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Matt's wide receiver (WR) fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks for Week 12 of 2025. His WR lineups advice for Week 12 fantasy football start/sit decisions.
Looking back on the week that was, we see some familiar faces at the top of the receiver peaking order in fantasy. Still, we also see Michael Wilson, Christian Watson, Xavier Legette, Greg Dortch, and Tyrell Shavers among the top 12-14 products in fantasy football.
It's that diversity among the positions that leads us to keep digging deeper into the data to see which players offer the most upside each week and which receivers can be heroes, even if it's just for one day.
Here are the RotoBaller's Week 12 starts and sits at the wide receiver position.
Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2025:- 2025 fantasy football rankings
- Running back (RB) fantasy football rankings
- Wide receiver (WR) fantasy football rankings
- Tight end (TE) fantasy football rankings
- Quarterback (QB) fantasy football rankings
- FLEX fantasy football rankings
- Defense (D/ST) fantasy football rankings
- Kicker (K) fantasy football rankings
- Dynasty fantasy football rankings
Week 12 Starts - Fantasy Football Booms
Jameson Williams - WR, Detroit Lions vs New York Giants
Ever since Dan Campbell took over play-calling duties, Jameson Williams has been on a heater. Since coming out of the Week 8 bye, Williams is averaging 20.1 fantasy points per game and has accounted for 31.8% of the Lions' receiving market share. Over the past three contests, Williams has averaged 91 receiving yards per game and has done so on a 17.4% target share, which has earned a 30.9% air yards share.
Jameson Williams 40-yard TD!!!
DETvsPHI on NBC
Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/IhhOHzlbjv— NFL (@NFL) November 17, 2025
Expect more to come, especially with Sam LaPorta now on injured reserve. In 2024, without LaPorta on the field, Williams ran 132 routes and earned a 22% target per route run rate, 11.4% first down per route run, and an unheard of 3.20 yards per route run. Consider William's playbook officially open this week against the Giants.
Also, consider Williams a league winner with six straight dome games to close out the season, which should put the Alabama product's speed on full display. New York hasn't been able to slow down opposing receivers in fantasy, let alone show that they can contain either AmonRa St. Brown or Williams this week.
On the season, the Giants have allowed 1,816 receiving yards, 11 receiving touchdowns, and 36.6 fantasy points per contest.
Tetairoa McMillan- WR, Carolina Panthers at San Francisco 49ers
Since Week 6, no team is allowing opposing wide receivers to cash in with more frequency than the San Francisco 49ers have. Over the 49ers' last six contests, they have surrendered 1,098 receiving yards and eight receiving touchdowns on 90 receptions. The 41.3 fantasy points per game they have conceded leads the NFL.
Over the same period in which the 49ers' struggles have become apparent, the rookie receiver out of Arizona has seemingly pushed past the rookie wall. Tetairoa McMillan has developed into an actual number one option for the Panthers.
In that same six-game sample, McMillan's 44 targets are the 13th-most among receivers (7.3 targets/game), while his air yards share sits at 43.6, target share at 25.7%, team receiving market share of 31.9%, and a 57.1% team touchdown receiving share.
When you pan through the analytics, it's easy to see why McMillan has been a borderline WR1, averaging 15.6 fantasy points per game. Fresh off an eight-catch, two-touchdown, 130-yard performance last week against the Falcons, which netted the rookie 33 fantasy points, there is no reason not to believe that McMillan shouldn't finish Week 12 as a top-five fantasy option at the receiver position.
Chris Olave - WR, New Orleans Saints vs Atlanta Falcons
I really wanted to go with Tee Higgins here again this week, facing a Patriots team that has conceded seven receiving touchdowns to opposing receivers over the last three weeks. Still, people may get suspicious if I were to include him again this week (my not-so-subtle way of doing so).
If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you are with, and Chris Olave has been falling in love all over again with Tyler Shough under center. In Week 10, Olave reminded the fantasy world of what he is capable of doing if he gets competent play from the quarterback position.
