Top five fantasy football sleeper wide receivers to start in NFL Week 12

If you’re searching for fantasy football sleepers, check out these five WRs who could see increased opportunities in Week 12.

The NFL kicks off Thanksgiving Week with a full Sunday of games in Week 12, before Week 13 starts with Thursday’s feast. There are 11 games on Sunday afternoon’s buffet of fantasy football goodness, and there are some very intriguing fantasy options on the main fantasy football slate on DraftKings. In this post, we’ll look at those 11 matchups and hunt down some fantasy football sleeper plays at wide receiver who are set up to make a huge difference in your DFS fantasy football lineups, even though they still have a bargain DraftKings salary.

The options highlighted each week as football sleeper plays for DFS can also translate into sneaky plays in your season-long league since they are in line to exceed expectations and many are still on the waiver wire. Earlier this week, I highlighted my top-30 starters at wide receiver. In this list, we’ll mostly focus on players outside those 30 who still bring a high ceiling. Here’s who I am looking at this week and how last week’s picks fared:

Week 12 Fantasy Football Sleeper WR picks (full analysis below)

Andrei Iosivas, Cincinnati Bengals ($4,100)

Chimere Dike, Tennessee Titans ($4,000)

Luther Burden III, Chicago Bears ($3,600)

Devaughn Vele, New Orleans Saints ($3,200)

Adonai Mitchell, New York Jets ($3,200)

Week 11 Results:

Jerry Jeudy, Cleveland Browns ($4,400; 5.1 FPTS )

Marvin Mims Jr., Denver Broncos ($3,900; 0.2 FPTS)

Michael Wilson, Arizona Cardinals ($3,800; 36.5 FPTS)

Luther Burden III, Chicago Bears ($3,700; 5.7 FPTS)

Joshua Palmer, Buffalo Bills ($3,300; 3.7 FPTS)

Whether you’re looking for value plays in your DFS contests like the NFL $2.5M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st] or a last-minute addition from the waiver wire in season-long formats, here are my top-five fantasy football sleeper wide receivers for Week 12 of the 2025 season:

Andrei Iosivas, Cincinnati Bengals ($4,100)

The obvious fantasy football sleeper option at wide receiver this week is Andrei Iosivas, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be the right answer if you’re looking to save salary at this spot. Iosivas will move up to a role as the team’s second receiver with Ja’Marr Chase suspended, and he will be in a high-volume offense with Joe Flacco ($5,500) averaging 42.6 pass attempts per game. Overall, 35.6% of those have gone in Chase’s direction. While Tee Higgins ($7,100) will get more work as well, Iosivas should get a huge boost in usage.

He did have a touchdown in Week 9 against the Bears on his way to 18 fantasy points, and he also hauled in three of his four targets last week against the Steelers.

The Patriots have done a good job against receivers overall but will likely focus on limiting Higgins, leaving Iosivas to potentially post a monster game as a value play. He will be chalky, though, so be sure to differentiate your lineups in other spots if you’re playing in GPP contests this week.

Chimere Dike, Tennessee Titans ($4,000)

The Titans came back from their bye week last week with a tough matchup against the Texans’ strong defense, and they don’t get much of a break this week either as they take on the Seahawks. With Calvin Ridley (fibula) out for the rest of the season and Elic Ayomanor (hamstring) out this week, the team will be down to rookie Chimere Dike and veteran Van Jefferson ($3,600) as their top two receivers with depth options like Mason Kinsey ($3,000) and James Proche II ($3,000).
Dike has flashed huge upside as a playmaker this year, scoring a long touchdown against the Patriots in Week 7, catching seven passes for 93 yards against the Colts in Week 8, and returning a punt for a touchdown against the Chargers in Week 9.

After a bye week in Week 10, he left Week 11 early with a chest injury and only had two catches for 14 yards. He doesn’t have an injury designation this week and should be able to step into a much larger role along with Jefferson. Both bargains bring good upside to this week’s matchup with the Seahawks since the Titans often have to play from behind and throw the ball a lot.

Dike has a very high ceiling this week if he gets the looks from fellow rookie QB Cam Ward ($4,500). He’s much higher risk than Iosivas, but his upside makes him very interesting for GPP lineups.

Luther Burden III, Chicago Bears ($3,600)

Another rookie to keep on your radar this week is Bears receiver Luther Burden III. I had Burden on my list last week as well, and he was decent but not spectacular with three catches for 27 yards on five targets. The big news for Burden, though, was that he played 33 snaps (44%) on offense while Olamide Zaccheaus ($3,100) played only 10 snaps (13%). It was the first time all season that Burden outsnapped Zaccheaus and should open more potential for him going forward if he serves as the team’s third receiver behind Rome Odunze ($6,100) and DJ Moore ($4,900).

Burden is a big-play threat and just needs regular opportunities to contribute meaningful production.

He continues to be the most efficient Bears’ receiver when targeted, and he should get plenty of attention as Caleb Williams ($5,700) continues to progress in Ben Johnson’s system. No team has allowed more fantasy points per game this season to receivers than the Steelers, so a Burden breakout could be loading for this week.

Devaughn Vele, New Orleans Saints ($3,200)

The Saints traded for Vele from the Broncos and their old friend Sean Payton just before the season began. Vele is a big receiver and should be able to develop the rest of this season along with rookie starter Tyler Shough ($4,400), who hyped up Vele earlier this month:

With Rashid Shaheed in Seattle now and veteran receiver Brandin Cooks parting ways with the team earlier this week, Vele is the team’s second receiver this week behind Chris Olave ($6,400). After the bye week, Shough should be more comfortable in the offense and ready to go to work against the banged-up Falcons in the late game Sunday. Vele should be set up for enough work to be a fantasy football sleeper with good upside this week.

Adonai Mitchell, New York Jets ($3,200)

The Jets’ wide receiver depth chart is extremely thin with Garrett Wilson (knee) and Josh Reynolds (hip) on IR. John Metchie III ($3,300), Tyler Johnson ($3,100), rookie Arian Smith ($3,000) and recent addition Adonai Mitchell will have to step up in the next few weeks, but it’s unclear who exactly will get the looks going forward.

Mitchell was part of the return in the Sauce Gardner trade, and the Jets’ offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand has made it clear that he’s excited about Mitchell’s upside as well in media sessions.

The separation is there according to FantasyPtsData, but he just hasn’t converted. Part of that struggle was also due to some inaccuracy on the part of Justin Fields ($4,800). With Tyrod Taylor ($4,300) taking over at quarterback, Mitchell could get better passes and be able to convert some of the big plays he always seems to be on the verge of. He always has a high ceiling if he’s getting chances, and he should continue to get changes as the Jets figure out if he can be part of their latest rebuild.