Week 12 Rankings: Friday Update

No storytime today.  Let's get right into a quick recap of last night's game, discuss a few injuries, and then I'll do the updated rankings.

Thanks for not putting 50 up on me this week, Drew.

QBs: Like most people, I ranked Drew Brees at the top spot this week.  The guy usually puts up monster numbers, and he was facing an Atlanta defense that has looked horrible all year.  I don't know if it was the short week or the fact that it was an away division game, but Brees had pretty modest numbers for him.  He'll still end up in the top-10 most likely, but it wasn't the 30-40 point fantasy point game that many were expecting.  I was happy to see that because I'm playing against him this week in my money league, and it could have been a lot worse.  On the other side of the ball, Matt Ryan (who I ranked #17) put up nearly 300 yards passing but didn't have any TDs.  He'll finish right around 17th for the week (or maybe a little worse).

RBs: I don't update my rankings on Thursday, but if you were a Darren Sproles owner, hopefully you paid attention because he was inactive last night.  This gave a nice little bump to another guy I was facing in my money league, Pierre Thomas (who I ranked #14).  Pierre racked up 130 total yards, but he failed to find the endzone (once again, it could have been worse for me...but it was still a lot of yardage).  Mark Ingram was mostly a non-factor in the game, as was Jacquizz Rodgers for the Falcons.  But Steven Jackson (who I ranked #27) actually had his first touchdown since Week 2 of the season, which he added to 79 total yards.

WRs: If you played any receivers in last night's game, you weren't too pleased.  I thought Marques Colston was back to his consistent ways, so I ranked him all the way up at #14.  But he was held to just 4 catches for 40 yards in the contest.  The best WR statline was Harry Douglas, who still only had 79 yards.  I had actually ranked Roddy White just ahead of him at #28, which turned out to be a mistake.  I should have stuck to my "don't rank Roddy" rule, but I gave in this week for some reason.  It's going to be hard to stick to it next week as Atlanta travels to Buffalo.  I might actually end up moving both Falcon WRs up a bit in that tasty matchup.

TEs: On Wednesday, I talked about how Gronk is now the clear #1 fantasy TE, but last night Jimmy Graham showed why that might not be the case.  He was a beast breaking tackles, and he scored on a wide open 44-yard play (after which he dunked on the goalpost so hard they had to bring out the maintenance crew).  I continue to rank Tony Gonzalez as a top-10 TE, but last night he had another disappointing fantasy week.  He has now put up double-digit fantasy points in just two games this year (my league does fractional points), and I'll continue to rank him near the bottom of my top-12.

DEF: Of course I didn't rank the Falcon D last night, and they didn't do much of anything.  But I ranked the Saints at #5, and they turned in what will be close to a top-5 fantasy week.  They have a tough matchup coming up next week as they travel to Seattle for Monday Night Football.  We'll see if they make the top-12 for that one.

And now for the injury notes...

1. Top-10 TEs on the mend (again): Last week I was talking about Vernon Davis and Tony Gonzalez in the spot.  This week it's Julius Thomas (knee) and Jordan Reed (concussion).  Thomas has been very limited in practice this week, and Reed still hasn't returned from his Week 11 concussion.  With Fred Davis spotted practicing again, I'd especially be concerned about Jordan Reed suiting up on Monday night against the Niners.  I'm going to rank Julius Thomas as if he'll play Sunday night, but I'm taking Jordan Reed off my list since he is more questionable at this point.

2. Darren McFadden: Yeah, he's still not practicing.  Continue to play Rashad Jennings if you own him.

Get up and get ready to play against your ex-Pats, Wes.

3. Wes Welker: He suffered a concussion against the Chiefs last week, but he's been practicing and should be ready to go against his former team in Foxboro on Sunday night.

4. Keenan Allen: The young wideout had some sort of knee injury in the fourth quarter against the Dolphins in Week 11, but it sounds like he'll be fine for Week 12.

