Week 12 Fantasy Football Duds
Week 12 is crunch time in the fantasy football season. This is when we find out who is playoff bound and who can start looking forward to an offseason of regret and misery. Unfortunately, you might be in the latter category if you started too many of these duds. These players spent their games in a tryptophan-induced coma and really hurt their owners’ chances of making the playoffs. You can listen to the full Pooped in His Big Boy Pants segment on the podcast.
Quarterbacks
Russell Wilson @ TB
–151 passing yards, 2 INTS, 80 rushing yards
Wilson would’ve been a decent, but not great start at RB. This level of production from a QB, however, is enough to earn him the lone QB Dud designation of the week.
Running Backs
Thomas Rawls @ TB
–12 carries, 23 rushing yards
Blub, Blub, Blubblubblub!
Frank Gore vs PIT
–15 carries, 28 rushing yards, 1 reception, 3 receiving yards
Frank is getting too old for this stuff.
Rob Kelley @ DAL
-14 carries, 37 rushing yards, 2 receptions, 5 receiving yards
Fat Rob looked like an undrafted rookie free agent from a small college football program. Weird.
Wide Receivers
Brandin Cooks @ LA
-nothing
Ooph!
Allen Robinson @ BUF
–2 receptions, 24 receiving yards, 4 targets
The Jaguars have reached new levels of fantasy football disappointment this season.
Amari Cooper vs CAR
-4 receptions, 22 receiving yards
I wonder how much Derek Carr’s gnarly finger dislocation affected Cooper’s stats.
Julio Jones vs AZ
–4 receptions, 35 receiving yards, 7 targets
Patrick Peterson is good. There’s nothing Julio Jones owners can or should do at this point. You need to keep rolling with your studs.
Steve Smith Sr. vs CIN
–4 receptions, 20 receiving yards, 4 targets
Steve Smith is the only dud on this list that I am really concerned about. He just doesn’t have the explosion he once had and is being used exclusively on underneath routes. This is what twilight years look like in the NFL.
Jarvis Landry vs SF
–4 receptions, 47 receiving yards, 7 targets
Jarvis’ target numbers have plummeted with the emergence of Jay Ajayi. Even on days when the ground game doesn’t come up aces, the Dolphins have shown they are prepared to stick with it.
T.Y. Hilton vs PIT
-3 receptions, 54 receiving yards, 5 targets
The writing was on the wall for the Colts in this one, even though Scott Tolzien probably outperformed expectations.
Tight Ends
Antonio Gates @ HOU
–nothing
The transition to Hunter Henry has begun in San Diego. However, it is worth monitoring the health of the Chargers WRs. Inman, Benjamin, and Williams are all nursing various injuries.
Gary Barnidge vs NYG
-1 reception, 11 receiving yards, 3 targets
Barnidge had good chemistry with McCown last season, but this year the Browns offense has legitimate weapons on the outside in Pryor and Coleman so Barnidge has been an afterthought.
Greg Olsen @ OAK
-4 receptions, 45 receiving yards, 5 targets
These games are tough from Greg Olsen, but what are you going to do? Bench him?
Austin Hooper vs AZ
–2 receptions, 8 receiving yards, 2 targets
Rookie TEs are known to struggle in the NFL. Paired with a tough matchup with the Cardinals and this is what you get.
Will Tye @ CLE
–2 receptions, 12 receiving yards, 2 targets
I think most fantasy owners would join me in being surprised that the Browns held so many of the Giants’ offensive weapons in check.
Martellus Bennett @ NYJ
–3 receptions, 22 receiving yards, 5 targets, 4 rushing yards
New England’s TE situation is starting to look like their RB situation in years past. You don’t know when the big games are coming or who is going to have them.
Dishonorable Mentions
Matt Forte vs NE
–13 carries, 27 rushing yards, 3 receptions, 27 receiving yards
LeGarrette Blount @ NYJ
–11 carries, 67 rushing yards
Lamar Miller vs SD
-19 carries, 57 rushing yards, 3 receptions, 18 receiving yards
Doug Baldwin @ TB
–7 receptions, 34 receiving yards, 8 targets
Larry Fitzgerald @ ATL
-4 receptions, 53 receiving yards, 4 targets
Marvin Jones Jr. vs MIN
-4 receptions, 54 receiving yards, 11 targets
Sterling Shepard @ CLE
–1 carry, 22 rushing yards
Jason Witten vs WAS
–3 receptions, 33 receiving yards, 3 targets