Fire & Ice: Top starts, sits and sleepers in fantasy football for Week 12

• Jayden Daniels is primed to put up 30-plus points against the Dallas Cowboys‘ pitiful defense: Daniels was held in check by both the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers defenses but that won’t happen this weekend against the Cowboys who are allowing the second-most passing yards per attempt and four most rushing yards per game to quarterbacks this season.

• Don’t worry about Malik Nabers with Tommy DeVito: If Darius Slay ton, Jalin Hyatt and Wan’Dale Robinson could each figure out how to have good fantasy days last season with Tommy DeVito under center, Malik Nabers can too in a fantastic matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

Are you struggling to set your fantasy lineups? Maybe I can help… Below you can find my top fire (boom) and ice (bust) players at each position for Week 12. I also include my sleeper of the week at each position in case you are in a deeper league or in need of a replacement for an ice player.

Don’t miss my Fire & Ice chart at the bottom of this page. There, I have listed out all of my fire, good, sleeper and ice plays for Week 12 of the 2024 fantasy football season.

Quarterbacks

Fire QB Start of the Week: Jayden Daniels (vs. DAL)

Jayden Daniels has struggled in back-to-back weeks against the tough Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers defense, but his life is about to get a lot easier this weekend when he faces the weak and deflated Dallas Cowboys defense. Both the Eagles and Steelers were able to limit Daniels as a rusher — he put up just 23 yards on the ground over those two matchups after averaging 51 rushing yards per game from Week 1-9. That will change this weekend against a Cowboys defense that has allowed the fourth most rushing yards per game to quarterbacks in 2024. Plus, they are allowing the second most passing yards per attempt and fifth most fantasy points per game to QBs this season. Daniels could have a career day in Week 12.

Sleeper QB of the Week: Tua Tagovailoa (vs. NE)

The Miami Dolphins‘ offense is starting to find its groove. Last week, Tua Tagovailoa had a season-high three touchdowns and 23.5 fantasy points at home against the Las Vegas Raiders. They play again at home this weekend, where Tagovailoa has typically found success throughout his career. This is also a favorable matchup for Tagovailoa as he is thriving against the blitz and the New England Patriots‘ defense has heavily utilized the blitz this season.

The Patriots allowed Matthew Stafford to put up four touchdowns and nearly 300 pass yards against them last Sunday and even Mason Rudolph, Aaron Rodgers, and C.J. Stroud have scored at least 17 fantasy points against them since Week 6.

Ice QB Start of the Week: Matthew Stafford (vs. PHI)

Stafford had a huge game last Sunday in Foxborough, but that was just one of two games this season he has scored 18-plus fantasy points — he has scored fewer than 13 points in six of 10 games played in 2024. I expect Stafford to have another sub-par fantasy performance, at best, on Sunday night in a very tough matchup.

Not only are the Eagles the No. 1 total defense and No. 2 pass defense in the NFL this season, but they have been playing lights out since their Week 5 bye. They have allowed a league-low 13.8 points per game to opponents since Week 6 and have forced a league-high 11 turnovers since Week 8. Stafford played a clean game in Week 11, but he had thrown an interception in each of his prior six straight games. He could very easily throw more interceptions than touchdowns in Week 12.

Running Backs

Fire RB Start of the Week: Brian Robinson Jr. (vs. DAL)

It is rare to have both a quarterback and running back from the same team as the “Fire Player of the Week,” but there will be plenty of points to be spread around for Washington Commanders’ playmakers in this matchup. Brian Robinson Jr.’s 14.2 fantasy points per game makes him a safe starter in most weeks, but his fantastic touchdown production makes him a top-10 option in Week 12 against the Cowboys, who have allowed the second most rushing touchdowns to running backs this season.

Just last week, Joe Mixon found the end zone three times against the Cowboys, so I won’t be shocked if both Jayden Daniels throws for three touchdowns and Robinson scores twice on the ground in Week 12.

Sleeper RB of the Week: Trey Benson (at SEA)

James Conner is a top-10 fantasy play this week, but his rookie teammate Trey Benson is also a solid option for struggling fantasy managers trying to set their lineups with six teams on bye. Benson has scored double-digit fantasy points in each of his last two games and has seen his playing time slowly increase over the season. In the Arizona Cardinals‘ last game, Benson put up a career-high 87 scrimmage yards on 12 touches while averaging 6.2 yards per carry on 10 carries.

Following the Cardinals' Week 12 bye, we could Benson being even more involved the rest of the season, especially if they want to keep Conner healthy for a potential playoff run. Conner and Benson have a delicious matchup this week against the Seattle Seahawks who have allowed the most yards per carry and fifth most fantasy points to the running back position since week 4.

Ice RB Start of the Week: Kyren Williams (vs. PHI)

The Eagles aren’t only a great pass defense but they have also allowed a league-low 80.7 rushing yards per game since Week 6 while allowing just 3.6 yards per carry during that span. Kyren Williams has not been an overly efficient rusher but that didn’t matter for most of this season as he was a touchdown machine. However, his touchdown luck has faded, and he has not found the end zone in any of his last three games — which has led to him scoring just 10.5, 11.2 and 8.6 fantasy points over that span. The probability of him getting into the end zone in Week 12 is not high as the Eagles have allowed just three rushing touchdowns to running backs so far this season.

