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Week 12 Fantasy Stock Watch
There are only a couple of weeks remaining in the fantasy regular season and plenty of you are fighting for playoff spots. In that case, you don't need me to tell you how important it is to make smart lineup decisions this week. So I won't tell you that it's important to make smart lineup decisions this week. What I will do is tell you which players are trending up and down in the latest edition of the Fantasy Stock Watch.

Rawls was already starting to see his value increase by virtue of getting a start against the 49ers last week and turning it into 255 total yards and two touchdowns. That fantasy value gets an even bigger boost with news that Marshawn Lynch is going to have abdominal surgery that should keep him out for a month or longer. The Seahawks will consider this an audition for their potential running back of the future. You can potentially ride Rawls to a fantasy championship.

Another week, another devastating injury. This time it's Justin Forsett suffering a season-ending broken arm. The next man up is Buck Allen, who figures to be a centerpiece of the Ravens offense for the remainder of the season. As a back who can catch passes, Allen won't have to come off the field in Marc Trestman's offense. The downside is that with Joe Flacco also out for the season, opposing defenses could load the box and force Matt Schaub to beat them. Nonetheless, the volume of touches Allen will see makes him worth a roster spot.

It's all going wrong right now for San Diego. The loss of Keenan Allen only accentuated the Chargers problems in the run game. An injury to Malcom Floyd has stretched the receiving corps beyond its limits. Antonio Gates is showing his age and the offensive line has been doing a season-long ode to sieves. Rivers might be throwing the ball a ton, but it's hard to think that he'll be in a position to make a lot of productive throws.

I'm not happy to have to write this as I believed that Cobb could be a sleeper as recently as two weeks ago. But sometimes you have to face facts and the fact is that this doesn't look like Cobb's year. He's struggled to get on the field and when he finally did, he posted negative yards on just four carries. This isn't to suggest that Antonio Andrews is the answer in the Titans backfield. But he's been the most consistent option that Tennessee has had in the backfield this season.

Welcome back to the starting job, Josh McCown! The veteran regains the job through Johnny Manziel's missteps, but he has the job nonetheless. His return comes just in time to face the Baltimore Ravens. When McCown faced the Ravens in Week 5, he accounted for 35.48 fantasy points with 457 passing yards and three total touchdowns (one rushing). Baltimore's defense hasn't gotten much better and with noted turnover machine Matt Schaub starting, the Browns offense could have the luxury of some short fields.

While McCown is on the rise, his teammate Duke Johnson is slipping. Despite high hopes for the rookie running back, his usage in the offense has been spotty and his production has been worse. There are some players with limited touches that have still been able to retain some fantasy value -- Karlos Williams comes to mind -- but Johnson hasn't proven himself worthy of that level of trust.

We don't have to worry about the Colts putting Frank Gore on some ridiculous snap count for the rest of the season. But we might have to worry about Ahmad Bradshaw eating into Gore's snaps. Since joining the team after the first month of the season, the veteran has seen his snaps and touches steadily rising. As a pass-catching third-down back in an offense that frequently finds itself in high scoring games, Bradshaw has some value as a flex option for the remainder of the season.

Remember those couple of weeks when Jacob Tamme was a streaming option for your fantasy roster? Yeah, that was a fun time. But that time is pretty much over. The Falcons offense has hit the skids in recent weeks and the schedule doesn't do Tamme any favors. If you relied on Tamme at any point, it's probably because you were streaming tight ends. It shouldn't be too heartbreaking to say goodbye to Tamme.

There's only so much you can reasonably expect from a Seahawks receiver, but Tyler Lockett has forced us all to pay attention. He's not going to see a ton of targets because, well, Seahawks. Yet he is a good YOLO play simply because of his speed. Lockett always has the ability to take the top off a defense and come up with a big play. If you're in a league that rewards for kick return yards, Lockett has even more value.

Remember those couple of weeks when Benjamin Watson was a streaming option for your fantasy roster? Yeah, that was a fun time. But that time is pretty much over. The Saints offense continues to be inconsistent and the schedule doesn't do Watson a ton of favors. If you relied on Watson at any point, it's probably because you were streaming tight ends. It shouldn't be too heartbreaking to say goodbye to him.