My fantasy football rest-of-season (ROS) rankings provide a comprehensive overview of projected player performances for the season’s remaining games, helping guide you toward making informed decisions on trades, waiver wire transactions, and starting lineups.
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Now, welcome to Week 12!
The Bengals, Bills, Falcons, Jaguars, Jets, and Saints are on bye this week, with the Broncos, Colts, Commanders Patriots, Ravens, and Texans rounding out the season’s remaining byes in Week 14.
If you haven’t already done so, you should be asking yourself, “What shape is my fantasy team in?” Is it making the playoffs? If so, do you need a win or two to guarantee it? Are you all but guaranteed a first-round bye? Understanding the state of your fantasy franchise in Week 12 will help you navigate these late-season byes because some heavy hitters won’t be in attendance for a game over the vital next three weeks. With a dozen teams that fit that criterion, we will only focus on teams among the 20 that have three games remaining through Week 14.
Additionally, since the playoffs for most fantasy football leagues are between Weeks 15 and 17, we won’t be including or discussing Week 18. Just be sure to reference the Utilization Report to identify trends for those players that could see playing time if their team’s starters sit if you’re expecting to field a lineup that week.
QB Rest-of-Season Rankings Updates
Among the 20 teams with three games between Weeks 12 and 14, there are 11 teams among the top 50% for QB strength of schedule (SOS), seven of which with favorable matchups in each of those weeks. Among those seven teams, five of them offer a very favorable fantasy playoff schedule as well. Those teams include the Buccaneers, Chargers, Cowboys, Giants, and Titans.
With the news of Daniel Jones getting benched for Tommy DeVito, there are too many unknowns to brute force through volatility, and no one should be okay with putting their fantasy playoff chances on the arm of DeVito via play calling of HC Brian Daboll. Therefore, we’re looking past that juicy Giants ROS schedule.
Additionally, after an inferior performance on Monday Night Football, in his first start of the season with Dak Prescott on season-ending IR, it’s apparent that we shouldn’t count on Cooper Rush to take advantage of the Cowboys’ favorable QB ROS schedule either.
That brings us to one of my favorite ROS QBs—Will Levis, who is currently available in 91% of Yahoo Fantasy leagues. Levis struggled a bit in Week 11 against a Vikings defense currently allowing the 5th-fewest FPPG to opposing QBs but still made plenty of good throws and showcased the ability to be a productive fantasy QB in the losing effort. His lone touchdown came on a 98-yard play to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and his lone interception on the final drive of the game when the Titans were down 10 points. While he completed just 54.8% of his 31 passes, he averaged 12.31 YPA on the 16 passes that didn’t go for six.
Over the next three weeks, Levis will face the Texans, Commanders, and Jaguars—teams with defenses allowing the 6th- (Texans), 11th- (Commanders), and 2nd- (Jaguars) most FPPG to opposing QBs this season. This puts Levis in prime streaming consideration if you’re without Josh Allen or Joe Burrow in Week 12, and even Lamar Jackson or Jayden Daniels in Week 14. These three weeks will be an ideal sample size of how much to trust him come Week 15, where he is looking at the easiest QB schedule through Week 17.
Justin Herbert has been quietly cooking since the Chargers Week 5 bye, averaging 19.71 FPPG across his six games since Week 6, with his four best finishes coming in the last four (QB9, QB13, QB7, QB6).
Between Weeks 12-14, Herbert will be facing defenses allowing the 2nd- (Ravens), 5th- (Falcons), and 11th- (Chiefs) most FPPG to opposing QBs this season and then opens Week 15 against a Buccaneers team allowing 23.86 FPPG to opposing QBs—the most in the league. Herbert should help get you into the fantasy playoffs and even past the first round but could struggle in Weeks 16 and 17 against Broncos and Patriots defenses allowing the 7th and 12th fewest FPPG to opposing QBs, respectively.
