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Fantasy Football: Here are our bold predictions for Week 12
Alright folks, buckle up for Week 12, because the Yahoo Fantasy crew is dropping some heat that’s hotter than a contested Steph Curry three-pointer at the buzzer. We’re talking about the kind of bold predictions that can either win you your league or have your group chat roasting you until next season.First up, let’s talk about the Detroit Lions' Jameson Williams, who is absolutely balling out. Since the Lions' Week 8 bye, this guy has been putting up stat lines that look like something from a video game on easy mode: 4-66-1, 6-119-1, and 4-88-1.That’s three straight top-14 finishes, with the last two landing him in the top six. Now he’s back in the dome at Ford Field, where the Lions' passing attack historically goes supernova.The opponent? The New York Giants, who are basically a welcome mat for fantasy wideouts, ranking as the sixth-easiest matchup. With the game's total projected at a juicy 50.5 points, this has all the makings of a shootout. Justin Boone is betting the house that Williams keeps this heater going for a third consecutive top-10 finish, and honestly, with the way he's separating from defenders, it's hard to argue.Then there's the curious case of Zay Flowers in Baltimore. His last touchdown was back in Week 1 against Buffalo—a lifetime ago in fantasy years.Since then, he's been tackled inside the 10-yard line six times, which is just brutal luck. But Joel Smyth is feeling a breakout.The Jets' secondary, once a feared unit, is now a shell of itself after injuries, and they just got torched for over 200 yards by the Patriots' receivers, a season-high for a pretty mediocre group. Facing the 27th-ranked defense against explosive passes, Flowers is perfectly positioned to finally hit paydirt on a long ball, maybe a 40-yard streak that breaks your opponent's spirit.Over in New Orleans, Chris Olave is being touted by Matt Harmon as a lock for a top-10 week. Olave was seeing insane volume early on—second in targets through Week 5—but the yards weren't there, a classic case of positive regression waiting to happen.And it did: from Weeks 6 to 10, he jumped to seventh in yards per game and snagged three touchdowns. The real key is rookie quarterback Tyler Shough, who showed in Week 10 he's not afraid to air it out to Olave downfield, racking up 141 air yards.Shough completed 11 of 16 passes for 202 yards and both touchdowns on throws outside the numbers before the bye. Now they face the Falcons, who use single-high coverage on a league-high 69% of plays.Against that look, Olave averages 2. 57 yards per route run, which jumps to 4.04 in the two games Shough started. That’s a recipe for explosion.Now, for the real spicy take: Ray Garvin is going back to the well with Tampa Bay's Sean Tucker. On 20 fewer carries than lead back Rachaad White, Tucker has 235 yards, a team-best 4.6 yards per carry, and four rushing touchdowns. He’s the most explosive back on the roster, and against a Rams offense that can turn any game into a track meet, the Bucs might shorten the game by leaning on the run.If backup Bucky Irving is out again, those high-value touches consolidate, and Tucker could get the goal-line calls. Garvin is booking it: Tucker punches in two scores on Sunday Night Football and kicks off a full-blown backfield controversy.Then there's Jakobi Meyers in Jacksonville, who is breaking all the conventional wisdom about receiver-target rapport. As Chris Allen points out, Meyers hoarded 30% of Trevor Lawrence's targets in his first full week with the Jaguars, a share that rookies Brian Thomas Jr.and Travis Hunter never reached. And it wasn't just manufactured screens; these were timing routes to the outside and across the middle.Facing a Cardinals defense allowing the 12th-highest passing success rate to wide receivers over their last six games, Meyers is poised for WR2 numbers. Finally, Scott Pianowski is rolling the dice on the Las Vegas Raiders defense as a top-five unit.Shedeur Sanders looked completely lost in his 4-for-16 performance against Baltimore, and his sack problems date back to his Colorado days. The Raiders' defense has been mostly awful this year (29th in DVOA), but this is a prime get-right spot against a struggling quarterback.In fantasy, sometimes you just have to chase the matchup, and this one smells like a smash play. So there you have it—the bold calls that could define your week.Whether you're riding with the hot hand in Detroit or betting on a breakout in Baltimore, these are the swings that separate the champions from the also-rans. Just remember, in fantasy football, fortune favors the bold.
#fantasy football
#week 12 predictions
#Jameson Williams
#Zay Flowers
#Chris Olave
#Sean Tucker
#Jakobi Meyers
#Raiders defense
#featured
