There is nothing easy about making lineup decisions in fantasy football. It is a necessary part of the game. Getting these decisions correct is key to your success as a fantasy manager. Here to help you make those decisions are our positional start ’em and sit ’em picks.
Fantasy decisions are more important than ever with playoff spots and playoff positioning on the line, so let’s look at our Week 12 start/sit plays for the WR position.
Which WRs Should You Start in Fantasy This Week?
Zay Flowers, WR, Baltimore Ravens (at LAC)
For the better part of the past month, Zay Flowers has been quite disappointing, as has just one game with more than 8.0 fantasy points. His best outing of the season continues to be his first one. With just one touchdown on the season, Flowers hasn’t been able to provide fantasy managers with that spike game. Well, I think this is the week.
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Flowers suddenly has a lot going for him. For starters, Mark Andrews is out. That opens up roughly 25% of Lamar Jackson’s targets, and they’re certainly not all going to Isaiah Likely.
But more importantly, it’s the opponent. The Los Angeles Chargers allow the second-most PPG to wide receivers. Flowers is the clear WR1, and there’s a chance this game could be sneaky high-scoring. Look for Jackson to pepper his new top pass catcher with targets. If Flowers finds the end zone, I think 20 fantasy points is realistic this week.
Garrett Wilson, WR, New York Jets (vs. MIA)
All it takes is one completely disastrous week, like Garrett Wilson had, for fantasy managers to start questioning their entire existence. I always base my numbers on PPR, but if you play in half-PPR, then I get to say this:
You see that person staring back at you in the mirror? Yeah, that one. They scored more fantasy points than Wilson last week.
Wilson caught two passes for nine yards and lost a fumble. He also had a really bad drop. It was easily the worst game of the gifted receiver’s young career. It’s the type of game that, combined with the Jets making the move to Tim Boyle, will have fantasy managers wondering if Wilson is still startable.
Yes, Boyle is a very bad quarterback. Yes, Zach Wilson is a very bad quarterback. But these quarterbacks are still in the top 0.01% of all quarterbacks in the world. They are capable of completing passes.
Prior to last week, Wilson had scored 17.0 or more fantasy points in three of his last four. He has just three games under 10.0 fantasy points. All things considered, he’s been pretty good this season. The elite ceiling we wanted with Aaron Rodgers obviously doesn’t exist, but Wilson has been only a minor bust relative to ADP.
This week, he gets a Dolphins defense allowing the 11th-most PPG to wide receivers. With the Jets almost certain to face a negative game script, we should see a lot more passes from Boyle than the Jets would prefer. Those passes are probably going in Wilson’s direction.
Look for a big bounce-back performance from the sophomore talent. Wilson hasn’t posted a dud game two weeks in a row, and that won’t start now.
Which WRs Should You Sit in Fantasy This Week?
Courtland Sutton, WR, Denver Broncos (vs. CLE)
It definitely feels wrong to recommend benching Courtland Sutton. He’s been one of the most reliable receivers in all of fantasy, posting double-digit fantasy points in all but one game this season.
This is one of those situations where I think watching the games is important. There’s no denying Sutton’s talent, but his production has been very flukey. I know that’s tough to say after 11 weeks, but that’s the importance of watching the games.
Sutton has had multiple games where he didn’t start producing until the second half, and he’s had multiple games that would’ve been disasters had he not scored.
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Touchdowns are awesome. In fact, they are everything in fantasy. But Sutton’s touchdown rate is unsustainable. He’s scored one and only one touchdown in all but two games this season.
This week, I don’t like Sutton’s chances of finding the end zone against a Browns defense allowing the second-fewest PPG to wide receivers. The Browns offense may be a disaster with Thompson-Robinson under center, but they have arguably the best overall defense in the NFL.
If Sutton doesn’t score, he’s probably not reaching double digits. Do not feel bad about sitting him this week.
Amari Cooper, WR, Cleveland Browns (at DEN)
For the second WR sit, we are sticking with the same game. Amari Cooper is still as talented as ever, and in a different situation, he’d be an every-week WR2. Unfortunately, he’s stuck with DTR at quarterback.
Last week, Cooper caught four passes for 34 yards, as Thompson-Robinson opted to repeatedly check it down to Njoku to the tune of 15 targets.
I don’t have much hope for things getting better against a resurgent Broncos pass defense. Denver is allowing the 11th-fewest PPG to wide receivers. And that number is even better than it looks because they were allowing the most PPF to wide receivers earlier this season.
Two weeks ago, the Broncos shut down Stefon Diggs. Last week, they contained Jordan Addison. Next up, it’s going to be Cooper. In a game where the Browns will try and run the ball over and over again, Cooper is bound to underwhelm. Sit him if you can.
Trending Searches for WR Start/Sit
Did you know that we have a Start/Sit Optimizer here at Pro Football Network?! It’s completely free to use, and it allows you to enter up to six players to find the best option to plug into your starting lineup!
It also allows us to see the most popular trending searches, and we’ve jotted some of them down here to help provide some clarity on!
Should You Start Zay Flowers or Calvin Ridley?
I really like Flowers. I really don’t like Calvin Ridley. But this is as close as it gets. These two are literally next to each other in my weekly rankings. The Start/Sit Optimizer has Ridley as the better start, but only by a margin of 12.5 to 12.0.
Ridley is coming off one of his patented blow-up games. Every few weeks, he puts together a monster game, fooling fantasy managers into thinking he’s a startable weekly option.
Ridley has games of 20.6, 24.1, and 31.1 fantasy points. He also has five games with 7.0 or fewer fantasy points.
Plenty of wide receivers are capable of 3-4 smash games a season. If the other 10+ are underwhelming, no one would consider those guys strong starts.
If the question were whether you should start Ridley or Rashid Shaheed, would that even be close? Most fantasy managers wouldn’t even think to ask that. They would just start Ridley. Because, of course, you do. I will now pose the question: What’s the difference between Ridley and Shaheed?
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Shaheed has three games with 19.0, 18.3, and 24.3 fantasy points. He has six games with 7.4 fantasy points or fewer. Sounds an awful lot like Ridley, doesn’t it? Yet, Shaheed is viewed as a boom-or-bust WR4, while Ridley is inside the top 36 every week.
Bringing it back to Ridley vs. Flowers, the Ravens rookie has had a much higher floor but clearly lacks the ceiling of Ridley. Given how close this is, it comes down to what you need. If you are chasing 25+ fantasy points, Ridley is your guy. If you just need a stable 10+, Flowers is the man for the job.
Should You Start Amari Cooper or Marquise Brown?
I was pretty bullish on Marquise Brown entering this season. My thesis was we’ve seen him command elite volume before. At his depressed price, he had WR2 upside even with poor quarterback play, plus the asymmetrical upside of a potential Kyler Murray return.
Brown outplayed his ADP, and then Murray returned. I was feeling like this call was spot on.
Unfortunately, Brown with Murray has not gone as planned through two games. Brown has actually had his two worst outings of the season in the two games Murray has played.
That makes this start/sit decision tricky because Cooper playing with DTR against a run-funnel defense is less than ideal.
The Start/Sit Optimizer has this firmly in favor of Brown (11.4 to 9.5_. It’s a little closer in my weekly rankings, with these two four spots apart, but I agree and would start Brown over Cooper.
Looking to make a trade in your fantasy league? Having trouble deciding who to start and who to sit? Setting DFS lineups? Check out PFN’s Free Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer, Start/Sit Optimizer, and DFS Lineup Optimizer to help you make the right decision!
