DFS lineup advice and picks for NFL Week 12

Who’s ready to start a new adventure with me? This isn’t my first foray into the world of daily fantasy sport, but it is the first for a while and as the NFL season is heating up (or winding down for certain teams), I fancied dipping my toe back in the water and putting my expertise to the test. For the rest of the season I’m going to set a lineup and break down my reasoning for selecting those players in the hope it may help you fellow DFS players with your own lineups.

Note: I’m setting my lineup based on the standard 9 player, $50k salary cap setup for the Sunday slate of games, excluding Sunday Night Football.

QB: Josh Allen vs Los Angeles Chargers ($7600)

I wanted to start this week’s roster off strongly and Allen’s high floor is exactly the place to start. After a few quiet weeks, Allen exploded in Weeks 9 and 10, finishing a top four QB both weeks. The Chargers are in the bottom 10 in points allowed to quarterbacks and that’s good enough for me to roster Allen this week.

RB: Alvin Kamara @ Denver Broncos ($8200)

It was a down week for Kamara in Week 11 as he didn’t see a single target in the victory over the Falcons but he remains the top-scoring running back on the season and I expect him to get back to his high-scoring ways against a below average Broncos run defense.

RB: Kareem Hunt @ Jacksonville Jaguars ($5600)

Facing a Jaguars team starting Mike Glennon at quarterback, the Browns will continue to lean on a running game that has rushed over 40 times in each of the last two games. Hunt encouragingly is seeing touches in the red zone, so has touchdown upside every week, alongside an encouraging double digit number of rush attempts even with Nick Chubb sharing the backfield with him.

WR: Justin Jefferson vs Carolina Panthers ($6300)

This feels like great value with Adam Thielen almost certain to miss this week’s game with him on the COVID-19 list. Even if Thielen was playing, Jefferson would be in consideration for my lineup, but without him, the rookie receiver is in line for double digit targets as the main option in the passing game.

WR: Robert Woods vs San Francisco 49ers ($5800)

More great value her with Woods outscoring his fellow receiver Cooper Kupp on the season, despite seeing fewer targets. Woods is coming off a season high 15 targets last week and, though I’m not expecting the same this week against the 49ers, he will still see good volume as the Rams look to keep atop the NFC West.

WR: Gabriel Davis vs Los Angeles Chargers ($3000)

With John Brown out this week, Davis is my value stack alongside Josh Allen and he carries some serious upside. When Brown has been out this season, Davis has seen almost all the offensive snaps so I’m banking on the rookie popping off a couple of long catches and a touchdown to see a return on his value.

TE: Travis Kelce @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers ($7000)

A top dollar price but Kelce is such a standout player he has to be on my roster this week. The Chiefs offense is so potent but it runs through Kelce, who is on an absolute tear this season and is third in the league in receiving yards. The Bucs may have a top five defense, but they have been found out against top offenses and therefore Kelce was second on my squad this week.

FLEX: Laviska Shenault Jr. vs Cleveland Browns ($3300)

Shenault has flown up the depth chart this week with injuries seeing DJ Chark and Chris Conley missing Week 12. Its a risky play, especially with a new quarterback starting, but with an increase in targets available, Shenault can turn his early season flashes into his best outing of the season.

DST: New York Giants @ Cincinnati Bengals ($3200)

The Giants have had a top 10 fantasy defense this season and go into this week facing a Bengals team reeling from the loss of Joe Burrow and are starting Brandon Allen for the first time. The Giants defense will be licking their lips at the prospect of facing a new quarterback and I’m backing them to make his debut uncomfortable and full of fantasy points.

Who are your top plays in DFS for Week 12? Let me know in the comments.