NFL Fantasy Football Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 12: Quarterbacks

He is absolutely automatic. But I’m listing him here for a few reasons. For starters, most of you picked him up despite having another quarterback. For instance, in my League of Record, I have him and Aaron Rodgers. Last week was the first time I started him over Rodgers. Herbert had 366 and three touchdown passes. He’s had five games with at least three touchdown passes, the most by a rookie in NFL history. But I know a lot of you will look at this matchup against the Bills and have some questions. The matchup is good. The Bills have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season. Herbert played his college ball at Oregon, so I’m sure the weather shouldn’t be too big of an impact. The weather is expected to be around 8 degrees next week. Celsius. Seriously, join the rest of the world on this.

Dude was good. I have to admit I was surprised. I fully expected Jameis Winston to get some run in this game, but Taysom was good. And was an excellent YOLO play for people who played him at quarterback. Hill had 51 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the Saints win Sunday, joining Daunte Culpepper as the only quarterbacks in the Super Bowl era with at least 50 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in their first start. He threw some ducks, but he was better passing than I had anticipated. If you played him last week because you had Josh Allen on a bye, I’d go back to Allen. But if you were in dire circumstances (like you had Drew Brees and Joe Burrow), I don’t hate going back to him this week. The running gives you such a safe floor. He’s basically a goal-line back. And he’s got some receivers who aren’t afraid to go up for the football. And playing where Tim Tebow once played, I don’t know, and maybe that’s a reach on my part. But you’d better believe we’re going to see ALL the Tebow comparisons this week. To the point I’m expecting Hill to sign with the New York Mets soon.

The Giants were determined to make sure Danny got a rushing touchdown in Week 10. Trying to erase the ghost of him slipping and falling on what should have been a huge 80-yard touchdown run against the Eagles earlier in the season that made him the butt of jokes. Which is why we shouldn’t ignore how great Jones was in the win over the Eagles just before the bye week. This is shaping up for one of those moments in fantasy where a quarterback, who was a joke previously, is starting to really come into their own. Like when Adam Sandler went from his slap-stick brand of comedy to doing movies like Punch Drunk Love. And eventually stuff like Uncut Gems. I love his matchup this week against the Bengals. Which is exactly what I said last week about Alex Smith. But I have a lot more confidence in Jones this week.

I’m old enough to remember when a lot of you were telling me that Derek was going to replaced by Marcus Mariota by the bye week. How is that working out? Derek was out there on Sunday night dealing. Should have ended up sweeping the Chiefs, but then the Raiders defense saw Travis Kelce chilling in the end zone by himself and thought, NBD, we’ll just let him stand there and … oh wait. Touchdown. However, my point is Derek is the man for the Raiders. He has been very good this entire season. Yes, even against Denver. The Raiders won by 25 points and he was great. But I understand it doesn’t always translate to fantasy. He scored 21.60 points against the Chiefs. But it was the first time he had topped 15 fantasy points since Week 7. He’s great. Not always a great fantasy start. And that’s fine. The Mandalorian is a great show. But it's not for children.  

Here’s the thing, Ryan was brutal against the Saints. Let’s just put that out there. He had 5.28 fantasy points. But if you look back before the Falcons bye, he had four games with at least 17 points. Including a 31-pointer against the fraudulent Vikings. (Oh shoot, should I be worried about Danny Dimes?) The matchup should be a good one for Ryan. The Raiders have allowed the ninth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season. A little skewed because they have to play Patrick Mahomes twice. But they also get to play Drew Lock, too. So I guess it all evens out. But Ryan is a fine option this week, even though no team is on a bye. 

Rivers was pretty good against the Packers on Sunday, scoring 21.42 fantasy points. He’s had at least 21 fantasy points with at least three touchdowns in three of his last five games. One of those games he didn’t was two weeks ago against the Titans, when he threw for 308 yards and a touchdown. That gives me enough confidence to start him here. And honestly, if I’m looking for one old man quarterback who can’t run, I’d prefer Rivers to Tom Brady this week. Which doesn’t feel right to say. 

It’s the dumbest thing to consider the Seahawks a layup. Like Jay in MTV’s The Challenge last season. But Jay did make some big wins, like knocking off CT. Similarly, the Seahawks have been decent against quarterbacks recently. Knocking off Jared Goff (yeah, I know), but holding Kyler Murray to less than 37 points (he did score 20, so I would consider that a win for the Seahawks). Look, it’s one of those things where I would consider Wentz if this was a week with a lot of bye weeks. There are none. It’s like when you don’t have a lot of choices in an elimination and you have to go up against Jordan Wisely. You don’t want to do that. Unless you’re Fessy. (Seriously, I'm not going to stop watching these shows.)  

Obviously, Tannehill played well against the Ravens, helping to rally the Titans for the victory. Even topped 20 fantasy points for the first time since Week 6. The matchup against the Colts is pretty tough. The Colts held him to just 10.78 fantasy points in Week 10. I expect Tannehill to top that total. But I’m not seeing a high enough ceiling to start him over some of the other options available to you this week.

Tua mentioned a couple of weeks ago the NFL was easier than he expected it to be. Which is the kind of thing that is going to eventually going to catch up to you. And it did in Denver. Tua wasn’t terrible. But he wasn’t great, either. Brian Flores wasted little time in making a move to Ryan Fitzpatrick. The good news is Tua is still going to start. And a matchup against the Jets isn’t a bad one. But Tua on the road is not something I’m going to invest in at this point. Especially when you have some other options available to you.

I like Baker. But every week, he scores about as many fantasy points as the Browns have wins. Which is currently seven. And would put Cleveland in the playoffs if they started today. Which is amazing for Cleveland. But not for anybody who might need to start Baker for any reason in fantasy football. I mean, Taysom Hill nearly scored as many fantasy points on Sunday than Baker has in his last three starts combined. So I can’t really get behind him. I love him. But I just can’t start him. Not even against Jacksonville. Start your running backs. That is an easy one. But not Baker. And again, no disrespect intended there.