Week 12 Waiver Wire QB Option: Should You Add Jets' Tim Boyle?

The New York Jets are trying to hold things together long enough so that Aaron Rodgers could somehow play again and save the season. 

New York’s offense was nonexistent again on Sunday in a 32-6 setback to the Buffalo Bills. The Jets benched Zach Wilson in that contest and announced today that Tim Boyle would take over as the new starting quarterback.

In a year where fantasy quarterback play has been down overall, not to mention all the injuries, is Boyle worth adding to your fantasy team? Can he start in week 12? How will Boyle taking over affect the fantasy outlooks for some of the team’s skill players? Let’s discuss.

Explore the best in-season tool to manage lineup/start decisions including predictive waiver analytics to help prioritize waiver pickups, projections, auction values, trade suggestions, trade value charts, rest of season rankings, power rankings, and tons more with Fantasy Assistant. Use our fantasy football trade analyzer to break down trade scenarios.

Week 11 Showing

The Jets’ offense only mustered 155 total yards of offense in the loss to the Bills. Four turnovers turned the game into a lopsided one. New York was 0-for 11 on its third-down chances.

Wilson played 38 offensive snaps, while Boyle was on the field for 19 snaps. 

Wilson completed seven of his 15 passes for 81 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Boyle completed half of his 14 attempts for 33 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. Wilson was sacked five times and gained 15 yards on four rushing attempts. Boys was sacked one and rushed once for a yard.

Neither of the quarterback’s numbers were any good, but enough was enough for the Jets, so they decided to turn to Boyle after Wilson had left plenty to be desired this season.

Week 12 Breakdown

The 29-year-old Boyle has appeared in 18 games over his NFL career, with stints with the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears and now Jets. He made three starts with Detroit in 2021, with the team going 0-3 in his starts.

He’s completed 60.8% of his passes and thrown three touchdowns to nine interceptions. 

Those numbers are nothing special, but that’s what you should expect of a guy that’s been a career backup.

New York will play on Friday against the Miami Dolphins. It sets up as a pretty favorable matchup for Boyle, as the Dolphins’ defense allows 18 fantasy points a week to opposing quarterbacks. 

You’d expect the Jets’ offense to place an emphasis on their run game with Boyle back there. Miami is above average in slowing running backs, so Boyle will likely need to make several timely throws in order for the Jets to pull the upset and keep their fading playoff hopes alive.

How Boyle Affects Other Jets

As just mentioned, the Jets likely will focus on their run game against the Dolphins, which is a favorable thing for the Breece Hall and Dalvin Cook fantasy owners out there. 

Hall was bottled rushing up against the Bills, but made a difference as a pass catcher to still put forth a solid fantasy showing, especially in PPR formats. He should again get a lion's share of the work in week 12 and would be someone you should be starting in all formats.

Cook only got two touches and continues to play sparingly. He hasn’t had over four touches since early October. He might get a little more work this coming week if the Jets can keep the game close, but I don’t think he’s start worthy in any league.

The pass catchers, outside of Garrett Wilson, have had a rough go of things this season. The change from Zach Wilson to Boyle seems like a bit of a negative for the pass catchers, but maybe the change can jumpstart the passing game.

Garrett Wilson was limited to 9 yards on two catches against Buffalo. It was his worst performance of the season. That performance alone will probably be enough to keep many fantasy owners from starting him in week 12.

Before his worst showing, Wilson’s lowest amount of receiving yards was 34, and he had a touchdown in that contest. He’s had at least 48 receiving yards in every other game, and finished with at least two grabs in every game. In PPR formats, I’m still OK with starting Wilson in week 12, especially because the Dolphins are below average in slowing wideouts.

Tight end Tyler Conklin has been the only other reasonable fantasy option this season. He had two catches for 18 yards against Buffalo. Over the past four contests, it’s been boom or bust for Conklin, with 133 yards on 13 grabs in two games and 18 yards on two catches in the other two. I think Conklin is a sleeper in week 12, as the Dolphins are poor in slowing tight ends, and Boyle might look to his checkdown option early and often. 

Allen Lazard is the Jets’ No. 2 option, and he hasn’t even topped 300 receiving yards for the season. No other receiver or tight end has over 15 targets, which is crazy for this far into the season. 

I’ll save some time here and say that you shouldn’t even consider starting anyone outside of Hall, Garrett Wilson and Conklin on offense, in any format. If you for some reason need another player to start in a deeper league, Lazard is probably your best option.

Should You Add/Start Boyle

So after diving into Boyle, then his week 12 matchup and finally looking at the playmakers around him, we need to make a call on Boyle.

If you are desperate for a quarterback, which means you are in a deeper league, or two-QB one, then Boyle is OK to add. If you need to start him, the matchup sets up favorably. I don’t know if Boyle can be anything more than an average fantasy quarterback, but if he takes care of the ball, average is possible.

Maybe the Jets strike magic with inserting Boyle into the starting lineup. My guess is that he plays similarly to Zach Wilson and the Jets continue their downward trend, but crazier things have happened.