Week 11 blew right by us and now we’re into Week 12! I’m saying that as last week blew, literally, with impactful winds and blows via injury to your roster. But as always, we will always recoup and recover! Luckily, you’ve stumbled upon the right place for sleepers to help guide you this week.
As always, I recap the previous week. Scratch that, I’m recapping the past three weeks, because now, I’m starting to feel like that meme of the Grim Reaper knocking on doors. I don’t know how I keep managing to find a wide receiver who was seemingly going to play when I wrote the article, then turned out to be inactive via injury or for disciplinary reasons. Last week, it was Keon Coleman, and pivoting to Joshua Palmer didn’t work out.
That being said, it wasn’t the greatest of weeks for me in general, as all but one player scored under their projection. But the one I did hit, boy oh boy, I hit it out of the park! I’m talking about Kenneth Gainwell, who scored 19.9 points over projection. His 95 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns singlehandedly destroyed the Bengals while also saving lineups and this article. His impact weighed so heavily that I went only 0.2 points under projection!
Now, it’s time for me to break this weird wide receiver curse and find some more sleepers who perform well, like Gainwell! Here we go!
Fantasy Football Start/Sit Consideration: Week 12 Sleepers (2025)
Quarterback
Bryce Young (Carolina Panthers)
Just like everybody expected, after having two straight games of under 125 passing yards, no touchdowns, an interception and fewer than four fantasy points, Bryce Young went off in Week 11. Facing the Falcons, one of the stronger teams against the pass, the Panthers’ QB threw for a franchise-record 448 yards, three touchdowns and had 29.8 fantasy points. Yeah, the NFL can be a crazy place!
Talking about records, Young’s opponent, the 49ers, also saw a record last week, as Jacoby Brissett and the Cardinals had the most completions in NFL history against the 49ers with 47. Now, the record is new, but quarterbacks putting up solid fantasy numbers against San Francisco is not. The 49ers are currently on a four-game streak of allowing a quarterback to throw for multiple touchdowns and put up 22.7 fantasy points.
The Panthers already had to switch to the hot hand at running back earlier this season. Why not switch to an all-of-a-sudden red-hot passing attack led by Bryce Young against a team that has allowed a quarterback to average 310.2 passing yards, 2.5 passing touchdowns, and 25.1 fantasy points in the last four games?
Running Back
Rachaad White (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
Now that Sean Tucker has had his annual 140+ scrimmage yard, multiple-touchdown, 34-point fantasy game, we can get back to our regularly scheduled programming with Rachaad White. As of this writing, we don’t know if Bucky Irving will play or not, but I won’t be worried either way. I strictly love White’s potential as a pass-catching back this week! In the last seven games, White has averaged 40.7 rushing yards and 0.4 rushing touchdowns, but he’s also seeing an average of 3.4 receptions on four targets for 19.8 yards. In that span, he’s been tied for sixth in receptions and seventh in targets among running backs.
If you look at the running back stats against the Rams this season, you’re almost seeing similar numbers. They’re not getting a lot done via rushing yards (seventh-fewest rushing yards allowed to the running back position), but they are getting it done through receiving yards (twelfth-most receiving yards to the running back position). Then, in back-to-back games, they’ve held a running back to under 70 rushing yards, while allowing that same running back to have at least 44 receiving yards! Oh, remember when I said White is averaging four targets? This season, when the Rams have faced a running back that’s seen four-plus targets, they’ve averaged more receiving yards (37.6) than rushing yards (37.3), for an average total of 14 fantasy points, and all but one of them scored 9.4+ fantasy points. Rachaad White should have a solid receiving role this weekend and accordingly a solid day for fantasy points.
Dylan Sampson (Cleveland Browns)
Yeah, I’m going pretty deep for a sleeper here. Dylan Sampson has played more snaps than Jerome Ford in two of the last three games and much like White, this isn’t a carry thing, because Quinshon Judkins has got that under control. However, you have to remember that the Browns are starting Shedeur Sanders this week, as Dillon Gabriel is in concussion protocol and has been ruled out. Personally, I’ve never been the biggest fan of Sanders, and when he came into the game in the second half last week, he clearly struggled.
