Fantasy Football Week 13 Rankings: Projections to Love and Matchups to Exploit

Green Bay Packers tight end Richard Rodgers gets all of the attention right now for his game-winning catch on Thursday Night Football against the Detroit Lions.

Call it an incredible way to kick off Week 13 of fantasy football, but owners will see it as even more justification for weighing matchups as one of the most important factors around. Right with him on the scoring leaderboard was quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who also sat in one of the week's top matchups.

Below, let's look at the rest. It's a gaudy slate with plenty of chances to craft meaningful lineups and score wins late in the season.

Week 13 Schedule

Sunday, Dec. 06	Time (ET)
Monday, Dec. 07	Time (ET)
Seattle at Minnesota	1:00 pm
Cincinnati at Cleveland	1:00 pm
Baltimore at Miami	1:00 pm
Houston at Buffalo	1:00 pm
San Francisco at Chicago	1:00 pm
Jacksonville at Tennessee	1:00 pm
Atlanta at Tampa Bay	1:00 pm
Arizona at St. Louis	1:00 pm
N.Y. Jets at N.Y. Giants	1:00 pm
Denver at San Diego	4:05 pm
Kansas City at Oakland	4:05 pm
Carolina at New Orleans	4:25 pm
Philadelphia at New England	4:25 pm
Indianapolis at Pittsburgh	8:30 pm
Dallas at Washington	8:30 pm

Quarterbacks

Rank	Player	Projected Points
1	Cam Newton	20
2	Tom Brady	19
3	Carson Palmer	18
4	Andy Dalton	16
5	Drew Brees	12
6	Ryan Tannehill	12
7	Eli Manning	11
8	Ben Roethlisberger*	10
9	Philip Rivers	10
10	Ryan Fitzpatrick	10
11	Derek Carr	10
12	Russell Wilson	10
13	Blake Bortles	9
14	Marcus Mariota	8
15	Jay Cutler	8

Other than Cam Newton destroying the New Orleans Saints, Andy Dalton of the Cincinnati Bengals is a great matchup to exploit.

For some odd reason, Dalton still has an ownership percentage of just 93.4, but the chunk of owners have cashed in on 19 or more points in three of his last four outings—he's scored 17 or more points nine times this year.

One of those times came via a 21-point outburst on three touchdowns against the Cleveland Browns. Dalton's AFC North rivals allow the fourth-most points to the position, so his having another major day looks like a sure thing.

Ryan Tannehill of the Miami Dolphins sits in the same ownership-percentage boat at 67 despite 15 or more points five times.

Tannehill's more of a matchup-based play than Dalton, which is just fine this week with the Baltimore Ravens in town. The Ravens look lost and allow the second-most points to the spot with two or more passing touchdowns surrendered eight times this year.

Running Backs

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

Other than the usual suspects at the top of the list, keep a close eye on Pittsburgh Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams, who has worked his way into the top 10 scorers at the position this year. 

Le'Veon Bell's replacement has outings of 36 and 16 points in two of his last three games, a strong example of his production based on matchups this year.

It's nothing but a good thing for owners going into a showdown against the Indianapolis Colts, owners of a defense allowing the eighth-most points to backs with double digits allowed to backfields in every game except two.

Another veteran in for a big day would be Doug Martin of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His rebound season continues against the Atlanta Falcons, a defense coughing up the fourth-most points to backs with totals of 22 and 33 allowances in recent weeks.

Martin carried the ball 23 times for 71 yards and seven points against the Falcons in Week 8, but the numbers should be even bigger this time around with the Falcons tanking the hardest of any team over the past month.

Wide Receivers

Rank	Player	Projected Points
1	Julio Jones	14
2	A.J. Green	13
3	Alshon Jeffery	13
4	Antonio Brown	12
5	Odell Beckham Jr.	12
6	DeAndre Hopkins	12
7	Larry Fitzgerald	11
8	Brandon Marshall	11
9	T.Y. Hilton	10
10	Amari Cooper	9
11	Jarvis Landry	9
12	Brandon LaFell	9
13	Mike Evans	8
14	Michael Crabtree	8
15	Danny Amendola*	8
16	Allen Robinson	8
17	Sammy Watkins	8
18	Eric Decker	8
19	Stevie Johnson	8
20	Martavis Bryant	8
21	Jeremy Maclin	8
22	Demaryius Thomas	8
23	Dez Bryant	7
24	Tavon Austin	7
25	Brandin Cooks	7
26	Emmanuel Sanders	7
27	Kamar Aiken	6
28	Jordan Matthews	6
29	Doug Baldwin	6
30	John Brown	6
31	Donte Moncrief	6
32	Kenny Stills	6
33	Vincent Jackson	6
34	Michael Floyd	6
35	Marvin Jones	6

Thursday didn't show it much, but Week 13 figures to be a strong one for wideouts. 