5. Emmanuel Sanders:  Likewise for Sanders.  It sounds like his foot just got stepped on in Pittsburgh's game last week, and he should be good to go against the Brownies.  I've actually heard some crazy stats supporting the Iron Haden, so I'm moving Antonio Brown down in my rankings and moving Sanders up.  Keep an eye on Jerricho Cotchery too though, who has 5 TDs in his last 3 games...

6. Denarius Moore: The best Raider wideout has been missing from practice this week after an MRI on an injured shoulder.  This is a tough matchup against the Titan secondary anyway, and I'm not ranking any Oakland WRs this week.

7. Marlon Brown: The rookie WR missed the Bears game with a knee injury, but he's been back at practice this week.  The Jets are stingy against the run, but teams haven't had a problem throwing against them.  I've added him to my WR rankings.  Another Raven who returned to practice this week was TE Dennis Pitta, who I've now stashed on my IR spot.  I'm sure he's still a week or two away from playing (if at all), but he wouldn't be a bad player to get for the fantasy playoffs if you're hurting at that position.

8. Greg Jennings: The former Packer should be good to go as he returns to Lambeau this week.  He sat out Week 11 with a strained Achilles tendon, but I can't imagine he won't suit up against his former teammates if he's feeling close to 100%.  I've added him to the bottom of my rankings as well.

9. Miles Austin: Another veteran WR expected to make his return this week is Miles Austin (ESPN #50, ME #39).  He had a solid game against the Giants in Week 1, and he's had decent success against them in his career.  With rookie Terrance Williams struggling a bit lately, I think Romo will look for Austin a bit in his return.

That's it for the injury roundup.  Let's do the rankings!

