Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 12: Advice for Fringe Flex Fantasy Football Starters

Time is of the essence for fantasy football managers.

Week 12 of the 2020 NFL season is fast approaching, so you need to make your final playoff push or risk being left behind.

Coming here was a good place to start (or, even better, to continue) your research. We've put each matchup under the microscope to find three of the top sit-or-start recommendations on the slate.

Start: Derek Carr, QB, at Atlanta Falcons

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What do you get when you combine a red-hot quarterback with the juiciest matchup in fantasy football? A no-brainer starter for a critical week.

Derek Carr just authored one of the best performances of his season. And while he fell just short of steering the Las Vegas Raiders past the Kansas City Chiefs—which would have given them a 2-0 season sweep—he rewarded all the fantasy managers smart enough to start him.

The 29-year-old toyed with the Kansas City defense to the tune of 23-of-31 passing for 275 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. More impressively, it was only his third-highest ranked performance of the 2020 campaign, trailing a 284-yard, three-score effort in Week 2 and a 347-yard, three-touchdown, one-pick effort in Week 5.

Now, Carr draws an Atlanta defense allowing more fantasy points to the quarterback position than anyone, per Yahoo Sports. Seven different quarterbacks have thrown for at least 300 yards against the Falcons, and he has an excellent opportunity to join that group.

Sit: Ryan Tannehill, QB, at Indianapolis Colts

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Does a tally of 259 passing yards and a pair of scoring strikes move the needle for you? Those are solid stats, sure, but they're hardly game-winners.

That was Ryan Tannehill's final line in Week 11, which doesn't sound particularly ominous on its own. But he'd been in such a slump that almost all the marks bettered what he'd done in more than a month.

That was his highest yardage total since Week 6. His 71.0 completion percentage was easily his best over that stretch, too. Even his 22 completions were his most in that span, marking the first time he'd hit on more than 18 passes since mid-October.

If that was his slump-buster, the momentum is unlikely to last. A date with the daunting Colts defense could be a new slump-starter for the Titans quarterback.

Indianapolis allows the third-fewest fantasy points to the position, and Tannehill contributed to that number. He faced this same defense in Week 10 and managed just 15-of-27 passing for 147 yards and a single score.

Start: Brandin Cooks, WR, at Detroit Lions

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A short turnaround for a Thanksgiving tilt with Detroit can't come fast enough for Brandin Cooks.

The 27-year-old has already been trending the right direction with a string of six solid-or-better performances under his belt. Even his (relative) dud in that stretch featured six receptions (albeit for only 39 yards). All three of his touchdowns have come within this six-game span, in which he's averaged 6.2 receptions for 82.7 yards.

There are reasons to believe those numbers should keep climbing, too.

For starters, Cooks' target share could climb after Randall Cobb (toe) and Kenny Stills (quadriceps) both exited Houston's Week 11 win over the New England Patriots early.

Plus, wide receivers have had success against this Detroit defense. The Lions have allowed the 12th-most fantasy production to the position so far.