1.Drew Brees
2.Peyton Manning
3.Matthew Stafford
4.Tom Brady
5.Tony Romo
6.Cam Newton
7.Andrew Luck
8.Colin Kaepernick
9.Ben Roethlisberger
10.Case Keenum
11.RGIII
12.Carson Palmer
13.Eli Manning
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14.Ryan Fitzpatrick
15.Scott Tolzien
16.Mike Glennon
17.Matt Ryan
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18.Josh McCown
19.Joe Flacco
20.Philip Rivers
Peyton Manning and Drew Brees actually had pretty average fantasy days in Week 11 (at least by their standards), but both won close games at home against top defenses. While they both threw for over 300 yards, they each only had one touchdown pass. Both get much better matchups this week though, so I'm not thinking about moving either from the top of my rankings. The best fantasy QB last week was actually Ben Roethlisberger who had 4 TD passes and threw for nearly 400 yards against the Lions. Cam Newton wasn't far behind with his impressive Monday night game against the Patriots, which included 62 rushing yards. Speaking of the Patriots, they'll host Denver in another primetime matchup this Sunday night. I like Brady to do his best to match Peyton in this one, and I like him as top-5 fantasy QBs this week too.
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| I feel you Andre. Get Schaub out of there! |
After the top 8 or 9 QBs, it gets a little interesting this week, and it starts with the guy I was high on in Week 11: Case Keenum (ESPN #12, ME #8). I didn't see the highlights of this game, but Gary Kubiak apparently ruined any chance I had with my calls on Keenum and DeAndre Hopkins. I liked both a lot against Oakland, but they both got benched during this game. That's a tough pill to swallow if you were counting on either for fantasy production, and Keenum actually had decent numbers before getting benched for Matt Schaub. Schaub did worse in relief, so Keenum is once again the starter in Week 12 in a nice matchup at home against Jacksonville. I'm leaving Case in my top-10 again because I don't see why Kubiak would do something like that again, and maybe it'll provide some motivation for the rookie to step up and prove he's the guy.
The QB I was down on last week was Colin Kaepernick (ESPN #13, ME #17). I pointed out that he had thrown for over 200 yards just once since Week 1, and he only managed 127 yards against the Saints. He also only had 25 rushing yards, but he did have 2 TD passes which helped him land inside the top-15 fantasy QBs for Week 11. Still, I think he's a matchup-based fantasy starter at this point. Lucky for his fantasy owners, he really only has one bad matchup left on his schedule (Week 14 against Seattle). I like him this week as the Niners come to DC to play my Redskins, and he should stay in my top 10-15 for most of the coming weeks based on those good matchups.
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RBs |
1.Adrian Peterson
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2.Matt Forte
3.Zac Stacy
4.Jamaal Charles
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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
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14.Pierre Thomas
15.Stevan Ridley
16.Le'Veon Bell
17.DeMarco Murray
18.Ryan Mathews
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19.Maurice Jones-Drew
20.Chris Ivory
21.Bobby Rainey
22.Shane Vereen
23.Darren Sproles
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24.Ray Rice
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25.Chris Ogbonnaya
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26.Donald Brown
27.Steven Jackson
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28.Danny Woodhead
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29.Andre Ellington
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30.Montee Ball
31.Rashard Mendenhall
32.Lamar Miller
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33.Joique Bell
34.Mark Ingram
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35.DeAngelo Williams
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36.Brian Leonard
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37.Trent Richardson
38.Daniel Thomas
39.Mike Tolbert
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40.Jacquizz Rodgers
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| Is that Doug Martin or Bobby Rainey? |
There were big names like LeSean McCoy, Marshawn Lynch, and even Ray Rice near the top of the Week 11 RB performers, but #1 was undrafted rookie Bobby Rainey. If you don't know who he is, I'll tell you what I know. He started the year getting cut by the Ravens and scooped up by the Browns. He played a few games for Cleveland but ended up on Tampa Bay's roster around Week 5. He never got much of a chance in Cleveland, but he got an opportunity with the Bucs in Week 10 against Miami when Mike James went down with an injury (who was filling in for the injured Doug Martin). Fast forward to this past Sunday against the Falcons, and it was Rainey doing his best impression of the muscle hamster, totaling 167 all-purpose yards and 3 TDs. It looks like he could be the feature back for Tampa Bay down the stretch, and he gets a decent matchup this week at Detroit. His schedule gets a little tougher after that though, so we'll see how much he'll help fantasy teams in the playoffs.
