Fantasy Football Outlook Week 12

Nearly every pick that I made last week went even, not really any boom or bust performances. Joe Flacco finished with 14.1 points which is not bad for the position that he was in, and if he was used as a short term replacement due to an injury to somebody like Drew Brees. Aaron Rodgers had a good game, but pretty average for his standards at 21.3 points. I'm just happy that they ended up losing. Ballage had an interesting game because he got hurt in the first drive of the game, and it seemed like he might miss the rest of the game, however he was able to come back and turn in a solid game for 14.1 points. James Robinson had a tough matchup and couldn't do much at 11.4 points. Amari Cooper couldn't find the endzone against the Vikings but he did catch a lot of passes with 14.1 points. Will Fuller did pretty much the same thing with 14.2 points. This week there is some interesting matchups with Thanksgiving that maybe we can take advantage of.

QB

Sleeper: Alex Smith

The Cowboys defense has been really bad this season, and they even made Kirk Cousins look really good last weekend. I think the Thanksgiving game gives Smith a big stage to finally turn in his big comeback game. Ever since he returned from his knee injury I have been waiting for him to have a great game that blows up social media, and I think this is his time.

Terry Mclaurin is a fantastic top receiver that I think will carve up the Cowboys secondary just like Thielen did last week. I expect both of them to put up big numbers and display a show for Thanksgiving morning.

Bust: Lamar Jackson

Last time the Ravens played the Steelers I picked Lamar to bust and he did exactly that. He can't solve the tough defense, no matter what team it is. The Ravens are a huge running team and I don't expect the passing game to take off this game. It's been pretty stagnant all season and I think it stays there now.

The Steelers even have more time to prepare for this game, and they don't seem happy they lost their primetime game. I think they come out for this game and blow the Ravens out of the water. Lamar never gets the offense started and the game gets out of hand quick.

RB

Sleeper: Zack Moss

Moss has slowly been getting more and more snaps in the Bills backfield. He's put together some really good games in the weeks prior to their bye week, and I think he'll continue to grow. Although he is competing for snaps with Devin Singletary, I think Moss is slowly starting to take that position away from him.

Moss also benefits from having a good matchup against a poor Chargers defense. The Chargers are the 25th ranked defense against the run this year, and give up a ton of fantasy points to opposing backs. I expect Moss to take the majority of backfield carries and have a big game on Sunday.

Bust: James Conner

The Ravens have really stepped up their run defense. They have a top 10 run defense and if the Ravens are to stay in the game at all I think they need to take Conner out of the game and force the Steelers to throw the ball. The Steelers are already more of an air attack team so I think they may just default to that regardless of how Conner performs.

Conner always has scared me as a back because he has never struck me as a true lead running back. The Steelers have a ton of running back depth and can rotate players in and out of that position at any time they want. Conner has been pretty consistent this year, but also fairly touchdown dependent. If the Ravens can hold him out of the endzone he may struggle this week.

WR

Sleeper: Henry Ruggs

Ruggs has had an interesting season so far. He missed a couple games early in the season due to injury and Nelson Agholor took over as a number one receiver. Lately Ruggs has barely even seen the ball come his way. In the last 5 games he has 8 catches combined. I think he has a strong chance this week to extend the field and see a lot more targets come his way.

The Falcons defense in still really bad and they have a tough time clamping down on any receiver. I expect most of their defensive focus to be directed towards Josh Jacobs and Agholor as they try to shut them down. Darren Waller is always a threat as well, which means Ruggs could slip through the cracks in the secondary and finish with a huge game.

Bust: Chris Godwin

Godwin has finally gotten back on his usual track the last couple weeks, but he is always fighting for targets in a loaded Tampa Bay offense. Mike Evans, Gronk, and Scotty Miller have all seemed to be favorites of Tom Brady so far. When Godwin has played he has usually played pretty well, but I'm always skeptical.

He also has a tough matchup this weekend against the Chiefs. The Chiefs have been spotty all year to me, but it seems to me that they do a good job of making teams stretch them down the field, which is why the Raiders have seen success against them. Godwin is not a traditional deep ball threat. He is more of a short route runner for easy catches and yards after catch. I think the Chiefs confine him to small gains, and more targets go towards Miller and Evans down the field.