Players To Drop In Week 12 Fantasy Football: It's Time To Let Go Of Jacory Croskey-Merritt

Here is something I randomly think about: what if you now had a tagline?

Every time you meet someone, that tagline would appear across your forehead. It could be a song lyric or a line from a movie, but every time you are meeting someone, that tag line pops up in whatever voice and inflection is appropriate for said tagline, you know, Morgan Freeman, or if your tagline requires a few choice words, Samuel L. Jackson, it is.

The tagline does, of course, change because nothing should be so rigid that it can’t be changed. Well, nothing except for those seven months when we are depending on the consistency of particular fantasy football players who have “ a particular set of skills, skills they have acquired over a very long career …” Unfortunately, the men listed here, their skills have, to paraphrase, "made it a nightmare for people like us".

Let's dive into who those players are who to drop ahead of Week 12.

RELATED: Catch up on Kendall's best Week 12 waiver wire pickups!

Week 12 Fantasy Football Drops

Jacory Croskey-Merritt, RB, WAS

You can call him “Bill” or, better yet, don’t call at all. Did you know that, except in Week 5, Croskey-Merritt has not seen the bright side of 75 rushing yards? In Week 5, he had 14 carries for 111 rushing yards and two touchdowns, and we were all filled with hope. It was followed by 17 carries for 61 rushing yards, and we were all filled with worry (but still slightly hopeful). Since then, he has had 13 carries for 33 yards, and that was against a Dallas Cowboys’ defense that allows the fourth-most rushing yards per game.

Last week, Croskey-Merritt led the team in rushing attempts with 11. He averaged 2.7 yards per carry with his longest run being six yards. This was against the Detroit Lions, who just allowed Tank Bigsby to average 8.5 yards per carry.

Croskey-Merritt has a 44.7% snap share, a 52.5% opportunity share and the team is 12th in run plays per game. The Commanders are on a bye this week, but in Week 13, they play the Denver Broncos.

“Hasta la vista, baby”.

Kimani Vidal, RB, LAC

At first, I thought this was an aberration. After all, he was coming off a 95-yard and one-touchdown game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. But then you look at the game before the Steelers against the Tennessee Titans, and he had 30 yards on 12 carries. And it’s not like he has any competition for carries currently on the Chargers roster. For the past two weeks, it has been Vidal and quarterback Justin Herbert one and two on the top of the rushing leaderboard.

But perhaps it’s not a Vidal problem as much as it is a Joe Alt situation. Alt not being in the lineup isn’t good for Herbert, but it isn’t great for Vidal either.

The Chargers are 4-0 with Alt in the lineup and 2-3 without him. They score 6.5 points less without Alt, and current reports are that Alt is out for the rest of the season. And then there is the pending return of Omarion Hampton, who was averaging 4.8 yards per attempt.

The Chargers are on a bye this week, but then play the Las Vegas Raiders (which should be a soft landing for Hampton if he returns in Week 13), the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Chargers are currently sitting behind the Denver Broncos for the AFC West lead. They lead the Kansas City Chiefs and the wild card will be a fight till the end. It seems more likely than not that the team will depend on the arm of Herbert and the hands of Ladd McConkey and Keenan Allen rather than the uneven production from Vidal.

Emari Demercado, RB, ARI

This might be a drop out of necessity, as Demercado injured his ankle in Week 11. Not to sound cold and heartless, but why are you rostering a Cardinals running back anyway? The Cardinals are 24th in rushing yards per game (in the last three, they have averaged 94.7 yards), and they are 26th in rushing attempts, averaging 22 in the last three weeks.

And then there is Demercado, a quick looks tell you he is averaging 9.0 yards per carry in his eight games … Ya! Then you look closer and realize that it is on a 17.1% opportunity share, a 20.9 snap share with 29.1 rushing yards per game. I’m no math whiz, but 9.0 yards per carry is an inflated stat, “all sound and fury signifying nothing” (not a movie, but oh well).

Next week, the Cardinals play the Jacksonville Jaguars, who found a reason and just held the aforementioned Vidal to 13 yards on five carries. In Week 13, it is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and in Week 14, it will be the Los Angeles Rams. You can do better, especially with Trey Benson on the mend in Arizona.

