Fantasy Football Week 12 Rankings: Top Players, Sleepers and Positional Guide

Fantasy football rankings are never more valuable than around the holidays.

This is especially the case going into Week 12, where six teams suit up for games on Thanksgiving and owners don't exactly have as much time as usual to craft lineups.

Keep in mind, too, this is the season in which a pair of .500 teams lead divisions, Peyton Manning's sitting on a bench and quarterbacks for the Oakland Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars are viable options.

It's a tad overwhelming, right? Here's a look at a positional guide to help owners with the process.

Week 12 Schedule

Thursday, Nov. 26	Time (ET)
Sunday, Nov. 29	Time (ET)
Monday, Nov. 30	Time (ET)
Philadelphia at Detroit	12:30 pm
Carolina at Dallas	4:30 pm
Chicago at Green Bay	8:30 pm
New Orleans at Houston	1:00 pm
Buffalo at Kansas City	1:00 pm
San Diego at Jacksonville	1:00 pm
Minnesota at Atlanta	1:00 pm
Miami at N.Y. Jets	1:00 pm
N.Y. Giants at Washington	1:00 pm
Oakland at Tennessee	1:00 pm
St. Louis at Cincinnati	1:00 pm
Tampa Bay at Indianapolis	1:00 pm
Arizona at San Francisco	4:05 pm
Pittsburgh at Seattle	4:25 pm
New England at Denver	8:30 pm
Baltimore at Cleveland	8:30 pm

Quarterbacks

Rank	Player
1	Carson Palmer
2	Aaron Rodgers
3	Drew Brees
4	Tony Romo
5	Cam Newton
6	Brian Hoyer*
7	Blake Bortles
8	Tom Brady
9	Ben Roethlisberger
10	Andy Dalton
11	Matthew Stafford
12	Philip Rivers
13	Matt Ryan
14	Eli Manning
15	Derek Carr

Look for Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer to put on a show this week.

Other quarterbacks might come close, but nobody sits in a better matchup than Palmer, who gets to beat up on a divisional foe in the San Francisco 49ers.

Forget for a moment that Palmer has five outings of 20 or more points, including three in a row with the last two coming against stingy Seattle and Cincinnati defenses. Instead, focus on the fact the 49ers allow the sixth-most points to the position and just gave up 25 to Seattle.

Palmer cruised to 18 points against San Francisco in Week 3. His weapons are healthier this time around and the 49ers are even worse, so expect even bigger production this time.

When it comes to streaming a quarterback sleeper on short notice, it's hard to find a better option than Matthew Stafford of the Detroit Lions.

Stafford has just six double-digit outings this year but has gone for 15 or more in each of his past two. Now he gets to take on the Philadelphia Eagles, a team that has let up two or more touchdowns to quarterbacks six times, highlighted by a whopping five touchdowns surrendered to Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie quarterback Jameis Winston last week.

The veteran won't have a problem shredding the secondary at home.

Running Backs

Rank	Player
1	Darren McFadden*
2	Adrian Peterson
3	Devonta Freeman*
4	DeMarco Murray
5	LeSean McCoy
6	Charcandrick West*
7	Mark Ingram
8	Thomas Rawls
9	Todd Gurley
10	Doug Martin
11	Chris Johnson
12	Matt Forte*
13	T.J. Yeldon
14	LeGarrette Blount
15	Javorius Allen
16	DeAngelo Williams
17	Lamar Miller
18	Jonathan Stewart
19	Frank Gore*
20	Chris Ivory
21	Carlos Hyde*
22	Giovani Bernard
23	Latavius Murray
24	Alfred Blue
25	Eddie Lacy
26	Antonio Andrews
27	Danny Woodhead
28	Darren Sproles
29	Ronnie Hillman
30	Jeremy Hill

The usual suspects will dominate the ranks at running back around the holiday.

Perhaps most notable is Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings, who is coming off a bit of a down game with just nine points in Week 11. That said, he's running like his old self and has a touchdown in each of his past three outings to go with seven trips to double digits.

Now Peterson gets to pound it often as the Vikings attempt to keep the Atlanta Falcons offense off the field. It helps that the Atlanta defense is quite exploitable considering it allows the sixth-most points to backs.

If Peterson is the star, Thomas Rawls of the Seattle Seahawks is the sleeper playing in place of a star. The backup is now the every-down back with Marshawn Lynch sidelined for weeks, according to Fox Sports' Mike Garafolo.

Owners shouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger here. Rawls saw major work in Week 5 and totaled 22 points, then turned around and posted 36 this past weekend on 30 carries for 209 yards and a score.

Granted, Rawls has to go against a Pittsburgh Steelers defense that ranks as the team allowing the fewest points to backs, but opportunities equal production, especially at home for a talented backup.

