Commanders vs. Broncos Fantasy Football Worksheet, Week 13

The Worksheet, a comprehensive fantasy football preview by Rich Hribar, breaks down everything you need to know about the Week 13 matchup between the Commanders and Broncos on Sunday Night Football.

Find a breakdown of every Week 13 NFL game in our Worksheet Hub.

Trust = spike production for that player

Quarterback

Bo Nix (TRUST: It has not been a clean ride for Nix to start his second season in the league.

Nix has completed 61.2% of his passes (27th) for 6.3 yards per pass attempt (26th) and a 4.7% touchdown rate (19th).

13.2% if his throws have been inaccurate (28th).

For fantasy purposes, Nix has been a predictable player when looking to chase a big week from him.

His three weeks inside the top-10 have come against the Bengals, Giants, and Cowboys.

Nix exits the bye with a matchup we have targeted for spike passing production.

Washington is allowing a league-high 8.9 yards per pass attempt and a league-high 6.7% touchdown rate.

They are allowing 17.9 passing points per game, the second-most in the league.

Nix’s primary struggles this season stem from throwing downfield.

He has completed 41.6% (47 of 113) of his passes 10 or more yards downfield.

Washington has allowed a league-high 59.6% completion rate and a 120.0 rating (31st) on throws 10-plus yards downfield.

Marcus Mariota: Mariota is set to make at least one more start as Washington is preparing to get Jayden Daniels back in Week 14.

Mariota has been a viable fantasy option in his starts this season, finishing as the QB6 (20.3 points), QB16 (16.2 points), QB20 (11.3 points), QB12 (18.7 points), and QB11 (15.4 points).

This is a tough spot to handle Mariota as more than a QB2.

Denver has once again been arguably the best defense in the league this season.

They are fourth in the NFL in pressure rate (40.9%) and third in converting pressures into sacks (29%).

Denver is allowing 10.7 passing points per game (third), allowing a 57.9% completion rate (second), 6.4 yards per pass attempt (sixth), and a league-low 2.4% touchdown rate.

Mariota can use his legs and run for fantasy points, but Denver has been incredible at limiting rushing yardage allowed to quarterbacks.

They are second in rushing yards allowed (10.6 per game) to passers while facing Jaxson Dart (11 yards), Jalen Hurts (3), Patrick Mahomes (3), Justin Fields (31), Justin Herbert (6), and Daniel Jones (2).

Running Back

RJ Harvey: Getting his first opportunity to lead this backfield in Week 11, Harvey played a season-high 61.3% of the snaps, handling 14 touches for 50 yards.

He accounted for 60.9% of the backfield touches (RB15 that week) and ran a route on 46.3% of the dropbacks (RB23).

Those are mild RB2 usage rates.

Harvey remained inefficient on those opportunities.

Harvey has a 26.2% success rate as a rusher this season, which ranks 53rd out of 54 running backs with 50 or more runs.

He has gained 10 or more yards on 3.3% of his attempts, also 53rd on that list.

We still do not have enough evidence to push Harvey aggressively as a fantasy player, and his workload in his first start was just “okay.”

The good news is that he is in a better game environment for his offense to create scoring opportunities and for him as a runner to build on after the bye.

Over their past six games, Washington has allowed 5.5 yards per carry to running backs (30th) with a 54.5% success rate (30th) against those runs.

Over that span, they have allowed huge outings to D’Andre Swift (175 total yards), Javonte Williams (118 yards), Jahmyr Gibbs (172 yards), and De’Von Achane (165 yards).

Harvey may not be in the same weight class as those backs, but the matchup and offensive attachment put him in play as an upside RB2.

Chris Rodriguez: Rodriguez had the edge in the Washington backfield in Week 11, handling a season-high 16 touches for 85 yards.

He played a season-high 44.8% of the snaps.

While those were all highs for Rodriguez to build on, the top-down usage was still lacking overall to lean on for fantasy.

He was also limited to a rushing role.

Rodriguez ran a route on only 28.1% of the dropbacks.

He has 1 reception this season.

Even with a continued spike in usage, we still have to rely on Rodriguez as a player dependent on rushing efficiency and touchdown production.

That is hard to bet on being strong here, leaving Rodriguez as a touchdown-dependent RB3/FLEX.

Denver is allowing 3.8 YPC to running backs (5th) and 0.92 yards before contact (5th) on those runs.

Wide Receiver

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