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Craig Rondinone looks at some fantasy football booms and busts for Week 12 lineups. These NFL players could be high-upside flex plays, or options to avoid.
The last couple weeks I have been picking the perfect busts in this column. Unfortunately, they have been for the busts AND the booms.
It is time to stick my feet back in the stirrups in the saddle and ride fantasy footballers to playoff berths in their leagues and hundreds of dollars in their DFS contests. None of the booms and busts below will be Chiefs, Cardinals, Vikings or Chargers since those four teams are on bye, but the fantasy player pool is filled with guys who fit nicely into either category this week.
Here are my under-the-radar booms and busts for Week 12! Good luck, RotoBallers!
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Week 12 Lineup Booms
Jarvis Landry (CLE, WR) vs. MIA
Revenge is a dish best served on the football field or by Guy Fieri. Landry would love to publicly embarrass his former organization by dropping 150 yards and two touchdowns on top of their cornerbacks’ helmets this Sunday. Landry is on a three-game tear that has seen him catch 19 Baker Mayfield passes for 191 yards and three touchdowns. While Miami’s pass defense has improved in recent weeks (went from 32st to 20th), with the coverage shifting towards Odell Beckham Jr., there will not be enough decent defenders to cover Landry, too. Look for Landry to score another TD and break the 100-yard barrier for the second time this season.
Calvin Ridley (ATL, WR) vs. TB
Ridley has been hard to get a fantasy read on this year as his inconsistency has been maddening. He proved one thing to fantasy players last week, though. If tight end Austin Hooper is not on the field, Ridley definitely becomes more involved in Atlanta’s offense. Ridley has his best game of the season (8-143-1) while Hooper was absent with a knee injury, and Hooper will still be sidelined this Sunday. Ridley’s target total has also been bolstered by top tailback Devonta Freeman also being injured and former No. 3 WR Mohamed Sanu getting traded to New England. Ridley will be up against Tampa Bay’s 31st-ranked pass defense and should see plenty of passes, especially if Julio is triple-covered all game long. This a recipe made in fantasy football heaven.
Ryan Fitzpatrick (MIA, QB) at CLE
If you have not heard by now, Cleveland is going to be down its best defender this week (the helmet-swinging Myles Garrett), along with underrated starting defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi (five sacks). This should be great news for Miami’s running backs, but the fact is the Dolphins do not have anybody who can take advantage of Cleveland’s fluctuating front seven. Fitzpatrick will certainly have more time to sit in the pocket and pick apart Cleveland’s head-hunting secondary, however. I think “Fitzmagic” will be waving his wand to the tune of 290 yards and three touchdown tosses when all is said and done at the “Dog Pound” on Sunday afternoon.
Ryan Griffin (NYJ, TE) vs. OAK
Griffin has been a tight end that was barely found on one percent of fantasy rosters during the six-plus seasons of his NFL career. His claim to fantasy fame was there was one year he had 442 receiving yards. That’s it. Fast forward to 2019 and now Griffin thinks he is Rob Gronkowski without the dopey dance moves and sound bites. Griffin just had 109 yards and a TD last week and might duplicate those numbers this week against an Oakland secondary that is 27th against the pass and missing multiple members. I think Griffin will be one of the top tight ends in fantasy this week and his price point is still attractive in DFS formats.
Week 12 Lineup Busts
Marquise Brown (BAL, WR) at LAR (MON)
Nobody got out of the fantasy blocks fantasy than Brown did this season. He piled up 147 yards and two touchdowns in his first NFL game, yet he has only mustered 330 yards and two touchdowns in the seven games since. I do not believe Brown will be turning things around this Monday night, not with Jalen Ramsey covering him while Brown is limping around on an ankle that is probably not 100 percent. There are 100 other options I would choose at the WR position over Brown this week.
Bo Scarbrough (DET, RB) at WAS
I am not buying what this seventh-rounder from 2018 is selling to fantasy players this week. Scarbrough came out of Siberia to rush for 55 yards and a score against Dallas last week after Detroit’s 458 other options at running back were out of commission. I realize he will be running against a below-average Washington run defense, but the Redskins have only allowed one running back to scamper for more than 70 rushing yards in their last four home games. I cannot see Scarbrough dashing through their defense as much as I can see him dashing the hopes of fantasy owners who bank on him having another solid outing.
Mason Rudolph (PIT, QB) at CIN
It is amazing that Rudolph was not concussed after taking Myles Garrett’s helmet to his head last week. Unfortunately, his two top wide receivers were concussed and probably will not play this week, nor will No. 1 running back James Conner, whose shoulder gets injured on a weekly basis these days. I know Rudolph is throwing against an 0-10 Cincinnati squad that is 24th versus the pass this year, but it will not matter when Rudolph is stuck with XFL-caliber players at the skilled positions. Look for Rudolph to struggle mightily and throw more interceptions than touchdowns in Week 12.
Randall Cobb (DAL, WR) at NE
Who would have thought coming into the season that the Dallas Cowboys would be the team passing the ball as well as Kurt Warner’s St. Louis Rams did back in 1999? Dak Prescott and the passing attack has been on fire lately, and Cobb has quietly been a fantastic fantasy asset with back-to-back 100-yard-games with touchdowns in each over the past two weeks. You cannot forget that Cobb did not even have a 70-yard game in any of his prior games this season, though. You also cannot forget that New England has the second-best pass defense in the league. Stephon Gilmore might not be the one covering Cobb, but it will not matter. Cobb will be in the 40-yard range this week, not the 100-yard range.
