Fantasy football projections, Week 12: Chiefs-Broncos featuring Tyreek Hill, Demaryius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders, more

The Week 12 matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Denver Broncos features division rivals jockeying for playoff positioning. We’ve got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.

Spencer Ware hasn’t exactly been in top fantasy form since it was announced that teammate Jamaal Charles would be out for the rest of the season. He has 149 yards rushing on 37 carries in the last three games combined. That’s a yards per carry average of just over four. It’s not horrible but it also means that perhaps Ware is now a touchdown-dependent commodity. Savvy fantasy owners don’t really like to count on scores for points. It will be tough for Ware to score against a strong Denver defense on the road. Challenging his projected totals in Week 12 isn’t going to be easy.

Wide receiver Tyreek Hill might also be in for a tough Sunday afternoon in Denver. He’s caught five passes or less in five of the last six games. It’s obvious an injury to Jeremy Maclin isn’t necessarily going to make Hill a shoe-in for fantasy points from week to week. No team in the NFL has given up fewer fantasy points to wide receivers than the Broncos. Hill won’t touch his projections in Week 12.

Despite facing off against a leaking Saints defense in Week 10, wide receiver DeMaryius Thomas still wasn’t able to cross the 100-yard receiving mark for the second time this season. He did however finish with eight catches for 87 yards and his fifth score of the year. The Broncos’ passing game has been noticeably conservative given the team’s quarterbacking situation in 2016. It’s directly affected Thomas’ numbers. He should however still be able to produce against a Kansas City Chiefs team that has allowed the seventh most fantasy points to wide receivers so far this season.

If Thomas struggles to get free from the grasp of Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters, the Broncos may just have to rely on Emmanuel Sanders to pick up the slack. Sanders has been held to less than 70 receiving yards in each of the last three games. He’s still averaging over five catches a game, which means his value holds in PPR formats. Look for the Broncos to keep the chains moving against the Chiefs by drawing up a fair number of slant routes in Week 12. Doing just that will allow Sanders to rack up receptions in a big-time home game.