- Start Jared Goff: The Detroit Lions quarterback struggled in Week 11, but he hit 19-plus points in each of the previous two games and should have no problem beating up on the New York Giants defense at home this weekend.
- Sit Jordan Love: The Minnesota Vikings defense has been stingy to quarterbacks as of late, holding Lamar Jackson to 16.6 points in Week 10 and Caleb Williams to 10.3 points last Sunday.
- Unlock your edge with PFF+: Access Premium Stats, dominate fantasy with in-season tools and projections and make smarter bets with the new PFF Player Prop Tool.
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Are you struggling to set your Week 12 fantasy lineups? Maybe I can help… Below you can find my top fire (boom) and ice (bust) players at each position for Week 12. I also include my sleeper of the week at each position in case you are in a deeper league or in need of a replacement for an ice player.
Don’t miss my Fire and Ice chart at the bottom of this page. There, I have listed out all of my fire, good, sleeper and ice plays for Week 12 of the 2025 fantasy football season.
Quarterbacks
Fire QB Start of the Week: Jared Goff (vs. NYG)
Jared Goff struggled in Week 11 in Philadelphia, but he hit 19-plus points in each of the previous two games and should have no problem beating up on the New York Giants defense at home this weekend. The Giants have allowed the second-most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks in 2025.
In six road games this season, the Giants allowed five of the six opposing starting quarterbacks to score at least 20 fantasy points, and Spencer Rattler (16 points) was the only player who didn’t hit that metric. In their last three road games, the Giants let Bo Nix (40), Jalen Hurts (25.4) and Caleb Williams (25.1) to all have big performances against them.
Sleeper QB of the Week: Bryce Young (at SF)
After scoring just 4.5 total fantasy points in Weeks 9-10 combined, Bryce Young had a monster game with 448 pass yards and three touchdowns in Atlanta last weekend. Young should have a second straight big game in a very favorable matchup against the San Francisco 49ers. With too many impactful injuries on defense, the 49ers have allowed the third most fantasy points on average to quarterbacks this season. Six of the last seven quarterbacks to face the 49ers scored at least 20 fantasy points against them, including C.J. Stroud, Jaxson Dart, Matthew Stafford and Jacoby Brissett, who all did it over the last four weeks.
Ice QB Start of the Week: Jordan Love (vs. MIN)
Jordan Love has averaged just 16.5 fantasy points per game in 2025 while scoring fewer than 15 points in four of the last six games. In five home games this season, Love has just five passing touchdowns and has averaged 13.7 points per game. Even in an amazing matchup against the New York Giants last week, Love still only put up 17.7 points. He will face a much more difficult opponent in Week 12. The Minnesota Vikings defense has been stingy to quarterbacks as of late, holding Lamar Jackson to 16.6 points in Week 10 and Caleb Williams to 10.3 points last Sunday.
Running Backs
Fire RB Start of the Week: TreVeyon Henderson (at CIN)
TreVeyon Henderson has excelled as the New England Patriots‘ lead back, totaling 300 scrimmage yards, five touchdowns and 60.3 fantasy points over the last two weeks. Rhamondre Stevenson returned to practice in limited fashion this week, but even if he returns to game action, don’t stress … Henderson should still continue to put up monster numbers, especially this week against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Bengals are allowing a league-high 34.1 fantasy points per game to the running back position in 2025, while no other team is allowing more than 27-plus points per game. They have allowed a running back to score 20-plus points against them in each of their last five games.
Sleeper RB of the Week: Alvin Kamara (vs. ATL)
Alvin Kamara saw a season-high 22 carries in the New Orleans Saints‘ last game prior to their Week 11 bye. He put up a modest 14.5 fantasy points with 83 rushing yards and three receptions for 32 yards against the Carolina Panthers in that game. However, if he continues to see a large workload, he should find much more success against the Atlanta Falcons‘ weak run defense. The Falcons have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points per game to running backs this season.
Ice RB Start of the Week: Devin Singletary and Tyrone Tracy Jr. (at DET)
Both Singletary and Tracy performed well with 17 fantasy points apiece in Week 11 against the Green Bay Packers. The two split the backfield nearly evenly last Sunday, which ended up being OK for both of them, as the Giants ran the ball 38 times in a very close game, where they were only down by one point with fewer than five minutes left in regulation.
