Fantasy & Betting

11/20/24

5 min read

Fantasy Football 2024: Week 12 Rankings For Every Position

By C.H. Herrmann

Fantasy Writer

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Rankings Last Updated: 11/22/2024

Welcome to the fantasy week of doom.

As most managers are aware, the bye week tornado will ravage the starting lineups of millions of teams this weekend. No players from the Atlanta Falcons, Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, Jacksonville Jaguars, New Orleans Saints, or New York Jets will be available in Week 12.

This reality dampens expectations across the board. For this reason, readers must understand that some of the analysis in this week’s rankings article and subsequent start/sit feature will seem somewhat nit-picky. 

Of course, any available players who are halfway decent and can make it into your lineup should — everyone’s team will feel a bit gross. Still, it’s not in your best interest to resign to these conditions and not be critical of your potential choices.

Even in a week where three of the NFL’s top 15 scoring offenses are out of commission, you must be vigilant in ensuring the best lineup possible is set.

With that in mind, let’s look at the Week 12 rankings:

NFL Week 12 Fantasy Football Rankings

Week 12 Quarterback Rankings

Quick Takeaways

• On Monday, the New York Giants announced that they’ll be benching starter Daniel Jones. Third-string QB Tommy DeVito will be the starter moving forward.
• For those who may have forgotten, DeVito appeared in significant portions of seven games (Week 9 through 16) in 2023 as an undrafted rookie. In those contests, the Syracuse alum posted 12.2 fantasy points per game in four-point per passing touchdown scoring, averaging 26.1 rushing yards per game.
• While it’s undoubtedly inadvisable to pick up DeVito in 1-QB leagues, season-long managers in Superflex should at least entertain the idea of taking on the Giants signal-caller. Compared to options such as Cooper Rush or Mac Jones, DeVito isn’t all that bad of a deep-play second quarterback.
• San Francisco 49ers QB Brock Purdy (right shoulder) has been ruled out for Week 12 vs. the Green Bay Packers. Backup Brandon Allen can be considered as a fringe QB2 option for managers in season-long superflex formats. While we haven't seen Allen play substantial time since 2020 with the Cincinnati Bengals, the surrounding cast of weapons in San Francisco should be enough to prop him up for double-digit fantasy points.

Trending Up

• It's time for our weekly check-in with Justin Herbert. After opening the season with four consecutive games with fewer than 200 passing yards, the former first-round pick is averaging 268 passing yards, 26.3 rushing yards, and 19.4 fantasy points per game in the past six weeks. According to TruMedia, Herbert stands fourth among quarterbacks in adjusted net air yards per attempt (8.20) and tied for tenth in EPA per dropback (0.12) with Tampa Bay Buccaneers signal-caller Baker Mayfield in that span.
• In case you missed it in this week’s waiver wire article, Matthew Stafford has been on a tear since regaining receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua in Week 9. In the last month, Stafford ranks second among quarterbacks in passing yards per game (291.2) and eighth in fantasy points per game (20.1), according to FantasyData. Any manager struggling to find a solution at quarterback or looking for a quality bye week fill-in should look no further.
• Through three weeks as the Cleveland Browns’ starter, we’ve watched the return of vintage Jameis Winston. The former Heisman Trophy winner has attempted no fewer than 40 passes per game in that span and ranks second among quarterbacks in passing yards per game (321.3) with an average of 20.1 fantasy points per game. Somehow, Winston is rostered in just 12 percent of Yahoo leagues and 8.5 percent of ESPN leagues. If Stafford is unavailable, you could do worse than Winston. 
• That said, the Browns are scheduled to face the Denver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers twice in the next three weeks; according to FTN, those defenses rank seventh and eighth in pass defense DVOA.

