2025 Plays & Fades for Week 12

Welcome to our 2025 Plays & Fades for Week 12!

What a week, what a week.

We went out on a limb last week and touted Sean Tucker to incredible results.

We like a good win. But we won’t stop there. With the fantasy playoffs around the corner, you have to get ther,e and that’s why I’m doing my best to give you actionable plays and fades this week.

Without further ado, let’s get it!

* Stats courtesy of the good folks over at PFF, Fantasy Points Data Suite, FantasyData.com, Player Profiler, The Fantasy Footballers, and FTN Fantasy. Fantasy point references will be made from Half-PPR scoring*

Quarterbacks

Play: Brock Purdy vs. Carolina

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Welcome back Brock Purdy. pic.twitter.com/pPVqIGtQZ0

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 16, 2025

• A top-10 matchup in schedule-adjusted fantasy points for a quarterback that, when healthy, has a 7.1% touchdown/attempt percentage this season.
• Brock Purdy may not be the funnest play in fantasy football, but he’s one of the steadiest. He’s averaged 17.9 fantasy points in three starts this season in 4-point-per-touchdown leagues and 16 points per game in his career.
• Unexciting, but rock solid. Healthy floors at quarterback are where you can make serious hay in fantasy football.

Play: Sam Darnold @ Tennessee

• I’m expecting to be one of those top-heavy performances from Seattle in a game where they should get healthily ahead as a two-touchdown favorite.
• Darnold has been awful over the past two weeks, with QB26 and QB25 finishes. It’s a huge get-right opportunity.

Play: Tyler Shough vs. Atlanta

• This is our upside reach of the week. It’s a middle-of-the-road matchup with a low over/under.
• But Shough has averaged nine yards per attempt in his two starts and, perhaps more importantly, has unlocked Chris Olave and Alvin Kamara in this offense with simple competence.
• When your best guys are playing like your best guys, it helps.

Fade: Daniel Jones @ Kansas City

• Jones has been okay over the past two weeks, with finishes of QB13 and 16. Strangely enough, it hasn’t been the standard we’ve been used to with Jones this season.
• A matchup that is equally tough on quarterbacks and wide receivers makes this a tough spot to see Jones outperforming his QB13 ranking this week.

Fade: Jordan Love vs. Minnesota

• Love has been more mid than good pretty consistently this season. I don’t expect that to change this week against a Minnesota team that is the sixth-best in the league against wide receivers.
• He has more QB20 or lower finishes this season (4) than QB12 or better finishes (3).

Fade: Trevor Lawrence @ Arizona

• The seventh-worst matchup for quarterbacks awaits Lawrence this week.
• Lawrence is on pace for a middling 17-game pace of 19 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Know what that sounds like? A glorified game-manager.

Running Back

Play: TreVeyon Henderson vs. Cincinnati

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TreyVeon Henderson in 3 starts:

• 59 opportunities
• 57 touches
• 330 scrimmage yards
• 5 touchdowns
pic.twitter.com/bl0AjVAvTP

— FTN Fantasy (@FTNFantasy) November 15, 2025

• Your Bingo free square this week.
• Henderson has played 87 percent of snaps the last two weeks and has put up an unreal 28.6 FPPG during Rhamondre’s injury.
• It’s completely unrealistic, but with the way he’s played the last two weeks, he’d be on pace for a 34-rushing touchdown season and 487 fantasy points.

Play: Alvin Kamara vs. Atlanta

• A friendly matchup and a workhorse make for a healthy floor for Kamara.
• If Shough is at quarterback, expect New Orleans to lean heavily into Kamara as long as he’s healthy. He had 25 opportunities in Week 9. Opportunity is king.

Play: Blake Corum vs. Tampa Bay

• We made this call last week with Sean Tucker. Emerging opportunity shares on talented running backs mean upside.
• Corum has had 10 or more opportunities for the past month.
• The magic number is 40 percent of snaps for Corum. If he gets there against a run-friendly Tampa defense, I feel good about you getting a flex player who performs more like an RB2 than a low-end RB3.

Fade: Aaron Jones vs. Green Bay

• A tough matchup with a younger, and potentially better, running back behind him in Jordan Mason.
• Jones has been rock solid the past three weeks. But that tells me that the law of averages is due to catch up this week.
• Twenty-two opportunities were nice. But at 3.7 yards per target, were the six targets really worth it?

Fade: Chase Brown vs. New England

• An offense missing its best two players gets the most formidable run defense in football. Cool world.
• Brown has been on fire the last five games, averaging 14.8 FPPG. But this is a Patriots defense that hasn’t given up 15 fantasy points to the running back position in a game since Week 4.

Fade: Bam Knight vs. Jacksonville

• We’re a Jacoby Brissett Family now, Bam.
• The fourth-best run defense against running backs in fantasy and the 20th-best against wide receivers and 31st against tight ends. Jacoby Brissett is a bonus play this week at quarterback.
• Jacksonville will funnel this Cardinal offense to a place it wants to be right now.

Wide Receiver

Play: DeVonta Smith vs. Dallas

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DeVonta Smith goes up and gets it! 🔥

pic.twitter.com/OE3EFvvCRY

— A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) November 11, 2025

• Dallas’ pass defense is to receivers what Cincinnati’s run defense is to running backs.
• After a slow start, Smith has averaged 12.3 FPPG in half-PPR.
• Dallas held Smith to a WR80 finish in Week 1. That was a lifetime and an AJ Brown that quit ago.