However, they should not be trusted in starting lineups in an extremely tough matchup in Detroit. The Lions are the best defense against fantasy running backs this season, allowing just 16.2 fantasy points per game to the position. Plus, the game script is expected to go very differently this week with the Giants being 10.5-point underdogs on the road.
Wide Receivers
Fire WR Start of the Week: Jameson Williams (vs NYG)
Jameson Williams has scored over 16 fantasy points in four of his last five games, finishing with a touchdown in all four of those games. Over the last two games, he has combined for 207 receiving yards, two touchdowns and 43.6 fantasy points. Now, he will face a New York Giants defense that has been shredded by speedster wide receivers like Williams all season long.
In the last two weeks, big play receivers Rome Odunze and Christian Watson both scored exactly 20.6 fantasy points apiece against the Giants. Eight receivers have scored 18-plus fantasy points in a game against the Giants this season: Quentin Johnston, Deebo Samuel, Rashid Shaheed, Odunze, Watson, CeeDee Lamb, Tyquan Thornton and George Pickens. One thing that most of that group of wide receivers have in common is their ability to get open deep down the field.
Sleeper WR Start of the Week: Darnell Mooney (at NO)
Darnell Mooney has been irrelevant for fantasy through the first 11 weeks of the season, but he should see an uptick of targets in Week 12 with Drake London expected to be sidelined due to a knee injury. Another key factor for Mooney’s fantasy outlook is that Kirk Cousins will be starting for the Falcons with Michael Penix Jr. on injured reserve. Mooney scored more than 14 fantasy points in seven of 13 games played with Cousins in 2024.
Ice WR Starts of the Week: Michael Pittman Jr. (at KC)
I am expecting another down week for Michael Pittman Jr. after he put up just 19 yards and zero touchdowns on two targets in Week 10 against the Atlanta Falcons. He gets another very tough matchup this Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs, who have allowed the sixth-fewest points on average to the wide receiver position in 2025, and the fewest in the league since Week 6. Jameson Williams is the only wide receiver who has scored more than 13 fantasy points in a game against the Chiefs since Week 2.
Tight Ends
Fire TE Start of the Week: Travis Kelce (vs IND)
Shockingly, Travis Kelce has the second-most receiving yards among tight ends this season, behind only Trey McBride. He has scored more than 12 fantasy points in five of his last six games, finishing with 22-plus-point performances in two of the last three. Last week, he saw season-highs with 13 targets and nine receptions, and he put up 91 yards and a touchdown on that workload against the tough Denver Broncos defense. This week, Kelce will face the Indianapolis Colts, who have allowed the fourth most fantasy points on average to the tight end position in 2025.
Sleeper TEs of the Week: Hunter Henry (at CIN) & Noah Fant (vs NE)
The Patriots-Bengals game could have two top tight end fantasy performers in Week 12.
Hunter Henry has done very little for the majority of the season, but he gets the best matchup for fantasy tight ends, as the Cincinnati Bengals have allowed 22 points per game to the position in 2025. The Bengals have allowed five more receiving touchdowns to tight ends than any other team this season.
Noah Fant could be stepping into a bigger role with Ja’Marr Chase suspended in Week 12. Last season, the Bengals’ leading receiving tight end at the time, Mike Gesicki, scored 12-plus fantasy points in three of the five games Tee Higgins did not play. This is a good matchup for Fant as the Patriots have allowed the ninth most fantasy points on average to tight ends this year.
Ice TE Start of the Week: Jake Ferguson (vs PHI)
Jake Ferguson has had fewer than 35 receiving yards in four of the last five games, including a zero-yard performance in Week 8 and a 16-yard performance in Week 11. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that his production will bounce back this weekend against the Philadelphia Eagles, who are the second-toughest defense for fantasy tight ends this year, allowing just 7.2 points per game to the position. In his first matchup against the Eagles earlier this season, Ferguson put up just five receptions for 23 receiving yards and zero touchdowns.
Fire & Ice Fantasy Football Plays
Here, I categorize every relevant fantasy player into five different buckets: (1) fire starts (best starts of the week); (2) thumbs up (good starts); (3) Risky players with upside (sleepers); (4) Ice starts (predicting bad performance from good player); (5) Stop (must sits).
Note: If a player/defense is not listed, I am not considering starting them in Week 12. I did not include Bills/Texans players as they will have already played by the time this article is published.
