The regular season is coming to a close. Just a couple of weeks left for teams to make that last-minute push. The contenders have separated themselves from the pack while a handful of teams contend for the last playoff spots, and more importantly, attempt to avoid a bottom-three spot in the league.
Meanwhile, in the NFL, we had some really big performances this past week. Thankfully, not a ton of injuries, but there was one potentially big one that could have ramifications for multiple high-end fantasy assets. With all that said, as you have another helping of Turkey, let us examine Week 12 in the DNA league and finish up with a preview of next week’s action.
Week 12 Recap | Headlines
The Chicago Bears continued their winning ways this past week. Despite the down weeks for both D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai, the Bears squeaked past the Pittsburgh Steelers. It has been really difficult to pin down which Chicago WR to play on a weekly basis, but Caleb Williams has been a largely steady performer, while at the same time Colston Loveland has begun to emerge as a focal point of the passing attack. Pittsburgh struggled through a rough game with backup QB Mason Rudolph. On a brighter note, both D.K. Metcalf and Jaylen Warren reached the end zone for the Steelers and their dynasty managers.
In one of the closer games of the week, the Jacksonville Jaguars clawed their way past the Arizona Cardinals like my uncle on the way to a second helping of stuffing. The 27-24 overtime contest saw the triumphant return of TE Brenton Strange, who paced the Jags with 5 grabs for a whopping 93 yards. Travis Etienne continues to hold off intriguing rookie Bashul Tuten outrushing him by almost 70 yards on the day. Arizona continued to see fantasy-worthy production from Jacoby Brissett and WR Michael Wilson.
We may get a chance to see some history in 2025. Seattle WR Jaxson Smith-Njigba has set a blistering pace to the season. His monster 8 grabs for 167 and 2 scores leaves him on a pace to be the first NFL WR to eclipse the 2,000 yard mark. The Titans did well to handle the streaking Seahawks. Tennessee continues to see excellent play out of rookie TE Gunnar Helm, who led the team in receiving with 6 grabs for 51 yards.
The performance of the week has to go to Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs, who torched the Giants for 219 rushing yards and a pair of scores. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he also chipped in a whopping 11 catches for 45 yards and another score. Despite giving up the farm to Gibbs, the Giants made this one a dog fight with Jameis Winston channeling his inner FSU Seminole days, throwing for 366 and a pair of scores to go along with an incredible 33-yard TD reception. Wan’Dale Robinson also continued his strong season.
Standings | DNA League Snapshot
3 Up & 3 Down | Which Dynasty Assets Are Producing & Who Is Letting You Down?
3 Up
- Chicago TE Colston Loveland continues his mid-season ascention. Last week he scored his 3rd TD of the year to go along with his 4 grabs and 49 years. He has a long way to go to catch fellow classmate Tyler Warren, but he has tied him on scores at this point. Watch for him to continue his growth within this new offense in Chicago.
- Thanksgiving began in the New England region, and for the hometown Patriots, TE Hunter Henry feasted a week early. The talented playmaker enjoyed his best game of the season, snagging 7 catches for 115 yards and a score. He currently sits as the TE6 overall for the year. Continue streaming this turkey as he has clearly formed a great connection with sophomore QB Dake Maye.
- Don’t look now, but top NFL pick Cam Ward has been showing some signs of life in recent weeks. The former University of Miami star has put up back-to-back weeks of double-digit points, including his season high 24.69 effort in week 12. Just wait until he gets some real weapons.
3 Down
- What do you know, it’s Thanksgiving and the Turkey’s are going down. Former Virginia Tech Hokie, Bashul Tuten, took a step back in Week 12. Many were predicting a Turkey takeover after his Big Week 11. Managers will have to wait a bit longer to realize their dreams on this one.
- Minnesota QB J.J. McCarthy continues his brutal sophomore season. Since coming back in Week 9, the former National Champion Michigan QB has seen his fantasy numbers decrease with every start. This past week, those numbers crept to an abysmal 0.23 points. The team has since said that the former 1st round pick suffered a concussion and will likely miss a week.
