2021 NFL Fantasy Football Start/Sit – Week 12

Turkey Day is finally here!

The Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Rams are the only two teams out on bye this week.

There are only a handful of top fantasy players out on bye this week, but honestly, after the Rams & Broncos performances last week, you needed a week away to calm down.

Will Bucs QB Tom Brady bounce-back from a sub-par performance?

Here is our Fantasy Football Sit/Start for Week 12 of the 2021 NFL season…and enjoy our awesome MS Paint masterpiece of QB Mac Jones of the New England Patriots.

I want to explain what I mean by “sit” and “start.” Of course you are going to start some of the guys i say to bench this week, because you probably used high draft picks or a lot of money in an auction for them. My ‘sit’ players are guys I am just not completely sold that they will have good weeks. If you have a guy that you are on the fence about, maybe this will help you pick between the players.

START’EM

  • QB Mac Jones (New England Patriots) – Jones played an outstanding game on Thursday against the Falcons. Atlanta’s offense was crippled without RB Cordarrelle Patterson and his defense sealed the deal in the second-half. I expect a bigger fantasy output this week against the Titans.
  • WR Jaylen Waddle (Miami Dolphins) – Waddle is uber-talented and could be a prolific fantasy wide receiver if he were on a better overall offense. He caught eight passes for 65 yards and ran in a touchdown last week against the Jets. Waddle will get near-double-digit targets every week, so he has a very high floor. He’s still available in over 10% of leagues.
  • TE Cole Kmet (Chicago Bears) – Kmet will need a bigger performance than last week. He only caught one pass for 12 yards against Baltimore. He will have QB Andy Dalton at quarterback this week after rookie QB Justin Fields injured his ribs last week. Dalton has looked to his tight ends plenty in his career and I think Kmet could match his numbers before the bye week, when he was catching five-to-six balls per game.
  • RB Antonio Gibson (Washington Football Team) – Many thought Gibson could be one of the better fantasy running backs going into this season, but he’s been very average in Washington’s average offense. He is coming off a solid game against the Panthers that saw him gain 95 yards on 19 carries. I’ve avoided recommending many Washington players this season since they’ve been so inconsistent, but WFT are on a nice roll right now. I think Gibson could be a top-12 running back against Seattle on Monday Night Football.
  • QB Joe Burrow (Cincinnati Bengals) – Burrow’s numbers haven’t been outstanding since his loss to the Jets on Halloween. I think he will bounce-back against a deflated Steelers defense, who allowed the Chargers to move the ball at-will last week. Burrow didn’t put the ball in the air much in his last game against the Steelers, but he did throw three touchdowns in the 24-10 win back in late-September.
  • Chicago Bears Defense & Special Teams – The Bears lost a few defensive studs to injury in recent weeks, but they have a rather easy task on Thursday against the Lions. It looks like Detroit could start QB Tim Boyle again this week. Boyle didn’t look like he belonged in the league last week, so the Bears D/ST should have a nice fantasy week.
  • WR Rashod Bateman (Baltimore Ravens) – I’ve been high on Bateman for a few weeks and his ownership jumped 20% last week. Baltimore QB Lamar Jackson (illness) was unable to play last week and it did hurt Bateman’s stock a little. He only caught three passes for 29 yards on six targets. Jackson is feeling better and should play on Sunday night against the Browns. I expect Bateman to 8+ targets a week going forward.
  • RB Miles Sanders (Philadelphia Eagles) – It looked like Jordan Howard & Boston Scott were pairing up to be a formidable backfield team in Philly. Howard sprained his knee against the Saints and Sanders played great in his returned from an ankle injury. Sanders is talented enough to be the long back in the Eagles offense. His return will hurt Scott’s stock as well.
  • TE Tyler Higbee (Los Angeles Rams) – The Rams are coming off their bye week and Higbee was dropped in over 10% of leagues. He is one of the most-targeted tight ends in the NFL and it is a nice time to use that waiver priority and scoop a ‘set and forget’ tight end going forward.
  • WR Hunter Renfrow (Las Vegas Raiders) – Renfrow has been one of the most-targeted wide receivers on the Raiders since the Henry Ruggs incident. He took a step back last week and only caught four passes for 30 yards on four targets. The Raiders had trouble throwing the ball and just focused more on shorter passes and getting the ball to TE Darren Waller. He has a big task ahead of him on Thursday against the Cowboys, but I still think Renfrow will be a solid PPR WR2 this week.
  • RB Austin Ekeler (Los Angeles Chargers) – I mentioned that the Chargers should use Ekeler in last week’s betting picks post, and they did just that. The Chargers offense is much better when QB Justin Herbert isn’t so one-dimensional. I hope they keep giving Ekeler more touches this week against the Broncos.
  • Baltimore Ravens Defense & Special Teams – The Browns are banged-up and I will stream defenses against them until I see that they are healthy enough to compete against solid defenses.
  • QB Jalen Hurts (Philadelphia Eagles) – Hurts isn’t going to throw five touchdowns a game in Philly’s offense, but he could run for three and throw for two. He always seems to be the first option to get goal-line carries and he will hit WR DeVonta Smith, who could break a big one to the house at any point.

