Biggest Week 12 Studs & Stinkers (Fantasy Football)
With Week 12 mostly in the books, The Fantasy Footballers review and react to the Studs & Duds performances on the latest episode. Here, I’ll highlight the best and worst fantasy finishes from Week 12 and list their upcoming schedule. Note that all fantasy points are in the 0.5-point-scoring format. To get the full breakdown of Week 12 performances, don’t miss today’s podcast!
Biggest Studs
Ryan Tannehill, QB Titans
Week 12 vs JAX: 14/18 for 259 passing yards, 2 TD | 7 rushes for 40 yards & 2 TD | 1 fumble
Upcoming Schedule: @IND, / @OAK, HOU, NO
WOAH! No one predicted Tannehill would lead all fantasy players heading into the Monday night game of Week 12. But he did it. Tannehill produced respectable numbers through the air (WITH ONLY 14 COMPLETIONS); however, 16 of his points came on the ground. Tannehill played great this week, leading the Titans to a 42-20 victory over the Jaguars.
Tannehill is a better quarterback than Marcus Mariota. He’s also a better fantasy QB. Tannehill has produced 18.9 fantasy points or higher every week since Week 7 when he was named the starter. He’s been really consistent and safe. Tannehill has also added production on the ground, eclipsing over 35 rushing yards in each of his past three games. Tannehill has a pretty good schedule for the rest of the season, and he is certainly in streaming consideration.
Baker Mayfield, QB Browns
Week 12 vs MIA: 24/34 for 327 passing yards, 3 TD, & 1 Int | 2 rushes for 5 yds
Upcoming Schedule: @PIT,/ CIN, @ARI, BAL
The Browns are finally putting it together just in the nick of time. Baker has thrown for multiple touchdown passes in all three of his most recent games. Although Miami is an easy opponent, the other two were not: Buffalo and Pittsburgh. Baker has a tough matchup in Week 13 but then it should be smooth sailing in the playoffs. While he was disappointing at the beginning of the season, he’s a good depth stash for the playoffs – especially for players who have been streaming QBs. He still carries risk, but you’ll feel a lot safer if he can perform in Week 13 (on your bench!).
Rashaad Penny, RB Seahawks
Week 12 at PHI: 14 rushes for 129 yards & 1 TD | 0 receptions on 1 target
Upcoming Schedule: MIN, / @LAR, @CAR, ARI
Penny looked good Sunday, averaging 9.2 yards per carry on 14 carries. In fact, this was the best fantasy performance of his career. Prior to his breakout performance, Penny (former first-round draft pick) has left fantasy owners scratching their heads this season. His teammate Chris Carson has been the superior RB and has handled the bulk of the carries most of the season. However, Carson had some fumbling issues at the beginning of the year, which led to an increase in Penny’s workload. In fact, many in the fantasy community thought Penny would takeover the backfield early in the season. Well, that didn’t happen.
Penny out-touched and out-performed Carson this week, but Carson still played the role of the pass-catching RB. It’s unclear how the Seahawks backfield is going to shake out moving forward. Is Carson still the guy? Did Penny earn the starting role for now? Or will it be a timeshare?
For me, I’m still playing Carson next week (even in a tough matchup). However, I’d wait another week before starting Penny as anything other than a desperation lottery ticket.
Biggest Stinkers
The stinkers showed up big this week…
Carson Wentz, QB Eagles
Week 12 vs SEA: 33/45 for 256 passing yards, 1 TD, & 2 Int | 5 rushes for 27 yards | 2 fumbles
Upcoming Schedule: @MIA, / NYG, @WAS, DAL
The Eagles are riddled with injuries on offense, and it’s showing. While Matt Ryan, Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, and Dak Prescott also disappointed in Week 13… They should all rebound immediately. I’m not so sure about Wentz. He didn’t have anyone to throw to, and he was injured in the game – it appears to be minor. Apparently, he’s dealing with a minor bruise. The last time he scored at least 16 points was Week 6. He averaged 19.4 pts/g in his first six games but just 11.5 pts/g in his last five. While he has had a tough schedule recently, his lack of production is concerning. He has a nice stretch of matchups coming up, but I don’t think you’ll feel confident playing him until he and Alshon are fully healthy.
