Are there too many IDP starting lineup decisions for you this week? Can’t decide which linebacker or edge rusher to start? Which safety gets the nod this week?”
This will not be the typical ‘obvious starters’ type of article. Always start your studs like Brian Burns, Jordyn Brooks, and Tykee Smith. What needs to be shared is who we start and sit out, as well as the not-so-obvious players. You will not see many of the top-10 players listed in these articles because we are all already familiar with starting these players.
Week 12 brings the Byes back to four teams this week: the Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers, Miami Dolphins, and Washington Commanders.
***Please note that all rankings are pulled from FantasyPros.com’s current weekly rankings for DL, LB, and DB.
More NFL Week 12 Fantasy Football Advice From IDP+
Week 12 – DL/Edge Starters
Josh Sweat – Arizona Cardinals
Sweat has been on a roll lately and now gets to play the #23-ranked Jaguars in points allowed to opposing DE/Edge players. He has a sack in each of his last three games, including two against the Cowboys. The Jaguars have given up the 8th most sacks this year among the teams that have played 10 games. Their 26 sacks given up rank 13th overall in the NFL. In his last 3 games, Sweat has posted 4 solo tackles, 4 tackles for a loss, 7 QB hits, 4 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, and 1 pass defended. Ride his hot streak into another top 10 performance to help your squad get that important win this week. His #15 ranking is not high enough.
Leonard Williams – Seattle Seahawks
Williams plays nearly 80% of the defensive snaps and played a season high 92% last week against the Rams. He has scored double-digit points in every game this year. The 31-year-old shows zero signs of slowing down as he has produced a very nice 41 tackles (21 solo), 5 tackles for a loss, 13 QB hits, 5 sacks, and 1 pass defended in 10 games combined. Next up on the agenda will be the Titans, who are very generous in allowing points to opposing DTs. The Titans allow the fifth-most points. He should far outproduce his #24 ranking this week.
Jaelan Phillips – Philadelphia Eagles
Phillips is loving his new home after being traded to the Eagles at the NFL trade deadline. His last two weeks, his first with the Eagles, have been his best two performances of this season. Those two weeks had him posting a combined 11 tackles (6 solo), 2 tackles for a loss, 4 QB hits, 1 sack, and 1 fumble recovery. He jumped right into a majority of the defensive snaps, also with 77% of those snaps. He now gets to play the Cowboys, who are right in the middle in points allowed to opposing DE/Edge players. Look for another top 10 performance from the #19-ranked DL.
Week 12 – DL/Edge Sits
Byron Young – Los Angeles Rams
Young has been in a rut lately after such a great first seven games. He posted a sack in six of his first seven games, and hasn’t produced one over the past three games. In fact, he has only one QB hit in these last three games to go along with seven solo tackles. He has had some tougher competition as of late, but none as tough as the Buccaneers, who are ranked #5 in points allowed to opposing DE/Edge players. You can feel safe in assuming his quiet streak will continue. He should not deliver a #11-ranked performance this week.
Carl Granderson – New Orleans Saints
Granderson has been a major bust over the past five games, in which he has posted zero double-digit scores for your squad. His 5-game tally includes just 8 tackles, with 5 of them being solo. That is it for those combined 216 defensive snaps, which were over 60% played. The #48-ranked DL has no business being anywhere near your starting lineup against the stingy #4-ranked Falcons in points allowed to opposing DE/Edge players.
Week 12 – LB Starts
Nathan Landman – Los Angeles Rams
Landman has been the leader of the Rams’ defense all year long, being the only LB to play more than 80% of the defensive snaps in every game. He leads the Rams in tackles, followed only by the two Safeties, Kamren Curl and Qeuntin Lake. This week, he gets the 4th-worst offense in points allowed to opposing LBs. He posted 17 tackles against the Ravens, who are ranked one position higher than the Buccaneers. He has the possibility of being the #1 LB for week 12. His #6 ranking is probably still too low.
Robert Spillane – New England Patriots
Spillane has at least nine tackles in three of his last four games and now faces the lowly Bengals defense, which ranks #24 in points allowed to opposing linebackers. Spillane is the #12-ranked LB for this week, and he probably will post top-five numbers for you. Against other similarly ranked offenses, Spillane has produced anywhere from 9 to 14 tackles in those games. Start him with a great deal of confidence this week.
