In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by Underdog:
There are a ton of tricky decisions for fantasy managers in Week 12.
As always, injuries are the culprit.
We have some key players who won’t suit up today, while others are returning to the field after extended absences.
Here are my thoughts on four key situations that will impact many start/sit decisions this morning …
No Brock Purdy, now what? Purdy is expected to return next week vs. Buffalo, but we are stuck with Brandon Allen today. We’ve seen this Shanahan offense provide stability for subpar QBs before (I’m looking at you, Jimmy G), so I wouldn’t panic about the wheels falling off. As you can see in our ranks, CMC is still a must-start, Deebo Samuel and Jauan Jennings are WR2s, and George Kittle is a Top-5 TE. Deep breaths.
Can you trust Mike Evans and Malik Nabers? Evans is returning from a hamstring injury and is expected to be “without any restrictions,” so I can’t imagine not starting him. Nabers is trickier, though. Not only do we have QB uncertainty with Tommy DeVito, but he’s been battling a groin injury and had a Friday DNP. That said, he’s expected to play and our ranking crew has him as a mid-WR2 at worst with WR1 upside.
Is the Chuba Hubbard ride coming to an end? Jonathon Brooks is finally going to make his NFL debut today, but I’m still starting Hubbard. They’ve slow-played Brooks so much that I can’t imagine the team saddling him up with double-digit touches off the rip. We have Hubbard as a rock-solid RB2.
In a pinch? If you are desperate for a RB or FLEX start, I’d look to Ameer Abdullah. With Alexander Mattison (ankle) and Zamir White (quad) doubtful, Abdullah should see 12-15 touches and catch a couple of balls. For more streamer ideas, check Ronis’ four suggestions from yesterday.
Read on for some Week 12 DFS angles …
What else is in today’s newsletter?
- Stat of the Day: Calvin Ridley SZN
- Watercooler: Last-Minute Sleepers
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Houston, This WR Could Be A Problem
- By Geoff Ulrich
The Houston Texans have allowed the seventh-most fantasy points to opposing WRs.
Despite a solid defense that has allowed just 21.5 points per game this season (11th best in the NFL) the Texans' secondary has struggled against elite WRs. Via our DvP Tool, they’ve allowed the seventh-most fantasy points to opposing WRs on the season and have ceded 1.4 TDs to the position, per game, which tied for the worst rate in the league.
This week they face off against Calvin Ridley, the number one WR of the Titans, who has an elite 25% target share, and a 49% team air yards share, entering Week 12. Via our Utilization Report, Ridley has posted aDOTs of 16.1 and 23.5 in his last two games.
He also just missed a long TD last week, that was called back for an illegible man downfield penalty on the Titans.
Ridley is a Tier 3 WR and WR22 in our consensus ranks this week but with a fantastic matchup, he could push for a top-10 finish at his position.
The latest fantasy nuggets, silliness, and NFL gossip from our merry band of football nerds:
🤔 Where is Daniel Jones going to land? Some interesting names here.
⚖️ Is the Byepocalypse giving you a roster crunch? Here are your start-sit recommendations.
💰 Need a last-minute sleeper to set your lineup? Sam Wallace uncovers some options.
📊 Projections for every player in Week 12 … another tool to help with lineup decisions.
🎭️ More Aaron Rodgers drama. It’s going to be a long offseason.
