Last week I said it was time to consider plugging in that guy on your bench (or even the waiver wire) who has had some big games lately. I mentioned players like JuJu, Crowell, and Marqise Lee. Well, those guys combined for a whopping 11 fantasy points (oops!). But it's the holiday season: it's the thought that counts, right? Hopefully you inserted a running back like Austin Ekeler or Corey Clement instead...or at least Orleans Darkwa or Dion Lewis (since those guys are owned in way more leagues). All of those RBs remained hot in Week 11.
As for my other picks, let's just get them out of the way up front, shall we? I didn't have as many because my QB and DEF rankings versus the ESPN experts were too similar. I also wasn't really down on any RBs versus the experts, but I really liked
J.D. McKissic to have a good game on Monday night (ESPN NOT RANKED, ME #36). As you can see, none of the experts even listed McKissic in their top-50 non-PPR RB rankings, but I thought he could rack up some yardage against the Falcons. As it turned out, Thomas Rawls was a healthy scratch and McKissic played on 50 of 74 offensive snaps. He led all Seattle RBs with 12 touches, and he finished EXACTLY WHERE I RANKED HIM as the #36 RB last week.
My WR picks were terrible though. I was high
on JuJu Smith-Schuster (ESPN #27, ME #17), who had scored in three straight before Thursday night. That streak ended against the Titans, and he finished with less than 5 fantasy points. I was down on Keenan Allen (ESPN #12, ME #26), who hadn't scored double digit fantasy points since Week 4. He went off against the Bills, catching 12 balls for 159 yards and two touchdowns (naturally).
After a month of no comparisons versus the experts at the tight end position (because our rankings were essentially the same every week), Week 11 was a bit different. I wasn't crazy about Delanie Walker against the Steelers (ESPN #6, ME #11), but he actually finished with 92 yards (his most in any game all season) and was a top-5 TE. But that doesn't tell the whole story because he still hasn't had a receiving touchdown all year, and he hasn't had double-digit fantasy points since Week 2. That's why I had a hard time ranking him highly against a defense giving up the 3rd fewest fantasy points to opposing TEs. Anyway, I was high on Tyler Kroft (ESPN #15, ME #7), who was facing a Denver defense that has been getting torched by the tight end position all year. Kroft didn't rack up much yardage against the Broncos, but he did find the endzone and finished in the top-12 (a top-12 filled mostly with "randos", which made him more like a top-5 play all things considered).
OK. So with last week's recap done, let's talk about something else that's also done: the bye weeks. Woohoo!!! With all of the teams playing every week for the rest of the season, I'm expanding each position back out a bit. Keep in mind the "rest of the season" is just two weeks before the fantasy playoffs start, so let's do this!
...oh, and Happy Thanksgiving!
To the rankings!
QBs
1.Tom Brady
2.Russell Wilson
3.Carson Wentz
4.Cam Newton
5.Kirk Cousins
6.Drew Brees
7.Alex Smith
8.Ben Roethlisberger
9.Andy Dalton
10.Jared Goff
11.Matt Ryan
12.Matthew Stafford
13.Dak Prescott
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14.Tyrod Taylor
15.Philip Rivers
16.Jacoby Brissett
17.Joe Flacco
18.Marcus Mariota
19.Derek Carr
20.Case Keenum
I talked about my team in this spot last week, and I mentioned how it's been tough to pick my QB ever since losing Deshaun Watson and Jameis Winston to injury in the same week. I went with Eli over Rivers in Week 10, and I was planning to go back to the well in Week 11. But when I saw the windy weather forecast to go along with Sterling Shepard being ruled out with migraines, I pulled the plug on the Eli Manning experiment. I went with Rivers, and boy am I glad I did. He helped my team finish with the most points for the week, and I even jumped from 4th to 2nd place. I'm still holding on to the most points scored, and this is a big week because I'm facing the guy who scored the second most points last week (and who is now in 3rd place). This game will likely determine who gets a bye in my fantasy playoffs (which is HUGE)!
As I mentioned earlier, I didn't have any comparisons at the QB position last week versus the ESPN experts because my rankings were just too similar. But this week since I'm expanding my rankings out to a top-20, I'm able to give you someone I like/don't like versus the ESPN guys, and I'll even give you a bonus pick!
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I'm high on: Andy Dalton (ESPN #17, ME #9)
If you look at the Red Rifle's last 5 games, he has multiple passing TDs in all of them except for the Week 9 loss in Jacksonville. And let's face it, pretty much no QB does anything against the Jags this season. Dalton had 4 TDs in Cleveland in Week 4, and I think he'll be a top-10 fantasy QB against the Browns again this week.