Better Options: Sean Tucker (26% rostered), Kenneth Gainwell (32% Rostered), Chris Rodriguez (12% rostered)

Christian Kirk, WR, HOU

I honestly did not know that Kirk was still a thing (which might say more about me than him), except for the fact that he has started twice in eight games this season. He has 31 targets, with 16 receptions. Among wide receivers, Kirk is 64th in target share 14.2% (Nico Collins is 14th at 21.4%), Kirk is 90th in air yards (235) and 93rd in snap share at 53.6%. All these less-than-mediocre stats are coming on a team that is seventh in pass plays per game. The Texans are averaging 38 pass plays per game. So, it isn’t me, it is you, Kirk. Kirk out.

Khalil Shakir, WR, BUF

In a world where Josh Allen will don the Superman cape any game at any time, being irrelevant isn’t so bad, unless you are irrelevant on a fantasy team. In a week where Keon Coleman was out, Dalton Kincaid was out, and the Bills scored 44 points, do you want to know who had more receiving yards than Shakir?:

Tyrell Shavers, WR, 90
James Cook, RB, 66
Ty Johnson, RB, 61
Gabe Davis, WR, 40
Dawson Knox, TE, 40
Curtis Samuel, WR, 19
Joshua Palmer, WR, 17
Keleki Latu, TE, 4
Mecole Hardman, WR, 0 (yes, he had more receiving yards without a single catch)

Yep, that’s not awesome. Shakir had three targets, one reception for negative-three yards, and if he is injured, that is understandable … but does it justify why he hasn’t cleared 90 receiving yards all season, and he has three touchdowns in 10 games (how is Mack Hollins doing)?

Better Options: Tez Johnson (41% rostered), Christian Watson (34% rostered), Jayden Higgins (16% rostered)

On The Watch List To Drop

Devin Singletary, RB, NYG

Singletary is currently teetering on 20% fantasy ownership in Yahoo leagues. I get it. Handcuffs are the new best accessory. And yes, he scored two goal-line touchdowns last week against the Green Bay Packers, while averaging 2.8 yards per carry. So, if you played him this week, kudos to you for nabbing RB14 (there is still the Monday night game) with 17.7 fantasy points. But do you really want to live with the hopes that Jameis Winston gets them close enough to the goal line that Singletary becomes relevant? “Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night.”

Sam Darnold, QB, SEA

I am beginning to think that the Los Angeles Rams are kryptonite to Darnold. If that’s the case, it’s not a bad thing, unless they meet in the playoffs. Darnold had four interceptions against the Rams last week. Before that, he had six interceptions total in his last nine games. So, yeah, maybe it’s just the Rams, but history is hard to ignore, so Darnold is officially on watch.

Next wee,k the Seahawks play the Tennessee Titans, who, although they held a Davis Mills-led Texans team to 16 total points, should be a ‘quit looking at me game’ for Darnold. And in Week 13, it’s the return as the Seahawks will play Brian Flores’ Minnesota Vikings. So, he’ll stay on watch.

Kyle Monangai, RB, CHI

This could easily be swapped for a drop, except he is playing behind D’Andre Swift and playing under the play calling of Ben Johnson. Both are cheat codes for Monangai. He also had 12 carries last week (averaged 1.9 yards per carry … yeesh), but he did score a touchdown … ya?

“My mama always said, life is a box of chocolates, never know what you are going to get.” “Snap out of it”.

Does Monangai deserve two quotes? No. But again, it’s the Ben Johnson effect. It doesn’t take Monangai off the watch, but it does keep him in semi-relevant status for now.

Mr. Right Versus Mr. Right Now

There are those players who are always going to be Mr. Right Now, and yes, most are quarterbacks, but you can sprinkle in a little bit of Christian McCaffrey and add a dash of Jaxon Smith-Njigba (especially in PPR leagues) and “They’re here”, making fantasy football decisions easier.

But life isn’t about easy, so choose your Mr. Right cautiously, ‘cause each week, it’s going to be somebody different. Like the man said in The Maltese Falcon, fantasy football (OK, he wasn’t exactly talking about fantasy football), but this is “the stuff that dreams are made of.”

Play nice and good luck.

Oh, by the way, my tagline for now is “Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free” ~ The Shawshank Redemption (1994), choose a better movie, I dare you.