Studs & Duds Week 12
Welcome back to another Studs and Duds article. Looking back to week 11, I am back in the win column. After getting 3 of my 12 picks correct in week 10, I bounced back to getting 7 out of 12 last week. My hits included a huge game from Andrew Luck after he extended his 3+ TD streak to 7 games. Robert Woods enjoyed a 72 yard, 1 touchdown performance in one of the best games this season against the Chiefs. I also hit on O.J. Howard who finished as a top 5 TE this week. Although he did get injured in this game and unfortunately has been placed on IR. I did miss on 3 of my stud picks though. Joe Mixon also had a very disappointing outing even though he had 14 PPR points. He was saved by a touchdown, but he had 12 rushes for only 14 yards. For my last stud play I had Amari Cooper having a nice game. I guess I was a week too early, as he went crazy on Thanksgiving. Atlanta shut down Cooper as he only had 6 PPR points. I had Kirk Cousins having a down game but he was able to throw for multiple touchdowns and finished as a top 12 play in week 11. I had better picks for my Duds. I hit on down games from Jordan Howard, who had only 65 total yards in this game. I also hit on both of my WR picks. Tyler Boyd and Devin Funchess both had disappointing games. Boyd was somewhat usable, as he was able to get 11 PPR points. Funchess on the other hand, failed to have over 40 receiving yards. I also hit on my dud TE pick last week, as Kyle Rudolph failed to have over 15 receiving yards. I will look to keep it going with this week's picks.
Studs:
QB: Andrew Luck- Luck has a great chance to extend his 7 game streak with at least 3 touchdowns. I currently have him as my QB1 on the week. The Dolphins are not a team that you should be worried about. He hasn't scored under 25 points since week 3. I had him as a stud last week and I'm rolling with him again. If you have Andrew Luck on your team, you must start him.
RB: Nick Chubb- There are multiple RB I like a ton this week so it was hard to pick just two. I had to go with Chubb this week as he is one of my favorite RB plays and it shows. I have him ranked as RB3 in my updated rankings. The Bengals have given up the third most fantasy points per game to the RB, the 4th most touchdowns, and the 4th most yards. This is a prime matchup for Chubb to destroy the Bengals.
RB: Matt Breida- For this pick I was going between him and Marlon Mack. For me it was the injury to the Colts center. Both have fantastic matchups and play Mack if you have him. Breida is coming off his best game this season and has had the bye to fully rest up. I think he is starting to get healthy once again. He plays against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who have given up the most rushing touchdowns and is in the bottom 10 in rushing yards allowed and fantasy points per game to the RB. His pass catching work is going to put him into a great spot on Sunday.
WR: D.J. Moore- He had a fantastic matchup last week and proceeded to catch 7 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown. Weirdly this was his 3rd game of the season without a rush. Devin Funchess will most likely be out for this game, after missing 3 straight practices. This will allow more targets to go Moore's way. The Seahawks have been good against slot WR, but have struggled against perimeter WR. Moore should have another great game.
WR: Julian Edelman- In the last three weeks Edelman has had double digit targets in each of those games. He is once again the focus of this passing game. In those three games, he has had two 100 yard games. This week the Patriots play the Jets who have been awful against slot receivers. The Jets are bottom 10 in fantasy points allowed to the WR this year. Edelman should have solid performance in this one.
TE: Cameron Brate- He is one of Winston's favorite targets and now O.J. Howard is no longer a factor after he was placed on IR. Brate has the job all to himself and will be a TE1 going forward. The 49ers are a middling defense against the TE this year. He is going to be a redzone threat for a high scoring team. The over/under in this game is currently 54 points, and I think Brate will contribute in a big way.
Duds:
QB: Tom Brady- Feels like a trap game for Brady this week. They are going against the Jets this week who blitz the 6th most in the league. Brady has one of the lowest QB ratings against the blitz this season. I could see the Patriots lean on the running game here. He has thrown for multiple touchdowns once in the last five games. Brady is still a top 15 play for me this week, but I wouldn't call you crazy for benching him.
RB: LeSean McCoy- Other than last week's game against the Jets, McCoy has been disappointing. This week, he goes up against the Jaguars who have one of the best rush defenses in the league. This should be one of the lower scoring games this week. The Jaguars are top 5 in fantasy points per game and rushing yards allowed. It is still a stout rush defense that should give McCoy problems all game long.
RB: Lamar Miller- He has been solid 3 of the last 4 games, but I'm expecting a down game for him against the Titans. They have given up the 3rd least amount of TDs, the second fewest fantasy points per game, and are giving up 3.9 yards per carry against the RB position. It's a tough rushing defense and I think they keep Miller in check.
WR: Courtland Sutton- I'm a believer in the rookie, just not for this week. There will be a good chance he is featured as a Stud in the coming weeks. This week though, he gets a matchup against Joe Haden. He has been terrific all season. Earlier in the season, Haden held Julio Jones and A.J. Green to under 75 yards when he faced them. He is yet to allow a passing touchdown this season. Sutton is going to have a disappointing performance this week.
WR: Demaryius Thomas- He wasn't able to get a single catch last week. He also ran the least amount of routes this season. It just doesn't seem like he fits into this offense. He is actually opening the door for Keke Coutee to get more work. I just don't expect much out of him for the rest of the season. He may matchup with Logan Ryan in this game, who has been pretty decent throughout the season.
TE: Kyle Rudolph- He has been a huge disappointment this season. He has failed to get over 50 yards in a single game since week 4. They just don't use him like we thought he would be. The Packers are one of the toughest against the TE this season. They have given up the 4th fewest yards and the second fewest fantasy points allowed per game. I don't see Rudolph having any success in this game.