Start ‘Em Sit ‘Em Week 12

The 2021 fantasy playoffs are just around the corner.  Benjamin (@FFRabbitDad) and Brendan (@obryanbren) are back with more players to take a look at when setting your fantasy football lineups. Check it all out here in our unique Start or Sit Faceoff, for this week with Start ‘Em Sit ‘Em Week 12.

Benjamin: First of all, my deepest apologies to anyone who benched Justin Herbert last week. I had a feeling that turned out to be wrong – it happens. My Emmanuel Sanders call was on the money. Also, my most sincere condolences to anyone who faced Jonathan Taylor or Austin Ekeler in Week 11 – that was freaking awesome! All that aside, it’s Thanksgiving week! Family, friends, turkey, beer, football, and pie. Not necessarily in that order. Anything can happen on this magical holiday like when Mitchell Trubisky threw for 338 yards and three scores in 2019. Ah, I can smell the potatoes already!

Brendan: So I’m going into this Thanksgiving week feeling about as disgusted about football as possible. Which really sucks since we’re headed into my favorite holiday of the year. How can you argue against food, football, and beer? Writing this article and looking forward to Week 12 might be a bit of a cathartic practice. Put Week 11 way behind us and look forward to Week 12. I do have to say however, I had some pretty good picks last week and if you didn’t have Jonathan Taylor in your lineup, but followed some of our advice, you might have done well last week.

Quarterbacks

Start: Kirk Cousins – Cam Newton

Brendan: I have a feeling you might like this pick, Benjamin. Kirk Cousins has been, once again, quietly putting together a solid season. He has played nearly 67% of his starts in the top 12 of scoring for quarterbacks and has a top 10 Consistency Score of 8.77. The last few weeks he has also been putting together some solid weeks averaging 317 yards and 2.5 touchdowns over the past 2 weeks. He’s facing the 49er defense this week that has the second-highest D-PAC score against opposing quarterbacks of 9.66 and allows nearly 20 points per game. I think Cousins is a solid start this week and going forward.

Benjamin: Ladies and gentlemen, Superman is back! In his first start of the season, Cam Newton was as efficient and confident as ever, completing 21 of 27 passes, throwing two touchdown passes, and rushing for 46 yards with a ground score. Since Week 4, all but one quarterback to face the Dolphins has either thrown for over 290 yards or averaged over six YPC. Miami also has the fourth-highest D-PAC score (8.4) against quarterbacks. Missing out on the first nine weeks of the season means that Newton is still fresh. Get him in your lineups!

Sit: Baker Mayfield – Ryan Tannehill

Benjamin: Mayfield has been an absolute bust for fantasy in 2021. In 7 of 10 games, he has thrown one or zero touchdown passes and has surpassed 20 completions only twice all year. Baltimore has been a middle-of-the-road defense this season, ranking 15th on D-PAC with a score of 7.04 and allowing no quarterback to eclipse 201 passing yards since their Week 8 bye. The Browns might actually be better off with Case Keenum the rest of the season. The best thing Mayfield has done this year has been his Hulu commercials. Those don’t help for fantasy, bench him.

Brendan: So Ryan Tannehill threw four interceptions last week against the Texans. The Titans have been, and rightfully so, a run-heavy team with Derrick Henry. With Henry in the lineup, Tannehill can be trusted to manage the game and not make mistakes. Once he’s forced to be the one making the plays, this version of Tannehill tends to show up. The Titans are playing the Patriots this week who are only giving up 13.8 points per game to quarterbacks and a second-best D-PAC score of 4.18. Tannehill will have another tough outing against the red-hot Patriots.

Running Backs

Start: Melvin Gordon & Javonte Williams – Antonio Gibson

Benjamin: That’s right, I’m giving the green light to both of the Denver running backs this week. On one hand, you’ve got the veteran that has scored on the ground in three straight weeks on 40 carries. On the other hand, you’ve got the rookie that is averaging 6.36 YPC in the last three games with a game of 111 rushing yards in the middle. They’ll be up against the Chargers defense that has surrendered 11 rushing scores to 10 different running backs while also giving up at least 110 rushing yards to the position in all but one game since Week 4. Honestly, if you have both Gordon and Williams on your team, you can probably start both of them in Week 12.

Brendan: I’m taking a flyer here and picking a player that’s been quite the disappointment so far this season in Gibson. Washington is going up against the Seahawks who are giving up nearly 24 points per game to running backs. He’s quite the hit-or-miss back, with only 22% of his starts this year in the top 12 of scoring. However, his usage is trending in the right direction and he is starting to see around 20+ touches per game. If he’s been on your bench, I think this might be the right matchup to put him back in your lineup.

Sit: Leonard Fournette – Zack Moss & Devin Singletary

Brendan: That Tampa Bay backfield, just like last year, is a bit tough to predict. Leonard Fournette has been the primary back this season, but just when you think he’s getting good and you can depend on him, he disappears. He’s been in the top 20 of the league in consistency with a score of 5.12 and has 22% of his games in the top 12 for scoring. However, the Colts have been pretty solid against the run this year and keep opposing running backs under 15 points per game. If you can, I would find a way to sit Fournette this week.