Shane Vereen got back to work Monday night in Carolina, and the Patriots got him heavily involved in the offense right away. He played about half of the snaps, and he led all New England "receivers" with 8 catches for 65 yards on a game-high 11 targets. Welcome back, Shane. The guy who suffered a bit from Vereen's return was Stevan Ridley, who I was down on last week (ESPN #15, ME #20). I mentioned how this was a tough call while Vereen was getting back into the mix, Ridley did have 6 TDs in his previous 4 games. The fact that he was facing one of the best run defenses in the league in Carolina was the kicker for me, so I lowered him a bit. He actually ended up getting a rushing TD in the game, but he didn't get many yards and landed outside of the top-20 fantasy RBs in Week 11. We'll see how the workload shakes out against Denver on Sunday night, but I think both backs will have value.
Speaking of a big workload, that's exactly why I was high on Rashad Jennings last week (ESPN #27, ME #19). Jennings had gotten 22 touches in each of his previous 2 games, and he got 24 on Sunday against Houston. He turned that into 153 yards and a TD, which made him easily a top-10 RB last week. I doubt the coaches will be eager to rush McFadden back from injury at this point, but even when they do, I think this could turn into a bigger timeshare than it was before. For now, I'd keep Jennings in your lineup as long as DMC is not...running.
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WRs
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1.Calvin Johnson
2.Vincent Jackson
3.Andre Johnson
4.Demaryius Thomas
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5.Dez Bryant
6.Brandon Marshall
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7.Wes Welker
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8.Pierre Garcon
9.Jordy Nelson
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10.Josh Gordon
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11.Victor Cruz
12.Antonio Brown
13.Alshon Jeffery
14.Marques Colston
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15.Torrey Smith
16.TY Hilton
17.Larry Fitzgerald
18.Eric Decker
19.Danny Amendola
20.Kendall Wright
21.Michael Floyd
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22.Cecil Shorts
23.Reuben Randle
24.Keenan Allen
25.Dwayne Bowe
26.Jarrett Boykin
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27.Anquan Boldin
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28.Roddy White
29.Aaron Dobson
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30.Harry Douglas
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31.Steve Smith
34.Jerricho Cotchery
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36.Brian Hartline
37.Emmanuel Sanders
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38.James Jones
39.Miles Austin
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40.Kenny Stills
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Megatron continued to show why he's the #1 WR in the league, even against a tough Steeler secondary. There's no matchup that should move him from the top spot every week (only injury). Speaking of injury, I talked up Andre Roberts as a potential Flex if Michael Floyd was unable to go on Sunday. So much for any opportunity for Roberts, as Floyd played through injury and put up nearly 200 yards receiving and a touchdown against the Jags. Roddy White continues to play through various injuries for the Falcons, and he actually got a touchdown late into garbage time against the Bucs. I think I'll actually rank him this week for the Thursday night game, but I won't go crazy with it.
The guy I was down on last week was also someone coming off injury. ESPN had Percy Harvin ranked all the way up at #26, and Chris Mortensen even came on the set of Fantasy Football Now to talk him up on Sunday. He thought he'd be really involved in the offense against the Vikings in his first game back in nearly a year, and he liked his chances to score a touchdown. Meanwhile, I continued to say I wasn't ranking Harvin until after Seattle's Week 12 bye. I thought the Seahawks wouldn't get risky with their big investment, and I didn't believe for a second they'd rush him back into action. Everyone knew he'd be on a limited snap count Sunday, which head coach Pete Carroll later said was to be capped at 20. Harvin only saw 16 snaps against his former team, and he caught the one ball that came his way for 17 yards. I hope you didn't believe the hype and stayed away from Harvin last week. As for the WR I was high on, I already talked about this a bit in the QB section. I think Gary Kubiak must read my blog because he totally messed up my Case Keenum to DeAndre Hopkins thing (ESPN #45, ME #26). It's tough to have a chance at being right when the head coach benches your guys.