- MVP QB Josh Allen had a terrible performance against the Houston Texans this past week. The stud playmaker tossed a pair of interceptions and couldn’t keep the Bills in the win column. I would worry too much over this one as Allen clearly has a long history of production and has had such a good 2025 that he is still the QB1 overall despite the 6.62 point output in Week 12.
DNA League Trivia | Which Green Bay Packers WR set the Thanksgiving Day record for fantasy points with his 9 catches for 122 yards & 4 scores?
Notable Week 12 Injuries
Thankfully, there weren’t many big-time injuries in Week 12. Of the ones that were suffered, Tampa QB Baker Mayfield may be the biggest. The Buccaneers leader suffered a sprained AC joint in his non-throwing shoulder. There is a chance that he may be able to go in Week 13, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Tampa give their team captain a week off to heal up for the playoff run.
Bengals Pro-Bowl WR Tee Higgins was knocked from his team’s Week 12 loss with a concussion. He took a hard fall during the game, bouncing his head off the turf. He was eventually carted to the locker room. With the current concussion protocols, I would absolutely expect him to miss at least one week.
Cincinnati also lost backup rookie RB Tahj Brooks to a concussion of his own. While he is not a true fantasy asset himself, his likely absence next week should mean a couple of extra touches for Chase Brown.
New Orleans All-Pro RB Alvin Kamara suffered a sprained MCL in his team’s Week 12 contest. This is actually somewhat good news because this had the look of a season-ender for the team legend. He will certainly miss some time, which opens an opportunity for rookie RB Devin Neal. He will be an interesting streamer option until Kamara comes back into the mix.
Week 12 Highlights
Shakeup At The Top
After weeks at the top of the standings, Rich Dotson was bumped from 1st to 3rd place in the standings. In his place, Doc Mitchell (yours truly) assumed the top spot. Doc and Garret Price have identical records, and after a monumental week by Garret, are only separated by fewer than 12 points.
Playoff Race
The race for the final playoff spot is coming down to the wire. Four teams find themselves within a couple of games of each other for the final three spots. It will be an exciting finish to see how it plays out between Peter Monahan, Jared Wackerly, Mychal Warno, and Keith Ensminger.
Matchup Of The Week | Peter Monahan vs Jon Glosser
Wow, talk about a nail-biter. The contest between Peter and Jon was decided by less than 3 points. This one wasn’t the highest-scoring game of the week, but it was certainly the tightest.
This one really came down to a poor performance by Josh Allen. His season-low output sealed the deal for Pete’s loss. Despite the tough loss, Peter Monahan still finds himself firmly in a playoff position. With star players like Josh Allen, Matt Stafford, Bijan Robinson, Nico Collins, and Emeka Egbuka, he is certainly a contender to be respected come playoff time.
The biggest part of this game was that Jon Glosser got a bit of clearance from the dreaded bottom 3 slots. That means he would not face a vote for being booted from the league. Jon made a recent move to acquire some help when he bought Aaron Jones. This week it worked out, let’s see how it plays out down the stretch.
Weekly Awards | Top Week 12 Performers
MVP
Garret Price takes home the honor of MVP this week. He more than doubled the average median point total from Week 12. His 256.27 score was the highest any team has put up all season. With Jahmyr Gibbs and company laying the hammer on his opponents, how long will it be before Garret reclaims the top spot in the standings?
Overachiever
Keith Ensminger was the overachiever of the week. His squad put up one of the top 3 scores in the league. He got the best score of the year out of Cam Ward along with some big games from James Cook, Amon Ra St. Brown, and Emanuel Wilson. They were enough to overcome a 0-point effort by Jordan Addison.
Underachiever
Rich Dotson takes home the Turkey of he week. His 1st place squad had its worst output in weeks. He got single-digit point totals out of Dalton Schults, D’Andre Swift, Dallas Goedert, Kyle Pitts, Saquon Barkley, and others. Brighter days are ahead for the boss, but this week was a stinker.
