Week 12 Sits

Here are 5 players you should really consider sitting in fantasy this week … in two minutes or less.

RB: Tyrone Tracy (NYG) @ DET

Tyrone Tracy has shown flashes, but this week sets up as one of his toughest spots yet. The Giants keep splitting the backfield, giving Devin Singletary goal-line touches. And the Lions are the last team you want to face when usage is unstable, because they’ve now allowed the fewest fantasy points to running backs and have been smothering the run for weeks straight. Tracy can rack up yardage when the script cooperates, but New York’s offense has been stuck chasing points, and that’s led to constant shifts in who gets the ball when it matters most. So in a brutal matchup with his touches split and his scoring chances limited, Tracy is a firm sit for Week 12.

RB: Chase Brown (CIN) vs. NE

Brown has been busy lately, but this is the wrong week to chase that workload, because he walks straight into a Patriots defense that has tightened the screws on opposing backfields. The Bengals’ defense keeps dragging them into game scripts where they’re playing from behind and having a tough time sustaining drives. So when you combine that with New England’s strong rushing defense, Brown’s floor takes a major hit. So you’re really betting on checkdown volume to save him, and that’s not the type of profile you want to start against a defense playing this well right now.

WR: George Pickens (DAL) vs. PHI

Pickens has thrived as Dallas’ vertical playmaker, but this Week 12 matchup forces him straight into the teeth of what Philly is doing best right now: erasing deep passing altogether. The Eagles have been locking down wideouts for a month, smothering the Lions and Packers to a combined 16 points and winning back-to-back defensive grinders where nothing over the top was available. So even with Pickens’ recent explosion (including 144 yards and a score last week), this game leans away from his strengths, making him far more boom-or-bust than you want in a brutal matchup where Philly’s red-hot coverage caps exactly the type of deep shots he’s been living on.

WR: Ricky Pearsall (SF) vs. CAR

Ricky Pearsall is finally back! But last week showed just how far he still is from being himself… he played the snaps, yet turned three targets into just one short catch and never found space in his routes. San Francisco may be healthier overall, but their offense hasn’t needed him lately, riding a string of strong outings while spreading production around to the veterans above him on the depth chart. And the matchup isn’t doing him any favors, because Carolina has quietly a very tough defense for fantasy WRs, sitting near the top of the league in limiting production to the position. So even with his workload trending up, this just isn’t the week to trust a receiver still trying to regain rhythm in a low-volume role against a defense that rarely breaks.

TE: Harold Fannin (CLE) @ LV

Fannin keeps flashing as a legit pass-catcher, but his last two outings have settled in at just 4-for-44 and 2-for-26 in losses where this passing game couldn’t punch through. The Browns have swapped to Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, but still sit in that ugly zone where they’re losing most weeks and rarely clearing 20 points. That shaky offensive environment has left Fannin stuck on the fringe as a TE1/2 instead of a locked-in difference-maker. And now he draws a Raiders defense that is surprisingly stingy to TEs while getting torched by WRs, so in a low-ceiling passing attack heading into a matchup that has quietly been tough on his position, Fannin is a “good player, bad start” you should keep on your bench in Week 12.

So that’s the list. The players you shouldn’t rely on in Week 12… as promised, in 2 minutes or less.

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See you tomorrow,

-Joe

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