Fantasy Football

The Week 12 TNF Showdown features three matchups: Giants at Cowboys, Bills at Lions, and Patriots at Vikings. This year’s fantasy slate is chalk-full of talent. The Buffalo Bills high powered offense travels to Detroit to face a Lions defense giving up big plays at a high rate. The Dallas Cowboys face off against the New York Giants in a divisional matchup as Dak Prescott looks to continue his streak of top-10 performances. Finally, the night will be wrapped up with a sneaky shootout, where the New England Patriots and Minnesota Vikings both look to spark their offenses. This week I’ll be short and to-the-point, giving you the starts, sits, and picks for each of these matchups.

Potentially Tampa Bay’s new starter, Rachaad White has 33 touches over his last two games. He has at least three receptions in five games this season, with 6.8 (No. 22) yards per reception. Leonard Fournette left last game due to injury, but even before that, Fournette was ceding opportunities to White. Young and shifty with 84th-percentile or higher Speed and Burst Scores, White has the chance to boom this week.

With four top-10 TE finishes in his last five games, Juwan Johnson has become an established start option at TE. His production has been touchdown-dependent, however, with five touchdowns in his last five games. The 49ers limit TE touchdowns, so it will be harder for Johnson to hit paydirt this week.

What Pollard and Williams have been able to accomplish in part-time roles all season has been remarkable, even if they’ve admittedly ran hot. This type of game is always the ceiling scenario for Williams who is essentially the James Conner of 2o22 with his run of goal-line touchdowns. We’ve talked about Williams plenty here when D’Andre Swift missed games early in the season, and honestly, his role has hardly changed. The primary driver of Williams’s variance game to game has been script rather than who else is active around him. He is the primary early-down rusher with possession over 80-percent of work inside the five. The complimentary early-down and pass-down roles opened the year as entirely D’Andre Swift’s domain.

When the Patriots are able to run and do they want to run, Stevenson scores fantasy points. His 129 carries heading into Week 11 sat No. 13 and his 24 Red Zone Touches No. 2. Though he has only a modest 95.5 (48th-percentile) Speed Score, his 11.24 (69th-percentile) Agility Score has helped him to a 6.2-percent (No. 18) Breakaway Run Rate. But even when the Pats can’t run, Stevenson scores, anyway. He’s seen 49 targets on the year and a 17.1-percent (No. 5) Target Share.

Williams was cleared to practice this week. I am not sure when he will make his debut, but we are talking about a dynamic, exciting first-round draft pick who could be a Jaylen Waddle-like player in this league. He is a perfect addition for teams that are in great playoff shape and could use a high-upside hammer as a bench stash to put their teams over the top. 

The worst part of our beloved game is the frequency of injuries. It’s an unfortunate byproduct of such a fast-paced, contact-heavy sport. It’s something that is important to remember as we approach the first full week of the preseason. Luckily for the NFL players, they have access to some of the best doctors in the world and can usually return to form at least by the next season. Unfortunately for us fantasy players, it’s not always easy to know when a player will get hurt. To another degree, sometimes your roster isn’t big enough to plan ahead for an injury. This series, the Infirmary Report, will give you advice on the injuries that have happened every week during the season. Without further ado, here is the Infirmary Report: Post Week 11 of regular season action.

Christian Watson is a touchdown machine! In Week 10 he played 85.2-percent of snaps catching 4 of 8 targets for 107 yards and 3 touchdowns. His breakout game rewarded patient fantasy managers with 32.7 fantasy points (WR2). On Thursday night versus the Titans, he added two more scores making it five touchdowns in the last two games. Watson has quickly become Aaron Rodgers preferred Red Zone target. The second-round selection out of NDSU gains 38.38 Lifetime Value points and 21 spots to vault to WR41 in dynasty.

Despite ranking in the top ten at tight end, Pat Freiermuth has failed to record double-digit fantasy totals in three of the Steelers’ last four contests. There is a chance that the fantasy manager that rosters Freiermuth isn’t thrilled to move on. However, given the lack of boom weeks, the window to buy may have cracked open enough. If there is a chance to buy into the Pittsburgh tight end then teambuilders should make a move. 

Remember when I was bummed that Parris Campbell’s breakout was going to get halted because the Colts switched to Sam Ehlinger at quarterback? Well, now I feel worse because I don’t have him anywhere, and Matt Ryan is back. Campbell is finally happening! Here are his numbers in the last three games Matt Ryan has been under center for the Colts: 32 targets, 24 receptions, 203 yards, and three touchdowns. Campbell now leads wide receivers in slot snaps with 385 and is No. 4 in routes run with 347.

As we approach the final stretch of the season, I only want to invest in players that I am confident in their ability to retain fantasy relevancy into next season. Dameon Pierce is top-10 in Opportunity Share (73.6-percent) and Dominator Rating (29.9-percent) with room to grow his role in the receiving game (No. 22 in targets).