2015 Fantasy Football Week 13 Rankings

Well it was a rough week for my fantasy teams but a great one for my real one, so I guess I'll take it!

I lost in ALL THREE of my fantasy leagues in Week 12, including my fourth week in a row in my money league.  My squad there scored well under their projections for the third week in a row.  I'm talking like 35 fantasy points below projected EVERY week for the last 3, guys!  It has been a brutal season for me in that league.  Some of it is my schedule, but some is just tanking here at the end of the season.  Earlier in the year I was scoring tons of points and losing to teams scoring just a little bit more.  Now my team is just not scoring points at the absolutely wrong time.  

Sure this was the highlight of the game, but Washington WON!

Anyway, I'm in the playoffs in my 14-team ESPN league (only the top-4 teams make the playoffs).  I actually will be playing against my wife in the first round, which I was hoping to avoid.  But at least one of us will have a shot at the championship in that league!  I also have a deciding game this week in my third league to see if I can get into the postseason.  But you know what?  It's now December and my REAL team is actually relevant!  That's right.  The Washington Redskins are sitting at the top of the NFC (L)EAST after a huge win on Sunday against the Giants.  My wife and I were there for the game, and it was pretty awesome to say the least.  I hope they can keep it rolling against a once-again-Romo-less Cowboys squad on Monday night.  I guess we'll see how that division and others shake out here in the next month or so.

But for now, let's do the rankings!

