Stars of Week 12

QB:      Russell Wilson, SEA: 21-30, 345 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INTs

RB:      Adrian Peterson, MIN: 29 carries, 158 yards, 2 TDs                      

WR:     Doug Baldwin, SEA: 6 catches, 145 yards, 3 TDs

TE:      Julius Thomas, JAX: 9 catches, 116 yards, 1 TD

For those who claim that Russell Wilson is nothing more than a game manager (you’re wrong, by the way), you should pop in the tape of the game against the Steelers this past Sunday. Wilson shredded the Steelers’ secondary and guided the Seahawks to a shootout win. While Wilson hasn’t quite lived up to his top 5 fantasy QB status at draft time, he remains a low-end QB1, with ebbs and flows based on matchups. Adrian Peterson remains a beast – nothing more left to be said. Angry Doug Baldwin was on the receiving end of three of Wilson’s TD passes, including the last TD that put the game away. We’ll take a closer look at Baldwin below. Julius Thomas had the kind of game that the Jaguars envisioned when they signed him. He’s a low end TE1 in the Jags offense, so Thomas should be started in all but the most shallow of leagues. 

Week 12 Takeaways – A Closer Look 

Each week we’ll take a closer look at a handful of performances and sort out what such performances mean going forward.

- Matthew Stafford, QB – DET: 27-38, 337 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INTs

Analysis: Matthew Stafford just missed taking top QB honors for the week, but nevertheless he deserves an honorable mention for his performance against the Eagles. It wasn’t that long ago when Stafford was considered a top-5 fantasy QB. Inconsistency and coaching turmoil stunted Stafford’s ascent into the upper echelon. While Stafford’s Thanksgiving day performance was against the lowly Eagles’ pass D, don’t dismiss it as an outlier of what’s to come. The new offensive coordinator for the Lions takes better advantage of Stafford’s tools, and Stafford remains incredibly talented. Stafford straddles the QB1/QB2 border for the rest of the year, and makes for a good start against weaker pass defenses. 

- CJ Anderson, RB – DEN: 15 carries, 113 yards, 2 TDs                                       

Analysis: CJ Anderson finds himself in the analysis section for a record third time this season. That comes with good reason – his stock fluctuates virtually every week it seems. Those of you who drafted Anderson or acquired him for twenty cents on the dollar will be rewarded for your patience. With Brock Osweiler running Gary Kubiak’s base offense, the running game will be elevated. Anderson remains the team’s most talented RB, so Anderson will continue to have the opportunity to sit in the lead chair. Ronnie Hillman will continue to get a solid share of the carries (the split was 15 to 14 in favor of Anderson this week), but look for Anderson to wrestle more of those carries away – somewhere around a 2 to 1 ratio. Anderson elevates up to an RB2 going forward. 

- Melvin Gordon, RB – SD: 14 carries, 60 yards, 0 TDs                     

Analysis: To say that Melvin Gordon has had a disappointing season would be an understatement. Gordon has 510 rushing yards with a 3.6 yard per carry average, and has zero TDs this season. Not exactly what the Chargers or fantasy owners had in mind when drafting Gordon. Sure, Gordon operates behind a weak offensive line, but you’d still be right to expect more from the highly touted RB. As for a silver lining, Gordon looked better against the Jaguars this past week. The takeaway here is that Gordon, while disappointing so far, still has a long way to go before being deemed a bust. Gordon should be viewed as an RB3/flex option for the rest of this season, but keep an eye on him over the last few games for purposes of scouting next season. If he shows continued improvement over these last few games, then perhaps he could bring back a solid ROI in next year’s draft. 

- Doug Baldwin, WR – SEA: 6 catches, 145 yards, 3 TDs

Analysis: Angry Doug Baldwin feels that neither he, nor his Seahawks teammates, receives enough respect from folks. As a group they may be a tad underrated, as they operate in a run-first offense. Baldwin falls into the category of “better in real life than fantasy” player, but that doesn’t mean that he can’t help your fantasy team as well. Besides playing in a run-first offense, the other issue for Baldwin’s fantasy value has been the Seahawks’ penchant for spreading the ball around. Now with Jimmy Graham out for the season, that leaves one less mouth to feed. And looking at Baldwin’s last three contests (including Sunday’s game against the Steelers), he’s posted yardage totals of 134, 60 and 145. The Seahawks appear to be finding their post-Marshawn offensive identity, and with the defense no longer playing at a dominant level, look for the passing game to continue to open up. Baldwin should be viewed as a WR3 going forward.

