NFL Week 12 Fantasy Football Recap: Arizona Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Chargers

• Austin Ekeler: 5 carries, 20 yards; 11 receptions, 60 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown

• DeAndre Carter: 7 receptions, 73 yards, 1 touchdown

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The return of Marquise Brown: Brown was activated off injured reserve after suffering a foot injury in Week 6.

Brown returned as a full-time starter and led the team in targets.
He primarily played in the slot in three-receiver sets while both Rondale Moore and Greg Dortch were out with injuries.
This isn’t great news for Moore or Dortch once they are healthy. However, the chances are that Brown will move outside once one of the slot receivers is healthy, which could lead to fewer targets.
A.J. Green joined DeAndre Hopkins as an outside receiver in 11 personnel.
Brown played every snap in 12 personnel, but Hopkins split playing time with Robbie Anderson on these reps. This meant that Hopkins mostly missed a number of run plays, but it also cost Hopkins a few pass routes.
Hopkins will remain a must-start player, but it does cut into his ceiling.
The Cardinals have a bye week next week, giving their slot receivers time to get healthy.
Their next two games are the Patriots and Broncos, two of the top three teams at preventing fantasy points to wide receivers. This could make it harder to trust these wide receivers in the short term.

The return of Gerald Everett: Everett suffered a groin injury in Week 10 and missed Week 11. He returned in Week 12, but only on a limited basis.

He played only half of the Chargers' snaps out of 11 personnel. He was often the player on the field on third down but didn't take as many early-down snaps.
He was typically on the field in 12 personnel but rarely when the team had a fullback on the field.
He caught four passes for 18 yards but also caught the game-winning 2-point conversion.
The Chargers have a favorable matchup against the Raiders next week, so it’s probably safe to keep Everett in starting lineups, even if he doesn’t see a significant increase in snaps.

The return of Joshua Kelley: The Chargers' backup running back returned from injured reserve and re-joined the running back rotation.

He received more playing time than Isaiah Spiller, largely because of his ability to pass protect. They were near-even in carries and routes run.
Kelley was frequently targeted on his limited routes, gaining two receptions on 16 snaps.
This reduced Sony Michel to healthy inactive for the first time this season.
These backups are probably best to avoid in most leagues, as we could see some kind of committee if Austin Ekeler were to get injured.
Kelley’s return had no impact on Ekeler’s playing time.

Table Notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.

• Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.

• Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.