Fantasy Football Start/Sit: Rhamondre Stevenson, Kayshon Boutte, Javonte Williams

Week 12 is here, and if your fantasy football roster looks anything like the Thanksgiving dessert table—half empty, vaguely chaotic, and relying on one uncle who definitely shouldn’t be carrying this much responsibility—you’re not alone. Bye weeks, injuries, and depth-chart plot twists are testing everyone’s patience.

To help you separate the sneaky starts from the “please don’t ruin my week” sits, we turn to the Featured Pros. Their expert picks for Week 12 Sleepers and Duds will help stabilize your lineup, calm your nerves, and maybe even prevent that annual holiday meltdown we pretend is “tradition.”

Let’s dig in.

Fantasy Football Week 12 Start/Sit Advice

Sleepers

Which player outside of the top 100 in the FantasyPros Flex rankings is a good sleeper start, and why do you think he has upside this week?

Rhamondre Stevenson (RB – NE)

“Pats head coach Mike Vrabel said that running back Rhamondre Stevenson would practice on Wednesday. If he plays, and since it’s versus the Bengals, we would have no reason to believe he wouldn’t be on the field and producing. Even with TreVeyon Henderson asserting himself these last few weeks as the team’s most explosive runner, both would be in line to get valuable touches.”
– Justin Jaksa (Dr. Roto)

Kayshon Boutte (WR – NE)

“Kayshon Boutte returns to practice this week. If he is back, he could be a sleeper to target. Drake Maye‘s breakout season has helped a lot of pieces. Boutte has had a great start, averaging 18.7 yards per catch. He has Maye’s trust and has five receiving touchdowns in eight games. The Bengals have allowed the most receiving touchdowns in the NFL with 25 already this season.”
– David Heilman (Sports Gambling Podcast Network)

Duds

Which player inside the top 40 in the FantasyPros Flex rankings is likely to disappoint fantasy managers this week?

Javonte Williams (RB – DAL)

“Javonte Williams. I wanted to go with Chase Brown (the Patriots’ Matchup is brutal). That Eagles defense is stifling. They stymied a Detroit Lions offense, and while Jahmyr Gibbs flashed moments of brilliance, Williams isn’t that type of player with those kinds of skills. Williams has benefitted from an explosive pass attack, but as we saw against the Lions, the Eagles can quash that. Without it, Williams is going to struggle. And, he won’t be bailed out by dump-offs and screens because he is completely nonexistent in the passing game. This game has an over/under of 47.5. I’m expecting successful bettors to be looking up at the over and laughing at how far away it is. This is a 24-17 game, at best, with a good chance at a 17-13 type of struggle. Not a good projection for a big day from Williams. He’s your bust this week.”
– Chris Mitchell (FantasyData)

“It pains me to say this because I love him so much, but Javonte Williams versus the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles’ run defense is as elite as they come, so the Cowboys would be wise to pass the ball quite a bit with Dak Prescott and company this week, as the only sort of shaky part of the Eagles’ defense is their cornerback situation. Dallas will look to expose that. Williams could still get held up by volume in this matchup this week, but it’s going to be ugly with inefficient volume.”
– Aidan Weingartner (Fantasy In Frames)