NFL Week 12 – Industry Expert Consensus

Welcome to the Industry Expert Consensus picks for Week 12 of the NFL season. As always, if you want to see how the experts performed last week check out my Week 11 Industry Expert Grading column and the Industry Expert Standings for all experts. So far this season the Consensus picks are sitting near the middle of the pack in the overall standings.

With the Thanksgiving holiday, we are missing some of the fantasy analysts picks at this time, but I wanted to get the Expert Consensus picks out with the data we have so you can start to put together your fantasy lineups. There are a lot of interesting matchups this week in the NFL, which has led to a wide variety of picks from the fantasy sites. There doesn’t seem to be too many obvious chalk plays and with a variety of injuries to monitor there will likely be some last minute adjustments that will need to be made, so be sure you are reading player updates and watching the inactives when they are posted on Sunday morning.

As a reminder, the number in the parenthesis is the number of experts that chose that player so you have more context regarding the gaps between players and the tiers.

Here are the consensus plays for Week 12…

Quarterbacks

Highly Touted

• Carson Palmer (7) – Has 11 TD passes over last 3 games and gets the 49ers this week
• Brian Hoyer (7) – Faces Saints defense that has given up 14 TD passes over their last 3 games
• Josh McCown (7) – Threw for 457 yards and 2 TDs earlier this season against the Ravens

Recommended

• Eli Manning (5) – Faces Redskins defense that gave up 5 TD passes last week
• Kirk Cousins (5) – He has shown he is capable of 300 yards and 3 TDs
• Blake Bortles (4) – Looking for bounce-back game after only 1 TD pass last week

Suggested

• Philip Rivers (3) – Only 1 TD pass over last 2 games
• Marcus Mariota (3) – Hasn’t thrown a TD pass since Week 9
• Derek Carr (3) – Had a down week last week, looking to bounce-back against Titans this week

Running Backs

Highly Touted

• Thomas Rawls (8) – He will be the man in Seattle again this week, still reasonable priced
• Adrian Peterson (8) – Has scored in 3 straight games

Recommended

• TJ Yeldon (7) – Faces the poor Chargers rush defense
• Javorius Allen (6) – Should get most of the carries and faces a weak Browns rush defense

Suggested

• Mark Ingram (4) – Should get a full workload in the Saints backfield
• Doug Martin (4) – Getting the yards, but he hasn’t scored since Week 5
• Todd Gurley (4) – Will need to be heavily involved for the Rams to keep up with the Bengals
• Chris Johnson (4) – At least 18 carries in 4 straight weeks
• LeSean McCoy (3) – Has had at least 5 catches in back-to-back weeks in addition to about 20 carries per game 

Wide Receivers

Highly Touted

• DeAndre Hopkins (11) – One of the best receivers against one of the worst pass defenses
• Odell Beckham Jr. (9) – Over 100 receiving yards in 3 straight games

Recommended

• Larry Fitzgerald (6) – Averaging 9 catches per game over last 3 games
• Stevie Johnson (6) – One of the only health WRs left in San Diego, 7 catches in back-to-back weeks
• Antonio Brown (6) – Playing at Seattle, but the experts still like him
• Julio Jones (5) – Has at least 13 targets and 9 catches each of the last 4 weeks
• Mike Evans (5) – Targets went down when Vincent Jackson returned last week

Suggested

• Vincent Jackson (4) – Had 4 catches for 56 yards and 1 TD in his return to the field last week
• DeSean Jackson (3) – Finally healthy and gets a good matchup with Giants this week
• Travis Benjamin (3) – Monday night option against weak Ravens pass defense
• Eric Decker (3) – Has scored in 7 out of 9 games this season
• Brandin Cooks (3) – Has scored 5 TDs over last 3 games

Tight Ends

Highly Touted

• Delanie Walker (9) – Titans most targeted receiving option

Recommended

• Jordan Reed (7) – Faces Giants defense that is very TE-friendly
• Rob Gronkowski (7) – Put up a dud last week, but one of the few healthy receiving options for the Patriots
• Gary Barnidge (7) – Averages twice as many fantasy points with McCown at QB

Suggested

• Antonio Gates (4) – Only had 1 catch last week, still battling through some injuries

Hope you find the right combinations to cash in Week 12!