Fantasy Football 2021: Week 12 Roster Cloggers

At this point in the season there are teams in your fantasy football leagues that have playoff spots locked up. Unfortunately, that means that there are probably several teams that are statistically eliminated from the playoffs as well.

If you do not fall into one of those categories; getting wins, or at least scoring a lot of points over the last couple weeks of the season are vital. Obviously, getting rid of your roster cloggers will help you optimize your rosters. It is also important to make sure you add the right players to your fantasy football teams.

If you are in the playoffs, it is time to start looking at playoff matchups for QB, TE, K, and DST. Instead of stashing a roster clogger, you can stash a player with a good playoff schedule.

For example, in ESPN leagues Tua is rostered in under 60% of rosters. But he has one of the easiest playoff schedules for QBs. The Steelers and 49ers also have fairly easy playoff schedules so they are also potential stash candidates.

If you are fighting for a playoff spot you should not be looking at playoff matchups just yet. You need to try and find players with good matchups over the next few weeks. The Jets, Jaguars, and Broncos have some of the easiest schedules from Week 12 through 14.  In ESPN leagues, QBs for these teams are on less than 25% of rosters.

Quarterbacks

Joe Burrow, Cincinatti Bengals (86.6% Rostered, 43.7% Started)

Through 10 weeks the Raiders were one of the best defenses to target when considering your starting fantasy QB. Unfortunately, Joe Burrow had a pretty poor performance. Burrow did complete 2/3 of his passes, but he threw for under 150 yards with only one touchdown. Burrow did not play poorly, but we were hoping for more.

Burrow’s subpar fantasy day may have been a result of how well Joe Mixon played. With matchups against the Steelers, Chargers, and 49ers to finish off the regular season, Burrow could have more bad games in store. If you are in the playoffs already and are streaming, Burrow is someone you may want to hold. His playoff schedule is fairly decent with matchups against the Broncos, Ravens, and Chiefs.

Carson Wentz, Indianapolis Colts (46.1% Rostered, 11.1% Started)

Carson Wentz is just below my threshold to be considered a roster clogger, but I wanted to bring him up since he is often brought up as a streaming candidate. The Buccaneers are an intriguing option to stream QB against, but I think you can do better next week. Cam Newton, Trevor Lawrence, and Mac Jones all have better matchups than Wentz and are rostered in fewer leagues.

In addition to not being the ideal streaming candidate this week, Wentz still has a bye week left. If you can move from Wentz to a player past their bye you can help your team dramatically. Once Wentz is past the bye week he has one of the hardest fantasy playoff schedules. If you need wins today or are looking for help on your playoff roster Wentz is not the guy. Cut him today so you can hopefully get him to clog up an opponents roster.

Running Backs

Derrick Henry, Tennessee Titans (84.6% Rostered, 13.7% Started)

I try my best to not put IR players on this list, but Derrick Henry is an interesting case to me. The Titans themselves have not ruled out an early January return. This could potentially make him available for your fantasy football championship. With the Titans still first in their division they are likely to make the playoffs. If things get close down the stretch I would not be surprised to see Henry make a return to help secure a victory that could determine their playoff fate.

If you have an IR in a keeper league feel free to use that spot on Henry, until you need that spot for a weekly fill in player. Your IR spots could potentially be better used with byes and injuries each week. I personally would prefer to use my keeper spot on a player that could come back earlier, but I understand not wanting to give up a valuable keeper.

Darrel Williams, Kansas City Chiefs (81.4% Rostered, 32.1% Rostered)

While Clyde Edwards-Helaire was on the IR, Darrel Williams had a few decent fantasy weeks. CEH returned in Week 11, and seemed to take back the primary role. Williams still led in snaps and was the pass-catching back. But CEH had double the carries and was far more efficient in the running game. Both RBs had redzone opportunities but it was CEH who was given the ball on the goal line.

Without the valuable carries, Williams is not going to be able to support enough of a role to maintain any level of fantasy football relevance. At this point in the season, Williams could still have some value to the CEH manager, so I would try and make a trade with them. They may be interested in trading for the somewhat valuable handcuff as the prepare for the playoffs.

D’Ernest Johnson, Cleveland Browns (74.5% Rostered, 20.1% Started)

With Nick Chubb back in the lineup, Johnson was clearly the second option at the RB position. The Browns will be getting Hunt back in the coming weeks (potentially as soon as this week) pushing Johnson even farther down the depth chart. If you have not already dropped Johnson you can do so now.

Wide Receivers

Jakobi Meyers, New England Patriots (67.6% Rostered, 26.3% Started)

Jakobi Meyers is on this list for the 2nd straight week. After catching his first touchdown in Week 10 there was a small window to try and sell Meyers. Unfortunately, Week 11 was not a great performance for the talented WR. Meyers had 4 catches for just 39 yards, which was his 4th lowest yardage total of the season.

If you play in a deep league, Meyers is still a possible starter. He offers you a pretty safe floor based on his targets. In shallow leagues, you are probably never going to be able to justify putting Meyers in the starting lineup. In addition, the Patriots have their bye in Week 14. If you are fighting for one of the last playoff spots in your league he will offer you no value at that point. It is better to move on now than keep struggling with the low weekly fantasy points.

Tight Ends

Tyler Higbee, Los Angeles Rams (70.5% Rostered, 7.8% Started)

The Rams were on bye in Week 11, so the last time we saw Tyler Higbee he scored a touchdown. His 3 catches for 20 yards and a touchdown in Week 10 aren’t great, but they are valuable at the TE position.

Coming off of the bye, the Rams face the Packers who are near the middle of the road as far as TE matchups are concerned. At this point in the season Higbee is not the weekly starter that we were hoping he would be when we drafted him. Higbee should now be viewed as a streaming TE only.

This week there are some other streaming options that I would prefer over Higbee, and therefore I am willing to drop him. After a slow start to the season Evan Engram is finally starting to pick things up. With touchdowns in two of the last three games he gets to face the Eagles who have given up a touchdown to the TE position in all but four games this season. It is time to let go of the draft capital you invested in Higbee and treat him like the streaming TE that he has turned into.

Roster Clogger Watch

Darnell Mooney, Chicago Bears (53.4% Rostered, 18.4% Started)

Mooney has touchdowns in each of the Bears last two games, and looks like he is turning into the Bears leading WR. Due to his inconsistency and the Bears system, he is not necessarily a reliable fantasy football starter. His 16 targets in Week 11 is nothing to put down, but I think it was more of a fluke.

If your trade deadline has not passed, Mooney is someone who could be a decent piece to move for an underperforming player that is due for regression. If Robinson is able to play on Thanksgiving, I would not feel comfortable starting Mooney in almost any situation. We should be monitoring Mooney’s usage and involvement this week to see if we can rely on him moving forward.

Kenyan Drake, Las Vegas Raiders (63.4% Rostered, 20.6% Started)

Kenyan Drake has been a pretty frustrating player to have on fantasy football rosters this season. His involvement in the passing game to start the season saved his fantasy value. But in several weeks without that he barely was involved in the offense at all. Then, Drake had at least one touchdown in the two games leading into the Raiders bye week. His involvement in the passing game following the bye contributed his first 100 yard game of the season.

Since then, he has played less than 1/3 of the total offensive snaps in back-to-back weeks. In these games, Drake is getting far fewer opportunities than Josh Jacobs. We expect Jacobs to lead the backfield, but Drake was getting very close to being a valuable flex play. But recently, he has been incredibly disappointing. If Drake has another game with low usage we need to consider dropping him for players that offer more value and actual starter upside.