Similarly, Baker Mayfield could repeat his early-season success, especially considering Mike Evans is expected to return in Week 12. He is looking at the 8th-easiest QB schedule between Weeks 12-14 and following a tough road matchup against the Chargers in Week 15, has a very soft schedule in Weeks 16 and 17 against Cowboys and Panthers defenses allowing the 6th and 7th most FPPG to opposing QBs, respectively. In the likely world where Levis doesn’t pan out the way we hope, Mayfield should be the league-winning QB we deserve. We just need to hope that Evans can return to his elite touchdown-catching form.
RB ROS Fantasy Football Rankings Updates
Among the 20 teams with three games between Weeks 12 and 14, there are 10 teams among the top 50% for RB strength of schedule (SOS), four of which with favorable matchups in each of those weeks. Of those four teams, only two highlight a somewhat favorable fantasy playoffs schedule—the Buccaneers and the Giants.
Unfortunately, the Giants and Buccaneers aren’t the teams you think about when you’re trying to lock down your RB position, seeing how each team utilizes a running back by committee (RBBC) approach. Still, there is an opportunity for fantasy points here, and a potential reminder that league-winning RBs can come in all utilization shapes and sizes.
Rachaad White and Bucky Irving are looking at the easiest RB SOS between Weeks 12-14, facing three teams (Giants, Panthers, Raiders) with favored odds, and potentially a run-heavy game script as well.
Fresh off their bye and a Week 10 losing effort against the 49ers where they each logged their second top 12 RB1 performance of the season, White and Irving should see enough opportunities to rekindle that momentum. While Irving has slowly carved into White’s early-down carries this season, his utilization has been second to White’s and I think the usage from their last four games is a sign of what to expect from moving forward.
The biggest upside for each RB will come in Weeks 16 and 17, against a flailing Cowboys team allowing the 10th-most FPPG to opposing QBs, and a Panthers team allowing the most. Like it or not, White may find himself on a lot of fantasy championship rosters, especially if he can keep up the work in the passing game.
Also fresh off their bye are Tyrone Tracy and Devin Singletary, whose timeshare becomes more rigid with each passing week. In Weeks 1-4, Singletary averaged 12.8 FPPG after assuming a 61% opportunity share on a 72% snap share to Tracy’s 2.8 FPPG by way of a 12% opportunity share on 23% of snaps.
The roles have greatly shifted in the six games since, with Tracy taking 59% of the backfield work on 71% of snaps to Singletary’s 26% share on 23% of snaps.
Therefore, it’s probably safe to assume that Tracy should see most of the work in the light schedule ahead. But with the change at QB in a lost season, it’s tough to assume anything. It will be interesting to see if the trend continues against the Buccaneers soft rushing defense in Week 12 though. If it does, I like his upside at home in Week 17, against a Colts defense allowing the 6th-most FPPG to opposing RBs this season.
WR Rest-of-Season Rankings Updates
Among the 20 teams with three games between Weeks 12 and 14, there are 12 teams among the top 50% for WR strength of schedule (SOS), four of which with favorable matchups in each of those weeks.
And get this, all four of those teams also rank in the top 10 SOS between Weeks 15-17. Those teams are the Bears, Cardinals, Chargers, and Titans.
Capitalizing on the favorable QB SOS outlook for Herbert and Levis, are their WRs. Ladd McConkey and Quentin Johnston lead the Chargers while Calvin Ridley is on an island alone for the Titans, but with the occasional visit from Westbrook-Ikhine ever since DeAndre Hopkins left. Unfortunately, the Chargers and Titans (and Cardinals) are among the seven teams averaging fewer than 60 plays per game this season.
Not to mention, it’s tough to trust any Chargers pass catcher at this point, seeing how Herbert spreads it around so much. Over their last three games, McConkey, Johnston, Joshua Palmer and recently Jalen Reagor have seen games where they yielded a 10% or greater TPPR rate on a 33% or greater snap share.
