Our Week 12 Start 'Em, Sit 'Em dilemma pits the Raiders' Ashton Jeanty against the Browns' Quinshon Judkins, two rookie RBs who have numerically struggled in recent weeks.
Both have had similar statistical seasons so far, with each notching around 150 carries and 600 rushing yards. While Jeanty was a near-consensus first-round pick in fantasy football drafts, Judkins commonly fell deep, sometimes into the double-digit rounds of those drafts, due to a summer domestic violence charge, and missed all of training camp, preseason, and the first week of the regular season. Once he was settled on the Browns' roster, he grabbed the RB1 role and ran with it.
To this point, both running backs have had only one game of 100 yards on the ground. Now, the two face each other’s team this week, and both rushing defenses have been very good this season.
Let’s dive into the Quinshon Judkins vs. Ashton Jeanty breakdown, which includes key stats, matchups, and PrizePicks projections to help you decide who deserves a spot in your lineup.
Week 12 Start 'Em, Sit 'Em RBs: Ashton Jeanty vs. Quinshon Judkins
We’ll take a look at the case to start both of these running backs by using statistics and matchup analysis for Week 12. Feel free to head over to PrizePicks and pick More or Less on their stat projections to give yourself an opportunity to win some real money.
Why Start Ashton Jeanty?
While it seems like the flow of opinions regarding Jeanty is overwhelmingly negative recently, there are things to be excited about with the Raiders’ first-round rookie. As noted, Jeanty is adept at making defenders miss.
He routinely is able to make to make things happen after contact. Per FantasyPros, Jeanty ranks third in the league in broken tackles and 11th among RBs in Yards before Contact.
The main suspect behind Jeanty’s struggles this season has been the horrendous Raiders’ offensive line. Jeanty routinely gets hit at the line of scrimmage, thanks to Vegas' OL ranking in the bottom-third of the league in Run Block Win Rate, per ESPN, and thus, Jeanty has to do much of the heavy lifting himself while trying to get away from interior defensive linemen.
Ashton Jeanty Stat Projections vs. Browns for Week 12
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- 15.5 Rush Attempts
- 57.5 Rush Yards
- 12.5 Longest Rush
- 16.5 Receiving Yards
- 9.5 Longest Reception
Why Start Quinshon Judkins?
Judkins has been brutally inefficient, averaging under 4 yards per carry in each of his last five games — but it’s also important to note he has the deck stacked against him, quite literally.
According to FTN’s Statshub, the Browns have faced the second-highest rate of stacked boxes in the run game this season, with 63.5% of their runs coming against 8/9 man fronts. Given that they have trotted out QBs Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel, and now embattled rookie Shedeur Sanders, teams are choosing to rely on stopping Judkins and forcing the Browns to throw to their poor wide receiver room. That WR room has struggled all year, with the prime example being that no Browns WR has more than Jerry Jeudy's 356 receiving yards.
There is light at the end of the tunnel, though, as Judkins sees one of the best remaining schedules to end the season. He gets a Raiders defense this week that has given up 84, 77, and 93 rush yards in its last three games to the lead back.
Finally, the Raiders’ rush defense does also give up the tenth-most red zone fantasy points to running backs, per Lineups. With a wobbly Shedeur Sanders making his first NFL start, don't be surprised if the Browns to continue pounding the rock, and we could see Judkins squeak out a usable fantasy week.
Quinshon Judkins Stat Projections vs. Raiders for Week 12
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- 18.5 Rush Attempts
- 71.5 Rush Yards
- 15.5 Longest Rush
- 1.5 Receptions
- 5.5 Receiving Yards
Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em Verdict: Quinshon Judkins
Judkins seems to have given us more reason to be excited this season, despite having more of a one-dimensional fantasy skillset. The Raiders’ run defense has been a lot weaker here in 2025, another reason the Browns might have incentive to focus on the run.
The Browns’ defensive line is a unit that, when it has gotten beat by RBs this season, fell victim to shiftier backs that could break loose in the secondary. Backs like Jahmyr Gibbs, TreVeyon Henderson, and De’Von Achane, who rely on lateral agility and are multi-cut runners, are the type of backs who have beaten up on this defense.
However, Jeanty is more of the straight line, one-cut running back who needs to get downhill quick. Backs like Derrick Henry, Josh Jacobs, and Chase Brown, who all fit that mold, have struggled against this Browns’ unit this season.
Look for Judkins to give both a higher floor and a higher ceiling due to the Browns’ willingness to keep running the football in this game and wanting to take as much pressure off of Sanders' arm as possible.
Who comes out on top for this Week 12 start ‘em, sit ‘em battle between Judkins and Jeanty? You can make your choice on PrizePicks player picks game.
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