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TEs
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1.Rob Gronkowski
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2.Jimmy Graham
3.Julius Thomas
4.Vernon Davis
5.Coby Fleener
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6.Jason Witten
7.Delanie Walker
8.Greg Olsen
9.Tony Gonzalez
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10.Jordan Reed
11.Antonio Gates
12.Jordan Cameron
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| Only penalties (or non-penalties) can stop Gronk now. |
There's never much to talk about with tight ends. My rankings are usually pretty much the same as the experts, so I doubt I'll have anyone to say I'm high or low on in my Friday update. I will point out that if you own Julius Thomas or Jordan Reed, you'll want to keep an eye on whether or not they're practicing this week. Thomas is dealing with a sprained knee, and Reed left the game against Philly with a concussion. One interesting development I'd like to point out is that I believe Gronk has officially taken over the #1 spot from Jimmy Graham. The main reason is his health, but these monsters will most likely be 1 & 2 for the rest of the season.
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DEF
1.Panthers
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2.Chiefs
3.Ravens
4.49ers
5.Saints
6.Texans
7.Browns
8.Cardinals
9.Cowboys
10.Steelers
11.Rams
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12.Giants
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| I doubt ESPN will believe in the Giants against Dallas... |
There's still room on the bandwagon for the revitalized G-Men, but I don't think there will be too many more spots after this week's game against Dallas. No defense has looked better in their last 4 games, and the Giants were once again a top-5 fantasy defense in Week 11. I'm continuing to rank them this week, even though they get the Cowboys (who are giving up the 3rd fewest points to fantasy defenses this season). I did the same thing with the Panthers last week, as I continued to rank them even though they were facing Tom Brady on Monday Night Football. Carolina didn't care who was coming to town, and they were a top-12 defense once again. The Panthers are a much better D than the Giants, but the way New York has been playing lately, I'm keeping the faith in them. I have several other teams ahead of them though, including their opponent. I like Dallas as a plug-and-play this week, considering Eli is a turnover machine. This game could be high scoring like the first meeting, but I like both defenses to keep it more like 20-17 (and I think the Giants will actually come out on top in this one).
Looking at ESPN's rankings last week, I found it interesting that they continued to rank New England, Kansas City, and San Fran all so highly. I left all of them off my rankings due to horrible matchups, and the 49ers were the only ones who put up respectable fantasy points on the defensive end. I thought about talking up the Jets against Buffalo in Week 11, and I did to some extent, but the team I was high on last week was the Chargers (ESPN #22, ME #9). The O-Line of the Miami Dolphins is clearly in shambles. They weren't protecting Tannehill very well before the whole Martin/Incognito thing, and they were without their Pro Bowl center, Mike Pouncey, on Sunday as well. This led to 4 sacks on the day for San Diego, who continued to put up top-10 fantasy numbers on the defensive end. I was surprised the Dolphins actually came away with the win, but that doesn't matter much in the world of fantasy football.
As for other top defenses, my Bengals are on a bye this week so I'll be missing a performance from them like they had in Week 11 (with an insane amount of turnovers and 2 defensive TDs). Seattle is on a bye too, so Carolina gets the top spot for me, but the Chiefs are back up there too. I'm sure Kansas City will play well at home against San Diego after a tough loss in Denver. We'll see how the ESPN experts see the rankings later this afternoon, and check back on Friday for the updated list and comparisons.
Until then, happy hump day everyone!
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Cheers,
Bart
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