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John's fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks for Week 12 of 2025. Are the breakout performances from Michael Wilson, Bryce Young, Tyrell Shavers legit or flukes?
Week 11 of NFL action was full of surprises for fantasy football, just like most weeks in the NFL. In particular, the performances of Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Michael Wilson, Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young, and Buffalo Bills wideout Tyrell Shavers were much bigger than expected.
Wilson was his team's WR2 for most of the season and was generally uninvolved in the offense. Young looked like a bust of a draft pick, and like he was well on his way to getting benched for an eventual future pick. Most fantasy football managers probably had no clue who Shavers was before last week.
Things change quickly in the NFL, and it's not unusual to see middling or even bad fantasy assets put up huge numbers. Week 2 saw Las Vegas Raiders WR Tre Tucker crushing, with over 40 PPR fantasy points. But he hasn't even reached 20 in a game since then. So were the breakout games of Wilson, Young, and Shavers legitimate or flukes that should be ignored? Let's dive in.
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Was Michael Wilson's Performance Legit Or A Fluke?
Wilson had an absolutely monster game in Week 11. He caught 15 of his 18 targets for 185 receiving yards, setting the mark for most receiving yards of any player this season. The game was a shocker, considering his lack of involvement in the offense this season.
Before that game, he had just 38 targets, 22 receptions, 231 receiving yards, and one touchdown catch. That averages to around 4.2 targets, 2.4 catches, and 25.7 receiving yards per contest, with nearly zero touchdowns per game. The absence of Cardinals WR1 Marvin Harrison Jr. (appendicitis) made a big difference.
35-yard pickup from Jacoby Brissett to Michael Wilson!
SFvsAZ on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXnxV pic.twitter.com/eFtO17j8UV
— NFL (@NFL) November 16, 2025
Wilson's huge game was also largely credited to playing against an extremely injured San Francisco 49ers defense. They lost their best linebacker, best defensive end, and other players to season-ending injuries, and are thin at nearly every spot on the defensive side of the ball.
Going down big early also helped. The Cardinals were blasted by the 49ers, and were down 25-10 at the end of the first half, eventually going down by 25 points near the end of the third quarter. As a result, starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett threw 57 passes and completed an NFL record 47 of his throws.
Every one of Jacoby Brissett’s record-setting 47 completions 😎 pic.twitter.com/BBibQ1qppS
— NFL (@NFL) November 17, 2025
Games like this are a dime a dozen, but importantly, Wilson has made a case to be a bigger part of this offense. Of course, he'll likely be the third-most targeted pass-catcher once Harrison returns, as tight end Trey McBride is one of the NFL's best players at his position.
Still, he's worth a pickup in all leagues. Players don't tend to have games with that many catches, yards, and targets without being more heavily utilized for the rest of the season. And the Cardinals can clearly be a high-passing-volume offense, as Brissett finished the day with 452 yards.
So we should see more from Wilson down the stretch. Harrison's illness will keep him out for at least a few more games, as he had emergency surgery to correct the issue. Wilson should be added in all leagues. He could have a very nice run these next few games, at minimum, and that could be enough to propel struggling teams to the fantasy playoffs. A Week 12 matchup with the awful Jacksonville Jaguars pass defense is juicy.
Week 12 Outlook: Add in All Leagues, Start in All Leagues
Was Bryce Young's Performance Legit Or A Fluke?
Young has been one of the lowest passing volume quarterbacks in the league since being drafted first overall by the Carolina Panthers in the 2023 NFL Draft. He was supposed to be the franchise's savior after winning the Heisman Trophy in college, but that's been far from the case.
After what many thought was a second-half breakout in 2024, after he was benched early in the season due to poor play, he threw for over 200 passing yards just once in nine contests this year. So his massive outing against the Atlanta Falcons was a huge surprise, even if Carolina winning the game wasn't.
From way downtown
📺FOX pic.twitter.com/SUQ9S9gnS1
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) November 16, 2025
Young seems to spend most of his time playing with very little confidence, missing a ton of throws, throwing awful interceptions, and playing like a backup-level quarterback, only to occasionally have very impressive games that make you believe in him again as a player.
It's hard to wrap your head around, though one explanation might make a bit of sense -- divisional games are strange, and often have highly unpredictable results. Earlier in the season, the Panthers beat the Falcons 30-0 despite Atlanta clearly having better talent on their roster.
Bryce Young vs. Atlanta (Week 18, 2024) pic.twitter.com/Vekf2qo986
— Justin Dolloff (@JustinDolloff) April 16, 2025
Looking at Young's history vs. the Panthers, you can get a clearer picture of what's going on. The Panthers likely have inside information about how the Falcons operate on defense. This happens with a lot of NFL teams against their divisional rivals, and often, we simply see one team consistently dominate another, in spite of a variety of factors.
Young should continue to absolutely crush... the Falcons, but we can't ignore what the rest of his season has looked like, and it's been mostly awful. That said, the Panthers will face the 49ers and their highly-injured defense in Week 12, so he's worth at least starting consideration if you badly need QB help.
The same applies to Superflex and 2QB leagues.
Week 12 Outlook: Add in 2QB Leagues
Was Tyrell Shavers' Performance Legit Or A Fluke?
Shavers finally got a shot to play more than 50 percent of his team's snaps in Week 11. Second-year Bills wide receiver Keon Coleman was inactive due to a disciplinary issue. It appears that his career might genuinely be in jeopardy, though that's not much of a surprise.
We should talk about him for a bit. Two things stand out -- he's been absolutely horrible this year, largely due to a lack of effort, and he might not get his starting job back. It would be better for the team if he didn't, because their offense is genuinely better with him off the field. That's how bad he is -- so awful that letting barely-starting-level WRs get playing time is good.
“Josh Allen is overrated/sucks”
Meanwhile Keon Coleman: pic.twitter.com/91dAQ5iq5J
— Eric bledsoe (@lafraudjackson8) November 11, 2025
He's a horrible separator that lacks starting-caliber NFL talent and effort. He shouldn't get much playing time moving forward. That will leave more room for Shavers, who had a nice game. It should be noted that he barely played over 50 percent of the snaps and only had five targets, though.
He turned those into four catches for 90 yards and a touchdown grab. With Coleman out of the picture, Bills QB Josh Allen completed 19 of his 30 passes for 317 yards and two touchdowns through the air. We should keep things in perspective, though. Shavers is buried way down the depth chart.
He's behind Khalil Shakir, Joshua Palmer, Mecole Hardman, Coleman (when he actually plays), and Curtis Samuel. Hardman just joined the team, but Shavers has plenty of work to do to make himself a priority target. It only makes sense to add him in deep dynasty leagues.
Week 12 Outlook: Add in Dynasty Leagues
Who Should I Start Tool
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Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some common Week 12 fantasy football lineup decisions are regarding players like Michael Wilson, Bryce Young, and Tyrell Shavers. But not to worry, we are here to help make these decisions and build winning lineups in Week 11. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for Week 11 of the 2025 NFL season. Our free Who Should I Start? tool will help make your fantasy football lineup decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to start... all free! Get your winning lineups set, and make the right decisions.
Week 11 Player Decisions. Need a replacement? Today's focus is on specific players -- Michael Wilson, Bryce Young, and Tyrell Shavers. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 12.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player's name. In the second box, search for the second player's name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
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Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do is to select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circles), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Week 11 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 12 (2025)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 12 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Need a replacement? Below are some popular Week 11 searches and comparisons from our 'Who To Start' tool for Michael Wilson, Bryce Young, and Tyrell Shavers compared to others:
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