Welcome to The FF Faceoff’s weekly report, a first take at the biggest fantasy football takeaways from this weekend’s action. Each week we will provide an overall gut check from the week and nominate our risers, fallers, dynasty stashes, and more. We’ll get straight to it with Fantasy Faceoff Recap: Week 12.

Risers

Odell Beckham Jr.

(WR9, 5 receptions, 81 yards, 1 TD, 19.1 PPR points)

Despite the Los Angele Rams continuing to struggle to pull out victories, it was a good fantasy day for several Rams players, including Odell Beckham Jr., who was targeted 10 times on Sunday, the most he has been targeted since Week 1 of 2020. With those targets he brought in five receptions and a touchdown, finishing with his first top ten fantasy performance of the season.

When Beckham was in Cleveland, we’d sometimes see improved performances, only for him to return to a benchable receiver the following week. But this time, I believe this performance is what we can expect moving forward. He won’t be a top-10 receiver every week moving forward, but I think it’s less likely he is consistently outside of the top 30. The design of the Rams offense relies on targets to the type of crossing routes Beckham was targeted in, and with Robert Woods out for the season, it’s going to be Beckham who fills that role.

If you’re skeptical of Beckham’s sustainability, this could be a good sell high moment, however, I think you’d be doing so recognizing that Beckham will still perform on an opposing fantasy team.

Rob Gronkowski

(TE2, 7 receptions, 123 yards, 19.3 PPR points)

This isn’t particularly shocking given the early season success of Rob Gronkowski and the historical success between him and Tom Brady, but nonetheless, it was good to see Gronkowski back to a normal workload after coming off that painful rib injury. After getting hurt, there were musings about whether Gronkowski could return to his early season performance, but this week definitively diminished those fears.

While Gronkowski works in a Tampa Bay offense that is stacked with pass-catchers, he is a touchdown threat every week, which is what you need from the tight end position. Add to that an upside that few tight ends provide, and Gronkowski is back to a lineup lock moving forward.

Elijah Mitchell

(RB3, 27 carries, 133 yards, 1 TD, 5 receptions, 35 receptions, 27.8 PPR points)

There has been plenty of discussion about Elijah Mitchell this season, ranging from the FAAB craze to the FAAB remorse, but on Sunday he carried the load in a way that is starting to become a trend. The rookie out of Louisiana-Lafayette saw over 30 touches in the victory over the Minnesota Vikings, including his second straight performance with 27 carries. It almost doesn’t matter who it is, that amount of usage from a running back guarantees RB1 status.

Also significant in this performance were his five receptions, providing an extra lift to his fantasy performance. That said, one potential concern is that his usage may have been slightly boosted by the exit of Deebo Samuel, but I think that is of minimal to no concern moving forward. My bigger worry would be Kyle Shanahan changing the strategy next week, but I’m not concerned about that either. Until further notice, Mitchell is a must-start running back.

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Fallers

Saquon Barkley

(RB28, 13 carries, 40 yards, 4 receptions, 13 yards, 9.3 PPR points)

The return of Saquon Barkley has been much anticipated throughout the season, as the fantasy star has been struggling with injury since the beginning of 2020. We’re now in his second week back from the ankle injury and he has had a slow start, raising alarm bells for fantasy managers. And while there is a reason for concern with Barkley’s performance, I think the current problem is larger than Barkley himself.

For starters, this is very similar to what we start at the beginning of the season, with Barkley scoring under 10 fantasy points in Week 1 and 2, before getting going in Weeks and 4. Some of his current performance can simply be attributed to returning from injury.

More importantly, the New York Giants are a team in transition, less than a week out from firing offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, meaning this offense is now running under new leadership and with a new vision. Certainly, they are not going to significantly change their approach in one week, but those types of midseason shifts have impacts in locker rooms, even if minor. While Barkley may not achieve RB1 status this season, he should still be in starting lineups despite his slow start.

Ja’Marr Chase

(WR50, 3 receptions, 39 yards, 6.9 PPR points)

After an incredibly strong start to his NFL career, Ja’Marr Chase has tapered off in recent weeks, looking more like a touchdown-dependent Flex play since his 200-yard performance against the Baltimore Ravens. He has also seen a slight decrease in targets and recorded a season low three targets on Sunday.

While fantasy managers will want Chase to return to consistent WR1 status, this pattern is more in-line with what we typically expect from fantasy receivers. Chase still has an impressive floor, so I’m not concerned about this performance. That said, I’ll be watching his performance moving forward to understand how volatile his fantasy performance might be. Essentially, I’m going to be assessing how much like Tyler Lockett he may prove to be.

