Fantasy Football Week 12 Quarterback Rankings: Justin Fields, Kyler murray back to being must-start options?

The list of starting quarterbacks who have been lost for the season got longer last week, and now includes the following names: Aaron Rodgers, Deshaun Watson, Joe Burrow, Anthony Richardson, Daniel Jones, and Kirk Cousins. And we’re getting a few more QB changes this week, as the Jets finally benched Zach Wilson for Tim Boyle (a net-neutral change for their offense, unfortunately), and the Falcons going back to Desmond Ridder. And the Patriots may be making a change from Mac Jones, though even as of Sunday morning, that hasn’t been announced yet. 

All told, there might be 12 teams with a different QB in Week 12 than they had in Week 1, and that’s not counting the Cardinals. And the amazing thing is, there have been weeks prior to this with even more backup QBs starting. Injuries and poor performance at the QB position have been a league-wide issue, and it’s dragged down some of the most promising offenses in the league as a result. The Bengals are likely to be the next one affected, with Jake Browning taking over for Joe Burrow after his season-ending injury.

Expectations for Browning are, rightfully, quite low, with the Bengals sitting as 2.5-point underdogs against the Steelers, in a game with an over/under of just 36.5; their implied total is just 17 for this week, the third-lowest mark on the schedule. If you’re looking for a Burrow replacement, Browning probably isn’t going to get the job done. Gardner Minshew could be useful against a Buccaneers defense that is down several contributors in the secondary and has been vulnerable to the pass all season long. I’d have to be pretty desperate to go down to the Tommy DeVito range of the rankings, but he does have multiple touchdowns in consecutive games and gets a Patriots defense that hasn’t been as stout as expected this season, so if you need a QB2, he’s in consideration. 

Here are my full QB rankings for Week 12:

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