I'm down on: Marcus Mariota (ESPN #8, ME #18)
Mariota always has a fairly safe floor because he tends to get a decent amount of rushing yards, but the guy has 8 passing TDs versus 10 interceptions on the season. He's only scored more than 18 fantasy points once all year, and I tend to think the Titans will run all over the Colts rather than air it out. I'd actually start Jacoby Brissett over Mariota in this same game.
 QB Bonus Special!
I'm high on: Joe Flacco (ESPN #24, ME #17)
Hear me out. I realize there are some decent streaming options this week, but if you're in a deep league and every QB seems to be taken, I guarantee you Flacco is on your waiver wire. And he should be. Joe isn't even in the top-25 fantasy QBs this season. His volume has been low, and he's only thrown for multiple touchdowns twice this year. But this week he's facing the Texans on Monday Night Football, and they have been absolutely
terrible against QBs lately. I'm talking like "give up 3 TDs to Blaine Gabbert" bad. Houston has now given up THE MOST fantasy points to opposing QBs this season, and I think Flacco will have his best game of the year Monday night. The Ravens are actually right in the playoff hunt in the AFC, and this could be a statement game where people start realizing that Baltimore could sneak into the postseason with a solid finish down the stretch.
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RBs |
1.Le'Veon Bell
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2.Mark Ingram
3.Todd Gurley
4.Kareem Hunt
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5.LeSean McCoy
6.Melvin Gordon
7.Alvin Kamara
8.Leonard Fournette
9.Tevin Coleman
10.Lamar Miller
11.Carlos Hyde
12.DeMarco Murray
13.Jordan Howard
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14.Samaje Perine
15.Alfred Morris
16.Christian McCaffery
17.Dion Lewis
18.Latavius Murray
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19.Orleans Darkwa
20.Alex Collins
21.Adrian Peterson
22.Joe Mixon
23.Marshawn Lynch
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24.Doug Martin
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25.Jay Ajayi
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26.Jamaal Williams
27.Jerick McKinnon
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28.Rex Burkhead
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29.Duke Johnson
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30.Frank Gore
31.Bilal Powell
32.Devontae Booker
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33.Ameer Adbullah
34.C.J. Anderson
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35.J.D. McKissic
36.Damien Williams
37.Isaiah Crowell
38.Jonathan Stewart
39.Kenyan Drake
40.Danny Woodhead
41.James White
42.Corey Clement
43.Derrick Henry
44.Marlon Mack
45.Austin Ekeler
46.Theo Riddick
47.LeGarrette Blount
48.Tarik Cohen
49.Terron Ward
50.Rod Smith
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I'm high on: Rex Burkhead (ESPN #46, ME #28)
 I'm not really down on many RBs versus the experts for the second week in a row, so let me just take the time here to talk about what Rex Burkhead has done the last couple of weeks. After the Patriots came off their Week 9 bye, they pretty much decided they were done playing Mike Gillislee in favor of Dion Lewis. That's also when Burkhead starting getting more playing time than James White, and Rex had a breakout game against the Broncos in which he had double digit carries and found the endzone on a short pass from Brady. Last week in Mexico City, he fumbled early in the game and lost a few touches to White, but Rex still got more snaps/touches. I think Burkhead will get back to more of a 50/50 split with Dion Lewis this week, and in that offense against a terrible Miami defense, fire up FLEX-y Rexy.
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WRs
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1.Antonio Brown
2.A.J. Green
3.Julio Jones
4.Michael Thomas
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5.Adam Thielen
6.Mike Evans
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7.Brandin Cooks
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8.Doug Baldwin
9.DeAndre Hopkins
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10.Keenan Allen
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11.Alshon Jeffery
12.Tyreek Hill
13.Dez Bryant
14.Jarvis Landry
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15.Devin Funchess
16.Demaryius Thomas
17.Robby Anderson
18.T.Y. Hilton
19.Davante Adams
20.Golden Tate
21.Larry Fitzgerald
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22.Michael Crabtree
23.JuJu Smith-Schuster
24.Rishard Matthews
25.Stefon Diggs
26.Jamison Crowder
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27.Emmanuel Sanders
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28.Amari Cooper
29.Marvin Jones, Jr.
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30.Mohamed Sanu
31.Cooper Kupp
32.Jeremy Maclin
33.Josh Doctson
34.Corey Davis
35.Sammy Watkins
36.DeSean Jackson
37.Marqise Lee
38.Corey Coleman
39.Ted Ginn, Jr.