Utilization trends indicate that McConkey (6.5 Utilization Score) is the top dog there, but with Johnston, Palmer, and even Simi Fehoko earning noteworthy reps since returning from their Week 5 bye, this may be one of those favorable SOS outlooks best left for someone else.
Ridley, on the other hand, is another player I expect to be on a lot of championship rosters. He’ll be looking at the 2nd-easiest WR SOS between Weeks 12-14, and the 3rd-easiest during the Week 15-17 fantasy playoffs. Heck, if you’re into Week 18 things, he’ll be facing the Texans’ 5th-worst defense against WRs again.
Since Hopkins’ departure in Week 8, Ridley has seen a 26% TPPR rate and logged two top 5 weeks two separate ways.
While he and Levis did not make much of a dent in Week 11 against a stingy Vikings defense, they are looking at the best QB-WR schedule among their peers ROS. I feel confident that Levis will continue to take steps forward in his development, and Ridley should finish his season a clear product of that.
On the topic of confidence, there’s no reason to count on any of the Bears WRs to produce WR1 numbers. While DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, and Rome Odunze have produced WR1 weeks this season, each of them has only done it once. Moore hasn’t had one since Week 5, Allen Week 6, and Odunze Week 3. The schedule looks nice on paper, but to expect any of them to pull through when it matters the most is nothing but a pipe dream.
Similarly inconsistent, but with multiple noteworthy flashes, is Marvin Harrison. Unlike the Bears WRs, I can all but assume that Harrison will be the guy scoring fantasy points among the Cardinals WRs. Michael Wilson sees a good chunk of work, but Harrison is averaging nearly 40 more air yards per game, indicating that he possesses the big play potential needed to win big these big fantasy weeks.
It’s unlikely that he will take advantage of each of his next six games, but you could do a lot worse than counting on him to reach his WR1 upside once or twice, especially considering the beatable matchups.
Tight End ROS Rankings Updates
Among the 20 teams with three games between Weeks 12 and 14, there are nine teams among the top 50% for WR strength of schedule (SOS), four of which with favorable matchups in each of those weeks. Of those four teams, three have a better-than-most playoffs schedule—the familiar Chargers along with the Raiders and Steelers.
I quickly discussed both Will Dissly and Brock Bowers for similar SOS matchup reasons in Week 11, and both didn’t disappoint in their games that week. Dissly caught four of his six targets for 80 yards and his first touchdown of the season while Bowers did what he does best and completely dominated in the target share department, catching 13 of 16 targets for 126 yards and his third touchdown of the season.
While it's more of the same for Bowers, Dissly continues making a name for himself on limited routes (55%). Among all TEs with 175 snaps this season, Dissly ranks 2nd in TPPR rate with 26% behind Bowers’ 27%. Sure, Bowers has seen 139 more snaps, but you can’t find him on the waiver wire. Dissly, on the other hand, is available in 76% of Yahoo Fantasy leagues.
Lastly, Pat Freiermuth has the opportunity for a late-season surge, assuming he can see more than the two-to-three targets he’s seen in his last six games. Unfortunately, he is one of those familiar touchdown-or-bust TEs. He’s tied with Bowers and seven other TEs with three touchdowns this season, which ranks 4th in the league behind George Kittle’s seven, Mark Andrews and Tucker Kraft’s five, and Cade Otton’s four. In tried-and-true fashion, it’s usually best practice to chase the TEs scoring touchdowns. The only risk, of course, is their remarkably high miss rate.
I have ranked nearly 250 more players from a ROS outlook, with most seeing small changes every week as further game data points are entered and the integrity of DvP and SOS tables are strengthened.
Focusing on trends surfacing from the Utilization Report, making savvy waiver wire pickups, and understanding how to optimize your lineups for the fantasy playoffs will set you up for success. Luckily, FantasyLife+ is a fantasy juggernaut, offering all of that and a ridiculous number of other tools and data to help get you there and through it all.
