Fantasy Football Week 12 Quarterback Preview: Brock Purdy returns as a potential league-winning QB1

Last week, we had six quarterbacks score more than 20 Fantasy points. One of those six, Justin Fields, has been benched for Tyrod Taylor. Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts, Jared Goff, Bo Nix, Caleb Williams, Lamar Jackson, and Justin Herbert all scored 15.3 or fewer. Now, in Week 12, we have Herbert, Nix, Marcus Mariota, and Tua Tagovailoa on bye. Even in a one-quarterback league, this position doesn't feel very deep.

If you have to replace Fields or one of those guys on a bye, I have waiver wire suggestions for you below. One of them even projects as a top 12 QB this week. But first, I want to focus on one of the positive developments at QB this week. Brock Purdy is back, and he looked fantastic.

Purdy only threw 26 passes in Week 11, but he was his typically efficient self, throwing three touchdowns and averaging 7.7 yards per attempt. This is suddenly an excellent environment for a QB with Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Jauan Jennings, and Ricky Pearsall all healthy. Maybe more importantly, this is a team that ranks second in the league in passing yards and 27th in rushing yards. They are dead last in yards per carry as a team. And they rank 25th in net yards allowed.

For most of Purdy's career, he has been wildly efficient on very low volume, which has kept him in that borderline QB1 conversation. On this 49ers team, he could average 35 pass attempts per game and consistently do what he did in Week 11, which is finish as a top-five QB. His 49ers have an implied team total of 27 points this week against Carolina, and they face the Titans, Colts, and Bears in the Fantasy playoffs, with two of those games being at home and one of them being in a dome. You'll need a backup plan in Week 13 (Browns) and Week 14 (bye), but Purdy could absolutely lead your team to a Fantasy championship.

Let's get to the rest of the preview:

Week 12 QB Preview

• 47 -- Jacoby Brissett set an NFL record with 47 completions in Week 11.
• 6.4 -- Justin Herbert is now averaging 6.4 yards per attempt on the season without Joe Alt. He may not be a top-12 QB rest of season.
• 7 -- Sam Darnold has thrown seven interceptions in his last four games. His low pass volume may get even lower.
• 63 -- Matthew Stafford leads the NFL with 63 red zone pass attempts. Dak Prescott is the only other QB with more than 53 attempts in the red zone.
• 69.7 -- Cam Ward is on pace to take 69.7 sacks this year. That would be the third-most ever.
• 23 -- Three teams are giving up at least 23 Fantasy points per game to QBs: the Cowboys, Bengals, and Giants. That's just part of the reason we expect a big bounce-back week from Jalen Hurts, Drake Maye, and Jared Goff.
• 15.7% -- 15.7% of J.J. McCarthy's throws have been off target. That's tied with Caleb Williams for the worst mark in the league.
• 19 -- Baker Mayfield has scored 19 or more Fantasy points once in his last four starts. The Rams have allowed a QB to score 19 or more once in their last five games.

Adds/Streamers (QB Preview)

Jacoby Brissett QB ARI Arizona • #7 Age: 32 • Experience: 10 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP vs JAC JAC -2.5 O/U 47.5 OPP VS QB 28th QB RNK 8th ROSTERED 41% YTD Stats PAYDS 1570 RUYDS 80 TD 11 INT 3 FPTS/G 18.1 Jacoby Brissett has scored at least 23.4 Fantasy points in every start he has made this year. This week, he is facing a Jacksonville defense that has only held one QB below 20 points in their last seven games. Brissett isn't just a good streamer; he is top 10 in my projections this week. He probably will be next week against the Buccaneers as well.

Trevor Lawrence QB JAC Jacksonville • #16 Age: 26 • Experience: 5 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP @ ARI JAC -2.5 O/U 47.5 OPP VS QB 7th QB RNK 18th ROSTERED 56% YTD Stats PAYDS 2151 RUYDS 181 TD 16 INT 8 FPTS/G 18 There is a big gap between Jacoby Brissett and the rest of the streamers this week. But if you miss Brissett, Lawrence is a solid fallback plan. He has 68 rushing yards and three rushing TDs in his last three games. He could also get Brian Thomas and Brenton Strange back from injury in Week 12.

Top DFS Play

Projections powered by Sportsline

Drake Maye QB NE New England • #10 Age: 23 • Experience: 2 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP @ CIN NE -8.5 O/U 49.5 OPP VS QB 31st PROJ PTS 28.1 QB RNK 1st YTD Stats PAYDS 2836 RUYDS 285 TD 22 INT 5 FPTS/G 23.9 Maye is my number one QB in the projections this week, projected for nearly two more points than any other QB on the main slate. He faces the Bengals, who have given up the second-most Fantasy points to opposing QBs this season. The only risk to Maye is that the running game is so good, he doesn't have to do much.

Contrarian DFS Play

Projections powered by Sportsline

Patrick Mahomes QB KC Kansas City • #15 Age: 30 • Experience: 9 yrs. Mahomes is coming off a bad performance, and people are starting to write the Chiefs off. Historically, this is exactly when they turn things on. The Chiefs have an implied total of 27.5, which is one of the highest on the slate. Almost no one has slowed down this Colts offense. I wouldn't be surprised to see Mahomes throw 40 passes. Hopefully, he can connect on one of those deep balls he has been more willing to throw this year.

My full set of Week 12 Fantasy football projections for every position is now available on SportsLine. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don't live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 12. Projected stats for all starting quarterbacks are available, so be sure to check out the full set of projections at SportsLine.