Featured Articles

No stranger to the boom-or-bust life, Adam Thielen has scored two TDs in each of his past two games. He recorded 32.3 fantasy points in Week 12 and 20.2 in Week 11. Prior to that, however, he notched two straight games with five fantasy points. His up-and-down weekly oscillation distils out in the form of a 10.6 (No. 9 among qualified wide receivers) Weekly Volatility score. Primed to feast against the Jaguars, Thielen returns to his No. 1 role alongside talented rookie Justin Jefferson.

A volatile fantasy asset with an 8.4 (No. 23) Weekly Volatility mark, Allen finds himself on a hot streak. He’s scored in five consecutive games. Poised for another blowup game, Allen draws a beatable matchup against the Patriots. He faces primary coverage from Patriots cornerback Jonathan Jones, who’s allowed five TDs this season. It’s an exploitable matchup for Allen, who’s rostership projects to be lower than 10-percent.

In spite of averaging 31.1 (No. 29) Team Pass Plays Per Game, and totaling 321 (No. 20 among qualified quarterbacks) Pass Attempts, Kirk Cousins proves to make the most of his opportunity with 23 (No.7) passing touchdowns. As pointed out by Around The NFL’s Gregg Rosenthal, Cousins is demonstrating a Jameis Winston-esque all-or-nothing mentality in 2020, totaling 1,663 (No. 7) Completed Air Yards thus far. Fortunately for fantasy managers starting him, he’s totaled just 11 interceptions as well.

Don’t look now, but Jordan Reed has commanded six targets in consecutive games from Weeks 10 and 12 – after returning from injury Week 9. While he’s a part-time player, typically totaling a 40-percent Snap Share, Reed’s Target Rate sits over 30-percent in the aforementioned games. Last week, he led the 49ers offense with 84 Air Yards, and he has a 19.0-percent (No. 9) Air Yards Share on the season. This week, Reed faces a Bills defense allowing the third-most fantasy points to tight ends.

Go trade for Antonio Gibson because he looks like he’ll be a three-down back to close out the year. He ran over twice as many routes on Thanksgiving as J.D. McKissic, who only saw two targets. If Gibson is able to solidify himself as the primary runner and pass-catching back in Washington, he will be a top-five running back in the fantasy playoffs.

The Titans use a committee approach at tight end, and the only thing holding Jonnu Smith back from being Irv Smith this year is touchdown efficiency. The problem is that Tennessee is fine running two tight ends, with the non-Smith tight end being the route-runner. He’s fancy Cameron Brate, and if the touchdowns ever stop flowing, expect to be holding more zeroes than TE1 games.

After the murderer’s row of defenses to start the year, Deshaun Watson has been simply phenomenal. He should be a popular option this week without getting too chalky as players fear that imposing Colts defensive matchup. Instead of throwing darts at the backups with Keke Coutee, Isaiah Coulter, or the tight ends, go with Brandin Cooks. This game will be played in a dome with one of the only 50-plus point totals, and at only $5600, he will be among the cheapest WR1s available on the slate.

At only $5.4K, Mitchell Trubisky draws a matchup against a Lions team with a struggling defense that just fired their coach after getting torched by Deshaun Watson on Thanksgiving. The unquestioned alpha in the offense, Allen Robinson is the most sensible receiver to stack with Trubisky. Put it together and we have a stack featuring a running QB with his target magnet WR1 at discount prices in a dream matchup with low ownership due to brand.

David Montgomery is now at his second-lowest price of the season and has a soft matchup against Detroit. With a 44-point total, this game doesn’t project for many touchdowns. The good news is that the Lions have allowed 21 total touchdowns to RBs this season, easily the most in the NFL. Montgomery is a high-floor RB in a smash spot. When factoring in his price, he looks like one of the best RB values on the slate.

With the Colts being 3.5-point favorites over the Texans this week, Jonathan Taylor is set up for another 20 touches. This game has a 51-point total, which is the third-highest on the slate. The Texans also rank No. 27 in Defensive Rushing DVOA and have allowed the most rushing yards and touchdowns to RBs this season. Taylor has caught at least two balls in all but two games this season, boosting his floor and making him a viable play in cash lineups. This is the eruption spot we’ve been waiting for.

The will they-won’t they relationship between the Rams coaching staff and Cam Akers’ starting role has been the talk of the town for weeks. Akers’ Week 12 efficiency (9-84-1) dwarfed Darrell Henderson’s 19 yards on three carries and Malcolm Brown’s 19 scrimmage yards on five total touches. Project forward. Pray that McVay read the box score and plays his young stud as a workhorse in Week 13 against the Cardinals.

With high playoff upside, Tim Patrick remains a featured add in this column for two weeks straight. His schedule includes a potential Week 13 shootout with the Chiefs, Carolina’s soft secondary in Week 14, and another potential shootout in Week 16 against the Chargers. Patrick is a featured weapon with high upside when Drew Lock returns to the lineup.

With exposure to COVID-19 rendering their entire quarterback depth chart useless, the Broncos had to get creative. Enter rookie Kendall Hinton, the former Wake Forest quarterback who converted to wide receiver his senior season. Thrown into the fire in an impossible spot, Hinton…played quarterback. Sort of. That is, if throwing more interceptions than completions qualifies as playing quarterback.

Can we petition to get Allen Robinson out of Chicago and on a team with a real quarterback? He’s a WR1 this season and continues to be an undervalued dynasty asset. However, the Bears have no one behind Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles, which makes for a bleak outlook. But Robinson becomes an unrestricted free agent and needs to make his escape from Chicago for his age-28 season.

Derrick Henry took advantage of a depleted Indy front to the tune of 178 yards and a trio of rushing scores. The absence of DeForest Buckner and Bobby Okereke was felt as Henry steamrolled in the first half, doing all but 48 yards of his damage before halftime. Henry remains arguably the highest-ceiling running back in fantasy, and all while contributing next to nothing in the passing game.

Justin Jefferson filled in seamlessly as the Vikings’ top receiver with Adam Thielen on the COVID list. He saw a season-high 13 targets, collecting seven for 70 yards and two scores. Olabisi Johnson actually led the team in receiving with 74 yards, but Jefferson will be a great play again next week whether or not Thielen is able to return against Jacksonville.

Perhaps the biggest news of this list of players who will miss Week 12 due to injury is Todd Gurley. While he isn’t the same running back these days, he’s been solid for fantasy purposes. Brian Hill will assume lead duties in Gurley’s stead, and there’s plenty of reason to believe in him this week.

Tevin Coleman may be out in San Francisco, but Raheem Mostert was activated from the injured reserve, as was Jeff Wilson. There’s a good chance the pair hits the field this Sunday for the 49ers; Mostert would be a welcome sight for this offense. Matt Breida looks to be the starter against the Jets with Salvon Ahmed out and Myles Gaskin a week away from returning. Throw him in those DFS lineups.

What do fantasy players do with Devin Singletary at this point? He keeps getting playing time and keeps performing terribly and losing touches. A home matchup against the Chargers could provide a bounce-back performance, and Singletary has plummeted down to $5,500. There is still enough upside and snaps to justify playing him in GPPs and cash games at that price despite the negative trends.

It is hard to rely on any player in a three way time split, but that is especially true if you are not confidently investing in the leader of the committee. Darrell Henderson is too expensive to play in cash with an uncertain touch floor at $5,900, even in a plus matchup against San Francisco, but he has the upside to be viable in tournaments.