Welcome to the NFL Yahoo Cup Three and Out! This free-to-enter, single-entry fantasy football contest consists of 18 rounds where the top 25,200 entry overall and top 1,000 entries per round share $150,000, with $10,000 to first overall and $1,000 + YFFC Live Final entry to first per round. Scoring will be cumulative across all rounds, with your three lowest scores dropped at the end. You may join this multi-round NFL DFS contest at any point, but enter today to give yourself the best chance to take home the title. Click here to begin the chase!
NFL Yahoo Cup Fantasy Football Picks | Round 12
NFL DFS Quarterback: Tyrod Taylor — $20
With all of the high-priced options at other positions, Taylor’s salary flexibility will be vital this week. His $20 salary is the Yahoo minimum, but he still has a B grade in Awesemo’s Rankings for Week 12. Taylor has an ideal matchup against the Jets, whose defense ranks dead last overall and against the pass. Taylor has struggled throwing the ball since returning from injury, averaging only 5.2 yards per attempt. However, he has made up for it with two touchdowns on the ground.
While he is unlikely to score multiple touchdowns rushing again, his passing numbers are sure to improve from an efficiency standpoint this week. The Texans are only 2.5-point favorites, so it is likely that he will attempt a decent number of passes as well. He is not the safest of plays, but he does not need to do much to pay off his salary.
NFL DFS Running Back: Jonathon Taylor — $37
Taylor is one of two backs with an A in points in Awesemo’s Rankings, and he comes in $3 cheaper than the other (Christian McCaffrey). Nothing about the matchup is ideal for Taylor — the Buccaneers have a top-five run defense, and the Colts are underdogs. All of that was true last week against Buffalo, though, and Taylor exploded for five total touchdowns.
Taylor’s big-play ability separates him from every back in the league right now. The Colts are finally giving him a full workload after he did not top 20 carries in a game until two weeks ago. Since then he has 53 carries and 11 targets. While it is very close between Taylor and McCaffrey this week, taking the cheaper player makes sense for Yahoo Cup contests.
NFL DFS Wide Receiver: Keenan Allen — $24
Allen stands out among the top receivers for his value — he is the only receiver with an A in points and B in value in Awesemo’s Rankings for Week 12. After taking a backseat to Mike Williams earlier in the season, Allen has reemerged as the top option for Justin Herbert in the passing game. Over the last four games he has at least 11 targets in every contest and an average of 12.
The Chargers are one of the pass-happiest teams in the NFL, throwing the ball at the fifth-highest rate. Allen’s moderate average depth of target of 7.95 gives him tons of highly catchable balls too. Those short throws are essentially an extension of the run game for the Chargers, giving Allen a solid floor even in blowout wins. He only has two games on the season below 10 points in NFL Yahoo scoring (and had at least 7 points in each of those games). While he does not have quite the ceiling some of the top options do, Allen is an extremely safe play for Week 12’s Yahoo Cup.
