Fantasy football start/sit advice, Week 12 Running backs

Week 12 of the fantasy football season is here, and we’re back with another crop of start/sit options. We have a nice set of data about each team through six weeks, and can make informed decisions on good plays and traps. With that in mind, we’ll pick quarterbacks who should exceed expectations in Week 12, along with three you should probably sit.

Coleman has had two decent performances in a row in place of the injured Devonta Freeman, but his best chance to really make a mark comes this week against the Buccaneers, who have struggled to defend the run for most of the season. Coleman has gotten 20 carries in each of the past two weeks, and that trend should continue here, setting him up for a possible 100-yard afternoon.

The Browns’ coaching staff indicated this week they want to get Johnson on the field as much as possible, and the Bengals have allowed the fifth-most receptions to running backs, which plays right into Johnson’s biggest strength. It’s hard to imagine the Browns not playing from behind, which should keep Johnson very busy.

It’s another week of trainwreck in the Seahawks’ backfield, which gives McKissic another chance to pile up snaps and targets against the league’s worst defense against pass-catching backs. McKissic has nine catches in 11 targets the past two weeks.

Howard has been alternating good and bad games for the past seven weeks, and he’s coming off a really good game, so the odds are against him. Trend aside, it’s a really bad matchup for Howard against a top-five run defense and an opposing offense that is scoring points like crazy. Howard is a player who needs the Bears to be leading or close to be effective, and it’s highly unlikely the Bears will be either for very long on Sunday.

Handicapping the Patriots’ running backs is often a fool’s errand, but one thing we do know from the past couple weeks is that White is currently the odd-man-out with Dion Lewis and Rex Burkhead dominating snaps and touches. The current order of things is working for Bill Belichick, so don’t expect a sudden change here. Until someone fumbles or gets hurt, White is the liability here.

Martin was the letdown of the week last Sunday. The Falcons aren’t exactly the Steel Curtain, but they are in the top half of the league against the run, which you could not say about the Dolphins last week, and yet Martin barely made a dent. Play at your own peril.