Wide Receivers

Fire WR Start of the Week: Malik Nabers (vs. TB)

The New York Giants are a disaster. They are giving up on their season and throwing Daniel Jones to the bench for Tommy “Cutlets” DeVito. It won't look pretty on Sunday, but I am here to give fantasy managers confidence to start Malik Nabers anyways. Nabers is a target hog and that won't change no matter who is the quarterback under center – he has at least 10 targets in six of his last seven games.

Plus, we have evidence that DeVito can support a wide receiver to a good fantasy performance: Darius Slay ton scored 18 points with him as the Giants starter in Week 11, 2023. Jalin Hyatt scored 15.9 points with him as the starter in Week 12, 2023, and Wan’Dale Robinson scored over 13 points in two separate games with DeVito under center last season.

This is also a fantastic matchup for Nabers. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are giving up the second most fantasy points per game to wide receivers since Week 5. In that span, Drake London, Darnell Mooney (twice), DeAndre Hopkins, Rashod Bateman, Ricky Pearsall, Jauan Jennings and Bub Means all scored 15-plus points against them.

Sleeper WR Start of the Week: Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (at HOU)

I did not have Nick Wesbrook-Ikhine on my bingo card to be a touchdown machine this year … but the NFL is a weird place. Ikhine has scored a touchdown in five of the last six games and has the third most receiving touchdowns among WRs since Week 6. I expect him to find the end zone again this Sunday against the Houston Texans, as they have allowed the most receiving touchdowns in the NFL to wide receivers in 2024.

Over his four games played since the team traded away DeAndre Hopkins, Westbrook-Ikhine has played on 94% of the Tennessee Titans‘ snaps and is averaging 13.4 fantasy points per game — he has hit at least 12 fantasy points in three of those four games. Seven wide receivers have scored 17-plus fantasy points against the Texans over the last five weeks.

Ice WR Start of the Week: Jakobi Meyers (vs. DEN)

Will Gardner Minshew make it the whole game without getting benched? Probably not. Will Desmond Ridder fix any of their problems when he replaces Minshew? Also, probably not.

This matchup is just too difficult to trust anyone on the Las Vegas Raiders not named Brock Bowers. Over the Broncos' last two games, their defense has dominated against both the Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Falcons offenses, especially their wide receivers. Jakobi Meyers is the only wide receiver that the Denver Broncos will be slightly worried about on Sunday, which means he probably sees a heavy dose of Pat Surtain II. No, thank you.

Tight Ends

Fire TE Start of the Week: Travis Kelce (at CAR)

It was a brutal fantasy performance for Kelce last Sunday in Buffalo — he scored just 2.8 points with two receptions for eight yards. I am personally not stressed about it in the slightest. Kelce had 12-plus targets and scored 20-plus fantasy points in each of the three weeks prior to Week 11 and he will get right back on track this weekend in an amazing matchup.

The Carolina Panthers have allowed 16.7 fantasy points per game to the tight end position in 2024, which ranks second most in the NFL behind only the Raiders who Kelce put up 25 fantasy points against in Week 8.

Sleeper TE of the Week: Ja’Tavion Sanders (vs. KC)

The Panthers may have finally realized they have a very talented pass-catching rookie weapon and it looks like they are starting to unleash him. Ja’Tavion Sanders has played on 87% of the Panthers' offensive snaps over their last two games and has scored 21.5 fantasy points in that time. In Week 9, he had 4 receptions for a career-high 87 yards, and in Week 10 he caught a touchdown. With the Panthers coming off their bye, there is a good chance that Sanders was able to get even more accumulated in the offense and he will see a bigger role moving forward.

This is a good week to take a chance on Sanders if you are desperate with six teams on bye as the Chiefs have allowed the fourth most fantasy points per game to tight ends this season.

Ice TE Start of the Week: Tucker Kraft (vs. SF)

Tucker Kraft put up a big zero burger in fantasy lineups in Week 11 with just one target and no receptions on the day. He has now had fewer than 35 receiving yards in four of his last five games played. Kraft’s fantasy value is dependent on if he scores a touchdown or not, and this is not a matchup that he is likely to exploit in the end zone. The San Francisco 49ers have allowed just 9.4 fantasy points per game to the tight end position this season and have not allowed a tight to catch a touchdown since Week 5.

Fire & Ice Fantasy Football Plays

Here, I categorize every relevant fantasy player into five different buckets: (1) fire starts (best starts of the week); (2) thumbs up (good starts); (3) Risky players with upside (sleepers); (4) Ice starts (predicting bad performance from good player); (5) Stop (must sits).

Note: If a player/defense is not listed, I am not considering starting them in Week 12. I did not include Steelers/Browns players as they play on Thursday night.