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Week 12 Start/Sit: Down with Browns' McCown

With just a couple weeks left before the fantasy playoffs begin, poor lineup decisions could prove detrimental to your postseason aspirations.  To help you avoid some potential Week 12 pitfalls (full season or daily), here's a few players I expect to look better/worse than usual on Sunday/Monday.

STARTS

QB - Josh McCown, Cle at Bal  ($20 in DFS) -  A video of Johnny "Be Bad" Manziel partying recently opened the door for McCown to return to the starting lineup, and the timing works out great as McCown is facing a Baltimore defense that he shredded for 457 passing yards and two TDs back in Week 5. That was part of a four-game stretch (Weeks 3-6) for McCown in which he averaged 342 passing yards and two TD passes per game. He's a safe (top 15) QB play this week against the fourth-most generous fantasy pass defense this week.

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 RB - Javorius Allen, Bal vs. Cle ($17) - Workload shouldn't be an issue for Allen in his first start for the Ravens, replacing Justin Forsett (out for the year with a broken arm). He handled 27 touches last week after Forsett went down early against St. Louis. And with little established depth behind Allen, he should see a similar workload against a Browns defense that allows a league-high 181.1 yards per game to the RB position, including the most rushing yards (132.5).

 RB - Giovani Bernard, Cin vs StL ($20) - When you face a blitz-heavy defense like St. Louis, Bernard's catch-n-run ability out of the backfield comes in handy. Arizona paid often for blitzing Andy Dalton and Co. on Sunday night, as Bernard tallied eight catches for 128 yards. It's not surprising to see that both St. Louis and Arizona rank among the top six in most receiving yards allowed to the RB position. The Rams have allowed 61.1 receiving yards to RBs in their past eight games, and Bernard should add significantly to that total this week as he's likely to shoot over the century mark in total yards once again, with the bulk of those yards coming through the air.

 WR - DeSean Jackson, Was vs. NYG ($18)Finally healthy, D-Jax flashed his wheels last week, with a 56-yard TD grab against the Panthers. He also added a 20-yard reception to his final five-catch, 87-yard tally. And catches of 20-plus yards are something that this week's opponent, the Giants, have plenty to offer. The G-men have yielded 39 receptions of that distance, fourth-most in the league. New York's corners Prince Amukamara and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie are very talented, but they like to gamble. And I'm willing to bet Jackson makes them pay for that a time or two on Sunday.

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WR - Nate Washington, Hou vs NO  ($23) - Here's a cheap point of entry to get in on the aerial action against the ghastly Saints pass defense. The return of Brian Hoyer at QB for Houston this week is good news for Washington, as he's tallied all three of his double-digit fantasy totals this season with Hoyer behind center. Really, every Texans starting skill position player (including Cecil Shorts) is looking better than usual, but I like the solid chemistry that Hoyer and Washington have shared this season.

 TE - Crocket Gillmore, Bal at Cle ($14) - I used Gillmore in this space last week, and he delivered with 101 receiving yards against St. Louis. This week, I'm doubling down on Gillmore as his matchup (Cleveland) shouldn't keep you up at night, and the switch to backup QB Matt Schaub (following the Joe Flacco ACL injury) is likely to help Gillmore more than hurts. As the starter in Houston, Schaub made Owen Daniels one of the most heavily targeted tight ends in the league. It's been a couple seasons since Schaub his seen significant action, so edon't be surprised if he clings to the short-range security of his tight end in his return to the field on Sunday.

[Week 12 rankings: Quarterback Running Back Receiver | Tight End | Flex | All Positions]

SITS

QB - Drew Brees, NO at Hou  ($35) - Brees takes to the road this week, where he's averaging 10 fantasy points less per game than he is at home. And he runs into a Texans defense that has allowed the second-fewest fantasy points per game to the QB position over the past month. and the eighth-fewest FAN PPG in home contests. Brees finished as the No. 19 fantasy QB in his last game (Week 10 at Washington), and it wouldn't be a surprise if he landed in a similar neighborhood this week.

RB - Latavius Murray, Oak at Ten  ($21) - Murray has a tough task in Week 12 at Tennessee. The Titans have allowed the sixth-fewest TDs (five) to the RB position, with just one of those scores coming in the past five games. The Titans are also holding running backs to just 3.9 yards per carry and a league-low 23.2 receiving yards per game. Considering that Murray enters this contest having rushed for just 76 yards on 25 combined carries (3.0 YPC) over his past two games, it's hard to get inspired about the idea of Murray being a top 20 RB play this week.

RB - LeGarrette Blount,  ($22) - Blount enters Week 12 as the 14th-most started RB in the Yahoo game, meaning that many in the fantasy community have chosen to ignore the obvious issues with the New England offense at the moment, issues that were exposed by Buffalo on Monday night. Injuries at offensive line and in the short passing game (Dion Lewis, Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola) have taken away some dimensions from the vaunted Pats' attack. Blount was held to just 65 yards (on 16 carries) against the Bills, and he's likely to struggle to even reach that number at Denver - the Broncos allow the fourth-fewest rushing yards per game to RBs (75.2).

WR - Sammy Watkins, Buf at KC ($24) - Watkins is running into the buzzsaw that is the Kansas City Chiefs defense this week. This is a unit on fire, holding all its opponents to 18 points or less in its past five games. And a pass defense that got a big boost when cornerback Sean Smith returned from suspension in Week 4 has been a major factor in the Chiefs' mid-season surge. Watkins is likely to see a lot of Smith on Sunday, and he's proven to be a dead end when opposing QBs try to complete passes in his coverage area. And with Bills QB Tyrod Taylor ailing with a shoulder injury, Watkins' upside drops even further into damning territory.

WR - Jeremy Maclin ($22) -  For some reason, Maclin is currently the No. 23 WR in terms of Start% this week in the Yahoo game. This for a receiver that hasn't reached 50 yards and has just one TD in his past four games. Maclin has just two fantasy outings this season that amounted to 10-plus fantasy points, and the most recent of those two was in Week 4. Buffalo brings two talented cover corners to this matchup this week in rookie Ronald Darby and Stephon Gilmore. The helped hold Tom Brady to his worst fantasy effort of the season last week. I expect they'll find it a much easier task to keep Alex Smith and this fantasy-worst KC WR unit in check.

TE - Vernon Davis, Den vs NE  ($13) - Davis has piqued the interest of fantasy owners after hauling in six catches for 68 yards in QB Brock Osweiler's first NFL start last week. He's shot up to borderline TE1 levels in terms of ownership in Yahoo leagues (55%, right behind Ben Watson and Zach Ertz). But don't be persuaded to take a VD plunge this week, as the Patriots have excelled at defending tight ends this season. New England has allowed the third-fewest receiving yards to the TE position, and has allowed just one TE (Clay Harbor) to top 10 fantasy points.