40.Paul Richardson
41.Kenny Stills
42.Danny Amendola
43.Mike Wallace
44.Nelson Agholor
45.DeVante Parker
46.Marquise Goodwin
47.Jermaine Kearse
48.Dontrelle Inman
49.Brandon LaFell
50.Tyler Lockett
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I'm high on: Robby Anderson (ESPN #35, ME #17)
Maybe it's because he had the late bye last week, but the ESPN rankers seem to have forgotten that Anderson had 4 straight games with a touchdown before the off week. Whatever the case, Robby is Josh's guy...and now I realize that sounds like two children who are good friends. Either way, I think the two will pick up right where they left off. Anderson has been a top-10 WR since Week 6, and it seems strange to me that ESPN would rank him like he's barely a FLEX play against Carolina.
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I'm down on: DeVante Parker (ESPN #29, ME #45)
| After Cutler left the game against the Bucs, Matt Moore looked for Stills and Landry way more than Parker. Cutler is likely out this week with a concussion, and Parker's numbers could suffer. He's only had double-digit fantasy points once this season, and he hasn't scored since Week 3. To me, DeVante is more of a dart throw than a starter right now. |
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TEs
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1.Rob Gronkowski
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2.Travis Kelce
3.Evan Engram
4.Zach Ertz
5.Jimmy Graham
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6.Vernon Davis
7.Jared Cook
8.Delanie Walker
9.Jack Doyle
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10.Charles Clay
11.Tyler Kroft
12.Kyle Rudolph
13.Greg Olsen
14.Austin Sefarian-Jenkins
15.Adam Shaheen
I'm high on: Charles Clay (ESPN #16, ME #10)
 Last week when Tyrod got into the game in the second half, he looked for Clay on a 2 yard touchdown. The only problem was, it got called back for offensive pass interference. So on the next play from the 12 yard line, Tyrod went to Clay again. This time, Clay dropped the would-be touchdown. Now I realize all of that sounds very negative for ranking Clay in my top-10 this week, but I highlight it because if he found the endzone last week, everyone would be ranking him in their top-10 this week. But they're not, and I am. Tyrod has been named the starter against the Chiefs this week, and rightfully so. He'll likely pepper Clay with targets, and I think the tight end will have his best game since Week 4.
I'm down on: Greg Olsen (ESPN #6, ME #13)
With Kelvin Benjamin now in Buffalo, Curtis Samuel on the IR, and Russell Shepard dropping half of everything thrown his way, the return of Olsen to this lineup couldn't come at a better time. That being said, who knows if he'll be 100% healthy and what kind of snap count he could be on against the Jets...? Personally, I'd wait a week before plugging him right back into my lineup, but ESPN disagrees with that logic. I guess we'll see what happens.
Another Bonus Special...this time, it's a tight end!
I'm high on: Adam Shaheen (ESPN NOT RANKED, ME #15)
I
thought about ranking someone like Jason Witten, Eric Ebron, or Hunter
Henry to round out my top-15. Any one of those guys could find the endzone on Thanksgiving, but they've all been very inconsistent lately. Then I thought why not go for some upside
with a guy who has a combined 80 yards and a touchdown in his last two
games? This pick depends a lot on Dion Sims being OUT again, but as long
as he is, Shaheen should be the beneficiary of a handful of targets from
Trubisky. I like for the rookie to make a couple of plays and sneak
into the top-15 this week.
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DEF
1.Jaguars
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2.Ravens
3.Steelers
4.Bengals
5.Eagles
6.Patriots
7.Seahawks
8.Panthers
9.Vikings
10.Chiefs
11.Falcons
12.Redskins
13.Chargers
14.Cardinals
15.Titans
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I'm high on: Atlanta Falcons (ESPN #17, ME #11)
I'm not really down on any defenses versus the ESPN experts this week, but I really like Atlanta at home against Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Bucs. I didn't watch all of the Falcons/Seahawks game on Monday night, but Atlanta did a good job getting to the quarterback and forcing turnovers. They have 11 sacks in their last two games, and they have two takeaways in 3 straight contests. They've been a top-10 fantasy defense the last 4 weeks, and I'm probably going to start them in my own league this week. Of course if Tyron Smith is out again tomorrow, it'll be hard to pass up that Charger defense...
Good luck to everyone in Week 12!
(Except you, Mike...)
Cheers,
Bart
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