The Top 10: Week 12

Featuring fantasy-oriented insights rooted in film-driven football analysis to help GMs manage their fantasy squads.

Matt Waldman's The Top 10: Week 12 Matt Waldman Published 11/18/2025

© Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images fantasy

MISSION

The mission of this column—and a lot of my work—is to bridge the gap between the fantasy and reality of football analysis.

The goal of this feature is to provide you with actionable recommendations that will help you get results. The fundamental mission is to get the process right.

While it's a rush to see the box score or highlights and claim you made the right calls, doing so without a sustainable process makes success ephemeral.

The Top 10 will cover topics that attempt to get the process right (reality) while understanding that fantasy owners may not have time to wait for the necessary data to determine the best course of action (fantasy).

My specialty is film analysis. I've been scouting the techniques, concepts, and physical skills of offensive skill talent as my business for nearly 20 years.

The Top 10 will give you fantasy-oriented insights rooted in football analysis that have made the Rookie Scouting Portfolio one of the two most purchased independent draft guides among NFL scouts. This is what Atlanta Falcons Area Scout and former SEC recruiter Alex Brown has told me over the past 8-10 years.

Sigmund Bloom's Waiver Wire piece, available every Monday night during the season, is a viable source of information to kick-start your week as a fantasy GM. 

The theme this week...Details aren't nitpicking, but the difference between the players considered the best in the world. 

STRAIGHT, NO CHASER: WEEK 11'S CLIFF'S NOTES

  1. Michael Wilson is the best wide receiver on the Cardinals, and it's an indictment on multiple counts. 
  2. Tetairoa McMillan had an awesome fantasy weekend. I make a case to consider selling him high.
  3. Bhayshul Tuten lit it up with his physical play, but don't bet on an imminent backfield takeover.
  4. Sean Tucker was the hot hand against Buffalo. The backfield share is trending in Tucker's favor.
  5. Sam Darnold was "bad Darnold" for the first time in a while. It was likely more emotional than conceptual.
  6. Brock Purdy's return to the lineup was a smart organizational decision with fantasy benefits. 
  7. C.J. Stroud should get his job back, but can we have another week of Davis Mills to change our minds?  
  8. Gabe Davis returned to the Bills' lineup and could become a viable fantasy consideration. 
  9. One of the things that makes Bijan Robinson special is his hip mobility. Seek this from RB prospects.
  10. Dynasty: Keep an eye on UTSA RB Robert Henry.

1. Michael Wilson Is the Best WR in Arizona 

No, this statement has nothing to do with Marvin Harrison Jr.'s health. Harrison is the highest-profile receiver in Arizona. Harrison is the one with the greatest public expectations. 

Harrison also has the most limitations among the top three targets in the Arizona passing game. Harrison drops too many targets because he has difficulties tracking specific targets above his head while facing the quarterback, and it leads to poor attack position. 

This subtracts from Harrison's potential as a contested-catch option because so many of these boundary routes require the receiver to face the ball. Harrison's best work comes with routes with his back to the quarterback.

Harrison also lacks suddenness with timing routes against tight man-to-man coverage. This is going to sound harsh, but it's not: Harrison is essentially a better iteration of Gabe Davis or Corey Davis. There's a decent opportunity for Harrison to become a Mike Williams archetype of receiver if he can continue to improve his game. 

He should not be used as a primary receiver in this offense. His game is too limited, and Kyler Murray wasn't doing him any favors. 

Michael Wilson is the best route runner of the Cardinals' receiver corps. He can win the intermediate timing routes, he can win contested targets, and he's better than Harrison after the catch.

Wilson can also excel as a flanker or a slot. Harrison is mostly limited to split end.

A lot of us in the analyst community have been hoping to see Arizona free Michael Wilson from their purgatory. The problem was that it would take two injuries for it to happen: Murray and Harrison. 

Murray may technically spread the ball around, but the Cardinals often scheme that distribution with designed plays to target the supporting cast as the only read. Otherwise, Murray would have too many snaps where he looks at the same 1-2 reads, run the Boston Marathon behind the line of scrimmage, and either take a sack, earn yards with his legs, or throw the ball away. 

Yes, you remember the big plays that got him on highlight clips. They don't happen enough for Murray to deliver winning football. 

I agree with the anonymous executive who said Murray should try baseball. He's a talented thrower and scrambler who generates fantasy value. He's not a good starting NFL quarterback, and he has stunted the production and/or development of his supporting cast in the passing game. 

Tre McBride should have been delivering production for years that we're seeing in 2025. Harrison should be working with a passer who can exploit Harrison's wheelhouse as a player.  

Most of all, Wilson should be peppered with targets like the possession-plus Michael Thomas clone with timely vertical shots. I may be the one being blatant with my statements on this subject, but ask yourself this question: 

When is the last time a team's No. 1 wide receiver got hurt, and multiple teammates told the broadcast media that they were excited for the No. 2 receiver to get his shot to be the primary guy in a game? 

They know who Wilson is and what he can be. We got to see it against the 49ers to the tune of 18 targets, 15 catches, 185 yards, and Wilson delivered at least half of this production in a competitive ballgame. 

Wilson's performance is an indictment of Arizona on multiple levels. Even before Marvin Harrison Jr. got hurt, Jacoby Brissett was getting 2-3 times the production from Wilson that Kyler Murray could, and that's an indictment of Murray as a field general.