- Markus Wheaton, WR – PIT: 9 catches, 201 yards, 1 TD

Analysis: Markus Wheaton has largely been off the fantasy radar since Martavis Bryant’s return from suspension after the Steelers’ first four games. Prior to this 201 yard outburst against the Seahawks, Wheaton posted the following yardage totals in his previous five games: 8, 16, 5, -2! and 18. Naturally Wheaton was due for an outburst against the Legion of Boom – with an admission that the LOB no longer packs the boom that it once used to. Cutting through the numbers, what happened here is that the Seahawks devoted their resources to stopping Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant (which they did a commendable job doing), but left the middle of the field wide open for Wheaton to exploit. So the takeaway here is that Wheaton benefitted from the specifics of the Seahawks’ game plan, rather than Wheaton emerging as the third amigo. View this game as an outlier for Wheaton. He’s nothing more than a WR5, so don’t overpay for him.

Rapid Fire Pickups

Each week we’ll throw out potential free agent pickups from each position for deeper leagues, in each case 1) someone who has NOT been referenced above, and 2) a player available in most leagues. 

QB: Jay Cutler, CHI

RB: David Johnson, ARZ (with CJ2K out, he’s the guy to own)

RB: Shaun Draughn, SF

WR: Kendall Wright, TEN

WR: Ted Ginn Jr., CAR

TE: Zach Miller, CHI 

Week 13 Rankings

Quarterbacks

1. Cam Newton

2. Tom Brady

3. Aaron Rodgers

4. Carson Palmer

5. Ben Roethlisberger

6. Andy Dalton

7. Russell Wilson

8. Matthew Stafford

9. Eli Manning

10. Drew Brees

11. Ryan Fitzpatrick

12. Derek Carr

13. Philip Rivers

14. Blake Bortles

15. Matt Ryan

16. Jay Cutler

17. Ryan Tannehill

18. Alex Smith

19. Marcus Mariota

20. Matt Hasselbeck

Running Backs

1. Adrian Peterson

2. DeAngelo Williams

3. Devonta Freeman

4. LeSean McCoy

5. Jonathan Stewart

6. Doug Martin

7. Todd Gurley

8. Thomas Rawls

9. Matt Forte

10. Mark Ingram

11. Darren McFadden

12. David Johnson

13. Eddie Lacy

14. C.J. Anderson

15. Chris Ivory

16. LeGarrette Blount

17. Lamar Miller

18. DeMarco Murray

19. Charcandrick West

20. Latavius Murray

21. Javorius Allen

22. Giovani Bernard

23. Jeremy Hill

24. T.J. Yeldon

25. Frank Gore

26. Ronnie Hillman

27. Alfred Blue

28. Shaun Draughton

29. Jeremy Langford

30. Spencer Ware

31. Danny Woodhead

32. Antonio Andrews

33. Matt Jones

34. Alfred Morris

35. Melvin Gordon

Wide Receivers

1. Antonio Brown

2. DeAndre Hopkins

3. Odell Beckham Jr.

4. Julio Jones

5. A.J. Green

6. Calvin Johnson

7. Alshon Jeffery

8. Brandon Marshall

9. Allen Robinson

10. Larry Fitzgerald

11. Eric Decker

12. Jarvis Landry

13. T.Y. Hilton

14. Martavis Bryant

15. Danny Amendola

16. Mike Evans

17. Amari Cooper

18. Demaryius Thomas

19. Randall Cobb

20. Michael Crabtree

21. Dez Bryant

22. Brandon LaFell

23. Emmanuel Sanders

24. Jeremy Maclin

25. Sammy Watkins

26. Brandin Cooks

27. DeSean Jackson

28. Golden Tate

29. Kamar Aiken

30. John Brown

31. Stevie Johnson

32. Doug Baldwin

33. Travis Benjamin

34. Jordan Matthews

35. Davante Adams

Tight Ends

1. Greg Olsen

2. Tyler Eifert

3. Travis Kelce

4. Scott Chandler

5. Gary Barnidge

6. Julius Thomas

7. Jordan Reed

8. Benjamin Watson

9. Antonio Gates

10. Richard Rodgers

11. Jason Witten

12. Jacob Tamme

13. Martellus Bennett

14. Heath Miller

15. Crockett Gillmore