Fantasy Football NFL Week 12 Target Report: Burden Surpasses Zaccheaus

This is why the draft is only part of the fantasy football season. The injuries, the bye weeks. It’s all about how you react, how you pivot. Per a quick count by Heath Cummings of CBS, we’ll be without 15 of the top 36 WRs in ADP due to injury this week. And there are four teams on bye. That leaves some teams scrambling as they battle to secure a playoff spot.

The good news for you is that we’ve been tracking every depth chart and target pecking order. So we know who the “next man up” is, and we know who the sneaky plays are. So let’s dig into the most recent info we have to help patch up those lineups! 

2025 Fantasy Football NFL Week 12 Target Report Preview

Why do we do the target report? Well, we have a pretty good indication historically of how many fantasy-relevant pass-catchers can come from each team. The short and sweet is that the vast majority of teams will have one, maybe two fantasy-relevant pass-catchers. And there will almost certainly be more teams with zero than there are with three. Most meaningful fantasy players get at least 100 targets - here is a look at how players on each team over the last decade have hit that milestone. 
 

In the chart below, what we will do is attempt to take each team and project A. the target pecking order, and B. what target range the players will likely fall into. At the bottom, we’ll include some notes as far as what went into the rankings and color-coded chart. So let’s dive in!

Fantasy Football Target Chart 2025 NFL Week 12

Fantasy Football Week 11 Target Report Advice & Takeaways

If a team has a ** next to them, it means they moved to a new section. If a team has a note, it means there is something we should monitor or some sort of change. If there are no notes, we can assume it is business as usual. After the first week of football, there are a lot of notes!

Clear Top Two

Arizona Cardinals

• Trey McBride
• Marvin Harrison Jr*
  • For as long as Marvin Harrison Jr is out, Michael Wilson is on the streaming radar. Obviously, this game is an outlier, but he’s also quite clearly their top WR. 

Cincinnati Bengals

• Ja'Marr Chase
• Tee Higgins
  • Some folks have been asking about Noah Fant, but he simply does not play enough. He ran 17 routes, Tanner Hudson ran 17, and Drew Sample ran 16. That’s out of a possible 41. 

Denver Broncos

• Courtland Sutton
• Troy Franklin
  • Sutton and Franklin remain the top two, though Pat Bryant has begun to distance himself from the pack as the WR3. Engram remains a 50% snap guy and a spot start only. 

Jacksonville Jaguars

• Brian Thomas Jr*
• Jakobi Meyers
  • When all is said and done, it should be Brian Thomas Jr in the “Mike Evans role” and Jakobi Meyers in the “Chris Godwin role” for this offense. Meyers became a full-time player this week, so Parker Washington is an expiring asset. Brenton Strange could return for Week 12, but he has yet to be activated, though.

Kansas City Chiefs

• Rashee Rice
• Travis Kelce
  • At this stage, we just don’t trust Xavier Worthy. Even with Rashee Rice out, he wasn’t producing at a high level, and he also has not been getting carries in recent weeks. Unless something changes, we’re starting Rice and Kelce and only holding Worthy for emergency circumstances. 

Los Angeles Rams

• Puka Nacua
• Davante Adams

High Consolidation

Atlanta Falcons

• Drake London
• Darnell Mooney
• Kyle Pitts
• Bijan Robinson
  • Drake London left with a knee issue we are monitoring. If he misses time, Khadarel Hodge would be elevated. Pitts ran 30 of 31 routes but was not effective in what should have been a good matchup. 

Dallas Cowboys

• CeeDee Lamb
• George Pickens
• Jake Ferguson
  • The Cowboys are on an incredibly rare pace to have three guys get 100+ targets. That said, Jake Ferguson got a lot more targets while CeeDee Lamb was out than he’s been getting lately. So he’s not quite the slam dunk play every week, though he does offer a floor in this pass-happy offense. 

