Fantasy Football Fades: Ashton Jeanty, Jake Ferguson among players to consider benching in Week 12

Welcome to Week 12 of the fantasy football fades and busts of the week! I am your host, Matt Okada, and will be bringing you half a dozen players to avoid each and every Thursday, throughout the fantasy season. Still looking for the perfect 6-for-6! Let's get it!

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As a note, just because a player earns a fade" or bust" designation doesn't automatically mean they should be benched - it depends on the rest of your roster or the options on your waiver wire. But you can expect them to fall short of expectations (when I get them right).

Without further ado, here is my list for Week 12 of the 2025 season.

Caleb Williams, QB, Bears

Caleb Williams has been one of the most boom-bust quarterbacks in fantasy so far this season. He's logged four games with 24+ fantasy points, but he's also logged four games with fewer than 13 fantasy points - and three of those games came in the last five weeks. He has somewhat quietly thrown one touchdown or fewer in six of his last seven games.

The good news, theoretically, is that he's been good in good" matchups, and Pittsburgh has been soft against quarterbacks for most of the season - they're probably green" in your fantasy app. The bad news is that Pittsburgh has been much better the past few weeks, limiting Daniel Jones, Justin Herbert and a previously productive Joe Flacco to an average of 14.2 fantasy PPG. They held those three QBs to just three touchdowns and four interceptions (and two fumbles lost), and sacked them 11 times in total. I fear the matchup may be a bit of a trap, and would prefer to stream elsewhere if possible.

What to do Williams is a fringe starter in typical 12-team, one-QB leagues, but there are better options in that range, with much higher floors and similar ceilings. As an example, waiver-wire addition Jacoby Brissett is an easy play over the Chicago QB this week.

Ashton Jeanty, RB, Raiders

Sigh. No one wants to write this, and no one wants to read this. But we have to face the music. The Raiders offense is abysmal. Outside of a random 29-point blowup in Week 9 against Jacksonville, they've scored 20 points or fewer in each of their other five games since the start of October, averaging just 9.8 points in those games. Jeanty scraped together decent fantasy days in some of those weeks with a fortunate touchdown or a rash of catches. But he also scored just 3.9 points against the Chiefs and 6.4 points against the Cowboys.

On Sunday, he'll face a Browns defense allowing 3.9 yards per carry and just five rushing touchdowns all year to running backs. Breece Hall and Derrick Henry both had solid games against Cleveland recently, but their teams both won those games - something the Raiders have done just once in the last 10 weeks. The Raiders O-line is doing neither Jeanty nor Geno Smith any favors, and Myles Garrett is likely to be in the backfield early and often. Once again, Jeanty will likely need several receptions or a touchdown just to be okay for fantasy.

What to do You're not likely to have the luxury of sitting Jeanty, but if you happened to hit on guys like Javonte Williams, Rico Dowdle, TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins a little later, he'd be the clear worst option. At the very least, adjust expectations - Jeanty isn't the elite RB1 we drafted him to be and he might not even be an RB2 this week.

Tyrone Tracy Jr., RB, Giants

Tyrone Tracy Jr. has been impressive the last couple weeks after reascending to the top of the depth chart following Cam Skattebo's season-ending injury. Tracy carried the ball 14 times for 71 yards against the Bears in Week 10 and totaled 139 scrimmage yards on 23 touches last week against Green Bay. He also lost two goal-line touchdowns to Devin Singletary on Sunday, which could put a concerning limit on his upside, but the real concern is the Week 12 matchup.

The Lions have been a horrendous matchup for running backs, allowing fewer than 11 fantasy points to every back they've faced since Week 6 - including just 9.5 for Saquon Barkley last Sunday night. The only back to top 14 fantasy points against Detroit was Judkins in Week 4, so Tracy's optimistic ceiling might be narrowly cracking double digits. More likely, he'll be a touchdown-dependent, 50-yards-on-15-touches fade, and with Singletary vulturing goal-line work, Tracy is a major bust candidate in Week 12.

What to do Tracy would be a low-end RB2 in an average matchup, but against one of the toughest opponents for his position, he drops to RB3 range and ideally to your bench. You can flex him in a pinch, but there are almost certainly better options at RB or WR, especially in half-PPR or full-PPR leagues.

DK Metcalf, WR, Steelers

For some reason, the Steelers have not figured out how to use DK Metcalf properly, and it's only gotten worse as the year's gone on. He's averaged a career-low 55.1 receiving yards per game, and his 3.7 catches per game are his fewest since his rookie year. And while he scored four touchdowns in his first five games, that was predictably too high based on usage, and he's ended up scoring just once over his last five. Over that span, he also hasn't topped 55 receiving yards, averaging just 39 yards per game. The Bears bring a green matchup" in Week 12, but Metcalf had his worst game (1.6 fantasy points) in a green matchup" against the Colts two weeks ago. On top of all this, Aaron Rodgers is dealing with a (left) wrist injury, so it'll either be a questionable Rodgers or Mason Rudolph on Sunday. Metcalf isn't trustworthy regardless - avoid this trap matchup if you can.

What to do Metcalf will be ranked comfortably in WR2 range on most sites, but I'm not entirely sure why at this point. He's been a WR2 just once in the last five weeks and has been the WR46 overall since Week 7. Find another option with a more reliable role in a better offense.

Romeo Doubs, WR, Packers

At some point earlier in the year - probably following his three-TD game against Dallas in Week 4 - it feels like Romeo Doubs became a weekly starter consideration. Unfortunately, he's averaged just 7.6 fantasy points in his other nine games, and has only scored in one other contest (back in Week 2). Since the Packers' Week 5 bye immediately following that Cowboys game, Doubs has averaged just 4.5 catches for 53.3 yards per game, with single digits in three of five. Christian Watson is now healthy and scoring touchdowns, and Jordan Love is simply not producing enough as a passer to support multiple viable receivers. To top things off, Doubs draws a matchup with the stingy Vikings secondary this week. If he happens to catch a touchdown, you might get 12-13 fantasy points, but otherwise you're getting a complete dud.

What to do Find another option this week. Doubs is a low-end WR3 at best and can be benched for names like Alec Pierce, Michael Wilson, Tre Tucker, Parker Washington and others.

Jake Ferguson, TE, Cowboys

Through Week 7, it was looking like Jake Ferguson was a locked-and-loaded, top-tier TE1, possibly even the top tight end in fantasy. But things have cooled significantly over the last three games, with a one-target, zero-catch stinker in Week 8 and then just nine catches for 66 yards over the last two. Even with a week-saving TD on Monday night, Ferguson finished with just 9.6 fantasy points, which is good, but not great.

Now, Ferguson draws one of the toughest matchups in the league, the Philadelphia Eagles. He scored just 4.8 points in the first meeting back in Week 1, and only one tight end has hit double digits against them all year - Evan Engram, with a lucky TD in Week 5. It's the George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb show in Dallas now, and Ferguson will need to find the end zone again to post a start-worthy performance. If you have an alternate TE2 or a decent streamer worth considering, play them over Ferguson this week.

What to do As with Jeanty, Ferguson will be tough to bench at a very shallow position. Just know that if you start him, you'll want to set expectations low for Week 12.