Fantasy Football: Week Twelve Staff Must Start, Must Sit and Sleeper Picks

Hal Bent

START: Josh Gordon, WR – Cleveland Browns

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You drafted Gordon taking a chance on him, or stole him off waivers when another owner had an injury or bye and could not stash him any longer, or you were the first on the waiver queue and got him as you realized this day was coming: PLAY HIM! Start Josh Gordon if you have him. I do not care if he missed ten games or a hundred games: START HIM. Atlanta stinks on defense. Cleveland has no other number one target. Quarterback Brian Hoyer is going to be so happy to see Gordon he will feed him all day.

SIT: Kyle Orton, QB – Buffalo Bills

I read in a few places online that Kyle Orton is a great sleeper pick this week. That he is someone who is sleeper at quarterback and fantasy player should scoop him up and ride him through the fantasy football playoffs. Wait…Kyle Orton? Seriously? Sure, he is playing the Jets, a 2-8 team, but the Jets just shut down Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers passing game. Roethlisberger was just on the hottest streak by any quarterback in NFL history. He could not beat the Jets but Orton–who led his team to 22 combined points the last two weeks and has been on a downward trend– is the man to light up the Jets? Sorry, not buying it.

Oh, and with all that snow in Buffalo if they even play, what’s to say they are not trying to throw the ball through wind and snow?

SLEEPER: Isaiah Crowell, RB – Cleveland Browns

Cleveland sent a message this past week dumping starting running back Ben Tate after yet another year as a fantasy football tease. Some of us (yes, me) drafted Tate in the middle rounds along with Toby Gerhart and somehow convinced ourselves we had a steal and had a 1,000 yard rusher on the cheap. Whoops. Cleveland has a great matchup against Atlanta who has stopped no one. Whether it is Terrance West or Crowell who is the workhorse is uncertain, but the team may go with the hot hand and Crowell should deliver if given the chance. If you are stung by byes (or bad mid-round draft picks at running back) take a flyer on Crowell.