Los Angeles Chargers

• Ladd McConkey
• Oronde Gadsden
• Quentin Johnston
• Keenan Allen
  • Keenan Allen had been on the back burner snap-wise, but in a negative game script this week, they leaned on three WR sets. Gadsden continues to lead the team in routes, making him a strong play. 

Indianapolis Colts

• Michael Pittman
• Tyler Warren
• Alec Pierce
  • Week 11 Bye

Miami Dolphins

• Jaylen Waddle
• De’von Achane
• Darren Waller*
  • Greg Dulcich is still hovering around a 70% route participation and is on the spot start radar until Darren Waller gets back. Waddle is a locked-in start, but none of the other WRs are particularly appealing. Malik Washington is your best dart throw if you must. 

Philadelphia Eagles

• AJ Brown
• DeVonta Smith
• Dallas Goedert
• Saquon Barkley

San Francisco 49ers

• Christian McCaffrey
• Jauan Jennings
• George Kittle
• Ricky Pearsall*
• Brandon Aiyuk*
  • Ricky Pearsall returned and, although he didn’t produce a ton, he and Jauan Jennings both played a full snap share and led the team in routes. We are back to a world of high consolidation - at least until Brandon Aiyuk returns. But I expect Aiyuk to likely be the odd man out, at least for a few games when he gets back. 

Washington Commanders

• Terry McLaurin*
• Deebo Samuel
• Zach Ertz
  • With all the wide receiver injuries, Chris Moore operated as the split end, though he’s just a DFS dart. Treylon Burks was getting more work but suffered a finger injury that saw him miss this week. It’s Deebo and Ertz, then not much else til McLaurin returns. 

One Stud, Then Uncertainty

Baltimore Ravens

• Zay Flowers
  • With Rashod Bateman out, DeAndre Hopkins played nearly 70% of the snaps, which is something he hasn’t done all year. In fact, it’s hit a first time over 40% this year. So he’s on the streaming radar when Bateman is out. 

Carolina Panthers

• Tetairoa McMillan 
  • Legette had a good game, but left with a hip injury that we need to monitor. Any missed time would benefit Jalen Coker. The TEs each ran 20 of 51 routes, so not a consideration.

Detroit Lions

• Amon-Ra St. Brown
  • With Sam LaPorta on IR, ARSB and Jameson Williams are the clear top targets. Brock Wright only ran 67% of the routes with LaPorta out, so he’s not much more than a DFS dart, especially with the pass work that Gibbs gets. 

Houston Texans

• Nico Collins 
  • Though Nico is still the only true “must start” player, this team is intriguing for fantasy. Dalton Schultz is a full PPR option - he just had a good week again despite a tough matchup with TEN. And Jayden Higgins is slowly getting a bigger and bigger role, which makes him a guy we absolutely want stashed for the stretch here. 

Las Vegas Raiders

• Brock Bowers
  • This team is pretty brutal right now. You still are starting Brock Bowers and likely Ashton Jeanty, where you have them. Tre Tucker is getting decent looks, but he basically has one VERY good game and a lot of mediocre ones to his name with Geno Smith. 

Minnesota Vikings

• Justin Jefferson
  • Same situation we’ve been in - hard to trust JJ McCarthy to support one fantasy asset, let alone three. That leaves Addison and Hockenson in the start/sit questions each week. Neither has more than 3 catches in a game since McCarthy returned. 

New England Patriots

• Stefon Diggs
  • After a slow start, Stefon Diggs has been a fairly reliable fantasy asset lately. He’s at the must-start level for us. Hunter Henry is a spot start, as is Kayshon Boutte (or, when Boutte is out, Mack Hollins). 

New Orleans Saints

• Chris Olave
  • With Rashid Shaheed gone, DeVaughn Vele is getting a massive opportunity. He actually led the team in snaps this week. The team is bad, but maybe a deep league stab. Olave and Juwan Johnson are closer to fantasy-relevant, though. 