Play: D.K. Metcalf vs. Chicago 

• The second-friendliest pass defense to receivers.
• This is all upside to me and can’t miss. If Rodgers misses, backup quarterbacks love to lock in on their top receiver.
• Rodgers or not, Metcalf plays like a must-start in my mind.

Play: Tee Higgins vs. New England

• No Chase? This feels like the most straightforward double-digit target call on the board this week.
• Higgins has scored in four consecutive games and has been a top-15 option three of the past four weeks, with Ja’Marr Chase. Let’s ride.

Fade: Khalil Shakir @ Houston

• Shakir is marked as questionable for this game, so he’s a possible inactive due to personal issues.
• Regardless, this Houston pass defense and pass rush are nasty and problematic. Whether you plug in Shakir, Keon Coleman, Tyrell Shavers, or Josh Palmer won’t matter. It’s just a tough matchup.

Fade: George Pickens vs. Philadelphia

• You won’t lock down both Dallas alphas. So, I had to decide on Pickens.
• Pickens has been as consistent as they’ve come this season. But, we’re fading him to finish below WR18. That’s very doable against a Philly team that held him to 4.5 fantasy points in Week 1.

Fade: Michael Pittman Jr. @ Kansas City

• A tough receiver matchup for a guy who has either been a WR2 or better or below WR60 this season.
• This Colts offense has been incredible, but this feels like a strong Taylor week against a team that has held all teams but two below 25 fantasy points at the position.

Tight End

Play: Travis Kelce vs. Indianapolis

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I’ve got to say… fair play to Travis Kelce!

Everyone wrote him off after last year, expecting him to retire.

Yet he’s come back this year & looked rejuvenated!

In 10 games:

631 yards (2nd amongst TEs)
4 TDs

139.1 PPR points (TE3)

At 36 years old! 👏pic.twitter.com/A8HxG5hY7X

— Matt FF Dynasty 🏈 (@MattFFDynasty) November 18, 2025

• Kelce has been a top-3 option at tight end for two of the past three weeks.
• We know the Chiefs’ formula for Kelce by now. Hold him back, then unleash him in a playoff push.
• Twenty-six targets in the past three weeks feels like an unleashing.

Play: Brock Bowers vs. Cleveland

• Don’t look now. Brock Bowers might be the league winner you need down the stretch.
• He’s been targeted 28 times in the last 3 weeks. He’s had a huge week, a bad week, and a decent one in there.
• Still, a TE1 for two of the past three weeks.

Play: Noah Fant vs. New England

• No Chase this week leaves us with a big void at second pass catcher.
• Fant is coming off a six-target week against Pittsburgh. He pushes that sort of volume or more this week, and we could be in business.

Fade: Jake Ferguson @ Philadelphia

• A tough matchup for a guy who increasingly feels like the third passing banana.
• A touchdown rescued a four-catch, 16-yard effort last week for Fergie.
• The London Bridge might be falling down.

Fade: Theo Johnson @ Detroit

• With Dart probably back this week, it’s hard to deny that this take could blow up in my face.
• Still, let’s bet on a Detroit defense that held Philadelphia to 4.3 fantasy points at the position last week.

Fade: A.J. Barner @ Tennessee

• Tennessee defense? Bad. Tennessee’s defense against tight ends? Surprisingly good.
• They held Tyler Warren in check a few weeks back, Gadsen two weeks ago, and Dalton Schultz last week.

D/ST

Play: Cleveland @ Las Vegas

• This is an elite unit playing a bad one.
• Do you need more?

Play: Jacksonville @ Arizona

• Jacksonville is stingy against the run but funnels towards the pass. That seems like a problem.
• However, Jacoby Brissett can be turnover-prone. This is a situation where a couple of interceptions may be snuck for fantasy points.

Play: San Francisco vs. Carolina

• San Francisco has struggled chiefly against the pass this year. However, last week was an unusually good week for Carolina in that area.
• Let’s expect the Panthers to regress to the mean this week and for San Fran to play to its strengths, which is being an average run-stopping unit.

Fade: Tampa Bay @ L.A. Rams

• This is your shootout game of the week with two efficient quarterbacks.
• I wanted to fade both defenses. But I like the Rams’ offense more, so I’ll give them the edge.

Fade: Buffalo @ Houston

• Buffalo is the second-worst run defense in football and so-so against receivers.
• Houston has been a top-10 offense in football over the past six weeks and a top-five team in pass attempts.

Fade: Chicago vs. Pittsburgh

• A bottom-half unit across the board. It’s not great to be a Bears defender.
• Pittsburgh offers just enough across the board to be an issue for Chicago to key on, expecting big performances from Metcalf and Kenny Gainwell this week.

Thank you for checking out my 2025 Plays & Fades for Week 12. I hope you found it helpful and enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed putting it together. Best of luck in Week 12, and let’s get those wins!

Rhett Manuel is a FantasyPros ECR ranker, writer, and podcaster for FANTASY IN FRAMES, specializing in Redraft and Dynasty Fantasy Football. Follow him on Twitter/X at @RManuelSports. You can find more of his work here at FANTASY IN FRAMES by clicking here.