It’s time for Week 12 of The List! Each week, you can expect positional rankings and FLEX rankings to help you win your fantasy football leagues! As a reminder, this week, there are six teams on their bye week:
- Atlanta Falcons
- Buffalo Bills
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Jacksonville Jaguars
- New Orleans Saints
- New York Jets
A few quick highlights for this week are below:
The Broncos running backs are an absolute disaster for fantasy football. I get this question a lot right now: should I start Javonte Williams or Audric Estime?! My response for right now is: “No Thanks.” Sean Payton cannot be trusted when it comes to his running back usage. Both players can lead this backfield, but neither is likely to get uncontested access to the steering wheel. Last week, I recommended that many avoid Estime where they could until we saw exactly what Payton’s plan was for the rookie running back, and this is exactly why. Both players are low-ceiling options with rock bottom floors. You may be forced to play them with so many teams on bye this week, but you should temper expectations with both landing in the low-end RB2 to RB3 range for me right now.
Well, it happened. Daniel Jones has been benched, and Tommy DeVito, not Drew Lock, will be the Giants starting quarterback in Week 12. It is all the same in terms of the Giants’ expectations for the remainder of the season. The arrow is pointing down for all of the skill players in New York, especially the two we care about most in Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Malik Nabers. The good news for Nabers at least is that he should continue to see the volume that kept him relevant in the final stretch of your fantasy seasons.
Justin Herbert is an MVP candidate to end the season. He has an easier schedule than most and has been utilized like the elite quarterback that we have seen in years past. He comes in as my QB1 this week, and it is a trend I would expect to continue. The passing volume is increasing, and he is starting to use his legs more. He should be considered in the same tier as Josh Allen for fantasy football for the remainder of the season. I will shout it from the mountaintops if I have to!
Remember to also check out our weekly Sit/Start articles, which are published every Thursday and go over each game of the week in more depth. These can help provide you with even more insight into rankings and help you make the most formidable lineup decisions you’ll face week in and week out. As always, these rankings and articles are a resource and a tool. While you can use them to make your lineup decisions for you, don’t be afraid to insert your judgment when making your matchup decisions. Fantasy football should be fun, and while winning makes every week feel just a little bit better, there’s nothing sweeter than the feeling of a decision YOU made paying off to get you the W we’re all looking for.
Check out the positional rankings in the tabs above for more of my thoughts on the week’s best PPR plays, and make sure to subscribe to the QB List Fantasy Football Podcast for our weekly Sit/Start episodes.