Fantasy Sports Writers Association Hall-of-Famer Bob Harris and Gary Davenport have well over 40 years of experience as fantasy football analysts and three Football Writer of the Year Awards between them. They know their stuff—or at least that's what they tell themselves.

Each week during the 2024 season, Harris and Davenport are going to come together here at Footballguys to discuss some of that week's most polarizing fantasy options.

It's Week 12—and we are in full-on stretch run mode. For every fantasy manager playing spoiler or angling for a first-round bye, there are two who need a win this week. And next week. And the week after that. Losing isn't an option.

So let's go get a win.

Throwing Deep

Many fantasy managers are in survival mode as they navigate the Byepocalypse. Imagine yourself a Josh Allen manager riding high after last week's late-game heroics. If you could have any quarterback outside the top 18 in this week's rankings here at Footballguys, who do you want getting you the spot-start win?

Harris: Mmmmm . . . Cutlets. With Jones out, Tommy DeVito moves into the starting lineup, as he did when Jones was hurt last year. The Giants lost DeVito's first start in 2023, 49-17, in Dallas despite the QB tossing a pair of touchdown passes. The following week, DeVito threw three touchdown passes in a 31-19 victory in Washington, still the Giants' most recent 30-point performance. In his six starts, DeVito completed 95 of 149 passes (63.8 percent) for 581 yards, seven touchdowns (plus one when he relieved an injured Jones in Las Vegas), and three interceptions. DeVito also rushed for 166 yards.

On Sunday, he goes up against a Buccaneers defense that's allowed the most fantasy points to the position (23.5 points per game). They've allowed the fourth-most passing yards, fifth-most passing touchdowns, sixth-most rushing yards, and third-most rushing TDs to the position.

Eight quarterbacks have scored at least 18 points against Tampa Bay; six have scored more than 20 points; two have scored more than 30. With a solid set of downfield weapons (Malike Nabers, Wan'Dale Robinson, and Darius Slayton), DeVito is well-positioned to outperform his QB21 ranking.

Davenport: You can't make me call DeVito anything other than Danny. Won't do it. Ever.

I understand the reluctance to trust Caleb Williams of the Chicago Bears, believe me. He was drafted by someone I know well who totally isn't me to platoon with Tua Tagovailoa of the Dolphins this season. That has, um, yeah. Every time you think that Williams is turning a corner in the NFL, he walks into a wall. For the season. Williams ranks 20th in fantasy points among quarterbacks.

But Williams' first game after the Shane Waldron firing was his fourth-best fantasy outing of the season, and this week's opponent (the Minnesota Vikings) rank 28th in the NFL in pass defense. The Vikings also lead the league in run defense—for a Bears team likely to be trailing Sunday, the Vikings are much easier to throw on than run.

On the Run

You're going to notice a theme soon, but whatever—helpful beats clever (or something).

But before you spotlight that spot-start start in the backfield in a week without three of the top-five running backs in PPR points for the season, which big name is about to go splat at a terrible time?

Dud. Then Stud. Reverse greatness. Mix up the juju.

Harris: Chuba Hubbard has been getting the job done for the Panthers and fantasy managers alike. But this week? Hubbard is going up against a Kansas City defense that just limited Buffalo running backs to 49 yards on 19 carries (averaging 2.6 yards). This has been the norm. The Chiefs have held Derrick Henry, Bijan Robinson, J.K. Dobbins, Alvin Kamara, Jordan Mason, James Cook, and both Tampa Bay RBs to less than 50 rushing yards. As a result, no team has allowed fewer fantasy points to the position than the Chiefs 14.9 points per game. Adding to the concerns, rookie Jonathon Brooks will make his NFL debut. I don't know that he'll cut into Hubbard's workload significantly. But do we need another potentially limiting factor in a matchup like this?

He's not off the radar, but Brian Robinson Jr. is well-positioned to exceed his RB19 ranking this week. The Cowboys are giving up the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing running backs. They've allowed more than 1,500 rushing yards and a league-high 18 rushing touchdowns. I'm not expecting Robinson to match Joe Mixon's 109-yard, three-TD outing against the Cowboys this past Monday, but the second-year back could easily produce RB1-level production in this matchup.

