Tastefully Curated Every Wednesday by LineStar Fantasy Experts. 

Week 12 Top Plays - Revenge of the Wilson

QB:

• Russell Wilson, SEA (@SF) [CASH]Russell Wilson should certainly be the consensus cash and chalk play this week. Facing the 49ers defense which is ranked 29th against quarterbacks on the season, giving up 21 fantasy points per game. The Seahawks haven't had a legitimate running game all season, forcing Wilson and the passing game to air it out early and often. Wilson is 2nd in pass attempts just behind Tom Brady. The concern for Wilson is that he has not played well against the 49ers at all in his career, averaging only 15.8 fantasy points over 7 starts.

• Matt Ryan, ATL (vs TB) [TOURNAMENT]The Atlanta Falcons will be without Devonta Freeman for the 2nd week in a row, facing the 25th ranked pass defense in the league. The Tampa Bay Bucs are allowing 285 passing yards and 1.7 touchdowns per game against Quarterbacks on the season. Matt Ryan has been pretty much hot garbage all season, but being without their top running back would usually force them into more pass situations. It could, but Atlanta is favored by 9.5 points so if Fitzmagic can't keep it close there won't be much reason for Ryan to throw the ball. This is certainly a tournament only play, as it can easily backfire but Ryan still has a high ceiling, though we haven't seen it this season.

• Paxton Lynch, DEN (@OAK) [CONTRARIAN]The Oakland pass defense has been consistently horrible throughout the season. We haven't seen much of Lynch yet, but he's likely the best of the Denver QB's which really isn't much of a compliment. What he does have are weapons; Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas are top tier wide receivers that make throwing downfield significantly easier. What also makes it easier is facing the 26th ranked pass defense, which is allowing 261 yards and 1.7 TDs thru the air.

Other QBs to consider:

• Andy Dalton, CIN (vs CLE): Put up 286 yards and 4 TDs against CLE in Week 4. Maybe they'll watch film to see that throwing to AJ Green actually works, surprise surprise.

• Cam Newton, CAR (@NYJ): Cam gets Greg Olsen back this week, against the Jets who are ranked 21st against quarterbacks. They've allowed 2.3 pass TDs per game the last 4.

• Marcus Mariota, TEN (@IND): The Colts are ranked 28th against QBs, Mariota should have a slightly easier time running away from trouble on field turf in the dome.

RB:

• Mark Ingram, NO (@LAR) [CASH]The Rams are ranked 27th against running backs on the season, but have been significantly better over the last 4 games. Regardless, the Saints have been running the ball effortlessly ever since dumping the aging Adrian Peterson. Ingram has surpassed 100 yards rushing in 4 of the last 6 games. Vegas has this as the highest scoring game of the slate at 53.5 points and a close 2.5 spread in favor of the Rams at home. There should be plenty of points and yards to go around this game, and Ingram is going to get his.

• Devontae Booker, DEN (@OAK) [TOURNAMENT]Booker has been seeing his snap count go up for the last couple weeks, and finally surpassed CJ Anderson with 48 snaps to CJ's 29 snaps last week. It looks like the Denver offense is trying to phase CJ Anderson out. This week he'll get to face the very poor Raiders run defense, which has allowed 107 yards and .3 TDs per game on the season, ranked 28th overall in fantasy points allowed to running backs. If Booker sees the same number of snaps, or more this week against this defense, he could have a very nice day for a very low price.

• Adrian Peterson, ARI (vs JAX) [CONTRARIAN]No one is going to want to play Peterson after 2 horrific weeks in a row, but it's hard to argue with the ceiling we've seen him provide in Arizona. If the Cardinals can get the running game going, Peterson still has a good chance to exceed 20 carries and have a solid performance. The Jaguars defense is solid, especially against the pass, but against the run they are only ranked 16th allowing 97.5 rush yards per game.

Other RBs to consider: 

• J.D. McKissic, SEA (@SF): 49ers are dead last versus running backs, McKissic is the only active RB on SEA to show he can get any yards.

• Terron Ward, ATL (vs TB): If this game gets out of hand, Ward could see his carry total get into the teens at a near minimum salary.

• LeGarrette Blount, PHI (vs CHI): Yes, it's a 3-headed monster, but it's likely a blowout and Blount will be in for goal line and running down the clock.

• Corey Davis, TEN (@IND): His first 3 starts were against Brutal matchups, this week is the complete opposite, he's going to think he's somehow twice as fast now.

• Mohamed Sanu, ATL (vs TB): The Bucs defense versus WR's is horrific, they are ranked dead last in fantasy points allowed. Sanu should have a safe floor with decent ceiling.

• Deonte Thompson, BUF (@KC): Kelvin Benjamin is likely out, and Tyrod has not been afraid to pepper Thompson with targets. Going against 31st ranked defense versus WRs.