SIT’EM

  • RB D’Ernest Johnson (Cleveland Browns) – Now that Browns RB Nick Chubb is back, Johnson has drifted into obscurity. I think it’s same to drop him and move on.
  • QB Carson Wentz (Indianapolis Colts) – The Colts are best when Wentz doesn’t have to contribute much. The Bucs have a stout run defense, so Wentz will need to pass more than 15 times this week. He makes a couple bonehead plays per game. He gets away with them against bad teams, but the Bucs could force a couple turnovers this week.
  • WR Jarvis Landry (Cleveland Browns) – Landry’s fantasy stock won’t rebound until QB Baker Mayfield gets healthy, or they use him at quarterback. He is also dealing with a knee injury that could mess with his snap count.
  • RB Adrian Peterson (Tennessee Titans) – Peterson wasn’t horrible against the Texans, but he was still the third-best running back on the Titans. I’d rather start D’Onta Foreman or Dontrell Hilliard in the long-term. Peterson just didn’t look athletic when he runs right now. Sooooo, Peterson was released after this was posted early Tuesday morning…so I guess I was right.
  • QB Ryan Tannehill (Tennessee Titans) – Tannehill is coming off one of his worst games as a pro. He threw four interceptions against a bad Texans team. He hasn’t had to throw a ton since he was named the starter a few years ago thanks to Derrick Henry. We all knew he could struggle without him, but last week’s performance was sill shocking. He has another tough one this week against the Patriots.
  • WR Tim Patrick (Denver Broncos) – Patrick is very inconsistent to own in fantasy. His floor is low as he doesn’t get the quantity of targets, but he does have breakaway speed. He does break a big gain just about every other game. He has been a good flex play, but now that the bye weeks have calmed down, there are other more consistent wide receivers out there on the waiver wire.
  • TE Jared Cook (Los Angeles Chargers) – Cook just doesn’t see enough targets to be owned in 60%+ of leagues. The Chargers have a big offense, but he is seeing fewer and fewer targets now. He only has nine receptions over the last four games.
  • New Orleans Saints Defense & Special Teams – The Bills are coming off a rough stretch of games and after seeing what the Saints allowed the Eagles do last week, the Bills should rebound against the Saints.
  • TE Evan Engram (New York Giants) – We’ve all been waiting for Engram to breakout and have a big game, but it hasn’t happened. The Giants offense is so damn broken, but Engram still only has three-to-five targets per game. We could be waiting all season for it to happen. I expect Engram to be on another team next year.
  • Atlanta Falcons Defense & Special Teams – I know it’s tempting to stream defenses against the Jaguars, but I’d steer clear of Atlanta right now. We still don’t have the status of RB Cordarrelle Patterson, who the Falcons need to be competitive.

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sweetbob-author-picAbout the Author…

Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.