Week 12 Fantasy Football Rankings: Highlighting Most Trustworthy Stars

It's easy in fantasy football to get too cute. Read enough stats, and you can build a strong case for sitting certain players and starting guys you would normally keep on your bench.

But generally speaking, it's always wise to trust in your stars. 

On my top-10 rankings at the offensive positions this week, I've highlighted those stars you should trust this week. Sure, there are a few players that won't make the list due to brutal matchups or other considerations, but my rankings support the theory that you should stick with your studs this week.

Notes: All point totals for standard-scoring leagues. Points against stats via ESPN. The Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles, Cincinnati Bengals and Seattle Seahawks are on bye. 

Quarterbacks

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Proj. Points
1	Drew Brees	New Orleans Saints	Atlanta Falcons	30
2	Matt Stafford	Detroit Lions	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	26
3	Peyton Manning	Denver Broncos	New England Patriots	24
4	Tom Brady	New England Patriots	Denver Broncos	20
5	Tony Romo	Dallas Cowboys	New York Giants	18
6	Andrew Luck	Indianapolis Colts	Arizona Cardinals	17
7	Colin Kaepernick	San Francisco 49ers	Washington	17
8	Cam Newton	Carolina Panthers	Miami Dolphins	15
9	Robert Griffin III	Washington	San Francisco 49ers	15
10	Alex Smith	Kansas City Chiefs	San Diego Chargers	14

Drew Brees against the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night almost isn't fair. While only Peyton Manning has more fantasy points than Brees this season, the Atlanta Falcons are allowing 18.4 points to opposing quarterbacks per week, 27th in the NFL. 

Enjoy the spoils of another huge game, Brees owners. 

Matt Stafford will torch a Tampa Bay Buccaneers' defense allowing 18.1 fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks per week, while Peyton Manning would put up 20 fantasy points on the Great Wall of China if it was implanted into the stadium to play defense against the Denver Broncos. 

Andrew Luck has been Captain Consistency this season (he has scored 13 or more fantasy points in nine of 10 games), so he'll overcome a tough matchup against the Arizona Cardinals, while Tony Romo should throw the ball enough to produce despite a revitalized New York Giants defense.

And Cam Newton and Robert Griffin III have been inconsistent this year, yes, but both have been excellent for fantasy owners of late and should continue that trend even if their total production this week is somewhat modest against tough defenses.

Running Backs

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Proj. Points
1	Matt Forte	Chicago Bears	St. Louis Rams	25
2	Frank Gore	San Francisco 49ers	Washington	24
3	Adrian Peterson	Minnesota Vikings	Green Bay Packers	21
4	Chris Johnson	Tennessee Titans	Oakland Raiders	20
5	Zac Stacy	St. Louis Rams	Chicago Bears	20
6	Jamaal Charles	Kansas City Chiefs	San Diego Chargers	19
7	Eddie Lacy	Green Bay Packers	Minnesota Vikings	15
8	Knowshon Moreno	Denver Broncos	New England Patriots	14
9	Rashad Jennings	Oakland Raiders	Tennessee Titans	13
10	Ben Tate	Houston Texans	Jacksonville Jaguars	13

Most weeks, the running back rankings are dominated by the stars at the top, mostly because the position has been so scary and thin this year that you have no choice but to roll with the big names. Not much has changed this week, though the position has seen an influx of depth in the later week—a pretty rare occurrence.

Nonetheless, trust your studs this week.

One of the biggest questions I've gotten this week is why Andre Brown didn't make the cut (even though I obviously think he's a locked and loaded RB2). The thing is, who would you replace him with?

Rashad Jennings has 340 rushing yards and two touchdowns the past three weeks and faces a Tennessee Titans defense giving up 19.8 fantasy points per week, 27th in the NFL. Ben Tate is the clear starter in Houston and faces a Jacksonville Jaguars team allowing 19.1 fantasy points per week, 25th in the NFL.

I know Brown has been solid as the starter and the Dallas Cowboys stink against the run, but the Cowboys are coming off a bye and there is always the fear that Brandon Jacobs could steal goal-line touches. I love Brown this week, but not quite enough for him to crack the top 10. 

Wide Receivers

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Proj. Points
1	Calvin Johnson	Detroit Lions	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	27
2	Andre Johnson	Houston Texans	Jacksonville Jaguars	22
3	Josh Gordon	Cleveland Browns	Pittsburgh Steelers	20
4	Dez Bryant	Dallas Cowboys	New York Giants	19
5	Demaryius Thomas	Denver Broncos	New England Patriots	18
6	Vincent Jackson	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Detroit Lions	17
7	Jordy Nelson	Green Bay Packers	Minnesota Vikings	16
8	Brandon Marshall	Chicago Bears	St. Louis Rams	16
9	Victor Cruz	New York Giants	Dallas Cowboys	14
10	Marques Colston	New Orleans Saints	Atlanta Falcons	13

Calvin Johnson has 112 fantasy points in the past four weeks, which would place him at 50th in the player rankings for all of 2013. Folks, Megatron is out of this world, and it wouldn't be surprising in the least if his owners were currently experiencing a four-game winning streak.  

Andre Johnson, Vincent Jackson, Jordy Nelson and Victor Cruz all have tasty matchups and should produce in a big way this week. The Pittsburgh Steelers have been tough against the pass—or at least they were before facing the New England Patriots and Detroit Lions—but Josh Gordon has matchup-defying talent.

The Patriots could shadow Demaryius Thomas with Aqib Talib, but Thomas is always one catch-and-run away from a huge afternoon, so you shouldn't hesitate to start him. 

Essentially, the moral of the story here is to trust your studs, much like at running back. 

Tight Ends

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Proj. Points
1	Vernon Davis	San Francisco 49ers	Washington	18
2	Rob Gronkowski	New England Patriots	Denver Broncos	17
3	Julius Thomas	Denver Broncos	New England Patriots	15
4	Jimmy Graham	New Orleans Saints	Atlanta Falcons	13
5	Jason Witten	Dallas Cowboys	New York Giants	12
6	Tony Gonzalez	Atlanta Falcons	New Orleans Saints	12
7	Rob Housler	Arizona Cardinals	Indianapolis Colts	10
8	Delanie Walker	Tennessee Titans	Oakland Raiders	9
9	Jordan Cameron	Cleveland Browns	Pittsburgh Steelers	9
10	Charles Clay	Miami Dolphins	Carolina Panthers	8

Jimmy Graham, Rob Gronkowski, Julius Thomas and Vernon Davis must be started every week, no questions asked. There isn't a bad matchup for the top four at this position. 

After that you can get cuter if you like, but it's still pretty hard to sit players like Tony Gonzalez or Jason Witten. If you decide to shake things up, both Rob Housler and Delanie Walker are nice plays this week, especially the latter who has seemed to forge a strong chemistry with backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Hit me up on Twitter—I'll answer your fantasy lineup questions, tweet random fantasy musings and lament Ray Rice producing the week I finally benched him.