TE

• Delanie Walker, TEN (@IND) [CASH] Delanie has been rock solid at being around projections despite not having a touchdown since week 2. He has at least 60 yards in 4 straight weeks. Yes, the last time he played Indy he only had 17 yards and 0 TDs, but that was the last of what was a bad string of games where both he and Mariota were dealing with injuries. Also, each of the past three years Delanie has had one “meh” game against the Colts and one great game, so with the “meh” game out of the way, surely this will be a great one. As far as that touchdown goes, he’s due for another one. He has 4 redzone targets in the last 2 games, so  he’s getting the looks.

• Jimmy Graham, SEA (@SF) - Has been a monster of late, and his price hasn’t quite caught up, especially on DK and FanDuel. The scary part is he hasn’t had more than 61 yards since week 3.

• Austin Hooper, ATL (v.TB) - Hooper is very up and down, and I like his odds of being up against this defense.

DEFENSE:

• Jacksonville Jaguars (@ARI) [CASH]There should be no surprise that the Jags are the cash play this week, or any week they have a good matchup. They’ll be up against Blaine Gabbert getting his second start for the Cardinals. In his first start, he put up 21 points on the Texans, which isn’t bad. Those scoring drives, however, were 17 yards, 15 yards, and 51 yards long. Jacksonville is in the top 10 when it comes to protecting the ball, so Gabbert shouldn’t get used to those short fields. Gabbert also threw 2 INTs and got sacked twice, which the Jags should be able to match and then some as they are 3rd and 1st in the league in those categories, respectively.

• Philadelphia Eagles (v.CHI) [TOURNAMENT] Like the Jags, the Eagles will be heavily-owned this weekend. The Bears lose as many fumbles as anyone, and are the 6th worst scoring offense in the league. They are dependent on the run, but they are going against the best run defense, allowing just 71 Rush Yards per game. And if the Eagles get a lead, which they likely will as 13.5 point favorites, Trubisky will have to throw, which scares me as a Bears fan. He’s only thrown 2 INTs in his 6 games, but he’s been sacked 17 times, which is insane considering how little they drop back to pass. The Eagles will also drive those numbers up as they have forced 11 INTs in their last 5 games and have the 6th most sacks this year.

• Atlanta Falcons (v.TB) [CONTRARIAN] A lot of attention will be on the Eagles and Jags, and rightfully so, but the Falcons will be at home against Ryan Fitzpatrick. The Falcons fantasy defense has started to look better with 8 sacks and 2 TOs vDAL and 3 sacks and 2 TOs @SEA. If there’s a defense I like to put a flier on, it’s one that's playing well at home against a gunslinging backup QB.

Other DEF to consider:

• Pittsburgh Steelers, (v.GB) - Hundley holds the ball too long, and if he gets the pass off, the defenders often have a good shot at it. The Steelers aren’t too bad themselves either.

• Cincinnati Bengals, (v.CLE) - See (V.CLE)

INJURIES TO WATCH:

• Tom Brady, NE - Achilles, missed practice, likely to play

• Cam Newton, CAR - Thumb, limited in practice, likely to play

• Jacoby Brissett, IND - Concussion, limited in practice, likely to play

• Jay Cutler, MIA - Concussion, not practicing, questionable

• CJ Beathard, SF - Thumb, expected to start

• Leonard Fournette, JAX - Ankle, limited, likely to play

• Devonta Freeman, ATL - Concussion, not practicing, unlikely to play

• Isaiah Crowell, CLE - Shoulder, limited, likely to play

• Ty Montgomery, GB - Ribs, not practicing, questionable

• Matt Forte, NYJ - Knee, not practicing, unlikely to play

• DeAndre Hopkins, HOU - undisclosed, didn’t practice, likely to play

• Robert Woods, LAR - Shoulder, ruled out

• JuJu Smith-Schuster, PIT - Hamstring, didn’t practice, likely to play

• Julio Jones, ATL - Ankle/Knee, limited, likely to play

• Chris Hogan, NE - Shoulder, didn’t practice, unlikely to play

• Marqise Lee, JAX - Knee, limited, likely to play

• Allen Hurns, JAX - Ankle, didn’t practice, unlikely to play

• Deonte Thompson, BUF - Ankle, limited, likely to play

• Kelvin Benjamin, BUF - Knee, didn’t practice, questionable

• Dontrelle Inman, CHI - Groin, limited, likely to play

• Rob Gronkowski, NE - Illness, didn’t practice, likely to play

• Cameron Brate, TB - Ankle, limited, likely to play

• Tyler Kroft, CIN - Right hand, limited, likely to play

• George Kittle, SF - Leg, limited, likely to play

• Martellus Bennett, NE - Shoulder/Hamstring, limited, likely to play

• Dion Sims, CHI - Illness, limited, likely to play

• Vance McDonald, PIT - Ankle, didn’t practice, questionable

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