Even Colts wideout T.Y. Hilton should get in on the top-scoring action with 40-year-old quarterback Matt Hasselbeck under center. 

He sure did last week, catching six passes for 95 yards and two scores, good for 21 points. It was a matter of time before Hilton developed strong chemistry with the veteran gunslinger, and just in time for a Steelers defense allowing the fourth-most points to wideouts.

Seriously, Pittsburgh just allowed five touchdown passes last week to Seattle. Hilton's going to find pay dirt.

Alongside Hilton in the rankings is Oakland's Amari Cooper. The rookie stands as the Raiders' top weapon this year with six trips to double digits. He gets his first of two shots at the Kansas City Chiefs this weekend, owners of a defense surrendering the second-most points to his position.

The Chiefs have let up double digits to opposing wideouts in every game this year. Cooper's a lock to go for such a total on his own as the No. 1 wideout.

Tight Ends

Rank	Player	Projected Points
1	Greg Olsen	14
2	Travis Kelce	12
3	Delanie Walker	10
4	Tyler Eifert*	8
5	Scott Chandler	8
6	Gary Barnidge	8
7	Julius Thomas	8
8	Jordan Reed	7
9	Coby Fleener	7
10	Antonio Gates	6
11	Heath Miller	6
12	Martellus Bennett*	6

Other than a member of the Panthers yet again destroying the Saints, it's all about Kansas City's Kelce at tight end.

Kelce hasn't been the most reliable player in the world by any means this year, but he did break through for double digits last time out for the first time since Week 8.

Now Kelce gets to ride that momentum into a matchup with the Raiders, a team so bad against tight ends that at one point owners had no choice but to start whoever lined up against them. Oakland still allows the second-most points to the position and coughed up 19 last week, so expect Kelce to have a major day.

Don't forget about Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Julius Thomas either, who also enters this week after a strong double-digit outing. Thomas isn't posting anywhere near the numbers he did last year in Denver, but he's now healthy and playing well.

Owners better have him in the lineup this weekend against the Tennessee Titans. They allow the seventh-most points to the position, and back in Week 11 Thomas caught a touchdown and totaled eight points against the unit.

More this time around wouldn't be a shock.

Defense/Special Teams

Rank	Unit	Projected Points
1	Broncos	10
2	Cardinals	9
3	Bengals	9
4	Bears	9
5	Seahawks	8
6	Panthers	7
7	Patriots	7
8	Titans	6
9	Texans	6
10	Jets	6

It wouldn't hurt to follow logic that says start any defense that plays the Browns.

Of course, it certainly helps that it happens to be the Bengals this week. Cleveland allows the second-most points to opposing defenses this year, a scary proposition against a Cincinnati defense that ranks among the top 10 scorers at the position.

Cincinnati has at least one interception in all but two games this year and is sure to make Austin Davis' start a nightmare. Expect sacks and interceptions galore as the Bengals gun for a No. 1 seed in the conference and a season sweep of the Battle of Ohio.

Kickers

Rank	Player	Projected Points
1	Blair Walsh	8
2	Matt Bryant*	8
3	Cairo Santos	8
4	Brandon McManus	8
5	Graham Gano	8
6	Chandler Catanzaro	8
7	Mike Nugent	7
8	Steven Hauschka	7
9	Josh Brown	7
10	Dustin Hopkins	6

Cairo Santos looks like one of the top dogs heading into the divisional showdown between the Chiefs and Raiders.

The Raiders allow the second-most points to kickers this year, having permitted six double-digit performances with three of its last four opponents attempting three field goals per game.

Santos, on the other hand, has four double-digit outings this year as fantasy's third-highest scorer. He's attempted 12 kicks over his past three outings alone, so sheer volume against a bad unit will ensure a big day.

All scoring info courtesy of ESPN standard leagues, as is points-against info and ownership stats as of Dec. 4.