Wide Receivers

Rank	Player
1	DeAndre Hopkins
2	Calvin Johnson*
3	Allen Robinson
4	Julio Jones
5	Demaryius Thomas
6	Larry Fitzgerald
7	Antonio Brown
8	Alshon Jeffery*
9	Odell Beckham Jr.
10	Mike Evans
11	Eric Decker
12	A.J. Green
13	Dez Bryant*
14	Michael Crabtree
15	Sammy Watkins
16	Amari Cooper
17	Brandon Marshall
18	Jarvis Landry
19	Brandin Cooks
20	Stevie Johnson
21	John Brown
22	Travis Benjamin
23	Randall Cobb
24	Emmanuel Sanders*
25	Martavis Bryant
26	Danny Amendola*
27	DeSean Jackson
28	T.Y. Hilton
29	Jeremy Maclin
30	Kamar Aiken
31	Nate Washington
32	Allen Hurns
33	Davante Adams*
34	Brandon LaFell
35	Vincent Jackson

It's hard for any star to break away from the pack given the immense depth of talent at wideout on a week-to-week basis. 

This week, though, somewhat lost in the scramble is New York Giants wideout Odell Beckham Jr. Coming off a bye, it's easy to forget that Beckham posted 16 points in Week 10, giving him seven trips to double digits and three in a row.

Now Beckham gets to run wild against Washington, a team he torched in Week 3 to the tune of seven grabs for 79 yards and a score, good for 13 points. That same Washington defense still surrenders the fifth-most points to receivers with two or more scores allowed in six games.

Perhaps the most forgotten-about wideout around, though, is Travis Benjamin of the Cleveland Browns. The dangerous deep threat started the season with 14- and 29-point showings, only to post double digits again just twice since.

One of those outings, though, came in Week 10 before a bye. There's a chance Benjamin can make it two in a row when he collides with the leaky Baltimore Ravens defense, which allows the third-most points to the spot.

Considering Benjamin mustered eight points against the unit in Week 5 and it has only gotten worse since, he looks like one of the week's top sleepers.

Tight Ends

Rank	Player
1	Rob Gronkowski
2	Greg Olsen
3	Delanie Walker
4	Tyler Eifert
5	Gary Barnidge
6	Jason Witten
7	Jordan Reed*
8	Antonio Gates
9	Jimmy Graham
10	Travis Kelce
11	Martellus Bennett*
12	Julius Thomas

It's silly to focus on Rob Gronkowski given his every-week dominance allowing him to top charts no matter what.

Instead, consider Washington's Jordan Reed one of the stars to watch. He's coming off a two-point dud, but it doesn't change the fact he's scored 19 and 14 points in two of his last four outings since getting healthy.

Now Reed gets the New York Giants, a team coughing up the second-most points to the position. The only concern is that Reed sprained a ligament in his knee last weekend, although he returned to the game.

This time last year, Julius Thomas would have been considered the furthest thing from a sleeper. Now, though, he's been hobbled with injuries and on the Jacksonville Jaguars, with last week's eight-point showing one of the highlights of his season.

It's about to get a whole lot better. Thomas next encounters the San Diego Chargers, a team allowing the ninth-most points to the spot. Five times crops of tight ends have posted double digits against the unit this year, meaning Thomas stands a good chance at doing it on his lonesome.

Defense/Special Teams

Rank	Unit
1	Cardinals
2	Jets
3	Packers
4	Eagles
5	Bills
6	Seahawks
7	Panthers
8	Patriots
9	Bengals
10	Broncos

Owners know all about the juggernaut defenses such as the Arizona Cardinals and New York Jets, so why not just get right to the sleeper? 

This week, it's all about the Green Bay Packers in a cupcake matchup against the Chicago Bears. Clay Matthews and Co. have posted three trips to double digits this year, with one of those coming in Week 11.

Green Bay only mustered one point against Chicago in Week 1, but much has changed since then. The Bears now allow the eighth-most points to opposing defenses this year, having coughed up four double-digit performances and seven or more points in three of their last four.

In other words, the Packers have a floor of seven, but on a short week, things could get wild—hence a huge ceiling.

Kickers

Rank	Player
1	Stephen Gostkowski
2	Matt Bryant
3	Cairo Santos
4	Matt Prater
5	Josh Brown
6	Blair Walsh
7	Robbie Gould
8	Justin Tucker
9	Dustin Hopkins
10	Steven Hauschka

Let's take the same approach at kicker, where owners know Stephen Gostkowski, John Brown and Steven Hauschka, among others, will essentially put up guaranteed points each week.

Instead, keep an eye on a sleeper such as Detroit's Matt Prater. He's only gone to double digits twice while the offense around him floundered, but one of those came this past weekend when he knocked through all three of his attempts for 13 points.

It's going to be a similar outburst against the Philadelphia Eagles, a team allowing the 10th-most points to kickers. Over the team's past four games, the Eagles have let up nine or more points.

Call it an attractive floor for a guy available in most leagues, just in time for the holidays.

All scoring info courtesy of ESPN standard leagues, as is points-against info and ownership stats as of November 24.