Cam Newton

(QB26, 5-21, 92 yards, 2 INT, 3 carries, 5 yards, 1 TD, 6.18 points)

Sunday was a rough day for Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers, as they lost 33 to 10 to the Miami Dolphins. Those struggles translated to fantasy struggles, with Newton failing to reach double figures, in large part due to throwing two interceptions. Newton’s NFL return has been a tale of two quarterbacks, but I think this week was simply a bad day at the office.

There were many things that went wrong for the Panthers that contributed to Newton’s tough day. On both of Newton’s interceptions, his targeted receiver slipped, providing leverage to the defense. Carolina got down early with some special teams miscues, getting behind early, requiring the Panthers to rely more on their passing game than the run game.

Additionally, Carolina struggled with several penalties on early downs, putting Newton in a tough spot on several occasions. And lastly, the Miami defense was frequently able to get pressure on the quarterback, recording five sacks and 11 QB hits. I think better days are ahead for Cam Newton.

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Dynasty Stashes

Javonte Williams

(RB6, 14 carries, 54 yards, 1 TD, 3 receptions, 57 yards, 20.1 PPR points)

Similar to Elijah Mitchell, there’s been plenty of hype surrounding Javonte Williams this season, with fantasy managers hoping for a breakout performance on a weekly basis. Despite that, Williams entered week 12 at RB31 on the season and now sits at RB27. While Williams has shown he has clear upside and could be an RB2 with consistent usage, the Broncos have continued to pursue a split backfield between Williams and Melvin Gordon. I think that trend continues, limiting Williams’ usage to deep fantasy leagues and a stash for next season.

Laviska Shenault Jr.

(WR43, 5 receptions, 33 yards, 8.3 PPR points)

Context is such an important aspect of football, particularly fantasy football, as the offense surrounding any player has a significant impact on their ultimate fantasy value. Laviska Shenault is a great example of why. Shenault is clearly a talented player and has the potential to be a fantasy star in the future.

However, he is in one of the lowest volume offenses in the league. Additionally, Jacksonville seems to not understand how best to utilize his skills, as he has seen decreased air yards per target since last season and hasn’t found the endzone at all this season. Because I believe in the player, Shenault is a stash until his context improves.

Notable Targets

D.J. Moore, 10 targets: While there were few positives to take away from the Carolina Panthers performance on Sunday, D.J. Moore’s usage trended in the right direction, hitting double figures for the first time since Week 7. As said earlier, I think this week was an outlier for what we’ll see from Carolina moving forward. With Moore still achieving 100 yards on just four catches, that target volume bodes well for his fantasy performance down the stretch.

Van Jefferson, 9 targets: The Rams’ number three receiver has consistently been the deep threat throughout the 2021 season. For some of the season, it was DeSean Jackson, but with Jackson now in Las Vegas, it has more consistently been Van Jefferson. While with Jefferson you’re praying one of those deep throws to connect, his season-high nine targets could be a sign of increased opportunity down the stretch.

Emmanuel Sanders, 3 targets: While Emmanuel Sanders was clearly the number two receiver in Buffalo earlier this season, Josh Allen has been spreading the ball around more in recent weeks. The simple takeaway from this is that on any week, you’re definitely starting Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs, and Dawson Knox (only because of the lack of depth at tight end), but any other Bills’ receiver is a dart throw and you have to decide how risky you want to play.

Monday Night Preview

Seattle Seahawks @ Washington Football Team

Going into the season this would have been an exciting Monday night matchup, as we were thinking we’d watch Ryan Fitzpatrick and Russell Wilson airing it out in a Monday night shootout. Instead, we enter with two teams that have struggled throughout the season, in what can only be described as an unpredictable affair.

Nonetheless, there are two things I’ll be looking for from a fantasy perspective. The first is Antonio Gibson, who is coming off two consecutive weeks with at least 19 carries, the first time he has had back-to-back games with at least 15 carries this season. While he has been playing through injury most of the season, I’ll be looking to see if he continues to carry a similar load, which should give insight into his usage for the remainder of the season.

The other thing I’m going to be watching is the entire Seattle Seahawks offense, which has put up just 30 points in their last four games. With the weapons they have, they should be able to do that in a single game, particularly against the Washington Football Team, who up until their Week 9 could not defend the pass. This downturn for the Seahawks offense has had a significant impact on Tyler Lockett and D.K. Metcalf, so I’ll be looking to see how they get their wide receiver stars more involved in tonight’s affair.

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