The Detroit Lions will face the Indianapolis Colts in Week 12. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Lions skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 12 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Jared Goff, QB
When Jared Goff is given time and playing with confidence, this offense is poetry in motion. He now has five games this season with multiple passing scores and no more than five incompletions, the first player to do that in the 2000s. In fact, the only other QB with five such regular season games since the start of 2021 is Lamar Jackson.
The Colts concede the sixth-highest red-zone completion percentage (65.2%), a flaw that allows me to elevate a pocket-locked QB like Goff inside of my top 10. He’s posted three finishes inside the top five this year, and while I don’t think we get there this week, I’m starting him where I have him (my Week 12 rank: QB7).
David Montgomery, RB
David Montgomery has as many multi-score games this season as contests without a touchdown, and you could argue that he is just as valuable as the more explosive Jahmyr Gibbs.
In the Week 11 steamrolling of the Jaguars, Monty had four carries and a touchdown on the opening drive, a set of plays where Gibbs didn’t record a single official touch.
I prefer Gibbs in this specific matchup because the Colts often sell out to stop the run (one of four defenses allowing under one yard per carry before contact), and he’s the one with more creative usage. However, both of these backs are deserving of lineup-lock status weekly and should be considered viable DFS building blocks.
Jahmyr Gibbs, RB
Is it just me, or have we seen this before?
Jahmyr Gibbs:
- 4.36-second speed
- 5.6 yards per carry in college
- 54.5% NFL snap share
- 20.2% production over expectation in the NFL
Lamar Miller:
- 4.40-second speed
- 5.7 yards per carry in college
- 61.1% snap share in 2015
- 18.2% production over expectation in 2015
Gibbs posted his fourth top-10 finish of the season last week against the Jaguars, showcasing his wide range of skills in the process. His acceleration allows him to create opportunities that don’t appear there, and that unique skill has allowed him to hold an RB22 floor this season.
Gibbs is a splash play waiting to happen. He has a 20+ yard gain both on the ground and through the air in consecutive games and can be counted on as an elite fantasy option.
It’s rare to turn a profit like this on an early-round pick. You made a good call in August, now it’s on you to capitalize with a 2024 title.
Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR
Since Week 3, 26 players have seen more targets than Amon-Ra St. Brown. But only five have more receptions, and Ja’Marr Chase is the only player with touchdown catches over that stretch.
During this scoring streak (eight straight games, a franchise record), St. Brown has three times as many TDs (nine) as targets that have hit the ground (three, 51 catches on 54 targets).
I’m running out of ways to praise this man, and if Dan Campbell is going to leave him on the field to help extend a 36-point lead, even game scripts can’t stop him. St. Brown has the potential to carry your fantasy team to a title this season and is going to cost you a pick in the first half of Round 1 in August.
Jameson Williams, WR
I don’t want to cost myself a job, but shouldn’t a fantasy site just hire Jared Goff and ask him which Lions are going to be featured?
Jameson Williams and Sam LaPorta have had their ups and downs this season, not because they aren’t talented but because Detroit scores too fast in other avenues.
Case in point: You likely weren’t feeling great about playing Williams at halftime last week. He hadn’t done anything and the Lions were up 22 points. As a Williams manager, I know I was already assuming a dud week at intermission and seeing if I could tweak my lineups for the late games to make up for the sub-par performance.
Four plays into the second half, Jamo added 14.9 PPR points to his afternoon, and all was right in the world. In eight games this season, Williams has cleared 75 receiving yards five times, but he also has a pair of single-digit performances.
If we are assuming that LaPorta is back, there is a floor to strongly consider, but with the Colts creating pressure when not blitzing at the fourth-lowest rate this season, Goff should have plenty of time to pick apart this secondary down the field.
You know the risk that comes with play — it’s something I’m willing to overlook in a week where the expectation is for Detroit to score 29 points.
Sam LaPorta, TE
Fun fact: Since the Week 5 bye, Sam LaPorta only has finished inside the top 10 or outside of the top 25.
OK, so maybe that’s not as much “fun” as it is a numeric way to describe your disappointment.
LaPorta sat out last week’s dismantling of Jacksonville (props to you if you streamed Brock Wright’s touchdown as a backup option) with a shoulder injury, the first DNP of his young career, and not a great sign for his loyal fantasy managers.
A less-than-full-strength LaPorta is a concern given that the 9-1 Lions are likely to be more forward-looking than most teams down the stretch.
We’ve seen some breadcrumbs laid before the injury (26.3% on-field target share from Weeks 8-10, up from a putrid 10.2% prior), and that’s enough reason for me to rank him as my TE11 this season, sandwiched between Jonnu Smith and Pat Freiermuth.
Cade Otton was a popular midseason add, but assuming all reports remain optimistic on Mike Evans, LaPorta would be my play, health permitting if you roster both.