Week 12 Wideouts: A Choice in Luxury Options

Wide receivers are expensive at FanDuel for a reason -- they're usually pretty good. Case in point, the four most expensive guys this week are DeAndre Hopkins, Julio Jones, Odell Beckham Jr, and Antonio Brown.

Each of them has unique appeal for Week 12 contests. So which one(s) do you choose for your lineup? Here's my thought process for each receiver heading into Sunday contests.


DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Houston Texans ($9,400) vs. New Orleans

This is as chalk as they get. Hopkins was nearly 50 percent owned in Thursday contests, and that number is only going to go up for the Sunday slate with fewer games to choose from.

Hopkins will be in many of my lineups this week by virtue of that ridiculously good matchup against New Orleans -- the Saints have given up 10 touchdowns to receivers in their past four games, and Hopkins has dominated far better competition as of late. I have avoided inserting him into too many lineups, though, minding exposure not to mention his ownership percentage.

Hopkins is a must-start in cash games, however -- ride or die with everyone else.


Julio Jones, WR, Atlanta Falcons ($9,300) vs. Minnesota

I wasn't terribly interested in rostering Julio Jones earlier in the week. For starters, you could have Hopkins in a great matchup for just $100 more. The Falcons offense has sputtered recently, Devonta Freeman is out with a concussion -- which could stall the offense if Tevin Coleman can't get things going -- and Minnesota has a pretty good defense.

News broke earlier this morning that safety Harrison Smith would miss the game for the Vikings, however, which piqued my interest. Suddenly that matchup wasn't so tough. Jones made his way into a few of my lineups after that, both to fade Hopkins a bit and pivot from Antonio Brown if you have some money to spare. More on that in a minute.

Odell Beckham Jr, WR, New York Giants ($9,100) @ Washington

There isn't much to say here, really.

Washington's defense has been its usual generous self this season, including 79 yards and a score to Odell Beckham Jr earlier this season. He is an excellent cash game option that will save you a few bucks over Hopkins and Jones, but his ownership percentage will probably be pretty high as well.

Antonio Brown, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers ($9,000) @ Seattle

Will Richard Sherman shadow Antonio Brown? That is the big question for potential fantasy owners as speculation that will be the case runs rampant.

The Seahawks have actually given up a ton of fantasy points to opposing receivers, and the Steelers can move Brown around to get him the ball. He was an excellent pivot from Hopkins for me. But the latest rumors of Sherman shadowing Brown, though, has me nervous. I took him out of a couple of lineups -- though still rolling with him in a few others -- and looked to Martavis Bryant for a GPP bump elsewhere.

Having trouble finding more than one spot for an expensive wideout? There is plenty of room for two if you play your cards right. In fact, here is a GPP lineup with three of them.

Good luck this week!