Fantasy Football Week 12 Start 'Em Sit 'Em: Jalen Hurts vs Matthew Stafford
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We love to do Start 'Em, Sit 'Em debates all week long. It is very crucial to find the metrics that point to the true, high-upside option in a given debate. However, we often do these debates among borderline players. These are often guys who can be sat half of the time. Sometimes, we can look to higher-quality items. Maybe this can help in DFS, or it can help if you just stack your roster. Today, we look at Jalen Hurts vs Matthew Stafford.
The Case for Jalen Hurts
Fantasy Sports On SI Week 12 Ranking: QB3
Hurts has played (10) Games this season. He has a 67% Completion Percentage, 199.5 Yards per Game, 16 Touchdowns, and 1 Interception. These statistics are actually phenomenal. The lacks volume, but Hurts has been ultra-efficient in the passes that he does attempt.
Hurts is also rushing for 7.3 Attempts per Game on 26.5 Yards per Game and 6 Touchdowns. Hurts is the QB6 in Fantasy Football.
The Eagles will face off against the Cowboys this week, which provides to be highly advantageous for the entire offense. The Cowboys are 32nd versus Quarterbacks, permitting 27.6 Fantasy Points per Game. I do not fear any game script threats to Hurts this week. He has no excuse to have anything short of a great game with QB1 overall ability.
The Case for Matthew Stafford
Fantasy Sports On SI Week 12 Ranking: QB6
Stafford is on his own MVP quest right now. As strong last seven weeks could win the award for the veteran. Through (10) Games, Stafford has a 66.0% Completion Percentage on 255.7 Yards per Game, 27 Touchdowns, and 2 Interceptions. Stafford is the QB5 in Fantasy Football.
After just 9 games, Matthew Stafford has already thrown more touchdown passes against the blitz than all but two quarterbacks in a season in the last decade.
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) November 10, 2025
His 20 such touchdown passes are nearly double the 2nd-highest total in 2025 (Jalen Hurts, 11).@RamsNFL | #RamsHouse pic.twitter.com/99btntt16F
The great value-add for Stafford has been the Rams wish to pass the ball in the Red Zone. They have historically been more run-heavy, but they are passing the ball at a 60% rate in the Red Zone.
The Rams will be taking on the Buccaneers on Sunday Night Football. This is a matchup that finds the Buccaneers defense to be 27th in Passing Yards Allowed and 24th versus Quarterbacks. They have struggled mightily and it is very clear. A Todd Bowles secondary does not stink very often, and this unit does play badly. It is a glaring weakness and Stafford can easily take advantage with Nacua and Adams leading the charge.
Start 'Em Sit 'Em: Jalen Hurts vs Matthew Stafford
These players both have advantageous matchups in Week 12. Either of them are must-start options. In this case, we look to the higher upside of the two.
The NFL has been a game of the running Quarterback. Hurts runs while Stafford does not. He is also facing the better matchup. If the law of averages were to play out, it would trend towards Hurts vying for ultimate QB1 value rather than Stafford hitting that mark. I would also trust Todd Bowles to shutdown Stafford much more often that Matt Eberflus can shutdown Jalen Hurts.
Start Jalen Hurts for QB1 upside.
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Thomas Carelli is a sportswriter based on Northern New Jersey. He is a massive New York Jets and Mets fan, but that is not where is sports fandom stops. He loves to watch and play golf, all things football, baseball, and much more. If he can watch it, he will. Thomas graduated from William Paterson University in 2018 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sport Management. He spent 4 years working at a local golf course, volunteered past PGA events, and spent some part-time experience with the New York Jets events team. His passions for sport runs deep and his articles show for it.