Week 12 Offensive Sleepers

Sleepers at Quarterback

Sam Darnold, Minnesota (at Chicago)

Darnold benefited from a few penalties that kept drives alive against Tennessee, but the fantasy points count just the same. The Vikings running game is slowing down, so even more should be on Darnold’s shoulders against a Bears defense that allowed a good fantasy game to Jordan Love last week despite his only throwing 17 times. The Bears didn’t give up a lot to Kyler Murray and Drake Maye in recent weeks, but that’s because the team was getting blown out, and the offenses were in conservation mode. The revival of the Bears offense should help Darnold’s bottom line this week.

Caleb Williams, Chicago (vs Minnesota)

Is the Vikings defense a tough matchup, or have they just been facing the right quarterbacks lately? Will Levis, Mac Jones, and Joe Flacco combined for two total touchdowns the last three weeks, but Jordan Love, Matthew Stafford, Aaron Rodgers, and Jared Goff combined for 12 in the four games before that, with none accounting for fewer than two and none posting fewer than 244 passing yards. Williams was so much more comfortable as a runner and passer last week under new play-caller Thomas Brown, which should give him ample opportunity to come through for fantasy teams needing bye-week help.

Tua Tagovailoa, Miami (vs New England)

Tagovailoa will have all hands on deck in the passing game against a Patriots defense that couldn’t figure out how to cover Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp last week. Even if New England does a good job on Tyreek Hill and/or Jaylen Waddle, the Dolphins can make big plays with De'Von Achane and Jonnu Smith. Odell Beckham Jr and Malik Washington are also very skilled players to have as complementary targets. Aaron Rodgers, Mason Rudolph, and C.J. Stroud have all posted multi-touchdown passing days against the Patriots. Barring a three-touchdown day on the ground from Achane, Tagovailoa should be next.