Fantasy Football Starts for Week 12: Streaming Options & More

Here's a quick list of some of my favorite RotoWire resources for analyzing matchups:

• Box Score Breakdown (snaps/routes, advanced stats, etc. from the previous week)
• NFL defense vs. position stats
• NFL advanced stats
• NFL injury report
• NFL depth charts
• NFL player news

Unless otherwise noted, references to "fantasy points'"are based on PPR scoring with 25/10 yards per point and 4/6 points for TDs. Start % comes from Yahoo, as of Wednesday night / Thursday morning.

Start/Upgrade 👍

Quarterbacks 👍

• Jared Goff (vs. NYG) — 53% started

Start Over — Baker Mayfield (at LAR), Dak Prescott (vs. PHI), Brock Purdy (vs. CAR)

Goff alternates excellent matchups and terrible ones throughout November and December, facing Washington (W10), Philadelphia (W11), the Giants (W12), Green Bay (W13), Dallas (W14) and the Rams (W15). This week is one of the good ones, facing an injury-riddled Giants defense that's allowing the third-most fantasy points to QB (21.4 per game). Goff should finish the fantasy season strong in general, as even his tougher matchups (GB, at LAR, PIT, at MIN) feature the benefit of a dome or L.A. weather. The Lions play at Chicago in Week 18, but that one doesn't matter for most fantasy leagues.

• Other Good Matchups: Lamar Jackson (vs. NYJ), Jalen Hurts (at DAL), Drake Maye (at CIN), Jared Goff (vs. NYG)

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Rankings

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NFL Lineups

See the weekly starting lineups

Running Backs 👍

• Alvin Kamara (vs. ATL) — 58% started

Start Over — Woody Marks (vs. BUF),  Aaron Jones (at GB)

Kamara still hasn't scored a touchdown since Week 1, but he had a season-high 22 carries in the final game before a Week 11 bye, finishing with 115 total yards on 25 touches in the 17-7 win at Carolina. The Saints now have a rare chance to play as favorites, with a massive health advantage over the division-rival Falcons. While the Saints were on bye, the Falcons were busy losing QB Michael Penix and WR Drake London to knee injuries. Atlanta had three additional starters absent from practice to start the week, including DE Zach Harrison (knee) and S Xavier Watts (illness).

• Kenneth Gainwell (at CHI) — 23% started

Start Over (if Warren plays) — Tyrone Tracy (at DET), Zach Charbonnet (at TEN)

Jaylen Warren (ankle) may end up playing this week, but he won't necessarily have the same dominant role we saw in Weeks 7-10, a four-game stretch in which Gainwell averaged just 3.7 rush attempts and got nearly all of his playing time in passing situations. In Week 11, Gainwell took on a much larger role even before Warren left with an ankle injury in the third quarter, handling 59% of snaps, six carries and four targets before his teammate's early exit (Warren had 10 carries and two targets at the time).

In other words, Gainwell should get at least a handful of carries and 3-4 targets even if Warren suits up this week. All the better that those touches will come against a Chicago defense that opened Week 12 with all three starting linebackers absent from practice due to injuries. After dealing with a glut of cornerback injuries for most of the season, Chicago is finally getting healthier there, only to potentially have similar problems in the front seven.

• Other Good Matchups: TreVeyon Henderson (at CIN), Kenneth Walker & Zach Charbonnet (at TEN), David Montgomery (vs. NYG) 

Wide Receivers 👍

• Stefon Diggs (at CIN) — 82% started

Start Over — A.J. Brown & DeVonta Smith (at DAL), Zay Flowers (vs. NYJ), Emeka Egbuka (at LAR)

The past two games saw Diggs handle his largest snap and route shares of the season while also having his highest rate of slot snaps (58.3% and 67.4%). It worked out well from a production standpoint, with Diggs putting up 14-151-1 on 19 targets to help the Patriots continue their winning streak. His increased playing time in Weeks 10-11 may have partially been a product of Kayshon Boutte's hamstring injury, but that doesn't mean it won't stick now that Boutte is back in the lineup, with Diggs having proven that he can thrive with a full-time workload.

Even if he does drop back to around 65-70 percent route share after peaking at 88 percent last week, Diggs should get plenty of targets this Sunday against one of the worst defenses in the league. No defense has allowed more yardage (1,637) or TDs (15) on passes less than 10 yards from the line of scrimmage, which is where Diggs has seen two-thirds of his targets this year. Consider it a bonus that DE Trey Hendrickson (hip) and CB Cam Taylor-Britt (foot) aren't expected to play this week. 