Trending Down

• The last two weeks have certainly been unkind to Jayden Daniels. The LSU product has been held to less than 200 passing yards per game across a pair of disappointing contests and has dipped to an average of 11.5 rushing yards per game in this window. For context, Daniels had been averaging 51 rushing yards per game through the nine previous games to open this season.
• Of course, anyone going up against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles (fifth in pass defense DVOA) will struggle. Luckily, a bounceback is on the horizon for Week 11 as Daniels will be facing off against a rival Dallas Cowboys secondary that ranks fourth-worst in pass DVOA and allows the fifth-highest passer rating (101.7) to opposing quarterbacks in 2024.

Week 12 Running Back Rankings

Quick Takeaways

• Kansas City Chiefs RB Isiah Pacheco (broken leg) has been ruled out for Week 12 vs. the Carolina Panthers. The team opened the 21-day practice window for the former UDFA last week, although it’s worth pointing out the Chiefs do play on a short schedule in Week 13 with a divisional bout against the Las Vegas Raiders on Black Friday. It seems, to some degree, that head coach Andy Reid and staff decided to play it safe in this situation. With Pacheco out, recent starter Kareem Hunt will resume his workhorse role against a Panthers defensive unit that ranks dead last in run defense DVOA this season.
• Speaking of the Raiders, Zamir White (quad) and Alexander Mattison (ankle) are listed as ‘Doubtful’ for Week 12 vs. the Denver Broncos. Any replacement, like Ameer Abdullah, won’t be the most appealing option as Vegas ranks dead-last in offensive rush DVOA and Pro Football Reference’s Expected Points from the backfield (-50.57) by a significant margin. Still, any healthy body at running back will carry marginal value in Week 12, so you can consider Abdullah as a deep RB3 option.
• Week 12 also brings us another update in the Jonathon Brooks saga. Panthers head coach Dave Canales shared with the media on Monday that he “fully expects” the rookie to make his debut vs. the Chiefs this Sunday, although at this point, who knows? It’s been a frustrating journey trying to predict when the ex-Texas Longhorn will return from an ACL injury suffered last November in college or what kind of role he’ll have behind incumbent starter Chuba Hubbard. On pedigree alone, I consider Brooks a flex option in Week 12, but hopes shouldn’t be exceptionally high.

Trending Up

• Let’s hype up Joe Mixon for a moment, shall we? Since returning from an ankle injury that sidelined him for several games, the veteran leads all running backs in carries per game (22) and fantasy points per game (24.2) in point-per-reception (PPR) scoring in the past six weeks. The team’s willingness to lean on Mixon has meant more than enough to overcome the fact that he’s only seeing 3.3 passing targets. Assuming your team can stay afloat in his absence, congratulations on rostering Mixon in 2024.
• Don’t forget that the Chicago Bears backfield looked a little different in Week 11. Second-year back Roschon Johnson accounted for 40.7 percent of the Bears’ backfield opportunity share against the Green Bay Packers and toted three of the four goal-line carries. New offensive coordinator Thomas Brown’s unit registered a -0.2 Pass Rate Over Expectation (PROE) in Week 11, per Fantasy Points Data, the fourth-lowest rate recorded by the Bears this season. 
• Should these backfield splits and tendencies hold, it’s feasible that Johnson can be a flex-worthy back regardless of bye week or injury issues. Managers needing running back help must look to see if Johnson is available on the waiver wire.

Trending Down

• Rico Dowdle has not been the world’s most efficient back this season, although he was a relatively helpful asset with Dak Prescott (hamstring) under center. Now that the latter is done for the year, Dowdle’s seen a considerable dip in production during the past two weeks with backup QB Cooper Rush in tow. 
• In seven games with Prescott, Dowdle averaged 23.3 receiving yards and 3.7 targets per game as a receiver. Albeit in a small sample, the former UDFA has dipped to just 4.5 receiving yards per game across two contests, significantly undercutting his fantasy value in PPR scoring.
• It’s time to call it a wrap for Nick Chubb. As we discussed earlier when talking about Winston, the team is skewing pass-heavy, which leaves little room for Chubb to do much of anything. Across four healthy games in 2024, the veteran is logging a meager 42.3 scrimmage yards per game and an even more depressing 6.2 PPR points per game. Hold onto Chubb through the bye storms this week and in Week 14, assuming you have a roster that makes it that far with him on it, but that’s about as far into the season as he needs to matter.

