Fabiano’s Fantasy Focus: Week 12, Vol. II – Who To Bench And Who To Play

Every week during the NFL season, Sports Illustrated Senior Fantasy Analyst Michael Fabiano joins Sports360AZ’s Brad Cesmat to share his insight on building and developing your fantasy team for success.

In our most recent conversation with Michael (Nov. 23), we discussed which players to start with confidence this week and which ones are best left out of your lineup. Here is what the Hall-of-Famer had to say:

D.K. Metcalf And Tyler Lockett Have Both Had Mercurial Seasons To This Point. What Do You Do With Them Moving Forward?

“Keep playing them. Lockett had a good game last week, D.K. did not, and I don’t know what’s going on with Russell Wilson, but you have to play them. They’ve got Washington, whose defense is not very good. Chase Young is out and they’ve been the worst team against quarterbacks from a fantasy perspective. If they can’t do it against Washington, that’s a major concern.”

 

Ryan Tannehill Is Another Guy Who’s Had An Up-And-Down Season. Where Are You At On Him?

“I was a fan of his before the season because he was so good last year and the year before, but his struggles this year are not all his fault. He’s lost maybe one of the greatest running backs in the history of the league in Derrick Henry, Julio Jones and A.J. Brown have been banged up as well, so I’m not going to blame Tannehill completely for his four-interception performance against Houston. That being said, now he has to play New England, whose defense has been on fire. Don’t play him unless you’re in a two-quarterback or super flex league.”

What Does Jordan Howard’s Injury Mean For The Eagles Backfield?

“It means that Miles Sanders is the guy, Boston Scott is number two and Kenneth Gainwell is number three. Since week seven, the Eagles have run the ball 67% of the time, which is more than any other team in the league. They’re running the ball a ton, and it hasn’t hurt guys like Dallas Goedert and DeVonta Smith. Sanders, to me, is a flex starter this week against the Giants.”