Davenport: As was mentioned earlier, the Minnesota Vikings are a Jekyll-and-Hyde defense—porous against the pass, but best in the league against the run. 11 weeks in, the Vikings are surrendering just 74.4 yards per game and 3.6 yards per carry this season. D'Andre Swift has actually been better with the Chicago Bears than I expected—but last week, Tennessee's Tony Pollard had nine carries for 15 yards.

At the other end of the spectrum, only one team in the league has given up more rushing yards per game than the aforementioned Dallas Cowboys. They were awful against the run before Dak Prescott got hurt, and it's only gotten worse. Robinson isn't the only Commanders running back who will eat in Week 12—Austin Ekeler has been a bigger part of the Washington offense than many expected, and he's been cleaning up on short passes from Jayden Daniels in recent weeks. Last week, Ekeler caught eight passes for 89 yards.

Wacky Wacky Wideouts

Again, theme time. Your wide receivers are all in Cabo in Week 10, drinking daiquiris and parasailing (Not at the same time—that would be bad). You need one starter outside the top 30 and another outside the top 40 in the Week 12 rankings.

Who you got?

Harris: After the Bears fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron last week, Thomas Brown took over play-calling for Sunday's loss to the Packers, and he emphasized the rushing attack and getting the ball out of Caleb Williams' hands quicker. The results were promising. In what NFL.com's Eric Edholm characterized as "perhaps his cleanest and best showing of the season," Williams completed 23 of 31 passes for 231 yards, with Rome Odunze continuing to emerge as the rookie QB's top target. Over Chicago's last three games, Odunze, who hit a season-high 32 percent target share against the Packers, has a team-high 192 receiving yards. Working the perimeter and getting most of his action on vertical routes bodes well for Odunze this week. The Vikings give up the third-most fantasy points to wide receivers this year and tied for the second-most touchdowns (14) to the position. Odunze is WR35 on our Week 12 Rankings.

As for one outside the top 40? How about No. 50? That would be Adam Thielen of the Carolina Panthers. I know; it wasn't great earlier this season. But that was with Diontae Johnson drawing a 28.3 percent target share. With Johnson no longer on the roster, the door is open for Thielen to reclaim his spot at the WR1 in this offense, ahead of Xavier Legette, Jalen Coker, and David Moore. Last season, with Bryce Young as his triggerman, Thielen handled a team-high 25.6 percent target share and averaged 13.5 fantasy points per game en route to a WR18 finish. Remember, Young threw 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions with a 59.8 completion percentage as a rookie last season, and the Panthers tied for the lowest-scoring team in the league. Yet Thielen was WR12 through the first 12 games. The Panthers will likely need to throw the football, and as long as he returns in this one, WR3 production isn't an unreasonable expectation.

Davenport: See? My Daniels call isn't completely nuts. Just mostly.

It's confession time—there's not exactly a stat to point to that says, "Jaylen Waddle of the Miami Dolphins is going to have a big Week 12." Opposing defenses have made a concerted effort to take the vertical pass away from Miami—it's Cover 2 on steroids. But sooner or later, either someone is going to miss an assignment or Tua Tagovailoa is going to drop one in the basket and bingo. This week against a Patriots team allowing the 10th-most PPR points per game to wide receivers this year is as good a time as any.

I'll do even better than Thielen at WR50—so there.

Devaughn Vele of the Denver Broncos (WR51) didn't enter the NFL with the fanfare of many other rookies, but he made waves in camp before missing time. Recently, the former Utah standout has emerged as Denver's No. 2 wide receiver—he has ranked inside the top 25 in PPR points over the last two weeks. In the byepocalypse, Vele is like a pint of water—he won't save you forever, but sometimes now is all that matters.

