Week 11 is in the books; hopefully, you’re looking ahead to the playoffs in your league. In either case, trade deadlines are quickly approaching as well. This could be the last time to trade for someone to change your team’s trajectory and get rid of some dead weight on your own roster. Here are some players that saw their values change in Week 11 and what I’m looking for in Week 12 and beyond to help you win your title.
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Week 12 Value Risers
I was tempted to list Deshaun Watson as my Week 12 riser since he’s due to return in Week 13, but that just felt like cheating. Also, we don’t really know what he will look like in his first week back, so it also felt a little risky. I’d rather wait to see how he looks before putting any sort of eggs into his basket. Instead, I’m going to focus on Jimmy Garoppolo instead.
Garoppolo looked pretty damn good on Monday night against the Cardinals. Ever since Christian McCaffrey joined the team, Jimmy G has looked much better. He’s finished as QB12, QB18, and QB4 in his last three games, and now that the team appears to be firing on all cylinders, I’m fine firing Garoppolo up as my starter in 1QB leagues as we head into the playoffs.
The obvious candidate for RB riser this week has to be Samaje Perine. In Week 11, he saw 15 touches, three of which went for touchdowns on the way to an RB2 finish. Do I think that will happen again? Not likely. But Mixon is likely to miss some time, so Perine should creep up into those flex rankings this week at the very least. The Bengals expect Ja’Marr Chase to return in Week 12, which could take some attention off of the running game. Perine could be a solid flex option for teams depleted with injuries, making him a clear choice for this week’s value riser list.
The Broncos are in a downward spiral, the likes of which I haven’t seen in years. They lost their stud RB in Javonte Williams weeks ago and just cut veteran RB Melvin Gordon. Now they turn their eyes to Chase Edmonds and Latavius Murray to carry the load down the stretch. Edmonds missed Week 11’s matchup and could miss Week 12 as well, leaving Murray as a potential bell cow back for fantasy managers in Week 12 and beyond. Murray finished as RB12 on the week in PPR scoring, so he’s clearly able to get you fantasy points. That being said, I’m tempering expectations somewhat just because the team is so bad. Murray should be able to put up double-digit points in almost every format this week if Edmonds misses, and maybe even if he doesn’t.
Week 11 was supposed to be the week that Joshua Palmer returned to irrelevance, but the fantasy gods had other plans. Both Keenan Allen and Mike Williams suited up in Week 11, but it was Palmer who showed up big for fantasy. His eight catches on 10 targets for 106 yards and two touchdowns shocked everyone and their mother. He finished as WR3 in a week where he wasn’t supposed to even get targeted. But alas, here we are, and Palmer continues to be a flex option going forward. Williams appears to have injured himself again, and Allen looks to be a shell of his former self at the moment, so Herbert is finding Palmer early and often. And believe it or not, it’s working, at least for fantasy.
Week 12 Value Fallers
The Lions may have won their Week 11 matchup, but it sure wasn’t because of Jared Goff. The running game is working well, but the passing game? Not so much. Goff’s QB25 finish for the week is pretty hard to swallow. Granted, the team is likely getting rookie Jameson Williams on the field for the first time in Week 12, but I think it’ll take some time for him to acclimate to the speed of the NFL. This means that the Lions are likely to continue leaning on Jamaal Williams and the running game and take the ball and the decision-making out of Goff’s hands. It’s been working lately, to the tune of three straight victories, so why rock the boat too much, right?
No one really expected Elijah Mitchell to return from injury and dominate for fantasy, right? He also returned to an offense that added a stud running back in McCaffrey. Mitchell managers are pretty fed up at this point, though. His RB35 finish in Week 11 just wasn’t what players wanted in his second week back. The trendline and the narrative are both bad for Mitchell, so I’m benching him everywhere I can. While the offense is cooking, Mitchell just isn’t in the kitchen right now. Until he is, he’s hard to start unless you’re truly desperate.
Drake London (WR – ATL)
I wrote about Drake London as a faller a few weeks back. With Kyle Pitts going to IR, it might seem counterintuitive to put him here again, but hear me out. The Falcons are bad. They’re just bad. Sure, they beat the Bears this week, but that was largely due to their defense and the running game. Both Pitts and London have been very quiet this year. London’s only catch in Week 11 was a two-yard touchdown, and Pitts only caught three of five targets himself. Marcus Mariota just hasn’t seemed all that interested in finding either player this year. Until Mariota is benched, I can’t start London with any confidence whatsoever, even without Pitts on the field.
Another week, another TE faller makes the list. In a year where the tight-end position has been especially brutal for fantasy managers, TJ Hockenson was supposed to be one of the good ones. Alas, Week 11 was not kind to him. Technically, the entire Vikings offense was basically asleep at the wheel this week, but still. Hockenson’s TE11 finish doesn’t feel great, given his potential. At the same time, the fact that 8.4 PPR points are worthy of TE12 shows how bleak things are lately. There are a lot of other tight ends that can score that same amount on any given Sunday, but Hockenson was supposed to be more consistent. Here’s hoping this is just a one-week blip, and he’s back in the top-five TE conversation next week.
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Andrew Hall is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Andrew, follow him @AndrewHallFF.