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What to do with Jameis Winston in Week 12 fantasy football

The Bucs have a great matchup vs. the Falcons secondary, so does this make Winston a must-start? We break down whether you should play him or bench him on Sunday.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston runs out of the tunnel as he is introduced before a game against the New Orleans Saints at Raymond James Stadium. Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

You know that popular GIF of the dude blinking in surprise? That was me when I saw I was assigned to write up a start/sit on Bucs QB Jameis Winston. You know what happened next? I did that same thing when I checked out his box score and realized that it actually isn’t that bad.

Winston has eclipsed 20 fantasy points in five straight weeks. That’s perfectly fine in almost all formats and it’s mostly thanks to volume. Winston is dropping back and throwing a ton, attempting at least 43 passes in each of the past five games. Tampa Bay is almost always trailing or in shootouts, so no matter how bad Winston appears to play, he’ll always have fantasy value. Let’s break down Week 12.

Fantasy Football Analysis, Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Jameis Winston

So yeah, I’m fine playing Winston this week, it’s against the Atlanta Falcons. But wait a tick! Not so fast! The Falcons defense has actually been great the past two weeks against pretty good opponents in the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers. They’ve allowed just 12 points in two games, forcing four turnovers last week vs. the Panthers while racking up 11 sacks over two games.

The big thing for me here, though, is Winston has produced despite playing poorly. And the game script for Bucs-Falcons should play out as a high-scoring content. Usually when a game has an O/U above 50 points, you know each QB is in a good spot. The Bucs don’t have much of a run game still and could be trailing early, so Winston, to me, is a fine play in most standard fantasy football formats.

Start/Sit Recommendation

Start.