Fantasy Focus: Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em – Week 12
Courtesy of NFL Fantasy, the Gridiron Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em is your weekly guide to how real-life match-ups influence your fantasy football squads.
Players like Antonio Brown, Todd Gurley, and Rob Gronkowski will never be featured in this article because they should be in your line-up every week, regardless of match-up. Instead, we’ll touch on some borderline fantasy start-sit decisions in this column.
(All fantasy data is based on point-per-reception (PPR) scoring)
Quarterback
Start: Baker Mayfield (vs. Bengals)
Fresh out of their bye, Mayfield and Co. are in a blow-up spot against the crumbling Bengals. Over their last five games, Cincinnati has allowed the following weekly fantasy performances: QB12 (Roethlisberger), QB1 (Mahomes), QB1 (Fitzpatrick/Winston), QB3 (Brees) and QB13 (Lamar Jackson). In this span, no team has allowed more passing YPG (322.4) despite Jackson’s 19-attempt performance from Week 11 being mixed in. Meanwhile, Mayfield has thrown multiple passing scores in four straight games, owning a 104.6 passer rating in this span. Fire him up!
Running Back
Start: Dalvin Cook (vs. Packers)
Coming off of a disastrous Week 11 performance against Chicago (12 touches, nine yards), many fantasy managers are none too pleased with Cook this season. After missing six weeks of action, Cook can redeem himself with a huge stretch run, starting with his Week 12 draw at home against the Packers. The Packers front seven is permitting 4.74 YPC (ninth-most) and rank 24th in FootballOutsiders’ run defense DVOA metrics. Over the last month, the Packers have allowed 195 (Todd Gurley), 103 (James White), 140 (Dolphins RBs) and 179 (Seahawks RBs) yards from scrimmage to enemy backs. We have to tee Cook up as a high-end RB2 in this plus draw.
Wide Receiver
Start: Keke Coutee (vs. Titans)
Welcome back, Coutee! After a hamstring injury kept him sidelined for a month, Keke Coutee returned to the Texans and dropped 5/77 on a team-leading nine targets. Per PFF‘s charts, Coutee aligned out of the slot on 30 of his 42 snaps (71 percent) in Week 11 as DeAndre Hopkins and Demaryius Thomas patrolled the perimeter. In three full games this season, Coutee has turned in 22 receptions, 237 yards, and a score with target counts of 15, 7, and 9 in those contests. He’ll remain on the WR3 radar in Week 12 against a Titans side that is allowing the sixth-most PPR points per target to opposing wideouts.
Tight End
Start: Cameron Brate (vs. 49ers)
With O.J. Howard going on injured reserve, Cameron Brate will be an intriguing streaming option against San Francisco. At a weak position, Brate has high-end TE2 appeal attached to the team that is fourth in tight end PPR points scored and sixth in targets per game (8.3) this year. The ‘Niners are by no means a difficult match-up for Brate, as they are right at league average in PPR points allowed per target to the position (1.43).