Fantasy Football Mailbag - Q&A for Week 12

November 22, 2019

Kev Mahserejian answers fantasy football start/sit questions for Week 12, giving lineups advice and help from the reader mailbag with his weekly Q&A session.

This article's content may vary week-to-week, but generally, it will be answering questions fielded from either the @RotoBallerNFL twitter account or my personal one (@RotoSurgeon). This week, the focus is on start/sit questions, and there were plenty. Every week, many of us struggle with which quarterback to start, or who to flex, and I am here to help.

The questions selected will combat difficult decisions that might be specific to Week 12 starters. We have seen plenty of early risers and fallers who may not make the cut in our lineup as we stumble through the season. The hype and shine wear off some places and beginning to glisten elsewhere. However, sometimes, it is just best to not rock the boat (particularly if things are going well).

If you need any questions answered in the coming weeks, feel free to follow and ask either account and we will make sure to respond promptly.

Week 12 Mailbag

Verdict: Carson Wentz

This is not an easy decision to make, especially with how Wentz has performed of late. The factors to take into account are the favorable home conditions for Wentz, strong offensive opponent with a mediocre defense, and Oakland's cross-country travel for an early game. Both games here have "shoot-out" potential, but I'd rather bank on the game with Russell Wilson and Carson Wentz rather than Derek Carr and Sam Darnold to air it out between them.

Wentz and the Eagles are in a tough spot after losing a close game to the Patriots last week and are in need of a bounce-back. This is a get-right game for them before the schedule opens up. The Raiders are much less desperate and could be caught by surprise against a Jets team that is more dysfunctional than bad.

Verdict: Kenny Golladay

I have a hard time playing any non-elite starters against the Patriots at this point. As great as Gallup and the Dallas offense is, Jason Garrett is still the head coach and he might be in over his head going into New England. The Cowboys have run a fantastic offense, for the most part, this season but that may just be due to the easy defenses they've faced. This game is the truest test for their passing offense, and the best bet is that they flounder, especially in the rain. This feels like a classic Patriots grind-it-out game where they control the clock on the ground and bleed the other teams play-count.

Kenny Golladay might have Jeff Driskel throwing to him but up against the Washington secondary, It could be Brock Osweiler out there. He is going to get his as long as he is targeted. The only hindering factor here is the unfavorable weather in D.C. this weekend. There is a chance of high winds that may affect the passing game. If there is some sort of warning of extreme conditions in the pre-game, maybe consider shifting Lions' pass-catchers out of your lineups.

Verdict: Jacob Hollister

I tend to prefer the top TE option on a team's roster when making decisions like these. Goedert is extremely talented, has a better matchup, and plays nearly the same amount of snaps as Zach Ertz but does not command the same target share and is not producing as well as Hollister has in recent weeks.

Hollister has 16 targets, 12 receptions, 99 yards and three touchdowns over the past two games. Goedert has 11 targets, seven catches, 76 yards, and one touchdown. Although this small sample size shouldn't weigh too heavily, it is a good tiebreaker when deciding between similarly valued players.

Verdict: David Montgomery

This one is ugly. Montgomery has not panned out this season the way many in the fantasy community had hoped. He is playing a majority of the snaps and getting touches, but with Mitch Trubisky/Chase Daniel as his QB, the quality running lanes are not there. Teams are willingly stacking the box against the Bears and begging them to throw. This offense is predictable, vanilla, whatever you want to call it. When they do go out of the box, it's usually a jet sweep or direct snap to Cordarelle Patterson that might gain some yardage but is wholly useless.

With Trubisky's hip injured, the Bears might be forced to lean heavily on Montgomery in a game they should handily win at home against the Giants. They are nearly a touchdown favorite meaning that it would take a colossal mess-up on their part to let this game get out of hand. Their defense is good enough to keep this within reach and prevent a poor game-script that would call for heavy looks to Tarik Cohen.

Scarborough is an intriguing start this week, but with his presumed lack of involvement in the passing game, he is a touchdown-dependent play. James White is probably the best option in PPR leagues out of this bunch but a format was not stated in the question above. He is a fine floor-play every week.

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