BYES: Seahawks, Eagles, Bengals, Bills    (Last bye week of the NFL season) QBs 1.Peyton Manning 2.Matthew Stafford 3.Tom Brady 4.Tony Romo 5.Cam Newton 6.Andrew Luck 7.Colin Kaepernick 8.Ben Roethlisberger 9.Case Keenum 10.RGIII 11.Carson Palmer 12.Eli Manning 13.Mike Glennon  14.Scott Tolzien  15.Ryan Fitzpatrick 16.Josh McCown 17.Joe Flacco 18.Philip Rivers 19.Alex Smith 20.Jason Campbell The only thing that worries me about Tolzien is a bad start (enter Flynn)... I'm high on: Scott Tolzien  (ESPN #21, ME #15)  The former practice squad QB now has more passing yards in his first two starts (619) than either Aaron Rodgers or Brett Favre.  Seriously.  Look it up!  Of course he's thrown 5 picks and only 1 TD in those two games, but here's to hoping he does a little better against a Viking secondary that has given up the most passing TDs in the league this year (23).  In fact, over the last 5 weeks, Minnesota has given up 12 TDs and only picked off an opposing QB once.  Maybe Tolzien will throw another 2 or 3 picks on Sunday, but I think he'll also throw for a couple of touchdowns too.  Add that to a likely 250+ passing yards, and I think he's a viable fantasy starter this week (as long as Mike McCarthy doesn't pull a "Gary Kubiak" and go to Matt Flynn at some point in the game). I'm down on: Philip Rivers (ESPN #12, ME #20) I'm also down on Alex Smith in that same game (ESPN #13, ME not ranked Wednesday), but I want to talk about Rivers because I was actually high on the guy a couple weeks back when he faced Denver...and I was wrong.  He followed that game up with another mediocre performance in a loss at Miami in Week 11.  He's starting to look like the Philip Rivers of 2012 more than the Philip Rivers of earlier this season.  Aside from a decent fantasy day against the Redskins in Week 9, San Diego's QB has cooled off significantly since the first few weeks.  Now he travels to the loudest stadium in the NFL to face a tough Chiefs defense who is coming off a tough loss to Denver.  I think KC will bounce back and hold Rivers to a very modest fantasy day.   RBs 1.Adrian Peterson 2.Matt Forte 3.Zac Stacy 4.Jamaal Charles 5.Eddie Lacy 6.Frank Gore 7.Rashad Jennings  8.Chris Johnson 9.Reggie Bush 10.Ben Tate 11.Andre Brown 12.Alfred Morris 13.Knowshon Moreno 14.Stevan Ridley 15.Le'Veon Bell 16.DeMarco Murray  17.Ryan Mathews 18.Maurice Jones-Drew 19.Chris Ivory 20.Bobby Rainey 21.Shane Vereen 22.Chris Ogbonnaya 23.Ray Rice 24.Donald Brown 25.Danny Woodhead 26.Andre Ellington 27.Montee Ball 28.Rashard Mendenhall  29.Lamar Miller 30.DeAngelo Williams 31.Joique Bell 32.Jonathan Stewart 33.Brian Leonard 34.Trent Richardson 35.Mike Tolbert  36.Shonn Greene 37.Daniel Thomas 38.Bilal Powell 39.Brandon Jacobs 40.Bernard Pierce I'm high on: Chris Ogbonnaya (ESPN #29, ME #25) I'm high on Rashad Jennings again, but I talked about him at length last week.  I'm actually going to talk about a position player for the Browns this week (I know, right?).  After Cleveland's Week 10 bye, the coaches said they were going to get Ogbonnaya more involved.  They were true to their word against the Bengals last week, as the quasi fullback got 14 touches and resembled a feature tailback as he racked up nearly 100 total yards against a tough defense.  This week he goes up against the Steelers, who have been much friendlier to fantasy running backs this season.  I think the Browns will also keep this game closer than last week's, and I think Ogbonnaya could be in line for 20 touches.  I like for him to get close to 100 total yards again and have a decent shot at finding the endzone (Pittsburgh has given up 6 TDs to running backs in their last 4 games). I'm down on: Knowshon Moreno  (ESPN #8, ME #13) Between Weeks 2-7, Knowshon had 8 rushing touchdowns, but he's had ZERO in his last 3 games.  Meanwhile, Montee Ball (who I'm high on this week...ESPN #36, ME #30), has had 3 rushing TDs in those games.  It appears as though the rookie out of Wisconsin is turning into the touchdown vulture everyone thought he'd be with the Broncos.  Make no mistake, Moreno is still the lead back.  But he hasn't been putting up top-10 fantasy RB numbers lately. WRs 1.Calvin Johnson 2.Vincent Jackson 3.Andre Johnson 4.Demaryius Thomas  5.Dez Bryant 6.Brandon Marshall 7.Wes Welker  8.Pierre Garcon 9.Jordy Nelson 10.Josh Gordon 11.Victor Cruz 12.Torrey Smith 13.Alshon Jeffery 14.TY Hilton 15.Larry Fitzgerald 16.Danny Amendola  17.Antonio Brown  18.Eric Decker 19.Kendall Wright 20.Michael Floyd 21.Cecil Shorts 22.Reuben Randle 23.Keenan Allen 24.Dwayne Bowe 25.Jarrett Boykin 26.Anquan Boldin 27.Emmanuel Sanders 28.Aaron Dobson  29.Steve Smith 30.Hakeem Nicks 31.Jerricho Cotchery 32.DeAndre Hopkins 33.Terrance Williams 34.Brian Hartline  35.Marlon Brown 36.James Jones 37.Tavon Autsin 38.Miles Austin 39.Greg Jennings 40.Santonio Holmes I'm high on: Michael Floyd (ESPN #31, ME #21)  Carson Palmer has had 2 touchdowns in each of his last 3 games, and the Cardinals are suddenly 6-4 after wins in each of those contests.  