New York Giants

• Wan’Dale Robinson
  • With Darius Slayton out, Isaiah Hodgins stepped right into his role. Only 3 WRs on the team actually played - Wan’Dale Robinson (70 snaps), Isaiah Hodgins (57), Jalin Hyatt (44). Theo Johnson ran 26 out of 31 routes and remains a streaming option. 

New York Jets

• Garrett Wilson*
  • Woof, not ideal. Justin Fields has been benched, which could be better for pass-catchers. With Garrett Wilson out, the Jets tried to see what they have in Adonai Mitchell and John Metchie. Mitchell got some separation, which is promising, but he couldn’t reel in his passes. Meanwhile, Mason Taylor only ran 19 routes of 33 while Jeremy Ruckert ran 12. So he’s not a guy we can trust either.

Pittsburgh Steelers

• DK Metcalf
  • Calvin Austin could be done getting his chance as the Steelers' WR2. He had led most weeks but, this week, they gave Roman Wilson a shot. That puts Wilson on the stash radar to see where his role can go, but the WR2 in this offense hasn't been fruitful with all the TE work anyway. 

Seattle Seahawks

• Jaxon Smith-Njigba
  • We were hoping Rashid Shaheed would take over as the full-time WR opposite JSN, but that hasn’t been the case - Cooper Kupp played over him again this week. Kupp isn’t producing, which hurts both. AJ Barner actually ran 82% of the routes, which could put him on the streaming radar, but he’s still hard to trust. 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

• Emeka Egbuka
  • This was a terrible matchup for Cade Otton, but he should be on the streaming radar as long as Chris Godwin is out. Same for Tez Johnson - if Godwin is out, then he’s a streaming option. And we don’t know for sure how much Godwin will play when he’s back, but he has to be stashed. 

Wide Open

Buffalo Bills

• Khalil Shakir
• Dalton Kincaid*
• Keon Coleman
• Dawson Knox
  • Keon Coleman reportedly missed a meeting, which is why he was benched for this game and a healthy inactive. But that didn’t clarify the WR usage. Of a possible 33 routes, Dawson Knox ran 28 routes. The next closest was 22 for Khalil Shakir. After that, no one ran more than 17 (Curtis Samuel was next with 17, followed by Joshua Palmer with 16 and Gabe Davis with 15). Gabe Davis might be the most interesting as a guy who recently rejoined the team and could see his role grow. But I’m mostly just staying away. 

Chicago Bears**

• Rome Odunze
• DJ Moore
• Luther Burden
• Colston Loveland
  • Luther Burden finally surpassed Olamide Zaccheaus to be featured in three WR sets. He not only played all the three WR sets but also some two and even single WR sets. With DJ Moore and Rome Odunze not really getting things done, maybe the rookies can start to carve out bigger roles as we progress here. Worth adding Burden on the wire just to see. 

Cleveland Browns

• Jerry Jeudy
• Cedric Tillman
• Harold Fannin
• David Njoku
  • Tillman is back, which sees him and Jerry Jeudy playing a full snap share. Jeudy ran 30 of 33 routes, and Tillman ran 26. The tight ends each ran 19 routes apiece, which is less than ideal for their upside, though Fannin remains the preferred target. 

Green Bay Packers

• Romeo Doubs
• Christian Watson
• Matthew Golden
• Jayden Reed*
• Luke Musgrave
  • Matthew Golden has taken a back seat to Dontayvion Wicks. And Wicks is still part-time behind Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs. Not to mention, they decided to do a three-man tight end rotation with no one running more than 13 routes. So Doubs and Watson are your fantasy options until Jayden Reed gets back. Shame. 

Tennessee Titans

• Elic Ayomanor
• Chimere Dike
• Van Jefferson
• Chig Okonkwo
• Gunnar Helm
  • Calvin Ridley suffered a season-ending fibula injury this week. We’ve seen what this looks like so far with Elic Ayomanor and Van Jefferson on the outside, Chimere Dike in the slot. Unfortunately for fantasy, Chig Okonkwo and Gunnar Helm rotate enough to cap each other’s upside.