Manager Spotlight | Interview With Rich Dotson | @DynastyRich
Q: So tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you from? You are clearly a Cleveland Browns fan. How long ago did you found Dynasty Nerds?
A: I founded the Dynasty Nerds brand with some of my best friends about 11 years ago.
Q: How did you originally get into fantasy football?
A: Just the love of the NFL. Then one day I was offered to join a league in my teens, and I was hooked.
Q: Your squad has been playing really well. You’ve been at or near the top of the standings for quite some time. How do you like your chances in the playoffs?
A: My team is absolutely solid and has a real shot at winning the championship, but it’s going to come down to staying healthy and having the right guys hit their ceiling at the perfect time. That is especially true of some of the good players who’ve underperformed relative to my expectations so far.
Q: Give me your honest opinion of the Nostradamus draft system we came up with. As an analyst, do you like the idea of doing the first 2 rounds of the rookie draft before the NFL draft?
A: I really like it. Forcing yourself to draft the first two rounds pre-NFL draft makes you trust your tape evaluation above everything else, and history shows that trusting the tape is usually the right call in the long run.
Q: Which player has been your biggest disappointment this year?
- A: Marvin Harrison Jr. He was supposed to come in as a true alpha WR1, and he still hasn’t cracked 100 yards in a game. At this point, you have to wonder does he have the heart and the dog in him to be great, or is he just riding the nepo-baby wave?
Q: Which player has been your biggest surprise?
A: George Pickens. We knew he was good, but he’s showing everyone that he’s not just a solid starter-he’s on the verge of being a true star, a legitimate tier-one No. 1 wide receiver. He’s entering the elite conversation.
Q: You obviously have other avenues to communicate with the Nerd Herd, but do you have any message for the fans?
A: I’m beyond grateful for the support and for the trust you all put in me to help guide us on this journey toward dynasty championships. A lot of people in this space want to be overly serious all the time, but I just want to have a blast playing a game I’m obsessed with. I love grinding film every single day, sharing what I see,, and having a platform to talk Ball with all of you. Let’s keep enjoying the ride together.
Trade Of The Week
The trade of the week went down between Jon Glosser and Taylor Christianson. This one gave Jon some much-needed depth in his lineup. The trade already paid dividends as Aaron Jones played a part in Jon’s slim victory over Peter Monahan.
Elimination Watch
The Danger Zone
Taylor Christianson (2-22). This one is a fait accompli. Taylor has fully embraced the tank. He has consistently traded away his short-term assets and players in order to bank draft capital and youth for a future run if the readers grant him a reprieve next season.
John Hammersmith (5-19). The writing may already be on the wall for John in 2025. His team has struggled, but he does have some nice dynasty assets on his roster. It will be curious to see how the Nerd Herd vote plays out.
Matt Cooper (7-17). Of all the teams in the bottom three, Matt Cooper is the only one with a legitimate chance to climb out of the doldrums. Last week was a tough one for him as he just missed out on eclipsing the median league score and picking up a critical W. Does he have enough time to change his fate, or will the Nerd Herd get to decide?
Look Ahead | Week 13 Preview
Game of the Week Prediction
In one of the only matchups this week between playoff teams, top-seeded Doc Mitchell takes on Mychal Warno. This one is sure to be a nail-biter as both teams are looking to solidify their playoff seeding.
Upset Alert
This week, Garret Price is on high alert as he takes on the surging Keith Ensminger’s squad. Both teams have been coming to life at the right time. Garret looks to continue his climb back to the top as Keith has him on upset watch with last week’s top 2 scoring squads facing off.
Rivalry Watch
This week’s rivalry watch focuses on the Boss Rich Dotson as he takes on film room guru Matt Cooper. Matt is fighting and clawing his way through these last two weeks, looking to avoid the dreaded vote against the bottom three squads. Meanwhile, Rich is looking to correct course after last week’s double loss. This one smells like one of the Boss’s Thanksgiving leftover wraps—delicious.
Trivia Answer | In 1994, Sterling Sharpe torched the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving. In the process, he set the all-time mark for fantasy points by a WR on Thanksgiving. (click to return)