Michael Floyd has caught a TD in two of those games, one of which was a 91-yarder last week against Jacksonville.  I realize this is a bit of a knee-jerk ranking here, but sometimes you just need to ride the hot hand!  And as the TMR mentioned in this week's Love/Hate, over the last 5 weeks, only one other team has allowed more fantasy points to WRs than the Colts.  I don't expect another huge day from Floyd against the Colts, but I'm ranking him near the top-20 because I'm predicting around 60 yards and another touchdown. I'm down on: James Jones (ESPN #29, ME #38) I talked about Tolzien in the QB section, so you know I like him this week.  But in his two starts, James Jones has been the odd man out.  Jordy Nelson and Jarrett Boykin are getting most of the targets, and Jones has been left with an average of 3 receptions for 50 yards in each of those games.  I realize the touchdown potential against Minnesota (which I wrote about above), but Jones hasn't scored since Week 5...and that was with Aaron Rodgers of course.  It also appears that Jones has been playing through the knee injury he suffered in Week 6 against the Ravens, which to me seems like the CJ Spiller ankle thing.  Sometimes it's better to just let guys rest fully and come back stronger, but sometimes teams need their guys to play.  Bottom line is this: if I'm starting someone ranked in the 28-32 range, I'd much rather go with someone who is getting more balls thrown his way and thus should have more opportunity for fantasy production.  TEs 1.Rob Gronkowski 2.Julius Thomas 3.Vernon Davis 4.Coby Fleener 5.Jason Witten 6.Delanie Walker 7.Greg Olsen 8.Jordan Cameron 9.Antonio Gates 10.John Carlson 11.Garrett Graham 12.Rob Housler Maybe keep your helmet on, Delanie. I'm high on: Delanie Walker (ESPN #12, ME #7)  Walker is coming off a huge performance last Thursday night in which he caught all 10 passes thrown his way for 91 yards and a touchdown.  He has now scored in 3 of his last 4 games, and he should have a good opportunity to do so again this week as he faces Oakland.  Why is that, you ask?  Well, the Raiders have allowed 3 TDs to tight ends in the last 3 weeks.  This included last week when Garrett Graham went off for 136 yards and a TD! I'm down on: Antonio Gates (ESPN #5, ME #11)  So Gates caught his first TD last week since Week 4, and suddenly he's a top-5 TE again?  Pump the brakes, ESPN.  KC gives up the fewest fantasy points to opposing tight ends this year, and I think there are much better options in the top-10 ahead of him. DEF 1.Panthers   2.Chiefs 3.Ravens 4.49ers 5.Texans 6.Cardinals 7.Browns 8.Cowboys 9.Steelers 10.Rams 11.Giants 12.Titans I'm high on: Cowboys (ESPN #16, ME #9)  In the last game before their bye, Dallas surrendered an embarrassing 49 points to the Saints on Monday Night Football.  Before that, their only other poor defensive performance (at least from a fantasy perspective) was a 51-48 loss against the Broncos in Week 5.  If you remove those 2 games as outliers (considering they were against the top two offenses in the league), the Cowboys are giving up under 20 ppg in their other 8 games.  On top of that, they're a top-5 team in turnover ratio, top-10 in interceptions, and top-5 in fumble recoveries and defensive touchdowns.  I know they'll most likely be without Sean Lee this week, but DeMarcus Ware and Morris Claiborne should both be healthy enough to suit up against the Giants.  I'm putting my money this week on an opportunistic defense coming off their bye week (which followed a tough loss) playing a division rival whose QB has been a turnover machine this season.  Makes sense to me... I'm down on: Packers (ESPN #10, ME not ranked...not even close) I feel like I've talked enough about Green Bay already, but apparently I can't leave the defense out of the conversation.  Over the last 4 weeks, only five teams in the NFL have fewer fantasy points per game on the defensive side of the ball than the Packers.  And it's not like they've been playing the Broncos and Saints every week.  We're talking about the Giants, Eagles, Bears...and yes, the Minnesota Vikings (who put up 31 points against them in Week 8).  The green and gold have only forced 2 turnovers in those 4 games, and while they did get Clay Matthews back last week, I don't know that'll be enough for them to get back to their early-season form. Good luck in Week 12, gang! Cheers, Bart