• WR Josh Downs (at KC) — 12% started

Start Over — Cooper Kupp (at TEN), Jerry Jeudy (at LV), Tre Tucker (vs. CLE)

Downs isn't someone I've thought about much this year, even though he's playing well for the surprise team of the season. A lack of playing time in heavy packages costs him a handful of routes per game, sometimes more, and his target rate (20.8 percent) has dropped by three percentage points relative to last year. All in all, he's averaging just 5.3 targets per game and 8.8 yards per catch as the slot specialist in an offense where the big-play weapons are thriving.

This week, we may see something different, as Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has a strong record of shutting down top running games (even if it occasionally costs him through the air, like in last year's Super Bowl). The Colts may well end up throwing the ball 30-plus times, be it due to game script or crowded boxes. This is the type of game where Downs' volume could spike, especially now that the Chiefs are mostly using 2024 UDFA Christian Roland-Wallace as their slot corner.

• Other Good Matchups: Amon-Ra St. Brown & Jameson Williams (vs. NYG); A.J. Brown & DeVonta Smith (at DAL), Zay Flowers & DeAndre Hopkins (vs. NYJ); Stefon Diggs, Kayshon Boutte & Mack Hollins (at CIN)

Tight Ends 👍

• Mark Andrews (vs. NYJ) — 65% started

Start Over — Jake Ferguson (vs. PHI), Kyle Pitts (at NO), T.J. Hockenson (at GB)

Andrews is the most TD-dependent player with mainstream fantasy value, lingering in the low-end TE1 range despite career-low marks for yards per game (27.6) and yards per catch (8.6). Four of his six touchdowns came in the past three games, which normally would be a red flag for steep regression. In this case, however, Andrews has a long track record of extremely high TD rates, and three of his next four games are against teams (NYJ, CIN, CIN) that make it easy to score touchdowns in general. The Ravens have an implied total of 29 points for Week 12, and they could reach 30-plus for the matchups with Cincinnati. In other words, Andrews should score a more TDs over the next month.

• Other Good Matchups: Trey McBride (vs. JAX), Hunter Henry (at CIN), Dallas Goedert (at DAL), Colston Loveland (vs. PIT)

Streaming Picks

For Shallow Leagues (Under 60 Percent Rostered)

QB Jacoby Brissett (vs. JAX)

QB Trevor Lawrence (at ARZ)

RB Kyle Monangai (vs. PIT)

RB Tyler Allgeier (at NO)

RB Bhayshul Tuten (at ARZ) - if he plays

WR Alec Pierce (at KC)

WR Darnell Mooney (at NO)

WR Christian Watson (vs. MIN)

WR Parker Washington (at ARZ) 

TE Theo Johnson (at DET)

TE Cade Otton (at LAR)

K Cam Little (at ARZ)

D/ST Raiders (vs. CLE)

For Medium-depth Leagues (Under 35 Percent Rostered)

QB Bryce Young (at SF)

RB Bam Knight (vs. JAX) - if Benson doesn't play

RB Devin Singletary (at DET)

RB Blake Corum (vs. TB)

RB Brian Robinson (vs. CAR)

WR Andrei Iosivas (vs. NE)

WR Kayshon Boutte (at CIN)

WR Jayden Higgins (vs. BUF)

WR Chimere Dike (vs. SEA)

WR Luther Burden (vs. PIT)

TE Mason Taylor (at BAL)

TE AJ Barner (at TEN)

TE Brenton Strange (at ARZ) - if activated from IR

K Andy Borregales (at CIN)

K Cairo Santos (vs. PIT)

D/ST Saints (vs. ATL)

D/ST 49ers (vs. CAR)

For Deep Leagues (Under 15 Percent Rostered)

QB Tyler Shough (vs. ATL)

RB Isaiah Davis (at BAL)

RB Michael Carter (vs. JAX) - if Benson doesn't play

RB Ty Johnson (at HOU)

WR Mack Hollins (at CIN)

WR Greg Dortch (vs. JAX)

WR John Metchie (at BAL)

WR DeAndre Hopkins (vs. NYJ)

WR Van Jefferson (vs. SEA)

TE Brock Wright (vs. NYG)

TE Dawson Knox (at HOU)

TE Darnell Washington (at CHI)

TE Michael Mayer (vs. CLE)

K Matt Gay (vs. CAR) - cut by Washington and then signed by San Francisco

K Harrison Mevis (vs. TB)

D/ST Cardinals (vs. JAX)