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Dan's top quarterback Week 12 fantasy pickups (2023). The best QB fantasy waiver wire pickups to add and Week 12 QB streamers for 1QB, 2QB, and Superflex leagues.
Week 11 served as a bounceback for the quarterback position in fantasy. Four quarterbacks threw for over 300 passing yards and 12 different quarterbacks had multiple touchdown passes. We also saw the return of Justin Fields (169 passing yards, a passing touchdown and 104 rushing yards).
However, for as good as the week was for some fantasy managers, the loss of Joe Burrow for the season with a ligament injury looms large in fantasy. Burrow looked to be returning to form after navigating a calf injury to start the season, but will now find himself rehabbing for 2024.
In this article, I will be focusing on players under 65% rostered in fantasy leagues while adding a couple of deep sleepers for two-quarterback leagues (less than 25%). Let’s look at who you should consider picking up for Week 12 below.
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Single-QB League Waiver Wire Options and Stashes
Derek Carr, New Orleans Saints
Yahoo: 41% rostered
Derek Carr didn’t finish Week 10’s game against the Minnesota Vikings. Carr had completed just 13 of 18 passes for 110 yards before a shoulder injury forced backup Jameis Winston into action. By all accounts, Carr’s injury was not significant enough to sideline him past the team’s bye week, putting him in line to start Week 12’s game against the Atlanta Falcons.
Fantasy managers (and the Saints’ organization) certainly haven’t gotten what they hoped for out of Carr this season, with the veteran quarterback racking up yardage (2,204 passing yards) with underwhelming results finding the end zone (10 passing touchdowns). Carr has just one game with 20+ fantasy points this season.
The veteran quarterback should be a solid, if not high upside QB2 against a Falcons secondary that is giving up 18.9 fantasy points to quarterbacks in 10 games, which is the sixth most of any team this year.
Gardner Minshew, Indianapolis Colts
Yahoo: 13% rostered
The Gardner Minshew experience has had some incredible highs (31.1 fantasy points in Week 7 against Cleveland) and some unbelievable lows (four games under 10.0 fantasy points). It isn’t easy to trust Minshew, but he has shown the ability to be a high-end QB2 in the right matchups this season.
Week 12 will provide one of those opportunities with the Colts coming out of their bye week and welcoming the Tampa Bay Buccaneers into town. Tampa Bay is fresh off allowing Brock Purdy to complete 21 of 25 passes for 333 yards and three touchdowns.
That performance wasn’t an aberration; Tampa Bay came into Week 11 surrendering 18.6 fantasy points per game to quarterbacks this season.
Desmond Ridder, Atlanta Falcons
Yahoo: 5% rostered
The Falcons had Week 11 off, but that didn’t stop Arthur Smith from declaring that Desmond Ridder would take over the quarterback position again after two underwhelming starts from Taylor Heinicke.
We already know that Ridder is bad, but he does have the ability to provide strong fantasy production at the quarterback position. The second-year quarterback has two games with 20+ fantasy points this season and two games with 300+ passing yards for the Falcons. Ridder also provides some solid rushing upside, racking up four rushing touchdowns this season.
It doesn’t feel good slotting Ridder into your quarterback position, but you can always hope that the quarterback can get there as a fantasy player due to the talent surrounding him across Atlanta’s skill positions.
Two-QB League Waiver Wire Options and Stashes
Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Cleveland Browns
Yahoo: 7% rostered
The Browns decided to see if Dorian Thompson-Robinson could be a quality backup in the NFL after Deshaun Watson’s season-ending shoulder injury. Cleveland has seen enough out of P.J. Walker and has turned their offense over to the 2023 draft pick.
Thompson-Robinson secured a victory in Week 11 (thanks to Cleveland’s stout defense), completing 24 of 43 passes for 165 yards and an interception while adding three carries for 20 yards. The rookie is still extremely raw as a passer, but he does have two starts this season with over 20 rushing yards.
Cleveland has talent at wide receiver that can help the rookie signal caller be fantasy-relevant, but for now, he is worth monitoring due to his dual-threat upside.
Jake Browning, Cincinnati Bengals
Yahoo: 1% rostered
There is no true replacement for Joe Burrow, but Jake Browning will be taking the snaps under center for the Bengals as they try to keep their playoff hopes alive in a competitive AFC. Browning completed eight of 14 passes for 68 yards and a touchdown while adding 40 rushing yards against the Ravens in mop-up duty.
The Bengals have some soft matchups down the stretch, so Browning could be interesting since all he has to do is get the ball to Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins and watch them work. Browning will provide some rushing ability, but it is hard to trust him as a fantasy asset until we have some more NFL action.
Tommy Devito, New York Giants
Yahoo: 3% rostered
After several weeks of being the butt of every joke, Tommy Devito delivered a solid performance in the Giants’ Week 11 win against the Washington Commanders.
DeVito completed 18 of 26 passes for 246 yards and three passing touchdowns (with zero interceptions) while adding one carry for seven yards. The rookie now has back-to-back games with double-digit fantasy points and multiple passing touchdowns. The rookie has another decent matchup against a Patriots’ defense giving up 14.6 fantasy points per game.
Sure, New England famously provides awful matchups for rookie quarterbacks. But DeVito has looked more comfortable as he gets more starts under his belt and at least provides some rushing upside.
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