With most of us gearing up for the postseason, Week 12 is likely critical to clinching a playoff berth in your leagues, or to simply stay in the playoff hunt. So, to help fantasy owners this week we have written a few articles to soften the winter blues. Hopefully you were able to check out our waiver wire pickups and our starts and sits of the week to get you prepared you for NFL play.
Before we give you our Week 12 Flex rankings, there are a few important things to note:
- The list assumes points per reception (PPR) formats
- More importantly, consider that most of this was written Wednesday in order for readers to be able to set their line-ups for Thursday Night Football. A lot can happen between Thursday and Monday night. I do not have a crystal ball, and thus cannot predict which game-time decision players will play, and which players will be unavailable come kickoff.
Best of luck to everyone this week; here are our Week 12 Flex Rankings:
- DeMarco Murray, RB, Cowboys: Murray feels “recharged” coming off of a bye week, per Yahoo. Plus, the G-Men are the third-worst defense against fantasy RB’s this year.
- Jamaal Charles, RB, Chiefs: Tremendous stretch for this guy (look at his last 4-5 weeks). The only reason he’s not No. 1 this week against an awful Oakland defense is that the Chiefs may limit his carries a bit with the short Sunday-Thursday turnaround.
- Demaryius Thomas, WR, Broncos: Thomas is one of the most consistent fantasy contributors out there. Don’t like the matchup, but expect to see a bump in targets with Julius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders coming off injury.
- Jordy Nelson, WR, Packers
- Eddie Lacy, HB, Packers
- Brandon Marshall, WR, Bears
- A.J. Green, WR, Bengals
- Matt Forte, HB, Bears
- Marshawn Lynch, HB, Seahawks: Tough matchup, but Seattle’s offense runs through Lynch. This is a big divisional game; expect to see a lot of Lynch.
- LeSean McCoy, HB, Eagles: McCoy will look to get back on track against a weak Tennessee rush defense.
- Randall Cobb, WR, Packers
- Mike Evans, WR, Buccaneers: Evans has been on a tear lately, averaging the fifth-most flex points over the past four weeks. Sunday he lines up against a leaky Chicago defense.
- Dez Bryant, WR, Cowboys
- Rob Gronkowski, TE, Patriots
- Jeremy Maclin, WR, Eagles
- Julio Jones, WR, Falcons: His last touchdown came in Week three. His reception totals and yardage prevent owners from benching him though. Jones may find the end zone this weekend.
- T.Y. Hilton, WR, Colts
- Arian Foster, HB, Texans: Foster returned to practice Wednesday, and is likely to play. Expect Alfred Blue to steal some carries though.
- Alshon Jeffery, WR, Bears
- Josh Gordon, WR, Browns: Hopefully you stashed Gordon away for a postseason push.
- Rashad Jennings, HB, Giants
- Andre Ellington, HB, Cardinals: Regardless of how this game goes, the Cardinals are going to want to give the ball to Ellington.
- Odell Beckham Jr., WR, Giants: Not an ideal matchup, but the rookie has proven he can have a good game against tough opponents.
- Emmanuel Sanders, WR, Broncos: Sanders didn’t practice Wednesday, so keep updated on his injury status. Sanders is worth a look if healthy though.
- Justin Forsett, HB, Ravens
- Calvin Johnson, WR, Lions: Johnson has booked a stay on Revis Island Sunday.
- Jimmy Graham, TE, Saints
- C.J. Anderson, HB, Broncos
- Roddy White, WR, Falcons: Since Oct. 19, White has tallied 313 yards and three scores in four games. Joe Haden can only cover so many of Atlanta’s offensive weapons.
- Golden Tate, WR, Lions
- Trent Richardson, HB, Colts: With starter Ahmad Bradshaw going down with a broken leg, Richardson is in line for a high volume of carries this week.
- Mark Ingram, HB, Saints
- Jordan Matthews, WR, Eagles: The rookie has averaged 19.55 fantasy points per game over the last month.
- Alfred Morris, HB, Redskins
- Andre Johnson, WR, Texans
- Sammy Watkins, WR, Bills: Barring any changes in game time or location of the Bills’ matchup against the Jets due to heavy snow amounts, Watkins is a strong start.
- Vincent Jackson, WR, Buccaneers
- Denard Robinson, HB, Jaguars: Robinson is a consistent performer with 16.73 points per game since he burst on the scene.
- Keenan Allen, WR, Chargers
- Jeremy Hill, HB, Bengals: Giovanni Bernard is likely to come back Sunday, but I would imagine Hill gets a bulk of the work with his recent performances.
- Frank Gore, HB, 49ers
- LeGarrette Blount, HB, Patriots: Blount was released from the Steelers Tuesday after leaving the field early Monday night against Tennessee. Early Thursday morning it was announced that Blount had signed a two-year deal with the New England Patriots. Expect Blount to potentially take Gray’s place, or at least steal goal line work, in the backfield Sunday.
- Mike Wallace, WR, Dolphins
- Ryan Mathews, HB, Chargers: Mathews returned to the line-up last week, but expect him to be closer to 100 percent this week.
- DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Texans
- Antonio Gates, TE, Chargers
- Giovanni Bernard, HB, Bengals: Bernard will hopefully return this week, but expect a time-share in Cincinnati with Jeremy Hill.
- Martellus Bennett, TE, Bears
- Andrew Hawkins, WR, Browns: If Gordon struggles early, the Browns will look for Hawkins. He’s had a good year to this point, and will probably get single coverage all game against a depleted Falcons secondary.
- Percy Harvin, WR, Jets
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To contact sports editor Connor Grott, email sports@mtsusidelines.com