Don’t Believe The Hype

• Sorry about Denver Broncos rookie Audric Estime. In Week 11, the fifth-round pick followed up his “breakout” performance by playing on just 12 of the offense’s 60 snaps and accomplished next to nothing on nine total touches (25 scrimmage yards) against the Atlanta Falcons.
• It seems Javonte Williams is back in head coach Sean Payton’s favor, or whatever weird decision-making process goes into determining who gets the ball in the mile-high city. We should probably avoid trusting any back in Denver, but if you’re going to roll with someone, I guess the answer is Williams again.

Week 12 Wide Receiver Rankings

Quick Takeaways

• Although the Falcons are on the bye, it’s worth remembering that Darnell Mooney injured his hamstring against the Broncos in Week 11. I possess no medical expertise, but we’ve seen soft-tissue injuries be finicky. His status will be worth tracking as we roll into the fantasy playoffs and beyond.
• Philadelphia Eagles WR DeVonta Smith (hamstring) has been ruled out for Week 12 vs. the Los Angeles Rams after being unable to practice all week. His absence should prove to be helpful for teammate TE Dallas Goedert, but no other primary wide receiver on the roster should see enough of a substantive bump to qualify for fantasy consideration.

Trending Up

• George Pickens must be glad that Russell Wilson is his quarterback. In four contests together, the young wideout is averaging 91.3 receiving yards per game with a team-leading 27.0 percent target share. In fantasy terms, Pickens is yielding a robust 17.7 PPR points per game in this window and can finally say he's playing up to the level of his pedigree. A star has been born in Pittsburgh.
• To reiterate what I said earlier in this week’s waiver wire column, Winston has done wonders for the Browns’ pass-catchers. Without getting too deep into the weeds, here’s the level of opportunity that each of the primary targets has received during the past month with Winston in charge:

Trending Down

• If you’re still holding onto Diontae Johnson, you can go ahead and stop. Since joining the Baltimore Ravens via trade in Week 9, the ex-Panther has seen just four targets and registered a genuinely puzzling and lowly 15.1 percent route participation rate. I suppose it can be said the team was smart for adding an experienced pass-catcher to an aspiring Super Bowl-winning squad in case of injury, but a depth piece in an NFL offense does nothing for us fantasy managers. Johnson is toast.

Week 12 Tight End Rankings

Quick Takeaways

• Dallas Cowboys TE Jake Ferguson left Week 11 vs. the Houston Texans in the first quarter due to a concussion. As bad as this offense is now, Ferguson has accounted for a 15.2 percent target share, which ranks second-highest on the team. Hopefully, he can clear protocol to play against the Commanders.

Trending Up

• Chargers TE Will Dissly has been a godsend for fantasy managers since Week 7. In those five weeks, he is registering 48.2 receiving yards per game with a team-leading 21.7 percent target share that also ranks fifth among all tight ends.
• Here’s your reminder that Jonnu Smith has become one of Tua Tagovailoa’s favorite targets since returning in Week 8. The veteran tight end is averaging 4.5 catches and 53.0 receiving yards per game in the past month; Smith’s 12.8 PPR points per game ranks seventh among tight ends in that window.

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C.H. Herrmann

Fantasy Writer

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C.H. 'Herms' Herrmann is a fantasy writer for The 33rd Team, leveraging his extensive experience from previous roles as a fantasy analyst and NFL writer at Draft Sharks, FantasyPros, ClutchPoints, and SB Nation. A respected voice in the fantasy football community, Herms' insights and accuracy have earned them the distinction of being the No. 1 most accurate DST ranker in FantasyPros’ ECR Draft Rankings in the 2023 season. Herms has worked in media since 2020.