4 Tricky RB Decisions for the Week 12 Slate

In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by Paramount+:

As usual, we have lots of moving parts today. Here’s everything you need to know before setting your lineup …

😥 No Joe Burrow today. Despite getting in a couple of full practices, the Bengals reversed course on Burrow’s status and will sit him today vs. the Patriots. Cincy plays on Thanksgiving, so the short turnaround likely factored in to the decision. Still, there’s plenty to like in this game (50-point total) with Joe Flacco at the helm. Both WR Andrei Iosivas and TE Mike Gesicki (yes, he’s back) are sneaky starts—especially if Christian Gonzalez puts the clamps on Tee Higgins.

🤷 Jacobs or Wilson? The biggest question mark of the week is whether Josh Jacobs will gut it out and play today. Like Cincy, the Packers play on Thursday, so my lean is that Jacobs misses today. They also elevated RB Pierre Strong to the roster. We have Emanuel Wilson just outside the top 24 RBs, but he’s a solid volume play.

🤔 Muddied backfields. The Packers RB situation is fairly binary (you play Jacobs if he’s active, you play Wilson if he’s not), but that’s not the case for the Jags, the Patriots, and the Steelers—all of which have nice RB matchups on tap today:

TreVeyon Henderson vs. Rhamondre Stevenson
Bhayshul Tuten vs. Travis Etienne
Jaylen Warren vs. Kenneth Gainwell

My leans: Hendo > Stevenson (but Rhamondre vultures TDs), Tuten > Etienne (we saw the flippening last week before Tuten got banged up), and Warren > Gainwell (he’s fully off the injury report and the Bears have no LBs).

🚀 Rookie breakouts. Along with Tuten, look for Luther Burden to make an impact today. We’ve been pounding the table for him this week in multiple places.

🚑️ Misc. injury notes. Kenneth Walker (glute) and Alvin Kamara (ankle) are good to go … No Bucky Irving this week, but Chris Godwin is set to make his return … Aaron Rodgers is going to be a GTD … Brenton Strange is back today for the Jags. We have him projected as a mid-range TE2.

LAST-MINUTE RANKINGS UPDATES FOR WEEK 12

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Editors’ Picks

Ready to gobble up the competition in Week 12? The Xfinity Start/Sit Tool, our latest expert rankings and Xfinity Best Projections are tasty treats for you. And here’s some ICMYI content:

Week 12 Injury Report

We know that Joe Burrow is sitting, but there are several other players who could return to the field today. Adam Ronis and Jorge Martin update all the injuries with fantasy relevancy.

Week 12 Start/Sit

With Josh Jacobs iffy to play, do the Packers lean on Jordan Love’s arm? Coach Gene Clemons and John Laghezza bring you starts and sits … and charts to help you set your lineup.

10 Things for Week 12

Why are Patrick Mahomes and Xavier Worthy having trouble connecting? Ian Hartitz attacks 10 subjects you need to know before games kick off on Sunday.

Week 12 Cheat Sheet: What You Missed, All Right Here

Are you in a superflex league and looking at Shedeur Sanders as a possible emergency start? We’ve got info for you. Are you wondering why Andrei Iosivas’ name keeps coming up this week as a sneaky start (more below)? We’ll tell you why. Are you worrying about Kyren Williams? There might be cause for concern.

Nando DiFino has compiled all the info you need, in a quick-hit fashion, in the Week 12 Cheat Sheet. Make sure to give it a spin before you set your lineup. ⬇️

YOU JUST MIGHT START A NEW LEAGUE FOR THE PURE RUSH

Underdog DFS: 12 Keys to Winning the Battle Royale

We all want to be in front of players who smash for fantasy and especially DFS. It’s like being a fantasy fortune teller when a player goes off in your lineup when others might have sat him. As an industry we’ve been calling for Zay Flowers to bloom almost weekly. Pete Overzet declared this the week:

“One of these weeks, Zay Flowers is going to explode. There have been plenty of excuses for Flowers this year—Lamar Jackson in and out of the lineup, the team playing slow, etc.—but he's simply too talented not to pop off eventually. Assuming the Big Dog doesn't hog all of the 29 expected points, this could be the Zay week. There is no Rashod Bateman, and the Jets have a walking dead secondary after trading away all of their CBs. ”

Pete dropped 12 Keys for Week 12 that will help you draft winning Underdog Battle Royale lineups. Some takes are player-centric, while others look at the matchup or the team’s offensive environment. Make sure to give it a read before you get into a draft and you can even check out his Week 12 DFS Jam for more advice. ⤵️

DRAFT AT LEAST ONE LION FOR EVERY LINEUP

Week 12 Last-Minute Streamers

We’ve already made the case for Andrei Iosivas up above. If he’s available and you need a dart-throw WR, Andrei the Giant will stand tall. There are more players who are likely available in your league who could help you this week. Like Luther Burden:😀

“The Bears take on a Pittsburgh Steelers defense that has allowed the second-most half-PPR points to opposing WRs this season. Burden is arguably my favorite WR stash for the rest of the season because I expect his role to continue to grow, and the Bears have weekly shootout potential.”

Jonathan Fuller offers up a handful of players who could either pop this week, or in the future. If you’re being done in by the bye week and injuries, these options are plenty helpful. ⬇️

TWO BACKUP RBs COULD STILL BE FRONT AND CENTER IN WEEK 12

Around the Watercooler

The turkey basting can wait a few days. Same for “taste testing” the stuffing ingredients. For now, here’s some fun and informative content.

👀 Need last-minute advice? Jump on the live start/sit show at 10 a.m. ET.

⬆️⬇️ Brock Purdy is back and on the rise, and others are falling.

🚁 The WR going for 100+ & 2 TDs today…Need for speed.

🏈 Shedeur will try to make history…I don’t like his chances.

🚑️ Full injury report. Still no Pacheco.

🔮 Never too early to look ahead to the fantasy playoffs.

👻 The cooterdoodle Dwight Schrute parlay is great beyond the Scranton branch. Also, you might want to buy in on Jameson Williams.

🍗 Davante Adams is going to EAT.

🚀 George Kittle is rising up our ROS Rankings.