Carson Schwesinger – Cleveland Browns
Schwesinger has had two straight games of double-digit tackles to post back-to-back season-high games in scoring. It’s not just tackles he is producing, he also has 4 tackles for a loss, 2 QB hits, .5 sack, 1 pass defended, and 1 interception over the past two games. Now, he gets the Raiders, who are #8 in points allowed to opposing LBs but have been struggling lately. Schwesinger seems to be learning more and getting better with each game. 100% of the defensive snaps over the last two games also. The Cowboys LBs posted 19 tackles against the Raiders last week, the Broncos posted 15 tackles in Week 11, and the Jaguars posted 21 tackles in Week 10. His #14 ranking feels a bit too low this week. Start him with confidence.
Week 12 – LB Sits
Payton Wilson – Pittsburgh Steelers
Wilson has had seven or fewer tackles in four of his last six games. His defensive snap percentage has varied greatly between 43-85% of the snaps. Four of those six games have been against 23rd or worse ranking in points allowed to opposing LBs, so his opportunity for nice games was present. This week brings the #17-ranked Bears. The #37-ranked LB for this week will struggle to obtain that number in scoring. You may leave him on your bench.
Lavonte David – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
David is still playing nearly all of the defensive snaps, but the tackle production is not following for the 35-year-old perennial All-Pro. He might be coming to the end sooner rather than later. He has double-digit tackles in just two games this year. David has five games with seven tackles or fewer. He is ranked #18 this week, and he will be hard-pressed to break the top 30 against the #3-ranked Rams in points allowed to opposing LBs.
Week 12 – DB Starts
Quick Tip – When having a hard time deciding on a DB to start, and a rookie CB is one of those players, always choose the rookie CB if they are going against a pass-heavy team.
Tre’von Moehrig – Carolina Panthers
Moehrig has been a major surprise for the Panthers this year. He has played nearly every snap in every game all year long. He is second in tackles with 73 on the year behind only LB Christian Rozeboom, who has 91. Four of his last five games have him scoring 20 or more points, with his last three in a row being 21 or more points. He gets to play the 26th-worst team in scoring allowed to opposing Safeties in the 49ers. He has a great chance to be the #1 scoring DB this week, exceeding his #8 ranking.
Keisean Nixon – Green Bay Packers
Nixon has missed just a couple of defensive snaps all year and just posted his best game of the season with 8 solo tackles and 2 passes defended. He already has 46 tackles (39 solo), 2 tackles for a loss, 1 fumble recovery, and a new career best 14 passes defended. Nixon has scored 21 or more points in half of his games. Up next is the Vikings and a very unsteady J.J. McCarthy. Dial up a Top 24 performance this week, well ahead of his #86 ranking.
Marcus Jones – New England Patriots
Jones has been quiet over the past three games with just 9 tackles (4 solo) and 1 fumble recovery. This week will be a get-right game against the #31-ranked offense in allowed points to opposing CBs. The Bengals are tied for 4th in the league in interceptions thrown, and they have thrown the second-most passes out of all teams that have played just 10 games. Jones will have a lot of opportunity to shake this little slump off and perform much higher than his #31 ranking for Week 12.
Week 12 – DB Sits
Michael Jackson – Carolina Panthers
Jackson has been dang near invisible on the stat sheet, even though he plays nearly 100% of the defensive snaps every week. He has two straight games of single-digit scoring against lower-end offenses in points allowed to opposing CBs. He couldn’t score against the #25 and the #30-ranked teams, and now gets the stingy #8 49ers offense. The #88-ranked DB will not score in the Top 100, so feel free to bench him until further notice.
Coby Bryant – Seattle Seahawks
Bryant has not been very relevant since the Seahawks bye in Week 8. He has just 4 solo tackles, 1 forced fumble, and 1 pass defended. Bryant has produced 11 assisted tackles over those three games, though. Those three games were against the middle-of-the-road offenses in points allowed to opposing Safeties. This week, he gets the #3 Titans. His soft stretch of scoring will continue at least one more week, if not more. You can safely sit the #34-ranked DB this week as he will be nowhere near that ranking when scores are totaled up this week.
Thank you for checking out my Week 12 IDP Start/Sit Advice article! You can read all of my articles on my IDP+ author page. Be sure to follow me on X at @OldMan_FF and @IDP_Plus (we have offense, too), and please consider becoming a subscriber. Week 4 IDP Start Sit
