Week 12 Fantasy Football-BreakOut or Fake Out
On Thanksgiving Eve, I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Holiday Season. Needless to say, this will be an extremely unique week of football games. There are three games on Thursday, as well as a typical Sunday night and Monday night game.
The three games on Thanksgiving are: 1) Bears at Lions; 2) Raiders @ Cowboys; and 3) Bills at Saints. In addition to the Thursday slate, the Browns play at the Ravens on Sunday Night, while the Washington Football Team hosts the Seahawks on Monday Night. The only two teams on bye are the Cardinals and Chiefs.
Week 11 Review:
Week eleven turned out to be another successful week, in regards to my selections. Rhamondre Stevenson was the tenth leading rusher in regards to yards with 69 on 12 carries. Michael Gallup had 5 catches for 44 yards, and looks to build on the performance with Amari Cooper out again for week 12 due to COVID restrictions.
My fake outs(Bryan Edwards/James Washington/ Ray-Ray McCloud) turned out to be spot on, with Edwards being held catch less for the game. Meanwhile, both McCloud and Washington had identical stat lines-two catches for 12 yards apiece.
Breakouts:
Ben Roethlisberger(QB-Steelers) although it seems unlikely to suggest a 39-year-old quarterback as a ‘breakout” candidate, Big Ben has played well over his last two games, sandwiched by the week ten game he missed due to COVID restrictions. Over those two games, he has completed 49 of 74 pass attempts for 478 yards and five touchdowns.
Despite a tough matchup against a Bengals’ defense that allows the seventh-fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks, Roethlisberger should be viewed as one of the best streaming options with both Kyler Murray and Patrick Mahomes on bye.
Dontrell Hilliard(RB-Titans) as a PSA, there were very few options that I liked as potential breakouts this week. After a practice squad call up heading into the Titans’ week eleven game, Hilliard had eight catches(on ten targets) for 47 yards. He also added seven rushes for an additional 35 yards.
Hilliard is simply the next man up in trying to fill part of the running back void caused by the injury to Derrick Henry. The Titans liked what they saw from Hilliard enough to release Adrian Peterson, and make Hilliard part of the 53 man roster. Fellow running back Jeremy McNichols missed practice Wednesday with a concussion, so it’s very possible that Hilliard gets an opportunity for an expanded role. Look for Hilliard to be a flex option in week twelve.
Fake Outs:
Embed from Getty ImagesMarquez Valdes-Scantling(WR-Packers) MVS’s performance in week 11( 4 catches on 10 targets for 123 yards and a late game go ahead TD) seems to be another brief showing of his immense athleticism. For the year, he has 13 catches on 30 targets( 40 percent catch rate) for 259 yards and two touchdowns.
While the 40 percent catch rate seems low, his career percentage rate is only 49.5 percent. The storyline of Aaron Rodgers looking incessantly to find a consistent WR2 has lasted for years. Fantasy owners shouldn’t confuse Valdes-Scantling’s week 11 performance as any type of breakout party, unless other examples are forthcoming. For week twelve, he should be viewed as a low-end flex option, at best.
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Ronald Jones(RB-Bucs) in week eleven, Ronald Jones had eight rushes for 33 yards and a touchdown. Prior to this game, he had an additional 44 rushes for 196 yards and one touchdown on the season. He has also had four catches(on six targets) for 39 yards this year.
Fantasy owners should not view this game as any type of workload change. Jones still only played in 19 percent of the snaps, compared to Leonard Fournette’s 59 percent. As much as fantasy owners have fond memories of Jones’ RB20 finish last year, he is still best left on waiver wires.
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