Week 12 starts with the Ravens-Steelers game moved from Thursday night to Sunday. And amidst the haze from eating too much turkey and taters, we fought off the sleepiness watching the Lions getting bombed 41-25 by the visiting Texans and then the Cowboys pulled off a national-TV face-plant with their 41-16 loss to the Football Team.
This weekend is all about new and used quarterbacks. Six things to think about heading into Week 12:
- Ravens Offense – Lamar Jackson contracted COVID-19 and will miss this week, and maybe next week. That’s the first time that we’ve lost a fantasy star, let alone the 2019 NFL MVP. The game is moved to Sunday at 1:15 and now Robert Griffin III will be the starter against the Steelers. That’s unlikely to go well, but RG3 would face the Cowboys in Week 13 if Jackson remains out. Worth watching Sunday to see if he can be of use the following week but he had one start since 2016 and that was Week 16, 2019 when he passed for only 96 yards also against the Steelers in a 28-10 win. He ran for 50 yards as well.
- Brady vs. Winston – There’s a growing concern about Tom Brady maybe not being the Greatest-of-2020-in-Tampa-Bay. He’s lost his most important games so far. Let’s look at where the Buccaneers are statistically after 11 weeks with Brady versus the first 11 games for Jameis Winston last year.
Brady makes fewer mistakes – which is pretty important – but he’s thrown almost exactly the same number of passes with higher completions and lower yardage. That plays out for both Chris Godwin and Mike Evans who are not gaining nearly as much per catch in 2020. Notable too is that Godwin hasn’t been much help this year and yet Brady still throws completions and touchdowns. - QB Brandon Allen (CIN) – The Bengals lost Joe Burrow for the year and opted to leave Ryan Finley as the backup and promote Allen from the practice squad to fill in for the rest of the year. The fifth-year former sixth-round pick of the Jaguars only started three career games which were last year in Denver. He never managed more than 240 yards and totaled three touchdowns. Noah Fant (3-115) and Courtland Sutton (5-113) each had one good game with Allen but unless he impresses against the Giants this weekend, all Bengals players are downgraded. They do play the Cowboys (Week 14) and the Texans (Week 16), so enticing matchups are on the way if he shows he at least offer an adequate fill-in for Burrow.
- QB Mike Glennon (JAC) – Gets at least a one week start over Jake Luton. Glennon totaled six years over three teams and most notably started 21 games for the Buccaneers. He was with Oakland last year and his best attribute is that he is not Luton. His best season was as a rookie in 2016. Glennon gets to play the incoming Browns this week and then the Vikings in Week 13 if he is still needed. The change at quarterback can only help a team that needs to throw, alot, in every game. The Jags are down to only James Robinson and DJ Chark as fantasy options and the next two games are at least good situations versus below-average defenses.
- 49er Running Backs – Raheem Mostert is eligible to be activated for this week’s tilt at the Rams. Tevin Colman is back at practice and also expected to be activated and both players were on bye last week as well. Mostert left in Week 6 with a high ankle sprain so six weeks may not have been enough to get him back in shape. Should know more by the end of the day on Friday. Coleman is trying to return from his knee injury of Week 2. He returned for one game in Week 8 but then returned to injured reserve. If Mostert and Coleman both remain out, then Jerrick McKinnon is the last man standing. This backfield needs help and Mostert could return to a busy role if he is healthy enough.
- QB Mitchell Trubisky (CHI) – HC Matt Nagy hasn’t named a starter but Trubisky is practicing as the starter and is expected to start at least this week, if not the rest of the season to see what he can do. The offense struggled with him but it wasn’t much better with Nick Foles who is out with a hip injury. He faces the Packers this week, but if he clears them with any respectable results, he could benefit from the remaining schedule of DET, HOU, @MIN and @JAC. In 2-QB leagues, any starter is notable and Trubisky gets a soft schedule while battling for this career.