Now, I have been a big fan of Dylan Sampson and while it’s been a stinker of a year for him, he has shown up in the passing game from time to time. If Sanders struggles, I can see him passing it to his running backs, Judkins and Sampson (and even Jerome Ford, too). What Sampson has done to differentiate himself from the others is that he is the only Browns running back to have at least six targets and 29+ receiving yards from it… and he’s done it twice this season. Now, do you want to know what their Week 12 opponent, the Raiders, have allowed in three of the last four games? A running back/fullback duo to have 7.1+ fantasy points and part of that duo to have at least 31 receiving yards on three-plus targets.
Shedeur Sanders might be against all odds, but I think if the Browns gameplan around their running backs, with Quinshon Judkins in the running game and Dylan Sampson in the passing game, it’ll make it easier for the rookie quarterback who is already under the spotlight.
Wide Receiver
D.J. Moore (Chicago Bears)
Remember the days when D.J. Moore was putting up 7.8+ fantasy points weekly? Now, all of a sudden, he’s gone for a combined total of 3.1 fantasy points in the last two weeks. Sounds like he needs a bounce-back game and fast, because now some of the hype is going to rookie Luther Burden III! But Moore is still the WR2 in this offense, and he’ll look to prove it against the team that has allowed the most fantasy points to the wide receiver position.
The first stat that helps my case is that the Steelers have allowed a WR trio to score at least 7.4 fantasy points in three of their last five games. They’ve allowed a WR duo to go over 9.2 fantasy points in three of the last five games, too! Then, as we all know, Ben Johnson likes to be a trickster. He’s shown that, deploying D.J. Moore in the backfield for an average of 1.3 carries a game this season and at least one rushing attempt in seven games. That got me wondering: how do the Steelers fare against wide receivers who have a reception and also logged a carry? Now, they’ve only seen one wide receiver do that this season, but he also caught an eight-yard touchdown! I also went back to last season, and those receivers ended up averaging 5.6 receptions for 68 yards, and 0.5 touchdowns for 15.6 fantasy points.
So, let’s hope for D.J. Moore to bounce back from this slump, shall we?
Greg Dortch (Arizona Cardinals)
Yeah, you heard Michael Wilson had 15 receptions for 185 yards on 18 targets last week in Marvin Harrison Jr.‘s absence. You also heard Trey McBride had ten receptions for 115 yards and a touchdown on 11 targets last week, too. Let’s not forget the Cardinals’ other weapon, though! Greg Dortch caught all of his six targets for 66 yards and a touchdown! Now, while I don’t think we see Jacoby Brissett have 47 completions in a game again, I don’t think it’ll impact Dortch. First off, a 6-66-1 stat line sounds reasonable for a WR2.
There’s another hidden fact that’s not being talked about. We know McBride has the most touchdowns for the Cardinals since Brissett has been the starter, but Dortch actually has the second-most with three! His matchup couldn’t be any better either, because the Jaguars have had back-to-back games allowing a WR2 to have 42+ receiving yards and 9.3+ fantasy points. To me, it sounds like a match made in heaven, with Greg Dortch torching the Jaguars to hell.
Tight End
T.J. Hockenson (Minnesota Vikings)
I don’t think anyone expected this type of disappointing performance from T.J. Hockenson this season. Like, it’s terrible. In the five games this season where J.J. McCarthy has started, Hockenson is only averaging 2.2 receptions on 3.6 targets for 17 yards, 0.2 touchdowns and 5.1 fantasy points. Now, I will say that his fantasy scores have improved in this second stint with McCarthy, as he’s averaging 2.3 receptions on 3.6 targets for 19.3 yards, 0.3 touchdowns and 6.2 fantasy points in his last three, scoring 6.9+ in two of those games.
Things are even looking brighter because he faces the Packers, who have allowed the seventh-most fantasy points to the tight end position this season! In all but two games this season, the Packers have allowed a tight end to score 6.6+ fantasy points. This includes the most-targeted tight end, who averaged 4.9 receptions for 40.4 yards and 0.5 touchdowns for 11.9 fantasy points. At the bare minimum, you should expect the Packers to extend the streak to three games in which the Packers have allowed a tight end to have 36+ receiving yards and 6.6+ fantasy points, as T.J. Hockenson should be able to get it done!
Thanks for reading this week’s “Shore Thing Sleepers.” If you’re looking for more fantasy content like this or need help with the last-minute fantasy football start/sit decisions for your roster, you can find me on Facebook at “Fantasy Sports Start or Sit’Em Questions,” Twitter/X @FSSOSEQ or on BlueSky!
*Photo Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck – USA TODAY Sports*
