{"id":255672,"date":"2025-11-21T10:00:27","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T15:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=255672"},"modified":"2025-11-29T11:28:22","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T16:28:22","slug":"fantasy-football-wide-receivers-start-bench-week-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/11\/21\/fantasy-football-wide-receivers-start-bench-week-12\/","title":{"rendered":"Fantasy Football: Wide Receivers To Start Or Bench in Week 12"},"content":{"rendered":"

Playing the right player in the right matchup can make or break your fantasy football success. At the same time, knowing which wide receivers to start or bench based on their matchup is just as important. Let’s take a look at some players who fit into this narrative for Week 12.<\/p>\n

Week 12 Wide Receivers to Start or Bench<\/h2>\n

Start: PHI WR DeVonta Smith vs. DAL Kaiir Elam<\/h3>\n

Smith had just one catch for eight yards last week against the Lions<\/a>, but the opportunity for a big bounce-back game looms large this week. Obviously, the Eagles<\/a> pass attack has been a talking point for a better part of the season, but Dallas<\/a> has one of the worst pass defenses in the league. They are giving up a shade under 250 passing yards a game. Geno Smith even threw for 238 yards against the defense. Dallas DTs Kenny Clark and Quinnen Williams pose a wall in the middle to stuff Saquon Barkley, so I would imagine Jalen Hurts will throw more often.<\/p>\n

\n

For more help with this week’s fantasy football matchups, check out our Week 12 Start\/Sit<\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Bench: KC WR Rashee Rice vs. IND CB Charvarious Ward<\/h3>\n
\"Chiefs
Photo Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rice was held to just six catches for 38 yards last week against Denver<\/a> without Pat Surtain II. This week, Rice will see the likes of Charvarius Ward and Sauce Gardner in what is perhaps the most lockdown duo in the NFL. Ward returned to practice this week with the assumption that he will play this week. Ward and Gardner are tough to catch the ball against, especially with slot corner Kenny Moore II and safeties Cam Bynum and Nick Cross over the top for support. It will be hard to bench Rice, but it should be considered this week.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Start: LAR WR Davante Adams vs. TB Zyon McCollum<\/h3>\n
\"Kupp
Photo Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Adams recorded his 1000th NFL catch last week, but it was his only catch for one yard and one touchdown. That is an interesting way to celebrate, but Adams still saw eight targets, which is around his normal total this season. Adams should have more success this week against the Buccaneers<\/a>, who are struggling in pass defense as well. Tampa Bay is giving up around 242 passing yards a game this season. Rams<\/a> QB Matthew Stafford is playing at an elite level this season, so the Bucs will have their hands full, which is why I like Adams to bounce back this week.<\/p>\n

Bench: CHI WR Rome Odunze vs. PIT CB Darius Slay<\/h3>\n
\"\"
Photo Credit: Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Odunze is leading the Bears<\/a> in receiving this season, but it feels as if he is up and down, even though the Bears have grinded out a 7-3 record so far. This week, the Bears offense will face a Steelers<\/a> defense that has improved exponentially this season. Moving Jalen Ramsey to safety seems to have unlocked this defense\u2019s potential, and they are laying the wood on teams now. Getting pressure on the quarterback and creating turnovers has been the Steelers\u2019 mantra for many years, and they are getting into form once again. Avoid Odunze this week.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Start: DET WR Jameson Williams vs. NYG CB Cor\u2019Dale Flott<\/h3>\n

\"Wide<\/p>\n

Lions HC Dan Campbell made it a point to get Williams more involved in his playcalling since he took over the duties. Williams has found the end zone in three straight games, and he is seeing six to seven targets a game now. Williams in space or in the middle of the field is dangerous for any team, let alone a Giants<\/a> secondary that has been torched many times this season. The speedster is set to have another good week, so keep him in your lineup.<\/p>\n

Bench: ATL WR Darnell Mooney vs. NO CB Alontae Taylor<\/h3>\n
\"Week
Photo Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mooney will step into the WR1 role this week for the Falcons<\/a> as Drake London will miss this week\u2019s game due to a knee injury. Mooney is not the only change on offense for the Falcons with Kirk Cousins taking over as QB1 for the duration of the season due to Michael Penix Jr.\u2019s season-ending injury. Cousins and Mooney had a nice connection last season, but facing the Saints<\/a>\u2019 top-10 pass defense will be a challenge. Cousins struggled late last week in relief of Penix, completing six of his 14 pass attempts for 48 yards.<\/p>\n

Alontae Taylor was a name brought up at the trade deadline for contending teams, but he ultimately stayed put in New Orleans. Taylor has talent, and he can lock opposing receivers down, so Mooney will have quite the battle on his hands this week.<\/p>\n

For more great fantasy football analysis, check out DrRoto.com<\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Playing the right player in the right matchup can make or break your fantasy football success. At the same time, knowing which wide receivers to start or bench based on their matchup is just as important. Let’s take a look at some players who fit into this narrative for Week 12. Week 12 Wide Receivers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5637,"featured_media":249640,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[59,33917],"tags":[33747,2320],"class_list":["post-255672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fantasy","category-advice","tag-fantasy-football-advice","tag-nfl-schedule"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5637"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255672"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":255675,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255672\/revisions\/255675"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}