NFL DFS Week 12 Picks: Player Pool for DraftKings & FanDuel

In this article, weekly I’ll be breaking down my core player pool across each position, highlighting projected ownership trends, key leverage spots, and the plays I’m targeting for tournaments of all sizes. You can also get access to my premium DFS builds for every main slate here. Now, let’s dive in…

I’m a bit short on time this weekend so the article is going to be a bit abbreviated. Let’s dive in!

Quarterback 

Top Projected Own%: Jacoby Brissett, Jared Goff, Jalen Hurts, Drake Maye

My Player Pool: Drake Maye, Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, Drake Maye, Sam Darnold, Tyler Shough, Jameis Winston

 

I’ll likely be playing a lot different than the field today and completely fading the chalky Brissett / Hurts builds. 

 

Drake Maye is my favorite stack of the day. 

 

Both Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes look better than Hurts to me for GPPs. 

 

I like going back to Sam Darnold paired with JSN in larger-field contests after his dud last week. 

 

Tyler Shough is my favorite cheap stack for larger-field contests. 

 

Running Back 

Top Projected Own%: Chase Brown, Emmanuel Wilson, Jahmyr Gibbs, David Montgomery, Bijan Robinson

My Player Pool: Chalk RBs, DET RBs, Ashton Jeanty, Kareem Hunt, Bhayshul Tuten, Aaron Jones, Quinshon Judkins

 

I feel like every week has been the same this season – but once again I think the chalkier RBs are the strong plays here. If I were to choose one chalk RB to fade it would be Chase Brown. He has big upside as a pass catcher today, but he is more expensive than the other guys I like in Emmanuel Wilson and David Montgomery. Outside of Gibbs, I see myself setting a lot on the mid-tier and pairing those RBs with their DST. Jeanty, Monty, Judkins, Hunt and Tuten all fit that mold for me. 

 

Wide Receiver 

Top Projected Own%: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Michael Wilson, Jakobi Meyers, Jameson Williams, DeVonta Smith, AJ Brown

My Player Pool: JSN, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Michael Wilson, Jakobi Meyers, AJ Brown, Jameson Williams, Chris Olave, Luther Burden, Zay Flowers, Adonai Mitchell, Stefon Diggs, Tee Higgins, Romeo Doubs

 

Per usual I’ll mostly be building through my stacks here but guys that I want to be overweight to the field are Zay Flowers, Luther Burden and Tee Higgins. Flowers hasn’t scored a touchdown since Week 1 despite being tackled inside the five multiple times. New York has nothing to offer in the secondary and this feels like a big get right spot for him – he can be used as both a one-off or in your Lamar stack. Burden is my favorite cheap option on the board – I’ve been hyping him up for weeks and he finally saw a big role increase last week. Pittsburgh has been vulnerable in the slot – and he has the big play ability to pay off in just one splash play. 

 

I find it funny that nobody wants to play Tee Higgins in a 50 total and potential trailing game-script with Ja’Marr Chase out. Higgins ability as a contested catch guy counteracts any negative CB match-up he will see against Gonzalez. Drake Maye will likely be on my main team today and I’ll be running his stack back with Higgins. 

 

Tight End

Top Projected Own%: Trey McBride, Hunter Henry

My Player Pool: Trey McBride, Hunter Henry, Travis Kelce, Juwan Johnson, Mark Andrews

 

Once again this week everything is about getting to Trey McBride on DraftKings. I like some double-TE builds in GPPs there, while I like all of the remaining guys in my player pool as stack partners. On FanDuel, I think Kyle Pitts is the top play at his price tag.