Who Should I Start for Week 12? Fantasy Football outlooks for Michael Wilson, Emanuel Wilson, Kenneth Walker III, Kenneth Gainwell, Zach Charbonnet, Ricky Pearsall, Rome Odunze, D'Andre Swift, Zay Flowers, DJ Moore.
Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some of the most common Week 12 fantasy football lineup decisions involve players like Michael Wilson, Emanuel Wilson, Kenneth Walker III, Kenneth Gainwell, Zach Charbonnet, Ricky Pearsall, Rome Odunze, D'Andre Swift, Zay Flowers, DJ Moore. However, don't worry, we are here to help you make these decisions and build winning lineups in Week 12. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for Week 12 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.
Compare up to four players and we'll tell you who to start...
Fantasy Football Matchup Outlooks
Below are some fantasy football outlooks written by our NFL team here at RotoBaller, bringing you their fantasy football analysis and advice on which players to consider starting in Week 12:
Emanuel Wilson, RB, Packers
Green Bay Packers running back Emanuel Wilson was one of Week 12's hottest waiver wire pickups. Reason being, he is slated to step in as the team's RB1 with Josh Jacobs (knee) listed as questionable on Sunday against division rival, the Minnesota Vikings. Injured Reserve is not a consideration for Jacobs, and there have been reports suggesting that the 27-year-old is week-to-week as well.
If Jacobs does miss, Wilson will become a plug-and-play RB2 for this Sunday against a middle-of-the-road Vikings run defense. If Jacob's does play, he will likely be limited, or at least Wilson should remain involved, giving him RB3 consideration. For those fantasy managers who swooped him off the waivers, it will be beneficial to keep tabs on Jacobs' practice logs this week, start Wilson if Jacobs is ruled out, or potentially look to sell-high and trade Wilson to Jacobs' fantasy owners if your trade deadline hasn't passed.
Michael Wilson, WR, Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Michael Wilson had himself a career day in Week 11, as he set new career-best lines with 15 receptions and 185 receiving yards. The third-year receiver out of Stanford was asked to step up because Marvin Harrison (Appendicitis) and Zay Jones (Achilles) both missed the game. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on November 12 that Harrison Jr. underwent surgery for appendicitis and will be sidelined for "at least Week 11 and possibly longer," meaning Wilson may be the team's WR1 in Week 12 if Harrison can't go.
The key here is to pay attention to Harrison's practice leading up to Sunday, as Wilson slides down the rankings quite a bit if Harrison returns. Additionally, Trey McBride is the team's clear number one option. Another thing to note, Brissett will not be throwing the football 57 times and for 452 yards every week. The Cardinals got punched in the mouth early and were behind the whole game, leading to a gameflow script that forced them to throw the ball the entire game. If Harrison plays, Wilson profiles as a WR3 with limited upside.
If Harrison is ruled out, Wilson profiles as a low-end WR2 against a stiff Jacksonville Jaguars defense, which ranks much better than the San Francisco 49ers defense, against whom the Cardinals played last week.
D'Andre Swift, RB, Bears
Chicago Bears running back D'Andre Swift (hip) was a full participant in practice on Thursday as he continues to deal with a hip injury, according to Michal Dwojak of Bears Insider. Swift was listed as limited on Wednesday with his hip injury. The 26-year-old followed a similar practice plan last week before being cleared, playing 57% of the offensive snaps, and turning 21 carries into 90 rushing yards in the Week 11 win over the Minnesota Vikings.
Rookie Kyle Monangai continues to be involved behind Swift and even scored again on Sunday, but if healthy, Swift is going to remain Chicago's clear lead back. Barring a setback in practice on Friday, Swift should be cleared from the Bears' final injury report heading into Week 12's game against the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers.
The matchup isn't an ideal one, but Swift's volume alone should keep him in the RB2 tier for fantasy managers.
Kenneth Gainwell, RB, Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Kenneth Gainwell has emerged as a reliable backup running back this season. Through 10 games, he's totaled 448 yards and five touchdowns on 97 touches. He's been strong in the two games where starter Jaylen Warren either missed or exited early, racking up 239 scrimmage yards and four touchdowns on 41 touches. With Warren still banged up and an ideal Week 12 matchup on deck against the Chicago Bears, Gainwell could be in line for another heavy workload.
Given how efficient he's been both in his backup role and starting role, fantasy managers should view Gainwell as one of the top handcuff running backs to target moving forward.
Who Should I Start Tool
You can also see the Who Should I Start tool here.
Week 12 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players - Michael Wilson, Emanuel Wilson, Kenneth Walker III, Kenneth Gainwell, Zach Charbonnet, Ricky Pearsall, Rome Odunze, D'Andre Swift, Zay Flowers, DJ Moore. 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 name. In the second box, search for the second player 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.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our 'Who Should I Start?' tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, stats, projections, strength of schedule, players news, and enhanced search results with data to compare with a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
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 circle), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Week 12 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
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Start tool for Week 12 for Michael Wilson, Emanuel Wilson, Kenneth Walker III, Kenneth Gainwell, Zach Charbonnet, Ricky Pearsall, Rome Odunze, D'Andre Swift, Zay Flowers, DJ Moore:
More Fantasy Football Analysis
Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App
Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy football app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, rankings, starts/sits & more. All free!
RADIO




