Famous Jameis, Hunter Gatherer: CJ Claims the Crown

Week 12 — Fancy Football IX

The crown stays in the family

Congrats to CJ O'Neil, who posted a season-best 216.5 to earn the Week 12 crown. He built a juggernaut around value smashes — Jameis Winston (36.2) and Hunter Henry (27.5) — then piled on with star power in Amon-Ra St. Brown (32.9), A.J. Brown (28.0), Christian McCaffrey (27.2), and chalky hit Michael Wilson (24.8). The wild part? He survived the week’s worst popular defense (Jets D/ST, 1.0) and still finished atop the heap. It’s the new league-high score this season.

So close for Cameron and company

Cameron Mahoney finished just 2.3 points back at 214.2, powered by Jahmyr Gibbs’ nuclear 58.4 and a clutch two-man stack of Wan’Dale Robinson (33.6) and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (40.1). The difference at tight end told the tale: CJ’s Hunter Henry outscored Cameron’s chalk-bust Mark Andrews (2.1) by 25.4 — more than the final margin. Ryan Christensen took third (212.8) behind Gibbs, Henry, Emanuel Wilson (29.5), and Rashee Rice (27.1), but a near-zero from Rashid Shaheed (0.5) likely cost him a shot at the crown.

Chalk that cooked… and chalk that crumbled

• Hits: Jahmyr Gibbs (58.4, 21%) and Amon-Ra St. Brown (32.9, 24%) were week-winners, while mega-chalk Michael Wilson (24.8, 42%) did exactly what managers needed. The field’s favorite defense, Browns D/ST (16, 37%), was rock-solid.
• Misses: Mark Andrews (2.1, 24%), Jameson Williams (0.0, 16%), D’Andre Swift (2.9, 11%), Kyren Williams (5.8, 18%), Stefon Diggs (4.0, 11%), and Jets D/ST (1.0, 11%) sank a lot of otherwise strong builds.

Savvy sleepers and bargain-bin brilliance

• CJ’s winning edge started with low-rostered Jameis Winston (36.2, 5%) and the salary-saving hammer of Hunter Henry (27.5, $3.9K).
• Value backs popped everywhere: Emanuel Wilson (29.5), Kareem Hunt (24.0), and even Kenneth Gainwell (18.2) paid off their tags.
• One-offs that moved leaderboards: Jaxon Smith-Njigba (40.1) came through for just three drafters, and George Pickens (32.6) rewarded his lone backer, even if the rest of that roster couldn’t keep pace.

Standings snapshot and the bubble

Cameron keeps the overall lead and extends his hot run, while CJ rockets to his best score of the year and into the top-15. At the cash line, Jack Gagnon snagged the final “win” at 19th with 134.1 — edging Mike Fior, who posted the same total but lost the tiebreak.

Parting notes

• The week hinged at tight end: Hunter Henry versus Mark Andrews swung not just lineups, but the crown.
• Even with popular chalk doing work, fading the masses at QB and finding mid-range RB value was the optimal path. CJ threaded that needle perfectly.