The Holidays are here, and it’s time for your fantasy teams to feast. As we approach the end of the regular season in fantasy leagues, every week is crucial make sure you think your decisions out thoroughly.
Week 12 WR Rankings
1) Julio Jones – The ridiculous touchdown drought he was on came to a halt three games back, and he has been on a tear. In the top 8 in scoring with no touchdowns to start the year, the positive regression we are seeing, plus the volume he gets, places him first this week vs. a Saints defense allowing the 5th most points to wideouts in a game that predicts the Falcons to have to pass.
2) Odell Beckham – In what was supposed to be a smash spot for ODB last week, he had to make the most of his four targets, catching all of them and getting in the end zone good for 16.5 points (PPR). The spot couldn’t be any better facing a depleted defense that just got smoked surrendering 4 touchdowns. The Eagles have given up the 6th most fantasy points to wideouts and expect that to get worse with all the injuries.
3) Adam Thielen – Consistency is what you look for in your weekly lineups and Thielen is just that. After starting the season with eight straight 100 yard games, seven in which he scored, he has cooled down with only 11 catches and 88 yards in 2 weeks although he did get in the end zone 2 weeks ago. Look for him to get back to his ways as the Vikings make their playoff push.
4) Michael Thomas – The primary target on the team with the highest implied point total smells like money. The Saints are huge favorites so that may keep him back but I expect the game to be closer than expected and Thomas is going to torch the 7th worse pass defense as he did in their previous encounter catching ten balls for 129 yards.
5) DeAndre Hopkins – Nuk has now proved time after time he is matchup proof. This week he will likely see a ton of Adoree’ Jackson, which has an above average PFF grade of 69.6. The Titans defensive backs beat up by T.Y Hilton, and I expect them to continue struggling as they have all season giving up the 4th most points in 2018.
6) Antonio Brown – The Steelers start wideout owns the leagues second highest air yards share (41.6%) only trailing Julio Jones. Last week he saw an insane 61% of the Air yards on just 5 receptions good for 117 yards and a score. Brown has now found the end zone in 8 straight games. Over the past month, Brown has 22 catches for 329 yards and five touchdowns, averaging a crazy 15 yards per reception.
6) Devante Adams – If we think Antonio Brown has been impressive, over the same 4-week sample Adams has three more receptions, 67 more yards, and three total touchdowns. Coming off a season-high in targets and yards, look for Adams to continue to be used as Rodgers favorite weapon. This week he gets possible shadow coverage from Xavier Rhodes, but he continues to show us he is match up proof.
7) Mike Evans – the former Aggie shined in week 11 going off for 27 points (PPR) on a 6/120/1 performance. The 49ers just gave up three passing scores on only seven catches to wideouts. They have struggled to hold big wideouts, and Evans leads the Bucs in air yards and target share as well as averaging 4.7 receptions per game and a team-high 84 yards per game.
8) Keenan Allen – I guess all you have to do is complain about not seeing action and in week 9 and 10 he saw over 45% of the air yards. Coming off targets counts of 12-9-10, Allen seems to really be connecting with Rivers when the team most needs it. Allen dominates the short to intermediate passes as he is 4th on his team in aDOT. Allen sees 19.9% of the Chargers Red Zone targets parlaying those looks into three touchdowns.
9) Emmanuel Sanders – A revenge spot some might say, a matchup vs. Mike Hilton isn’t exactly engaging. Since the departure of Demaryius Thomas, Sanders has seen 20% of the air yards while catching 14 balls. The Steelers haven’t allowed a touchdown to wideouts in 3 weeks, but I think this week he breaks their feat and scores in a game that projects him to have an abundance of volume.
10) Stefon Diggs – I love all of the Vikings pass catchers and put both of them in the top 10 this week. Projected to see a ton of rookie Josh Jackson, I expect Diggs to get loose vs. a bottom ten defense in fantasy points allowed to WR’s.
11) T.Y. Hilton – He utterly destroyed the Titans defensive backs last week and the time the offensive line is giving Andrew Luck, is giving Hilton time to get downfield and use his speed to get open. Coming off a season-high in yards and receptions, expect Hilton to gash the Dolphins secondary that’s allowed 60 catches of 20+ yards, T-4th most in the NFL.
12) Jarvis Landry – Facing the 6th worse fantasy defense vs. Wide outs, expect the Browns playmaker to see the same amount of volume that’s made him the 8th most targeted player with 9.9 targets per game. Landry holds 31% of the Browns air yards and will dominate a unit that allows 40.5 points to wideouts a game.
13) Julian Edelman – The Patriots desperately will look to get back on track and what better opponent than the Jets. For the speedy receiver, Buster Skrine is something to give thanks for this season in one of the weeks best individual matchups. The Jets allow the 5th most points to wideouts and have allowed a receiving touchdown in 8 of 10 games.
14) Alshon Jeffery – the Giants have been a mess, but surprisingly they’ve only allowed 3 touchdowns to receivers in 3 games. Where you can hurt New York is on long passes where they are T-4th worse in 20+ yard receptions and 2nd worse in 40+ yard receptions allowed. Jeffery gets a deep touchdown in this game.
15) JuJu Smith-Schuster – One of the most electric players week in week out with big-play potential, we have JuJu down some with Chris Harris waiting for him in the slot. Harris doesn’t move out of the slot much so expect him to see the shadow all game long as Bradley Roby can hold his own with Brown.
16) Tyler Boyd – The absence of AJ Green has opened the doors for Boyd in a season where he was already on pace for career highs in all categories. Week 11 he saw a team-high 32% of the air yards along with 11 targets. Until Green returns, Boyd will continue to serve as the most reliable weapon Dalton has. Load him up weekly as a Mid-tier WR2.
17) Tyler Lockett – He continues to be Wilson’s best weapon and last week we saw him create on his 5 catches. A deep PI and a questionable catch leave a question mark on Lockett going forward with his volume being sketchy. The Panthers have allowed 5 touchdowns to the position in 3 weeks and are bottom 15 for the year.
18) Corey Davis – A headache as his inconsistency leaves a ton to be desired. A huge week followed by a dud keeps his rankings lower than what his ceiling could be. He led the team by more than 12% in air yards and 15% in target share in weeks 9 and 10 where he saw double-digit targets, and I expect him to see about the same this week.
19) Josh Gordon – I noted earlier that New England will be looking to bounce back big. Gordon has really been connecting with Brady, but Morris Claiborne isn’t precisely a great target. In weeks 9 and 10 Gordon had over 60% of the air yards on 37% and 41.7% share of the Teams targets.
20) Larry Fitzgerald – Old Faithful rounds out the weeks WR1’s with a scary matchup vs. Desmond King. The reason we still go here is he saw about 3 times the air yards as anyone on the team last week on the heels of back to back double digit weeks in targets. This week he has one of the worse matchups lining up opposite of Desmond King, so that will definitely limit his ceiling but I expect Josh Rosen to keep going with who he trusts.