It’s almost playoff time, with some leagues starting their playoffs as soon as next week. This week and next week are critical for most fantasy leagues. Either you are fighting for a playoff spot or you are preparing for the playoffs, either way, you want to get in the correct mentality for seeing matchups and watching how players are playing. Once again, if you have to make a decision regarding a player that isn’t below, you can just tweet me @pacman453323. So without further ado, let’s get into the Week 12 Starts and Sits.
Starts: (outside of top 10 players of that position):
QBs
Colin Kaepernick – The 49ers host the Redskins this week. As we saw last week, the Redskins are not very good and were torched by Josh McCown and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The one thing the Redskins do well is stop the run, but since the 49ers want to pass anyway, it sets up for a big game from Kaepernick. I can see him going for 300+ yards and 2-3 TDs.
Josh McCown – I recommended McCown last week and he made me look good. I also mentioned last week that he should be kept for this week also. The Bears are the worst team in the league against QBs and McCown can put up a repeat performance of his 268 yard 2 TD game.
RBs
Isaiah Crowell – Last week I actually advised people to start Terrance West. That was before the news broke 30 minutes before game time that Crowell was named the starter. Keep a close eye on who starts the game for them. I expect it to be Crowell and he should have a good game against a bad Atlanta Falcons defense.
Trent Richardson – With Ahmad Bradshaw done for the year, the main back in Indy will be Trent Richardson. He was already splitting time with Bradshaw, but now I expect him to get about 75% of the plays. He’s not a bad receiver out the backfield and Dan Herron doesn’t exactly rush me to the waiver wires to pick him up.
WRs
Kendall Wright – The Titans offense has been bad this year, but if their offensive line can play like how it did last week, they have serviceable parts. Wright ended up catching 4 catches for 70 yards in the game against Pittsburgh and could have gotten more if the Steelers didn’t dominate the time of possession in the 2nd half. Wright and Walker are the only dependable weapons for their rookie QB Mettenberger.
Kenny Stills – With Brandin Cooks being placed on IR and being out for the year, the targets will flow to both Marques Colston and Kenny Stills. I like Stills more because of youth and explosiveness. He has a great matchup this week against a Baltimore secondary that is not healthy.
TEs
Charles Clay – Recently Clay, and the Dolphins offense, has been showing signs of what their potential is in their mini version of the Eagles offense. Clay has three straight games of 5 catches or more and assuming the Dolphins will be down against the Broncos, he could be in for a lot of targets with how much the Dolphins may be forced to pass.
Sits:
QBs
Russell Wilson – So far since the trade of Percy Harvin, Wilson has shown flashes of his passing ability, but I am still not convinced that if you take Marshawn Lynch away that Wilson can beat you. This week he’ll be face Patrick Peterson and the Arizona Cardinals defense, a defense that has held 9 of their 10 opponents to 20 pts or less. Wilson must prove me wrong in this one.
Matt Ryan – There is no question what the worst division in football is right now. The Atlanta Falcons lead the NFC South with 4 wins. The Browns aren’t exactly world beaters, but they have played well this year and their secondary led by CB Joe Haden is very good.
RBs
Mark Ingram – I may get killed for this because he has been running well, but the Ravens are the #1 team against RBs this year and Ingram is almost do for a dud game. Ingram has 459 yards and 3 TDs in the last 4 games, so I get how hard it may be to bench him, but I stick with my recommendation to do it.
Alfred Morris – If you weren’t paying attention, Morris has been actually having a pretty solid year. He has 700+ yards and 6 TDs to go along with by far his best receiving year. The problem is, he’s on a bad team and this particular week, he’s facing a top 5 defense against RBs in the San Francisco 49ers. He will have more solid games this year, but this week is a week to bench him.
WRs
Rueben Randle – Despite breaking the 90 yard mark for the 1st time this year last week, I’m still saying to keep Randle on your bench this week. He’s the 3rd option on their offense and the difference between how the 49ers cover WRs and how Dallas covers WRs is dramatically different.
Brandon LaFell – Most places expect the Patriots to come out with a heavy pass offense against the Lions, who have arguably the best run defense in the league. I’m thinking the opposite way. Because most people expect them to be pass heavy, I think New England will challenge the Lion’s run defense and adjust accordingly. If they do decide to pass, I think it would be more to Rob Gronkowski or Julian Edelman anyway.
TEs
Delanie Walker – It appears the concussion that Walker got against the Baltimore Ravens was pretty serious. He, at the time of writing this article, has still not been cleared even 11 days after the incident. It’s a situation to probably stay away from until he gives you a full game.
Those are your Week 12 Starts and Sits in the NFL. Enjoy the games.