Aaron Jones, RB Packers
Week 12 @ SF: 13 carries for 38 yards | 0 receptions on 1 target
Upcoming Schedule: @NYG, / WAS, CHI, @MIN
Jones has now disappointed owners in two of the last three weeks. The Packers lost both of those games. The 49ers defense demolished the Packers offense. We shouldn’t be too concerned about Jones having a poor outing this week alone. However, there is cause for concern…
Aaron Jones has 46 targets on the season for 35 receptions and 354 yards. By comparison, Jamaal Williams has 37 targets on the season for 32 receptions and 201 yards. Over the last three weeks, Jones has received four total targets and only secured one for -1 yards. Williams has 15 targets and secured 13 for 74 yards and a touchdown. Jones has been less involved in the passing game recently. Jones remains a must-start every week, but owners should be aware of the risk that Jones could be less involved in a negative game script.
Darren Waller, TE Raiders
Week 12 @ NYJ: 3 receptions for 41 yards on 6 targets
Upcoming Schedule: @KC, / TEN, JAX, @LAC
Darren Waller is a different player now than he was in the first half of the season. Let’s compare:
- Darren Waller through the first six games this season:
- 7.3 receptions per game
- 81 yards per game
- 88% catch rate
- 13.9 fantasy points per game
- Darren Waller in the last five games:
- 3 receptions per game
- 44 yards per game
- 54% catch rate
- 7.1 fantasy points per game
You’re probably starting Waller because you have to and the tight end landscape is gross…but you should start expecting less out of him. The silver lining is that he has a better probability of scoring than others on the waiver wire.
Other Week 12 Studs
QB
- Jameis Winston @ATL — 18/28 for 313/3/2 — 8/38/0
- @JAX, / IND, @DET, HOU
- Sam Darnold vs OAK — 20/29 for 315/2/0 — 4/16/1 rushing
- @CIN, / MIA, @BAL, PIT
- Kyle Allen @NO — 23/36 for 256/3/0 — 1/9/0 rushing
- WAS, / @ATL, SEA, @IND
- Drew Brees vs CAR — 30/39 for 311/3/1
- @ATL, / SF, IND, @TEN
- Ryan Fitzpatrick @CLE — 21/39 for 214/2/2 — 5/45/1 rushing
- PHI /, @NYJ, @NYG, CIN
RB
- Leonard Fournette @TEN — 24/97/2 — 9/62/0 on 12 targets
- TB, / LAC, @OAK, @ATL
- Christian McCaffrey @NO — 22/64/1 — 9/69/1 on 9 targets
- WAS, / @ATL, SEA, @IND
- Derrick Henry vs JAX — 19/159/2 — 1/16/0 on 1 target — 1 fumble
- @IND, / @OAK, HOU, NO
- Nick Chubb vs MIA — 21/106/1 — 3/58/0 on 4 targets
- @PIT,/ CIN, @ARI, BAL
- Jonathan Williams @HOU — 26/104/1 — 3/17/0 on 3 targets
- TEN, /@TB, @NO, CAR
WR
- Chris Godwin @ATL — 7/184/2 on 8 targets
- @JAX, / IND, @DET, HOU
- Jarvis Landry vs MIA — 10/148/2 on 13 targets
- @PIT,/ CIN, @ARI, BAL
- D.J. Moore @NO — 6/126/2 on 9 targets — 1/8/0 rushing
