Rookies are a very important part of fantasy football. You can pick one early it could completely tank your season if they don’t live up to expectations, but if you find a hidden gem late in the draft or on waivers, it can turn your entire season around.

This year’s rookie class has a lot of talent at a variety of different positions. There are a ton of young guys out there that can help you win your matchup this week, so today I’ll be giving you my top 10 rookies for fantasy football in Week 12.

I gave out some pretty good rankings last week. I had Tet McMillan in the top-five, and he ended up with the most points of any rookie this week. I also had TreVeyon Henderson ranked in the top 10, and he finished with over 30 points. I was also just one place off Oronde Gadsden’s ranking among rookies last week.

With all that said, let’s hop into the Week 12 rookie rankings.

10. Colston Loveland, TE, Chicago Bears

Season Rank (Where they rank among rookies on Sleeper): 24

Week 12 Matchup: Pittsburgh Steelers

Kicking off our list at the No. 10 spot is Colston Loveland, who has recently taken on a much bigger role in the Chicago Bears’ offense. His fantasy production still isn’t quite where you want it to be, but this week he faces a Pittsburgh defense that allows the sixth-most fantasy points to opposing tight ends. If you need some help at the TE position this week, Loveland could be a good addition.

9. Quinshon Judkins, RB, Cleveland Browns

Season Rank: 8

Week 12 Matchup: Las Vegas Raiders

Quinshon Judkins gets a ton of work every single week, but it’s very rare that he has a huge game due to his offensive line and the offense that he’s in. It’s hard to bet on him being a top-five rookie, even though his usage rate is among the best in the entire NFL; he just struggles to get yards behind PFF’s 23rd-ranked run-blocking offensive line. Still, he’s going to get a lot of work against a pretty poor defense this week, so he cracks the top 10.

8. Tet McMillan, WR, Carolina Panthers

Season Rank: 3

Week 12 Matchup: San Francisco 49ers

Tet McMillan had an amazing game this past weekend, scoring 33 points in the Carolina Panthers’ win over the Atlanta Falcons. Bryce Young played the best game of his career, but I have McMillan down at No. 8 because I don’t see Young playing anywhere near that well again this week. He’s still a very viable fantasy option, but I don’t see another 20+ point performance in his near future.

7. Tyler Warren, TE, Indianapolis Colts

Season Rank: 4

Week 12 Matchup: Kansas City Chiefs

Tyler Warren hasn’t been as dominant as he was early in the season recently, but he’s still been a very good fantasy tight end. I don’t love his matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs this week, but I think KC’s efforts will be focused on stopping Jonathan Taylor. Daniel Jones is going to have to make some plays with his arm, and Warren should be on the receiving end quite often.

6. Ashton Jeanty, RB, Las Vegas Raiders

Season Rank: 5

Week 12 Matchup: Cleveland Browns

Ashton Jeanty has been a very, very good fantasy running back, especially in recent weeks. However, he has taken advantage of some bad defenses. Indy, Jacksonville, Dallas, Tennessee and Chicago are all pretty bad defensively. His only real challenges in recent weeks have been against Kansas City and Denver, where he’s scored 4.4 and 15.30 points (which was only because of a touchdown. He averaged 3.1 yards per carry in the Denver game).

I am a bit worried for him this week. The Cleveland Browns have a solid run defense that gives up the fifth-fewest points to opposing running backs. I think he’ll still play pretty well, especially because he’s developed into a nice receiver, but he’s my RB3 among rookies this week.

5. Emeka Egbuka, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Season Rank: 2

Week 12 Matchup: Los Angeles Rams

Emeka Egbuka needs some help out wide. He’s such a great receiver, but teams know he’s their only real threat in the pass game, so they’re taking him away. He’s still seen 9+ targets in each of his last four games, so his ceiling is very high; they just need to scheme up ways to get him open. I don’t love his matchup against the Los Angeles Rams this week, but he’s going to be the guy Baker Mayfield targets more often than not, so he’s still high up on my rookie rankings.

4. Tyler Shough, QB, New Orleans Saints

Season Rank: 42

Week 12 Matchup: Atlanta Falcons

Do I think Tyler Shough is a better player than the seven guys above him? No, but quarterbacks have the chance to score points on pretty much every play, therefore, he’s projected more than the others above him. We just saw what Bryce Young was able to do to Atlanta last week, and after Shough’s solid start against Carolina a couple of weeks back, I think he has some juice to him. Wouldn’t be surprised if he has a pretty good game in Week 12.

3. TreVeyon Henderson, RB, New England Patriots

Season Rank: 7

Week 12 Matchup: Cincinnati Bengals

TreVeyon Henderson has had back-to-back great fantasy performances. He’s scored 28 and 32 in his last two games, and now he gets to face arguably the worst rushing defense in all of football. However, Rhamondre Stevenson could return this week, and if he does, he’s going to eat into Henderson’s carries. I don’t think it’ll be as heavy in Stevenson’s favor as it was in the past (in fact, Henderson could still be the lead back), but it will cut his production slightly. He should still be good for 13+ points.

2. Woody Marks, RB, Houston Texans

Season Rank: 12

Week 12 Matchup: Buffalo Bills

This is my “bold” rookie take of the week. My No. 2 rookie this week is Woody Marks. He’s the clear-cut RB1 in Houston now, and we’ve seen the Buffalo Bills get gashed by opposing running backs in recent weeks. De’Von Achane put up a 40 burger against them two weeks ago and Sean Tucker just scored 34 on them last week. As long as Marks stays healthy, there’s no reason he can’t have a great game this week. He’s seen 17+ touches in each of his last two games, so I expect him to score at least 15 points this week.

1. Jaxson Dart, QB, New York Giants

Season Rank: 1

Week 12 Matchup: Detroit Lions

As always, Jaxson Dart tops our list of the best rookies of the week. He’s been excellent this year and has rarely scored under 20 points in a game. There is a slight chance he misses this week with a concussion, but he should be back in time for a big showdown against the Detroit Lions. Detroit’s defense is legit, but Dart has put up some big numbers against good defenses in the past, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he does it again.

Sleeper’s Top 15 Rookie Rankings For Week 12

1. QB Jaxson Dart

2. QB Tyler Shough

3. RB Ashton Jeanty

4. WR Emeka Egbuka

5. QB Dillon Gabriel

6. RB Woody Marks

7. RB Quinshon Judkins

8. WR Tet McMillan

9. TE Tyler Warren

10. QB Cam Ward

11. TE Harold Fannin Jr.

12. RB TreVeyon Henderson

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