Fantasy football advice, Week 12: Who to start/sit for Carolina Panthers vs. Oakland Raiders

Fantasy owners already had enough to deal with on Thanksgiving, whether it’s polarizing dishes, cliché racist uncles, or scalding themselves in the kitchen. So no one wants to add “being served a slice of awful fantasy lineup” to their list of gripes, which is completely understandable. So when the Panthers take on the Raiders during the second slate of Sunday’s football games, it’s best for fantasy owners to at least attempt avoiding that outcome.

The Oakland Raiders may be 8-2, but that is more in spite of their defense rather than because of it. A 24th-ranked run defense and 28th-ranked pass defense give fantasy owners of Cam Newton, Jonathan Stewart, and even the slumping Kelvin Benjamin and Greg Olsen reason to pen them into lineups. Texans tight ends combining for a 10-128-0 line should encourage Olsen’s owners that their tight end can break a quiet string of games.

Complementary pass catchers including Ted Ginn, Devin Funchess and Corey Brown can remain on benches in all formats. Fantasy owners looking for a Hail Mary at receiver could do worse than Ginn, who still has a penchant for big plays and faces a defense that has allowed them to happen. But for the majority of fantasy owners, they won’t have to take a chance on him in a week with no teams on bye.

Though the Panthers’ defense has started to resemble the one that got them to the Super Bowl, Luke Kuechly’s absence is more likely to have it resembling the awful unit that was displayed in the beginning of 2016. Derek Carr, Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree can remain in lineups of all formats until further notice, and a matchup against a defense without its best player should have fantasy owners optimistic. Latavius Murray can also garner RB2 consideration for that reason, but the Panthers’ front seven remains a match for the Raiders’ up and down run game.

Seth Roberts, Clive Walford and Jamize Olawale can remain out of fantasy lineups for Week 12 and beyond.