Week 12 Flex Rankings for Fantasy Football

I alluded to it in last week’s column, and now the day has come. Week 12 is upon us, which means it is Byemaggedon. Generically awful that title may be, it still instills fear and angst into the hearts of many a fantasy football manager. Needless to say, these absences will have quite an impact on my Week 12 Flex rankings. I was still able to rank just over 200 players this week because I am a man of the people. But it got a bit hairy there for a minute. There are six NFL teams on bye this week. And there is no shortage of star players who will be getting a respite.

Bye-Week Blues

Here are some of the relevant names from each NFL team who are out this week, along with their year-to-date ranking based on total fantasy points scored in Half-PPR formats at their respective Flex positions.

Atlanta Falcons: Bijan Robinson (RB4), Tyler Allgeier (RB38), Drake London (WR5), Darnell Mooney (WR10), Ray-Ray McCloud (WR60), Kyle Pitts (TE6)
Buffalo Bills: James Cook (RB9), Ray Davis (RB39), Khalil Shakir (WR21), Keon Coleman (WR49), Amari Cooper (WR52), Dalton Kincaid (TE17)
Cincinnati Bengals: Chase Brown (RB15), Ja’Marr Chase (WR1), Tee Higgins (WR33), Mike Gesicki (TE16)
New Orleans Saints: Alvin Kamara (RB3), Taysom Hill (TE7), Juwan Johnson (TE24)
New York Jets: Breece Hall (RB7), Garrett Wilson (WR6), Davante Adams (WR41)
Jacksonville Jaguars: Tank Bigsby (RB35), Travis Etienne Jr. (RB40), Brian Thomas Jr. (WR9), Evan Engram (TE23)

This does not include players who have been productive at various points in the season but are now injured. Some players that would fall into this group are Zack Moss, Rashid Shaheed, and Allen Lazard. It also does not include players who are working their way up the Flex rankings in recent weeks, such as Marquez Valdes-Scantling. The New Orleans Saints signed Valdes-Scantling on October 21 after Shaheed and Chris Olave suffered long-term injuries. Lo and behold, MVS is the overall WR8 in three games with the Saints. Sure, that type of production is not sustainable over the long haul. But Valdes-Scantling has become a fantasy asset in short order, and his absence will be felt.

The best part (sarcasm alert) of Byemaggedon is that we get to do it all again in two weeks. There will be six more teams on bye during that week. So, buckle up, fantasy managers. It might be a bit of a bumpy ride to the fantasy football playoffs. Below are my Week 12 Flex rankings. As per usual, these are based on Half-PPR scoring. Adjust as needed based on your league specifications and best of luck in maneuvering through the minefields this week.

Check out all of our Week 12 Rankings: QB | RB | WR | TE | Flex

Week 12 Flex Rankings

Make sure to check out all of our Week 12 Fantasy Football Rankings and Analysis!