Fantasy News & Analysis

NFL Week 12 Recap: Immediate fantasy football takeaways from Black Friday's game

2T9D7PR Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill (10) crosses the goal line for a touchdown against the New York Jets during the second quarter of an NFL football game, Friday, Nov. 24, 2023, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)

  • Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle lead the Miami Dolphins: Both wide receivers were healthy and gained over 100 yards receiving in the Dolphins' easy road victory.
  • The New York Jets switch to Tim Boyle: With Boyle at quarterback, the Jets only ran 22 plays in the first three quarters. No drive gained more than 15 yards until they were down by 21 points in the fourth quarter.
  • Raheem Mostert scores twice: Wilson was off to a slow start but scored once early and broke a 34-yard run late in the fourth quarter.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

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WR:CB Matchup Chart


Miami Dolphins @ New York Jets

Jeff Wilson Jr. steps up: Wilson Jr. went from a healthy inactive last week to the Dolphins' most efficient runner this week.

  • De’Von Achane returned from injured reserve in Week 11, which prompted Wilson to be a healthy inactive. Achane injured his knee after three plays in that game and was originally questionable this week but ultimately was made inactive.
  • Salvon Ahmed was also ahead of Wilson on the depth chart, but he suffered a foot injury last week and is now on injured reserve, which pushed Wilson to second on the depth chart for this game.
  • Raheem Mostert was limited in practice all week due to an ankle and foot injury. That didn't have much impact on his playing time but may have impacted his explosiveness and how often Miami got him the football.
  • The Dolphins largely rotated their back by drive throughout the game. Occasionally, if the drive exceeded five plays, the other running back would rotate in for a play or two.
  • Darrynton Evans, who started the season on the Dolphins' practice squad before spending the middle part of the season on the Chicago Bears active roster, served as the third running back for Miami Friday and began playing snaps in the middle of the fourth quarter.
  • Chances are Achane and Mostert will both be healthier for Week 13 with a little extra time off. Wilson should remain active and third on the depth chart when that happens, but he’s unlikely to play as many snaps as he did in this game.

The Dolphins' wide receiver situation stabilizes: Most Dolphins wide receivers have dealt with some injuries in recent weeks, but we witnessed the rotation we can expect going forward.

  • Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle have played in every game since the start of October, but both have missed significant time in recent games due to injuries.
  • Hill had a quick trip to the medical tent early in the first quarter, but his playing time was fine from that point on.
  • Braxton Berrios spent most of the season as the Dolphins’ slot receiver. He missed a lot of time in Week 9 and all of Week 11, but he was back to playing all of the 11 personnel snaps
  • Cedrick Wilson Jr. served as Hill's replacement whenever he was off the field while River Cracraft was Jaylen Waddle‘s substitute.
  • Chase Claypool was inactive after being questionable due to a knee injury, but given the health of other Dolphins wide receivers, it’s possible he would be a healthy inactive if he was 100%.
  • Robbie Chosen was a healthy inactive. He will either remain inactive or go to the Dolphins practice quad at some point.

Allen Lazard was a healthy inactive: The Jets continued their youth movement on offense by making Lazard inactive.

  • This move made Jason Brownlee the starting wide receiver opposite Garrett Wilson. The undrafted rookie was inactive for eight of the first 10 games of the season. He played two snaps in Week 8 and 19 in Week 11 but hadn’t received his first NFL target prior to this game.
  • He caught two passes for 20 yards.
  • Xavier Gipson shared the Jets’ primary slot receiver role with Wilson, a role he’s maintained over the last four weeks. He’s been catching one or two targets per game and continued that with two receptions for 15 yards.
  • Randall Cobb, who was inactive for the last four games, was active Friday as the fourth wide receiver on the depth chart.
  • All of these players, outside of Wilson, should be ignored for fantasy football purposes, but it’s remarkable how different the group looks compared to the start of the season when we expected Wilson, Lazard, Cobb, Corey Davis and Mecole Hardman to be the Jets' top five wide receivers.

Miscellaneous Notes

  • Dolphins tight end Durham Smythe missed last week due to injury, but he was back for this game.
  • Dolphins fullback Alec Ingold was questionable for this game due to a foot injury. He played, but Miami spent a little more time in 12 personnel and less time in 21 personnel compared to its usual tendencies.
  • Breece Hall played 80% of New York's snaps in the first half and was on pace to reach a new high in offensive snap percentage until Dalvin Cook played on the Jets' long final drive.
  • Jeremy Ruckert overtook C.J. Uzomah as the second tight end on the Jets' depth chart and the primary run-blocking tight end last week, which remained true in this game.

Table Notes
  • Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.
  • Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.
  • Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.
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