Keeping it Tight

The tight end position in fantasy football this year has been like playing "Wheel of Fortune" if it was hosted by Pennywise. Who will be this week's Will Dissly of the Chargers or Jonnu Smith of the Dolphins? Who will be this week's Kyle Pitts?

Non-Kyle Pitts Category. The assumption he'll disappoint appears seared into the Cosmos.

Harris: If I'm rolling the dice on a tight end this week, I'm hitching his wagon to my outlier QB in a great matchup. That's right. Theo Johnson, come on down. Okay, I won't pretend the Giants rookie will be the apple of DeVito's eye. But Johnson drew six targets in consecutive games before last week's bye, and NFL Network's Marcas Grant notes that DeVito's air yards per attempt was the third-lowest last season. Better still, the Buccaneers have allowed the fourth-most yards and fifth-most fantasy points per game to the position.

Meanwhile, assuming Sam LaPorta returns from the shoulder injury that sidelined him last week, he'll be a popular play due to a super-favorable matchup against the Colts. But I'll remind you the second-year man is currently TE19 with an average of 8.8 points per game. Touchdown production has been an issue. He scored 10 touchdowns last season. He's only scored three times this season. I know the Lions are scoring a lot of points (as in the most in the NFL), but with Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams ahead of him in the pecking order, expecting another Pittsesque disappointment is probably wise.

Davenport: Know what you need heading into a gotta-win week? The cure-all for all that ails you at fantasy football's most maddening position?

You need a Studebaker. Wait. A Schoonmaker. At my age, you confuse easily.

From what we know now, Dallas Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson looks unlikely to clear concussion protocol ahead of this week's trip to Washington. After Ferguson left last week's loss to Houston, Schoonmaker was targeted 10 times, catching six passes 56 yards. Cooper Rush was a competent enough quarterback last week to provide confidence that another double-digit PPR point effort could be in the offing.

There's reason for concern that the Cade Otton fun ride is about to come to an end in Tampa—and that reason is Mike Evans. Otton's not going to disappear from the Buccaneers offense, but the torrid pace he was on with Tampa's wideouts decimated by injury was always a short-term deal. It doesn't help that this week, he draws the worst fantasy matchup in the league for tight ends this season.

Plant the Flag

Yep. Still gotta plant a flag—even in a week that's all about them. At this point in the season, fantasy managers need names. Now names.

Make a player a polarizing one—by selecting a guy outside the top 15 quarterbacks and tight ends or outside the top 25 running backs or wide receivers per the Footballguys Rankings who will blow up for week-winning numbers.

Harris: Did I mention Jameson Williams being ahead of Sam LaPorta in the Lions' receiving hierarchy? He's coming off a four-catch, 124-yard, 1-touchdown performance in a blowout win over the Jaguars. Williams boasts a 17 percent target share (despite missing two games due to suspension), while LaPorta is at 11 percent. Did I also mention the Lions' scoring prowess? Detroit has scored a league-high 336 points. Another high-scoring affair seems likely this week, given the matchup. Currently ranked as WR27, I'll happily take Williams' upside in this one.

Davenport: Williams is going to win people leagues this year—his smash potential in a given week vs. what he cost in drafts is that value thing we all prattle about it. Harris is wise. Ruggedly good-looking. And an all-around swell guy.

Totally not about to ask him to borrow money. Meant every word of that.

Ekeler fills the bill here, as did Cleveland's Nick Chubb—even if he averaged less than three yards a carry Thursday night—two scores are two scores. Ameer Abdullah of the Las Vegas Raiders isn't likely to score two touchdowns against Denver on Sunday. But there's a real chance he racks up 15 touches—including the kind of garbage-time dump-offs that make garbage time fun.

In a week with half a dozen teams watching games on TV just like us, he could be the Flex-Seal that keeps your screen-door boat afloat.

Bob Harris was the first ever Fantasy Sports Writers Association Football Writer of the Year and is a member of the FSWA Hall of Fame. Follow Bob on X at @footballdiehard.

Gary Davenport is a two-time FSWA Football Writer of the Year. Follow Gary on X at @IDPSharks.