- WAS, / @ATL, SEA, @IND
- DeAndre Hopkins vs IND — 6/94/2 on 8 targets
- NE, / DEN, @TEN, @TB
- A.J. Brown vs JAX — 4/135/1 on 5 targets
- @IND, / @OAK, HOU, NO
- Allen Robinson vs NYG — 6/131/1 on 10 targets
- @DET, / DAL, @GB, KC
- Michael Thomas vs CAR — 10/101/1 on 11 targets
- @ATL, / SF, IND, @TEN
- James Washington @CIN — 3/98/1 on 7 targets
- CLE, / @ARI, BUF, @NYJ
- Calvin Ridley vs TB — 6/85/1 on 14 targets — 1/15/0 rushing
- NO, / CAR, @SF, JAX
TE
- George Kittle vs GB — 6/129/1 on 6 targets
-
- @BAL, / @NO, ATL, LAR
- Zach Ertz vs SEA — 12/91/1 on 14 targets
- @MIA, / NYG, @WAS, DAL
- Jared Cook vs CAR — 6/99/1 on 8 targets
- @ATL, / SF, IND, @TEN
Other Week 10 Stinkers
QB
- Matt Ryan vs TB — 23/46 for 271/0/1 — 1/8/0 rushing
- NO, / CAR, @SF, JAX
- Russell Wilson @PHI — 13/25 for 200/1/1 — 3/15/0
- Aaron Rodgers @SF — 20/33 for 104/1/0 — 3/13/0
- Dak Prescott @NE — 19/33 for 212/0/1 — 1/4/0 rushing
- NE, / DEN, @TEN, @TB
- Derek Carr @NYJ — 15/27 for 127/0/1 — 1/11/0 rushing
- @KC, / TEN, JAX, @LAC
RB
- Josh Jacobs @NYJ — 10/34/0 — 1/2/0 on 1 target
- @KC, / TEN, JAX, @LAC
- Note: Richard 6/47/0 on 7 targets
- @KC, / TEN, JAX, @LAC
- Chris Carson @PHI — 8/26/0 — 4/31/0 on 4 targets — fumble
- MIN, / @LAR, @CAR, AR
- Saquon Barkley @CHI — 17/59/0 — 2/1/0 on 3 targets
- GB, / @PHI, MIA, @WAS
- David Montgomery vs NYG — 13/22/0 — 2/9/0 on 3 targets
- @DET, / DAL, @GB, KC
- Jaylen Samuels @CIN — 2/6/0 — 3/26/0 on 3 targets
- LE, / @ARI, BUF, @NYJ
- Kerrith Whyte 6/43
- LE, / @ARI, BUF, @NYJ
- Brian Hill vs TB — 9/14/0 — 3/13/0 on 4 targets
- NO, / CAR, @SF, JAX
- Another goaline TD for Ollison
- NO, / CAR, @SF, JAX
- Adrian Peterson vs DET — 10/27/0 — 1/22/0 on 1 target
- Derrius Guice vs DET — 10/32/0 — 1/6/0 on 2 targets
- @CAR, / @GB, PHI, NYG
- James White vs DAL — 2/5/0 — 1/-6/0 on 3 targets
WR
- Amari Cooper – GOOSE on 1 target
- UF, / @CHI, LAR, @PHI
- Tyler Lockett @PHI — 1/38/0 on 2 targets
- MIN, / @LAR, @CAR, ARI
- T.Y. Hilton @HOU — 3/18/0 on 6 targets
- TEN, /@TB, @NO, CAR
- D.J. Chark @TEN — 5/38/0 on 6 targets
- TB, / LAC, @OAK, @ATL
- Courtland Sutton @BUF — 1/27/0 on 8 targets
- LAC, / @HOU, @KC, DET
- Tyrell Williams @NYJ — 2/18/0 on 6 targets
- @KC, / TEN, JAX, @LAC
- Jamison Crowder vs OAK — 2/18/0 on 2 targets
- @CIN, / MIA, @BAL, PIT, @BUF
- Robby Anderson TD again
- @CIN, / MIA, @BAL, PIT, @BUF
- ESanders vs GB — 1/15/0 on 1 target
TE
- Greg Olsen @NO — 5/44/0 on 7 targets
- WAS, / @ATL, SEA, @IND
- T.J. Hockenson @WAS — Goose on 2 targets
- CHI, / @MIN, TB, @DEN
- Vance McDonald @CIN — 1/1/0 on 1 target
- CLE, / @ARI, BUF, @NYJ
- Jacob Hollister @PHI — 2/22/0 on 4 targets
- MIN, / @LAR, @CAR, ARI