NFL Week 12 Recap: Instant fantasy football takeaways from Thursday’s game

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Buffalo notes @ Houston Texans

An eventful week for Bills wide receivers: The Bills wide receiver room had multiple absences during both practice and games, ranging from injuries to fatherhood to being benched.

Buffalo entered last Sunday’s game with eight wide receivers on its 53-man roster, which is rare considering only two teams currently have seven wide receivers. The Bills’ typical lineup when everyone was healthy early in the season consisted of Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman, Joshua Palmer and Curtis Samuel and Tyrell Shavers.

Shakir missed practice all week to be with his wife, who had given birth to their first child, but he was able to play in this match. Coleman was surprisingly inactive for last week’s game after being late to a team meeting, and Buffalo opted to make him inactive for this game as well. Palmer was limited in practice Monday and Tuesday due to knee and ankle injuries, but he was ready to play in this game. Samuel was inactive due to elbow and neck injuries, which prevented him from training all week. Shavers was the only regular wide receiver who had practiced a full week, although the Bills only featured walkthroughs this week.

Elijah Moore was usually active when Palmer or Samuel were out due to injury, so he was active for this game. Gabe Davis was called up from the practice squad for a second straight game to take Coleman’s spot. Mecole Hardman was recently added to the team as a kick returner, but he suffered a calf injury during the game and was placed on injured reserve.

The Bills have typically used Shakir consistently at 11 personnel, but not at 12, while Coleman has been used more than the other receivers as everyone else has been in a nearly even rotation. While Davis has taken Coleman’s spot as the clear X-receiver on the roster, he hasn’t played as much as Coleman. Instead, the four wide receivers, outside of Shakir, found themselves in a near-constant rotation. Shaver was the typical receiver in single-receiver sets, while Davis and Palmer were the typical receivers in 12-personnel sets.

It looked like Shavers would play a big role in this game. He gained 90 yards and a touchdown a week ago and was named captain for the game. However, his playing time did not increase and he was not the target of the match. Coleman hasn’t had a great game from a fantasy perspective since Week 1, so he could be removed after consecutive inactive games. This leaves Shakir as the only Bills wide receiver worth having on fantasy rosters.

Texans embrace single-receiver sets: Houston used more single receiver sets in this game (17) than in all their other games combined (13).

Last week, Houston returned both fullback Jakob Johnson and tight end Cade Stover from injured reserve. Johnson hadn’t played since Week 4, and Stover hadn’t played since Week 1. A combination of these two players, along with the Bills’ weakness in run defense, led Houston to use more one-receiver sets than two-receiver sets. These plays featured a combination of Dalton Schultz, Stover, Johnson and offensive linemen Blake Fisher, along with a running back and wide receiver. More often than not, Jayden Higgins was the only recipient. Houston had not used these personnel groups since Week 9, and the Week 5 game against the Baltimore Ravens was the only other time they were used on more than one game.

This meant that every wide receiver, outside of Higgins, played significantly fewer offensive snaps. Houston continued to use Nico Collins and Higgins in two-receiver sets. The Texans also used Collins, a rotation between Xavier Hutchinson and Higgins, and a rotation of Christian Kirk and Jaylin Noel in three-receiver sets. There was no notable change in the distribution of snaps among 11 or 12 personnel compared to the previous two weeks.

Higgins has been heavily targeted over the past three weeks, but he has four receptions for 38 yards and a touchdown. He remains a rookie with a high upside to target on your fantasy team’s bench, but he’ll need to play more snaps in 11-man before you can trust him in fantasy starting lineups.

Miscellaneous notes

• Buffalo tight end Dalton Kincaid was ruled out Wednesday with a hamstring injury, his second straight absence. He hasn’t practiced all week. Dawson Knox remained the Bills’ top tight end with Kincaid out.
• The Bills activated tight end Keleki Latu from the practice squad to make this game their third tight end.
• The Bills’ third running back, Ray Davis, has been a primary kick returner since Week 9. He scored a touchdown on a kick. Thursday was his 26th birthday.
• Texans quarterback CJ Stroud was ruled out with a concussion, his third straight absence. He was able to train to a limited extent on Tuesday. Davis Mills continued to start in Stroud’s absence.
• Running back Joe Mixon is not expected to play this season due to a foot injury, as reported by Ian Rapoport. He had not yet scored for Houston this season.
• The Texans waived running back Dameon Pierce on Thursday to make room on the roster for a defensive player. Pierce had played four games this season and hadn’t played offense since Week 5. He will likely sign to the team’s practice squad unless another team claims him.
• Texans wide receiver Nico Collins (ankle) and Dalton Schultz (shoulder) were limited in practice on Monday.
• Wide receiver Braxton Berrios was inactive for a second straight game. He is on the injury report due to a quadriceps injury, but he is fully participating in training. Houston has likely decided it only needs five wide receivers on game day.
• Texans kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn returned after missing the last two games due to a right quadriceps injury. The Texans then waived kicker Matthew Wright on Wednesday.

Table notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. These plays have been removed from the other three statistics.
• Objectives may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be the result of an obviously thrown pass, where the NFL could give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data does not.
• Carries are only possible on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles do not count toward the total number of carries in the game.