Against the Panthers, Olave was targeted on eight occasions, hauling in five of those passes for 104 yards, his first 100-yard game since Week 8 of the 2024 season. Don't look now, but since the start of Week 7, Olave's 17.7 fantasy points per game is the ninth-most among wide receivers, and the Saints pass-catcher has produced 14 or more fantasy points in four of his last five contests.
The magic that is Chris Olave 🪄
📺 #ATLvsNO Sunday at 3:25 PM on FOX pic.twitter.com/u5qXEatrnx
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) November 17, 2025
Expect the trend to continue this week. You already saw what McMillan did to this Falcons' secondary. Well, since Week 8, Atlanta has had a difficult time stopping receivers from producing, as evidenced by the 45 receptions, 690 receiving yards, and league-worst eight touchdowns.
When you are giving up 41.6 fantasy points per game over the course of four weeks, there is going to be plenty of opportunity for Olave to continue his ascension.
Week 12 Sits - Potential Fantasy Football Busts
DJ Moore - WR, Chicago Bears vs Pittsburgh Steelers
DJ Moore has one game this season in which he finished with 13 or more fantasy points. For reference, Kayshon Boutte had three consecutive 13.5-point performances between weeks six through eight. The 9.3 fantasy points per game Moore has averaged ranks 50th among wide receivers. In the last two Bears contests, Moore has just 3.1 fantasy points.
Despite an average depth of target of 18.4 yards on 55 routes the last two weeks, all Moore has to show for it is a 10.3% target share and a 4.4% team receiving market share. Of the seven targets he has seen, he has dropped two of those passes (28.5% drop rate). Even in a good matchup against the Steelers, Moore can not, and should not be trusted.
While the Steelers have struggled, at times, against opposing receivers in fantasy, last week, Ja'Marr Chase was held to three receptions and 30 yards on 10 targets, while Higgins had 63 receiving yards on his eight targets. Nobody is going to confuse Moore for Chase or Higgins anytime soon.
Jordan Addison - WR, Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers
I can look at the box score and see that J.J. McCarthy completed just 16 of his 32 passes last week, and that paints a reasonable picture of why Jordan Addison is a must-sit this week. The picture doesn't exactly show that while Addison came away with 10 fantasy points, he also dropped multiple passes.
I'm no psychologist, but dropping a young quarterback's catchable passes is a good way to ensure you don't get any more passes thrown in your direction.
Addison has not been more than an upside flex play in recent weeks, whose upside has been nothing more than a projection. Since Week 8, Addison is averaging just 9.1 fantasy points, making him the WR46. Furthermore, Addison only has a 41.7% catch rate and an 18.5% team receiving yards market share; it also doesn't help when you also post a 12.5% drop rate.
Things don't get any easier this week as the Packers have allowed 439 receiving yards on 30 receptions over the last four weeks. Those 39 receptions came on 61 targets, a 63.9% catch rate, which in turn has led to 25.7 fantasy points per game, the eighth-fewest.
George Pickens - WR, Dallas Cowboys vs Philadelphia Eagles
Dallas went to Philadelphia to open the 2025 campaign. In that contest, it was CeeDee Lamb who was the primary option in the Cowboys' passing attack, converting 10 targets into seven receptions and 110 receiving yards, while George Pickens was instead pedestrian with three grabs for 30 yards in the loss.
When afforded an opportunity, Pickens has proven to be an alpha among receivers in fantasy as he averaged 20.1 fantasy points before Lamb's Week 7 return from injury. While Pickens hasn't been terrible, his stock has fallen from top-five fantasy receiver to WR25 on a points per game basis (13.6).
Since Lamb's return, Pickens has seen his target share dip by 1.1%, his air yards share drop by 6.9%, and his first-read target share drop from 28% to 24.7%. He did, however, outperform Lamb on Monday night against the Raiders by catching nine passes for 144 yards and one touchdown.
Philadelphia is not Las Vegas. Since Week 8, the Eagles have allowed a fantasy-low 19.7 fantasy points per game to opposing receivers, with those receivers hauling in just 21 of 45 intended targets for 312 yards in three contests and just one touchdown to show for it.
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