QBs 1.Tom Brady 2.Cam Newton 3.Aaron Rodgers  4.Ben Roethlisberger 5.Carson Palmer 6.Andy Dalton 7.Matthew Stafford 8.Ryan Fitzpatrick   9.Jay Cutler 10.Russell Wilson 11.Ryan Tannehill  12.Eli Manning    13.Derek Carr  14.Philip Rivers  15.Drew Brees  Last week I was mostly right about both of my QB picks versus the ESPN experts.  I was high on Derek Carr (ESPN 15, ME #7), who bounced back in a big way against the Titans.  He threw for over 300 yards and had 3 TD passes on his way to a #6 finish among fantasy QBs in Week 12.  Who finished right behind him at #7?  That would be Tom Brady, who I was down on (ESPN #4, ME #8).  So I said I was mostly right because I actually started Brian Hoyer last week instead of Brady in my money league.  That was the wrong move, though it wouldn't have given me a win anyway.  Hell, even if I had started Russell Wilson last week I wouldn't have won that matchup!  Brady actually did quite well against a tough Bronco secondary, but it'll be interesting to see if he can keep it going without Gronk.  I think he will against the lowly Eagle pass defense, and I have him back at the top of my rankings. I'm high on: Jay Cutler (ESPN #16, ME #9) He struggled in his last home start, but that was against Denver (which is to be expected).  This week he faces the 49ers, whose defense has been much worse on the road than at home.  Cutler also should be getting Martellus Bennett back to add to a healthy Alshon Jeffery.  I like for him to throw for 300+ yards and a pair of TDs in Week 13. I'm down on: Drew Brees (ESPN #10, ME #15)  I almost ranked Blake Bortles in my #15 spot, but it felt wrong leaving Brees out of the rankings altogether.  After all, he is playing at home (where he definitely performs better).  But he's facing the Panthers, who give up the 3rd fewest fantasy points to QBs.  If you look at Drew's numbers on the year, they don't look too bad.  But if you took out his two big games in Weeks 8 and 9 (against the Giants and Titans...10 total TDs in those two games), his production is very mediocre.  I think the Panthers will shut him down, even in the Superdome.  He might still be a top-15 fantasy QB this week, but I wouldn't count on top-10. RBs 1.Adrian Peterson 2.DeAngelo Williams  3.Devonta Freeman 4.LeSean McCoy  5.Doug Martin 6.Jonathan Stewart 7.Todd Gurley   8.Thomas Rawls 9.Chris Ivory     10.Darren McFadden   11.Mark Ingram  12.Matt Forte   13.Javorius Allen  14.Eddie Lacy  15.David Johnson 16.DeMarco Murray   17.Charcandrick West 18.LeGarrette Blount  19.Lamar Miller 20.Latavius Murray   21.CJ Anderson  22.Jeremy Hill 23.TJ Yeldon  24.Giovani Bernard 25.Shaun Draughn  26.Frank Gore   27.Ronnie Hillman 28.Antonio Andrews  29.Alfred Blue       30.Jeremy Langford 31.Danny Woodhead      32.Alfred Morris 33.Ameer Abdullah  34.Melvin Gordon 35.Matt Jones  ESPN's still not high enough on Buck Allen for my liking. Well I was 1 for 2 with my RB picks last week.  I didn't think DeAngelo Williams would be able to run on the Seahawks (ESPN #12, ME #21), but he ended up as a top-5 play.  I was almost right because he only managed 29 rushing yards on 8 attempts, but he also had 88 receiving yards and a touchdown...so, yeah.  I was high on Javorius Allen though (ESPN #21, ME #14), and he finished as a top-10 fantasy RB.  I said I liked him to get over 100 yards and a TD against the Browns.  I was only off by a few yards (he had 83), but he did find the endzone. This week I'm a little high on Javorius Allen again versus the ESPN experts, but not much.  I'm a little down on someone like LeGarrette Blount.  But again, the differences are very minimal this week, so I'm going to move on to my WRs...  WRs 1.Antonio Brown 2.Julio Jones 3.Odell Beckham, Jr.  4.DeAndre Hopkins   5.Calvin Johnson   6.Brandon Marshall     7.Alshon Jeffery 8.Allen Robinson  9.AJ Green  10.Larry Fitzgerald 11.Eric Decker 12.Martavis Bryant 13.Jarvis Landry  14.TY Hilton     15.Mike Evans  16.Amari Cooper     17.Demaryius Thomas  18.Danny Amendola   19.Randall Cobb      20.Dez Bryant     21.Sammy Watkins 22.Jeremy Maclin 23.Brandon LaFell 24.Michael Crabtree   25.Emmanuel Sanders 26.Stevie Johnson    27.Brandin Cooks  28.Kamar Aiken   29.DeSean Jackson  30.Vincent Jackson 31.Doug Baldwin   32.John Brown   33.Anquan Boldin  34.Donte Moncrief 35.DeVante Parker I was 1 for 2 on my WR picks last week as well.  I was high on Travis Benjamin (ESPN #29, ME #20), who finished with 100 total yards and a TD on his way to a top-15 fantasy performance on Monday night.  But I was also down on Jeremy Maclin (ESPN #26, ME #34), who hadn't done ANYTHING since Week 4.  But he decided this was the week to stick it to my pick as he went off for 160 yards and a TD on his way to a top-10 finish. Last week to buy low on DaVante Parker... This week I'm going to talk about a couple of guys named Davante (and DeVante, but whatever...you get the idea).  I'm going way down the rankings to talk about how I'm down on Davante Adams (ESPN #35, ME NOT RANKED).  I realize this may be getting a little nit-picky, but I didn't even consider him this week.  I think Aaron Rodgers may be starting to lose faith in the young WR, and I don't expect many looks his way tonight against Detroit.  Sure, he had 21 targets against the Lions a couple of weeks ago, but he only has 5 catches combined in his last two games.  Meanwhile, I'm high on DeVante Parker (ESPN #49, ME #35) who is just starting to come alive late in the season.  The first round pick out of Louisville is finally healthy and getting more snaps with Rishard Matthews banged up.  He should get plenty of action against a weak Baltimore secondary, and I think he has a lot of upside this week and beyond.   TEs 1.Greg Olsen 2.Tyler Eifert 3.Travis Kelce  4.Delanie Walker 5.Jordan Reed 6.Antonio Gates 7.Gary Barnidge 8.Scott Chandler 9.Julius Thomas 10.Ben Watson Aside from being high on Zach Miller (who I had in my top-10 and he was nowhere near there for ESPN), my rankings were pretty much the same as the experts last week.  I actually started Zach Miller in one league, and he found the endzone in that Thursday night win over Green Bay.  You have to be happy with that for a plug-and-play tight end.  It looks like Bennett should be back this week for the Bears, so I don't have either TE in my rankings.  Keep an eye on Tyler Eifert, who suffered a neck injury last week against the Rams.  If he plays, you're starting him.  If not, you're obviously going to need to look elsewhere. This week my top-10 TEs continue to be virtually the same as ESPN's, so let's move on to the defenses... DEF 1.Bengals 2.Patriots  3.Panthers 4.Cardinals 5.Broncos 6.Bears  7.Chiefs 8.Bills 9.Titans 10.Texans  You may be sensing a theme here because I was sort of 1 for 2 with my defense picks last week as well.  I was high on the Giants (ESPN #22, ME #10), who finished 15th based on my league's scoring.  They didn't do much against Washington (to my surprise...and delight!).  I was also down on the Rams (ESPN #9, ME NOT RANKED), who finished as a BOTTOM-5 fantasy defense against the Bengals.  Nailed that one.  What about this week...? I'm high on: Bills (ESPN #15, ME #8) Buffalo has had a tough schedule this year, especially at home.  They opened the year with a win against Indy, but they lost their next 3 home games to the Patriots, Giants, and Bengals.  They smoked the Dolphins at home in Week 9 before playing their next three games on the road.  They're coming off back-to-back close losses at New England and Kansas City, but I see this week against Houston as a good opportunity for them to get back on track.  I think they'll be a top-10 fantasy defense this week and potentially over the last 4 weeks of the season (@PHI, @WAS, DAL, NYJ). I'm down on:  Seahawks (ESPN #5, ME NOT RANKED)  Seattle has been a top-5 fantasy defense this year, but they've been pretty average as of late.  In their last three games (all at home by the way), they're giving up nearly 27 points/game.  Now they're on the road against a Minnesota team that gives up pretty average numbers to opposing fantasy defenses this year.  I'd find a defense with better matchup (like Chicago or Tennessee) or just a defense that has been playing better as of late (like Kansas City or Houston).  I'd bench the Seahawks if I owned them in any of my leagues...but I don't. Good luck to everyone in Week 13!   (Except you, Brandon...) Cheers, Bart