed the encouragement, but on top of being just an incredible tight end, Jimmy Graham ($7,500) also gets to face a Pittsburgh defense that struggles mightily against tight ends. Again, not that you needed the help, but if you're deciding between Graham and Rob Gronkowski, that's a heck of a tasty tiebreaker.
• This one comes with some risk, but good reward. The Jets are terrible against tight ends. And Charles Clay ($5,200) is a heck of a bargain price. The caveat: He's banged up, and no sure thing to play. With the game not until Monday night, there's a chance you won't find out his fate one way or another until too late to do anything about it. So keep an eye on the reports, but if you know he's playing, that could be good times.

• The only tight ends who have scored against the Saints this year are Levine Toilolo and Jermaine Gresham. Greg Olsen didn't. Jason Witten didn't. Owen Daniels didn't. Odds are, Heath Miller ($5,100) won't.

• Everyone looks in awe at the NFC West defenses. Arizona, San Francisco and Seattle are all great. But the Rams started out slow, and people sort of forgot about them. In the last four weeks, though, that unit has put up 41 fantasy points, and the one subpar game of that group, Week 10 at Arizona, saw them suffer because Arizona's defense scored touchdowns against St. Louis' offense. In other words, the Rams have put up 10-plus a week over a stretch against San Francisco, Arizona, Denver and San Diego.
• Hey, just checking in with my regular "defense facing Jacksonville" recommendation. The Giants ($4,900) faces Jacksonville this week. That's not a good defense, but the Jaguars have allowed at least seven against every defense they've faced this year.

• For a not-exciting offense, the Chiefs don't give up many fantasy points to opposing defenses, with the Bills in Week 10 the only unit to reach double-digits against them since Week 3. Meanwhile, the Broncos ($4,600) get more love than you'd expect for a unit averaging only 5.6 fantasy points a game on the season. Look elsewhere.