Week 12 fantasy football recap: Stafford, Watkins and Maclin go off
The Lions’ offense is going to help you win a fantasy football title – if you’re smart about it. After their 45-14 beatdown of the Philadelphia Eagles on Thanksgiving, Detroit has strung together three straight wins and the offense is clicking. Here is a three-week summary following their Week 9 BYE:
The Lions play at the Rams, at the Saints and host the 49ers during the 2015 fantasy football playoffs. St. Louis’ defense has allowed 28 points per game over the past three including a hodge-podge Ravens offense, the Saints have allowed 35 points per game over the past three, and the 49ers have allowed 32 points per game in their past three road contests.
Keeping in mind Bengals' running back Jeremy Hill just rushed 18 times for 86 yards against the Rams in Week 12, let's keep tabs on Abdullah (8.5 FP vs. PHI) the next few weeks as he’s coming off a season/career-best 16 carries for 63 yards, while Riddick (17.8 FP vs. PHI) remains one of the best PPR-FLEX running backs in the league this season. Bell (16.2 FP vs. PHI) is a standard FLEX option at best. Megatron (35.3 FP vs. PHI) and Tate (18.0 FP vs. PHI) will continue to see 15-20 targets per week and with the matchups ahead should hover around - if not slightly exceed - the averages noted in the table above. Stafford (44.8 FP vs. PHI) is a must-start in Week 15 and we’ll keep a close eye on his production the next two weeks to see how the home matchup against the 49ers in Week 16 shakes out in our weekly rankings. The bottom line is the Lions’ quarterback is trending up and posting week-to-week numbers expected of him during draft season.
Wilson + Baldwin + Kearse + Rawls - 118.5 FP vs. Steelers
Markus Wheaton - 35.1 FP vs. Seahawks
Ryan Fitzpatrick – 37.2 FP vs. Dolphins
Fitzmagic had been in a little bit of a fantasy funk the past two weeks. He averaged just 204 passing yards with three touchdowns and four interceptions against the Texans and Bills. So, the Jets’ quarterback trimmed up his Lorax-approved facial hair to “switch up the mojo a little bit.” It worked. He threw for 277 yards and four touchdowns against the Dolphins. Miami entered Week 12 allowing 17.9 fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks (19th in NFL).
The timing of Fitz’s four-touchdown feat comes on the on the eve of his anniversary throwing six touchdown passes against the Titans when he was a member of the Houston Texans.
Sammy Watkins – 33.8 FP vs. Chiefs
No, I can’t figure out the Bills offense and Watkins’ role in said offense either. Up is down, left is right and zig is zag. Granted, the Chiefs allowed the most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers, but check out his last four game logs:
So, what’s an owner to do – only play Watkins against soft pass defenses and when a Revis Island comes around town, bury him on the bench? He’s got the Eagles (YES!), Redskins (YES!) and Cowboys (Meh) during the fantasy football playoffs. So, he’s not a complete lost cause.
Jeremy Maclin – 31.0 FP vs. Bills
Since racking up 289 receiving yards during Weeks 3 and 4, Maclin only managed to produce 214 receiving yards in his previous five games. What’s more impressive than Maclin’s nine receptions for 160 yards with a touchdown against the Bills is the fantasy friendly stat line came in spite of the inclement weather conditions in Kansas City. If there were any a day for Alex Smith to embrace the game managing, it would be on a soggy day at Arrowhead. Maclin proved us the fool as he was ranked WR37 overall by the FOX Sports department with Adam Meyer most-bullish on him - ranked WR29.
Spencer Ware – 20.4 FP vs. Bills
Jarvis Landry – 35.9 FP vs. Jets
R-E-S-P-E-C-T Jarvis Landry. He’s produced double-digit fantasy points in every PPR contest this season. Although the Dolphins season has been a disappointment, he’s one of the pre-draft bright spots to live up to expectations. He caught 13 of 16 passes for 165 yards with his fourth touchdown of the season. The 13, 16 and 165 are all career-highs for the sophomore out of LSU.
Stevie Johnson – 22.2 FP vs. Jaguars
For what feels like the 20th time – considering he’s still available in 47 percent of leagues – pick up Stevie Johnson and start him. For the third straight game he’s caught seven passes and the for the third straight game he’s recorded more than 50 yards. His seven receptions for 92 yards and a touchdown against the Jaguars is a season-best.
Tevin Coleman – 9.0 FP vs. Vikings
In what was another sloppy performance by the Falcons, Coleman carried the ball 18 times for 110 yards with a fumble. Just a friendly reminder of the “what-if Coleman didn’t crack a rib Week 2” scenario. Where is Devonta Freeman in that alternate reality?
Eddie Lacy – 21.9 FP vs. Bears
A week after rushing a season-high 22 times for a season-high 100 yard, Lacy carried the ball 17 times for a season-high 105 yards against the Bears on a sloppy Lambeau Field quagmire. However, he hasn’t completely pushed James Starks out of the picture. The second-string Packers’ running back touched the ball 11 times for 80 yards. It remains a RBBC in Green Bay.
Julius Thomas – 26.6 FP vs. Chargers
Orange Julius had some great moments with Peyton Manning including fantasy stat lines which included nine receptions for 112 yards with two touchdowns two seasons ago and seven receptions for 104 yards with three touchdowns last season. His first of what the Jaguars hope is many great moments came in rally time against the Chargers. He finished with nine receptions for 116 yards with a touchdown. San Diego entered the game allowing the 10th-most fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends – 9.4.
C.J. Anderson - 31.3 FP vs. Patriots
The Bad of Week 12
Drew Brees
Todd Gurley
Lamar Miller
Davante Adams
He averaged better than eight receptions, 80 yards and 18 fantasy points per game in Week 8 and 9, but has regressed to five receptions for 50 yards over the past two weeks.
Demaryius Thomas and Dez Bryant
The Ugly
Bummer. Romo – not so much the Cowboys - deserve better.
Hope Romo gets his Super Bowl one day.
