Hungry for More: The Fantasy Footballers’ Predictions for Week 12
Getting a fantasy player who can provide a boost to your roster this late in the season is like having that late-night order put in and delivered for a midnight snack! Fantasy managers are all either working to scratch their way into a playoff spot or doing everything they can to improve their position heading into the postseason, so getting to insert a player into your lineup who can give your lineup a boost can be huge. Luckily, Andy and Jason are here this week to help add that extra bit of flavor to your Week 12 lineup with this week’s Hungry for More presented by Uber Eats!
Each week throughout the season, the Ballers work to bring a player to the table that they’re looking to see take a step forward for fantasy managers this week!
TE/QB – Taysom Hill (NO)
| Week 11 | ||
| Carries | Rushing Yards | TDs |
| 7 | 138 | 3 |
There are very few times that a player essentially comes out of nowhere to be a week winner, but Taysom Hill did just that in Week 11 and has Andy putting him back into the oven to bake a little more ahead of the back stretch of the season. Most fantasy managers knew Hill would be involved in the Saints’ offense, but the level of involvement that he saw last week is unheard of from a TE. On top of his 138 rushing yards, Hill also caught eight of his 10 targets for 50 yards en route to a whopping 37.5 fantasy points. The only other player with 100+ rushing yards and 10 targets in a game since 2020 has been Christian McCaffrey. Hill saw a massive workload as a TE-eligible player and was “the plan” on 32% of the Saints’ offensive plays, which is gaudy for even a workhorse RB.
The biggest question is if Hill can continue to be this involved and effective after their bye, and he has a great schedule to do just that. Starting in Week 13, the Saints’ schedule lines up well for Hill with each matchup allowing at least 1.4 points above expectation to either the TE or RB positions. The unique nature of Hill’s role in the New Orleans offense should allow for him to be able to take advantage of matchups throughout the rest of the season and could turn him into a league winner from the waiver wire!
Upcoming Schedule: bye, vs. L.A. Rams, at N.Y. Giants, vs. Washington
QB – Anthony Richardson (IND)
| Week 11 | ||
| Passing Attempts | Passing Yards | TDs |
| 20/30 | 272 | 1 |
After getting to watch Joe Flacco fail for a few weeks, Anthony Richardson delivered a great fantasy week that has Jason believing he needs a double helping. Richardson finished as the QB5 for the fourth time in his 11 NFL starts behind maybe his best passing day since becoming a pro, completing the highest percentage of passes in a single game where he made it the entire way through. What may be the most impressive parts of Richardson’s Week 11 performance were the two clutch 70-yard TD drives he led in the fourth quarter to put the Colts over the top. Overall, fantasy managers should be optimistic about Richardson moving forward as a legitimate fantasy option.
If Richardson is going to be a fantasy game-breaker, the matchups for the Colts down the stretch will tell fantasy managers everything they need to know. In his final five games of the fantasy season, Richardson will only face one team that’s allowing positive points above expectation to opposing QBs and three of those matchups are allowing at least 1.5 fantasy points below expectation. While fantasy managers may not get the same production they did last week every time out, Richardson has proven he still has those high-end performances in him for fantasy.
Upcoming Schedule: vs. Detroit, at New England, bye, at Denver
WR – Jaxon Smith-Njigba (SEA)
| Week 11 | ||
| Receptions | Receiving Yards | TDs |
| 10 | 110 | 0 |
Since Mike is out mousing around, I’ll insert Jaxon Smith-Njigba into the conversation for this week. JSN has been a disappointment given his first-round NFL draft capital that was spent on him in 2023, but now he’s given fantasy managers a top-12 WR finish in back-to-back weeks for the first time in his career and things may be turning in the right direction. There were plenty of doubts that Smith-Njigba was going to be productive coming out of their bye last week with D.K. Metcalf returning to the lineup, but he’s now seen a combined 24 targets over his last two games while Tyler Lockett has seen just seven. It feels like JSN is finally taking over the WR2 role in the Seattle offense, and it could mean bigger things down the stretch of the fantasy season.
While the opportunity has increased for JSN, he’ll have a tough task in front of him to end the year with a handful of difficult matchups on tap. In Seattle’s remaining six games of the fantasy season, JSN will only face one team that’s allowing positive points above expectation to fantasy WRs while the other five are allowing at least 1.9 fantasy points lower than expectation. The hope for fantasy managers needing to put JSN in their lineups over the next few weeks will be that the volume that he’s seen over his last two games continues to be there, giving the second-year WR a chance to at least be a strong flex play with upside.
Upcoming Schedule: vs. Arizona, at N.Y. Jets, at Arizona, vs. Green Bay