Flex Options for Week 12 (Fantasy Football)
The regular season is winding down as playoff races are heating up! For many of us, every week feels like a must-win at this point in the season. If you need a player to fill in your flex spot this week and keep your playoff hopes alive, read on. In this article, I’ll identify five players who are currently ranked outside the top-24 in the Fantasy Footballers’ rankings, but who I think can finish inside the top-24 this week and help you win your matchup.
Here are those players:
Alvin Kamara, RB, New Orleans Saints
The eight-year veteran had probably found his way to some fantasy benches after posting three straight duds in Weeks 7-9, but he found a groove in Week 10, taking 22 rushes for 83 yards and adding three catches for 32 yards. The outing included a run of 16 yards, his longest since Week 4, and a reception for 26 yards, his longest gain of the season. Kamara didn’t light up the scoreboard by any means, but it was an encouraging sign that he might not be completely dead for fantasy. New Orleans’ two offensive TDs were the most they have scored in a game since Week 4, a shift that coincided with a change to rookie Tyler Shough at QB. It’s just one game, but if Shough can continue to move the Saints’ offense up the field, Kamara could get back to providing some fantasy value down the stretch.
This week, he draws an Atlanta defense that’s been fairly generous to opposing RBs this season, allowing 1.3 fantasy points above expected to the position. With Kirk Cousins under center for the Falcons, I expect New Orleans to be able to stay in a positive or neutral game script for most of this game. That should allow Alvin Kamara plenty of opportunities to return flex value for your fantasy team this week. Maybe he will even punch in his first TD since Week 1. He’s a solid start.
Zach Charbonnet, RB, Seattle Seahawks
To Charb or not to Charb? That is the question. Currently sitting at the RB33 on the season, Charbonnet has been the ultimate flex decision all year long. What it really boils down to is, do you think he will score a TD or not? He has scored at least one TD in five of ten games. He’s been inside the top-28 in all games that he has scored in, and outside the top-38 in all games that he hasn’t. He is essentially Tyler Allgeier West, who operates on a similar TD dependency.
Luckily, the matchup with Tennessee this week screams Charb TD to me. Seattle is a 13.5-point favorite, and Ken Walker scored on a 5-Zone carry last week. There’s no chance they are going to let him do that two weeks in a row. Additionally, Charbonnet has been on an every-other-game TD schedule for a while now…if you are into that sort of thing. How’s that for some in-depth fantasy analysis? Seriously, though, I would start Charbonnet this week.
Rachaad White, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
It was Sean Tucker who stole the headlines last week with his three TD performance against Buffalo, but I would actually start White over Tucker this week in a tough matchup with the Los Angeles Rams. White’s floor is much safer with his receiving volume, and I don’t think he has completely given up the goal line role to Tucker. Two of Tucker’s TDs came on long strikes of 43 and 28 yards, and the other was outside the five. White is actually the bigger-bodied back, so if a goal line opportunity presents itself in this game, he may well be the one punching it in.
It’s been a quiet stretch for Rachaad “Richard “Dick” White over the last four weeks, but he hasn’t finished outside the top-36 in any of those games thanks to his four targets per game average. Don’t let Dick’s recent performance get you down. You can start him this week in your flex.
Darnell Mooney, WR, Atlanta Falcons
Strap on the iron underpants, because we are looking at the WR98 on the season as a flex option this week! This one is all about opportunity, as Drake London will miss this week’s game with a knee injury, making Mooney the de facto WR1 for Atlanta. Starting QB Michael Penix Jr. is also out, but Mooney actually thrived with Kirk Cousins for most of last season. In Weeks 1-14 with Kirk Cousins as the starter, Mooney was the WR14, averaging 11.7 FPTS per game. The duo has not found the same rapport this year, but to be fair, Mooney hasn’t found much of anything this year. Instead, Drake London has commanded a ridiculous 32.9% target share and an even more ridiculous 76.2% of Atlanta’s WR fantasy points. His injury opens up a massive amount of targets in this offense, and those are going to have to go to somebody.
What we know about Mooney is that he’s always on the field (90+ percent snap share over the past four weeks), so if Kirk Cousins can get anything going in this game, Mooney could be a big beneficiary. He’s a solid deep-league flex option this week.
Jerry Jeudy, WR, Cleveland Browns
Can I interest anybody in some Shedeur Sanders action? No? Well, I’m going to throw it out there anyway. Jeudy has had a miserable season by all accounts, but that’s nothing a date with the Las Vegas Raiders’ defense can’t fix. Rookie Shedeur Sanders is set to make his first career start, and I anticipate that he will take some chances down the field to Jerry Jeudy. Whether he connects on those chances is no guarantee, but George Pickens and Ceedee Lamb found plenty of room to operate on Monday night. Bring a barf bag, as this game sports a whopping 36.5 point over/under, but I think you could get a rare boom performance out of Jeudy in this spot. I’d call him a desperation flex option.