When players say any given Sunday or next man up, they mean it. That is the life of an NFL player as well as a fantasy football owner. These were some of the names at the top of the fantasy football leaderboard for this past week in the NFL including Jonathon Williams (RB Colts), Gus Edwards (RB Ravens), Michael Gallup (WR Cowboys), and John Brown (WR Bills). Not the names you would predict by any means to start the week.
These types of situations often come due to injury and opportunity. Two keys things to look at as we head into Week 12 of the fantasy football schedule.
Where are the injuries to key players and who will those opportunities go to if the top player can’t go? The main one to keep your eye on right now is the injury to Marlon Mack (RB Colts). Who will fill that role at running back? I’ve always really liked Nyheim Hines (RB Colts) as a player who can catch a lot of passes out of the backfield, so keep your eye on him to see if he gets more opportunities.
Same with Michael Gallup (WR Cowboys) or Randall Cobb (WR Cowboys) if Amari Cooper (WR Cowboys) continues to battle injuries. Not a ton of other major injuries occurred in Week 11, so that bodes well for your fantasy football rosters heading into Week 12.
One other major thing to consider this week are the teams on a bye. No Patrick Mahomes (QB Chiefs) and their other top skill players. The Chargers are off as well, though not many of their players would normally start in your fantasy lineup anyway. The Vikings and Cardinals have the week to recover as well and we all know the Dalvin Cook (RB Vikings) owners will be scrambling to fill that void.
Lions at Washington fantasy focus
Washington is in a rebuild, but they do have some good young talent. Dwayne Haskins (QB), Darius Guice (RB), and Terry McLaurin (WR) just to name a few. Their record (1-9) is not good. The playing surface at their stadium is not good. Once again though due to the Detroit Lions injuries and porous defense, this could be another close game with fantasy points on both sides for the taking.
The Lions moved the ball pretty well against the Cowboys in Week 11, but their passing game is nowhere near as explosive as it was with Matthew Stafford at quarterback. Kenny Golladay and T.J. Hockenson saw a total of two passes last week. I would expect both of those players to be featured against Washington. Bo Scarbrough came out of nowhere to start at running back and appeared to run the ball well — we will see if he can continue that success in Washington this week.
Start/Sit
Start
Baker Mayfield (QB Browns)
Derrick Henry (RB Titans)
Odell Beckham Jr (WR Browns)
Zach Ertz (TE Eagles)
Sit
Dak Prescott (QB Cowboys)
Royce Freeman (RB Broncos)
John Brown (WR Bills)
Mark Andrews (TE Ravens)
Top-3 projected players by position
Quarterbacks
Lamar Jackson, Ravens
Matt Ryan, Falcons
Jameis Winston, Buccaneers
Running Backs
Christian McCaffrey, Panthers
Nick Chubb, Browns
Derrick Henry, Titans
Wide Receivers
Michael Thomas, Saints
Mike Evans, Buccaneers
Julio Jones, Falcons
Tight Ends
Darren Waller, Raiders
Mark Andrews, Ravens
Zach Ertz, Eagles
Team Defenses
Bills
Bears
Saints
Waiver wire options
Brandon Allen (QB Broncos)
Jeff Driskel (QB Lions)
Nyheim Hines (RB Colts)
Bo Scarbrough (RB Lions)
Kelvin Harmon (WR Redskins)
James Washington (WR Steelers)
David Njoku (TE Browns)
Ryan Griffin (TE Jets)
Intriguing games and players in Week 12
Bye Weeks: Cardinals, Chiefs, Chargers, and Vikings
Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans, Thursday 8:20 PM, EST
- IND: Eric Ebron (TE), Jack Doyle (TE)
HOU: Deshaun Watson (QB), DeAndre Hopkins (WR)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons, Sunday 1:00 PM, EST
- TB: O.J. Howard (TE), Ronald Jones (RB)
ATL: Julio Jones (WR), Matt Ryan (QB)
Seattle Seahawks at Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday 1:00 PM, EST
- SEA: Josh Gordon (WR), Chris Carson (RB)
PHI: Miles Sanders (RB), Nelson Agholor (WR)
Detroit Lions at Washington Redskins, Sunday 1:00 PM, EST
- DET: T.J. Hockenson (TE), Danny Amendola (WR)
WAS: Dwayne Haskins (QB), Terry McLaurin (WR)
Dallas Cowboys at New England Patriots, Sunday 4:25 PM, EST
- DAL: Tony Pollard (RB), Ezekiel Elliot (RB)
NE: N’Keal Harry (WR), Julian Edelman (WR)
Green Bay Packers at San Francisco 49ers, Sunday 8:20 PM, EST
- GB: Davante Adams (WR), Jimmy Graham (TE)
SF: Dante Pettis (WR), Tevin Coleman (RB)
Baltimore Ravens at Los Angeles Rams, Monday 8:15 PM, EST
- BAL: Mark Ingram (RB), Lamar Jackson (QB)
LAR: Jared Goff (QB), Brandin Cooks (WR)
Now What
This is the final week where bye weeks will impact your fantasy team, and also only a week or two until your playoffs likely start.
If you are in a standard league where your finish doesn’t impact your draft place in 2020 as much, try to win every game you can. If you’re in a dynasty league, try to be first or last. Nothing wrong with putting that Toilet Bowl Trophy on your mantel or office desk.
Here are a few quick fantasy football predictions for you. Deshaun Watson (QB Texans) will have a huge bounce-back game against the Colts on Thursday night football, T.J. Hockenson (TE Lions) will make a big impact for the Detroit Lions, Miles Sanders (RB Eagles) will continue to look more and more like a really solid fantasy running back, and here is the shocker of the day — Lamar Jackson will make some crazy play with his feet on Monday Night Football that will be talked about all week.
Only a few more weeks of fantasy football, so enjoy it. Look ahead if you already have a playoff spot locked up and plan for those big matchups. If you have had a rough season, it happens to the best of us — there is always 2020 and you always want to have your eye on young talent that can help your roster long-term.
That’s all for this week’s Fantasy Football Weekly, good luck everyone, I’m expecting the readers of this article to bring home some major hardware this year in their leagues.