Benjamin: Yeah, I did it again. You’re getting a hard pass from me on two running backs from one team. Unless one of these guys sits out, there’s no reason you want either to represent your fantasy team this week. Over the last four games, Moss has had just 29 touches for 114 total yards, just 3.93 yards per touch. Singletary’s numbers aren’t much better with 35 touches for 180 total yards, only 5.14 yards per touch. They have combined for two touchdowns in that span while Matt Brieda, himself, has twice in two active games. With Josh Allen taking so many rushing attempts and the Saints allowing only 14.1 fantasy points to running backs this season, there’s not much hope for Moss or Singletary.

Sign up for PrizePicks with the promo code FACEOFF for a 100% match up to $100!

Wide Receivers

Start: Michael Gallup – Emmanuel Sanders

Benjamin: Michael Gallup should be a smash start this Thanksgiving. The absence of Amari Cooper opens up a bunch of targets and if CeeDee Lamb doesn’t suit up, that’s even more potential for targets. The matchup with Las Vegas shouldn’t worry fantasy managers after they gave up a combined 129 yards and three touchdowns on 11 receptions to Tyreek Hill and Byron Pringle in Week 10. Gallup is bound to be a good start this week, even better if Lamb doesn’t play.

Brendan: Call me a homer, but I feel like the Bills come out with a fire lit under them on Thanksgiving night. They got completely destroyed by the Colts on Sunday, and over his career when Josh Allen has horrible games, he seems to come back with a vengeance. The Saints have a league-worst 12.14 D-PAC score against opposing wide receivers, giving up just over 26 points per game, which is also up near the league-worst. This is also a bit of a revenge game for Sanders, who might be motivated to show his old team what they’re missing out on. He’s been a bit down the last few weeks, but there are all the makings for a big game this week.

Sit: Laviska Shenault – Jaylen Waddle

Benjamin: It’s not been a good year for the sophomore Jaguar, even more so lately. In the previous four games, Shenault has 14 catches for only 7.3 yards per catch. Maybe with Jamal Agnew on the shelf, there’s nope for Shenault, but I don’t see it. The passes just aren’t coming his way, and when they do, they are either low quality or they end up in the grass. The Falcons are the Week 12 opponents for the Jaguars. They have allowed one wide receiver to manage 60 yards in a game since week seven. Don’t get cute and start Shenault this week.

Brendan: If there is one thing to be said about the Panthers, it’s that they have been strong against the pass this season. They have been holding opposing quarterbacks to less than 15 points per game and opposing receivers to 17.33 points per game with a second-lowest D-PAC score of 5.9. Waddle had a pretty solid outing last week, but it was against the Jets. Just about everyone has a solid outing against the Jets. Waddle’s performances have been pretty inconsistent this year, with only 10% of his games being in the top-12. For whatever reason the Dolphins don’t appear highly motivated to target him week to week as well, his targets fluctuate from 5-10 just about every week. I would look at other options at wide receiver this week.

[pickup_prop id=”6721″]

Tight Ends

Start: Noah Fant – Pat Freiermuth

Brendan: It’s Noah Fant week again! I’m going to try it again… I picked him a few weeks back because I liked his matchup and he didn’t perform the way I expected. This week I feel it in my bones that he’s got it in him. His targets have been steadily increasing and in his last outing, he had five receptions for 59 yards. Just need that touchdown and it’s a solid outing. He’s facing the Chargers this week who are giving up nearly 11 points per game to opposing tight ends and second-highest D-PAC score of 4.16. I like his chances for a solid performance this week.

Benjamin: This week, I’m going with the tight end who is second in total fantasy points and fifth in fantasy points per game over the last four weeks. Freiermuth is getting the looks from whoever is under center for the Steelers. He has caught at least four balls in five consecutive games and has four touchdowns in his last four games. Eric Ebron is doubtful for Week 12 and I’m not worried about targets going to someone else. Cincinnati is up next for Pittsburgh a week after they let Darren Waller and Foster Moreau combine for 135 yards on eight catches and a score. Aside from Diontae Johnson, Freiemuth is the only Pittsburgh pass catcher worth starting this week.

Sit: Mike Gesicki – Hunter Henry

Benjamin: Gesicki had a great run earlier in the season but the back-and-forth at quarterback has hurt his consistency. He has caught just 12 of the last 25 passes thrown to him and hasn’t scored since week seven. Carolina has only been allowing 6.69 fantasy points to the tight end position this year, Gesicki could struggle mightily and would need a touchdown to be reliable for your team. Since touchdowns are hard as heck to predict, I predict that he should remain on your bench for another week.

Brendan: Hunter Henry’s usage seemed to peak a few weeks back at eight targets. Since then he’s been hovering around 3-5 targets per game. Since that decrease, he’s been highly touchdown-dependent. Two weeks ago he scored two touchdowns and probably helped a few teams win their matchups (myself included), but last week hardly was a blip on the radar with two catches for 25 yards. This week the Patriots face the Titans who have been solid against tight ends, only allowing 5.19 points per game. Could he blow up and score two touchdowns? For sure, but the odds are very much against him.

We are excited to announce that The FF Faceoff is an official Affiliate of FanDuel!

Sign up at Fanduel.com/FFFaceoff for a 20% match on your first deposit up to $5,000. 

DFS Home

Free NFL Picks

Player Prop Bets

Sign up for BetUS today with the promo code FACEOFF and get a 125% match on your first deposit! Join here.

What is the Consistency Score?

Consistency Score Home

Consistency Score: Running Backs

Consistency Score: Wide Receivers

Consistency Score: Tight Ends

Consistency Score: DST

Revenge Game Tracker