Once again, a good thrower and runner, not a good game manager who maximizes his No. 1 resource -- his teammates. Because of the offense leaning hard on schemed plays to spread the ball around -- a necessity left over from the Murray era -- Brissett's targets of Wilson still weren't enough. 

Why? Because the coaching staff either didn't know what they had or they were limiting themselves due to political/draft capital factors. The NFL tabbed Harrison a future star, and the Cardinals paid the first-round price tag to buy into it. 

Admitting they have a more well-rounded option who deserves the ball more often than Harrison invites questions about Harrison as a bust. Harrison is not a bust, but that's the reaction this move would generate.

The front office and ownership don't want to answer those questions, and there's pressure -- subtle or blatant -- on the coaching staff to make Harrison "a thing." It also allows the staff to label Wilson as a secondary threat. If Kyler Murray can't get to Wilson, then they can hide behind Murray's flaws, the offensive line giving up pressure, or the game plan. 

Despite this brief moment of truth about Wilson's game, it's one game. If Harrison returns next week, the Cardinals can stuff Wilson back into a dark corner and spare themselves some of the questions I'd be asking after his big weekend: 

  • We never hear teammates broadcast their excitement about a starter getting the WR1 role? Why do you think that's the case for Wilson? 
  • Wilson's turn as the primary generated nearly as much production as Harrison during his last four starts, and Brissett wasn't force-feeding the ball. What does Wilson offer that Harrison doesn't? 
  • Have you thought about making Wilson the primary on more plays? 

Most of you won't agree with the idea that Wilson is the best receiver on the Cardinals, because the experts of the NFL drafted Harrison early. Even if I'm wrong about this assertion, I'm not wrong that the Cardinals have been squandering his talent. 

Wilson has one more year under contract with the Cardinals. If Arizona were wise, they'd experiment with using Wilson more often on primary reads, use him more often from the slot, and determine if they should re-sign him. 

From my vantage point, Wilson could be the next Robert Woods -- an excellent receiver whose original team squandered only to emerge as a featured producer elsewhere. Wilson was one of my Dynasty Stashes in last week's Gut Check. If you didn't know why, now you do. 

2. Tetairoa McMillan: A Case for Selling High

McMillan's 8-catch, 130-yard, 2-TD performance against Atlanta was an excellent game. It has his fantasy GMs believing there's a lot more of this to come for the rookie. 

A lot more wide-open zone looks...

A lot more plays schemed to get one guy -- McMillan -- open...

A lot more plays where they can get McMillan matched and outside rush linebacker in the red zone...

If Carolina can continue scheming McMillan open against big holes in zone coverage or pairing him against linebackers, those fantasy GMs will be right. Bad news, folks, it's not how that usually works, long-term. 

It's not McMillan's fault that opposing defenses aren't playing a lot of man coverage against him. When they do, McMillan doesn't look like the same player. I've shown clips like this before, and the result is similar.

McMillan beating tight coverage at the catch point is different than McMillan earning separation from tight coverage at the line of scrimmage. The first thing happens more often than the second. 

Unless McMillan morphs into a much better man-to-man route runner during the next two seasons, he's a secondary receiver earning primary receiver targets. McMillan is WR9 entering Monday Night's Dallas-Vegas showdown, but there have been others with equal or greater production who faded as opponents learned to test them. 

Chase Claypool and Kenny Golladay come to mind immediately. They aren't the only receivers with hot fantasy starts who were found out for what they were later in their careers. 

I wasn't high on either option coming out of college, and I pointed out their flaws when their buzz was strongest. McMillan is better than both. He's a good secondary receiver -- a fantasy option with years ahead among the options ranked between WR15-WR24 and occasional forays into the top 12.

McMillan is a must-keep for me, because it's a victory to land a starting fantasy receiver with a lot of years available. If I were to leverage the open market, I'd see if I could find someone who valued McMillan as highly as they valued Marvin Harrison Jr. in the summer of 2024. 

If you can get that kind of value, it might be worth selling high, especially if you're rebuilding or have a strong enough corps to lose him and add future assets. 

3. Bhayshul Tuten Lit It Up with Physical Play

Something to remember about scouting wide receivers and running backs: Once a prospect meets the minimum physical requirements to become an NFL contributor, there are several other factors that can compensate for a lack of ideal marks in terms of height, weight, speed, quickness, and strength. 

Tuten isn't big, but I've found a back can be as low as 195 pounds if he runs with great quickness, footwork, and/or a low center of gravity, pad level, and aggression. Tuten does all these things, and he's at least 205 pounds.

Combine these facets of his game, and he's initiating contact, which usually means more punishment for his opponents than punishment inflicted on him. 

Include a nice blitz pickup against A-Gap pressure, and Tuten has a strong day in a blowout of the Chargers. 

Blowout is the key word that likely caught the eyes of skeptics. Know that Tuten participated in a true committee with Travis Etienne Jr. while the game was competitive. They alternated series and red-zone opportunities. 

Still, don't expect a takeover this year without an Etienne injury. Etienne also performed well. He's decisive, physical, and did nothing to lose the split he has with Tuten. 

Tuten is (or can be) a high-upside flex or reserve on your roster. 

4. Sean Tucker: Hot Hand Or the New Lead Back in Tampa?

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Tags:
2025 week 12 NFL the top 10 Matt Waldman fantasy football Michael Wilson Brock Purdy Sean Tucker Bijan Robinson Davis Mills Gabe Davis tetairoa mcmillan Bhayshul Tuten Robert Henry
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