2023 NFL DFS Week 12 Value Plays: Top DraftKings & FanDuel Picks
Week 12 of the NFL season is here and it's time to dive into top NFL DFS picks and plays for daily fantasy lineups this weekend. Check out the top NFL DFS value plays to build your DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo lineups for NFL Week 12. We have a few teams on bye this week as well as some great offenses that are not on this 10-game slate. Jon Impemba brings you the top plays across the board that are meant to save you some salary.
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Top FanDuel & DraftKings Week 12 DFS Value Plays
Baker Mayfield, QB Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Baker is a great price tag across the board this week and in a strong matchup against the Indianapolis Colts. We've been selective when it comes to our spots to use Mayfield this season and we've been rather successful when putting the Buccaneers QB in our lineups as a value play. I'm looking to stack this game here with Mayfield at QB and any one of the his receivers here against the Colts which includes running back Rachaad White who is an elite pass catcher.
Jaylen Warren, RB Pittsburgh Steelers
I'm not 100% sure that with a new offensive coordinator we are going to see a complete takeover from Warren this week against the Bengals and Najee Harris is the cheaper running back to roster in DFS but we just can't ignore back-to-back 100-yard games from Warren here who has just looked like the more explosive playmaker in the Steelers backfield this season and now gets a juicy matchup against a bad Bengals run defense.
Justin Watson, WR Kansas City Chiefs
I was going to add Watson to the DFS Dart Board this week but was beaten to the punch by Bender and the “Dan Malin Special" so consider this a double-tap here as I include Watson as one of the top value plays at wide receiver this week. Rostership is actually also getting to Watson this week and why shouldn't it? The Chiefs are big favorites, Patrick Mahomes has torched the Raiders over his career and Watson is coming off a game where he had 11 targets. The inconsistencies among the Chiefs receivers this year is actually forcing Watson on the field as he's seen over 60% of the offensive snaps over the past two weeks.
Cade Otton, TE Tampa Bay Buccaneers
As I mentioned, you can play all the Buccaneers pass catchers this week but lets look at tight end Cade Otton for some value here this week. Otton has started to see an increased target share and a few weeks back he exploded in a multi-touchdown performance. We don't often consider the tight end position to be “safe” when it comes to values but I think Otton will be locked in for his usual run of 5-6 targets this week.
Player News
Broncos signed No. 20 overall pick CB Jahdae Barron to a four-year contract.
Barron is one of the last first-round picks to sign, getting a four-year, $18.07 million deal with a fifth-year option. He joins a secondary with star CB Patrick Surtain leading the group. His last season out of Texas, Barron won the Jim Thorpe award for best defensive back and now is slated for the Broncos’ slot role. This leaves the Bengals’ Shemar Stewart as the last first-round pick unsigned. The Broncos have just RB R.J. Harvey unsigned among their rookie class - he is one of the 30 second-rounders unsigned due to contract guarantee disputes.
Bills placed EDGE Landon Jackson on the PUP list.
Jackson will be able to be activated off the PUP list at any time during training camp, but apparently will not be ready as camp starts. If he remains on the PUP list through the 53-man roster deadline, he’ll be locked into missing a few weeks at the beginning of the season.
Falcons OC Zac Robinson said Michael Penix Jr. “opens up a different avenue within the offense.”
This is in the context of stretching the field a little more than the Falcons did in 2024, something they struggled to do at times with Kirk Cousins under center. The Athletic’s Josh Kendall also adds “The coaching staff won’t ask Penix to curtail his aggressiveness. In fact, it’s the trait they are most excited about.” A more balanced offensive approach could raise all ships in Atlanta — and it’s something that might be necessary for them as they try to stave off regression with almost no new players added to the room.
The Athletic’s Daniel Popper believes if Najee Harris misses time in training camp, the possibility of Omarion Hampton becoming the lead back is “even more likely.”
“Hampton has a chance to be an immediate difference-maker in the run game, a player with the explosiveness to score anytime he touches the ball. And he could be getting the bulk of the first-team work early in camp,” Popper continues. This is hardly an endorsement that Hampton is going to be RB1 in Los Angeles from Week 1, but Harris’ eye injury has at least complicated things early in training camp. There’s a non-zero chance that Hampton takes the baton and runs with it before Harris is ready to come back.
ESPN’s D.J. Bien-Aime reports C.J. Stroud worked on his speed to help him evade defenders in the pocket.
Stroud attributes his shoulder soreness from early OTAs and minicamps that kept him from throwing the ball to “extra work” with the Texans training staff this offseason, which is the main reason this is notable. “I’ve been working really hard on getting my body right -- losing body fat, trying to be faster, stronger,” Stroud told Bien-Aime. Stroud is an interesting QB2 this offseason, perhaps someone who could get back to QB1 status if everything clicks in Nick Caley’s new offense. The price makes him an ideal superflex investment at the moment.
The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue believes rookie second-round TE Terrance Ferguson is a potential breakout player in 2025.
“To be clear, Rams coach Sean McVay finally has to commit to a significant increase in 12 personnel for Ferguson, a rookie second-round pick, to truly emerge this season. But the offense has trended that way at times, especially last season,” Rodrigue adds. It would be surprising for Ferguson to emerge immediately, but perhaps the Rams are getting ready to zig their offense in a new direction in 2025. The rookie tight end is lightly-drafted and best-approached as a dynasty asset, but it should at least be on the radar that he produces sooner than expected.