Fantasy Football Week 12 Rankings: Updated Overview for All Positions

Sometimes we aren't surprised when a player explodes for fantasy owners. Nobody batted an eyelash when Marshawn Lynch went off in Week 10. Ditto for Aaron Rodgers.

But sometimes, we're all taken a bit by surprise. Jonas Gray? Mike Evans? The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense? For reals?

For reals. That's fantasy, folks, an exercise about as predictable as trying to figure out what Kanye West might say when you put a camera on him. All you can do is make the most informed, most intelligent decision possible and hope it works out.

Hopefully, my startability grades will help you do just that.

Notes: For a full explanation of the rankings, see here. Abridged version: Startability measures how smart it is to start a given player in a week rather than attempting to project how many points he will score. "Ability" measures a player's overall talent, proficiency at his position and ability to produce fantasy numbers. "Offense" measures how much that team's offense improves his fantasy stock. The overall "startability" grade is weighted. All point totals and points-against statistics via ESPN standard scoring leagues. 

Schedule

Thursday, November 20	Time (ET)	TV
Sunday, November 23	Time (ET)	TV
Monday, November 24	Time (ET)	TV
Kansas City at Oakland	8:25 p.m.	NFL
Tennessee at Philadelphia	1 p.m.	CBS
Cleveland at Atlanta	1 p.m.	CBS
Detroit at New England	1 p.m.	FOX
Green Bay at Minnesota	1 p.m.	FOX
Jacksonville at Indianapolis	1 p.m.	CBS
Cincinnati at Houston	1 p.m.	CBS
NY Jets at Buffalo	1 p.m.	CBS
Tampa Bay at Chicago	1 p.m.	FOX
Arizona at Seattle	4:05 p.m.	FOX
St. Louis at San Diego	4:05 p.m.	FOX
Miami at Denver	4:25 p.m.	CBS
Washington at San Francisco	4:25 p.m.	CBS
Dallas at NY Giants	8:30 p.m.	NBC
Baltimore at New Orleans	8:30 p.m.	ESPN

Quarterbacks

Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
1	Andrew Luck	49	14	14	10	A+ (87)
2	Aaron Rodgers	50	10	15	10	A (85)
3	Drew Brees	49	14	13	9	A (85)
4	Peyton Manning	50	5	15	10	A- (80)
5	Jay Cutler	42	17	12	8	A- (79)
6	Tom Brady	48	5	13	8	B (74)
7	Joe Flacco	40	17	11	6	B (74)
8	Russell Wilson	47	5	12	9	B- (73)
9	Tony Romo	40	15	11	7	B- (73)
10	Philip Rivers	45	10	11	7	B- (73)
11	Colin Kaepernick	40	20	8	5	B- (73)
12	Josh McCown	37	20	10	6	B- (73)
13	Matt Stafford	44	12	11	5	C+ (72)
14	Ryan Tannehill	40	16	9	6	C (71)
15	Kyle Orton	37	21	7	5	C (70)
16	Mark Sanchez	38	9	14	5	C- (66)
17	Andy Dalton	39	12	10	5	C- (66)
18	Eli Manning	41	11	9	5	C- (66)
19	Matt Ryan	42	5	9	5	D (61)
20	Robert Griffin III	40	5	8	4	D (57)

A lot of very good quarterbacks have very rough matchups this week.

But given how good they've been this year, you're going to just have to ride it out with Peyton Manning against the Miami Dolphins (allowing the fewest fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks in the NFL), Russell Wilson against the Arizona Cardinals (just 18 total points given up to opposing quarterbacks in the past three weeks) and Tom Brady against the Detroit Lions (second in fantasy points allowed to the position).

Still, this might be a week to take a chance on a player that normally hovers closer to the QB2 range. The always-streaky Joe Flacco faces a New Orleans defense that just gave up three passing touchdowns to Andy Dalton. And Tony Romo went for 21 fantasy points the last time he faced the New York Giants in Week 7.

Your sleeper of the week? Josh McCown. He's registered 17 or more fantasy points in three of his four starts this season and now faces a Chicago defense giving up 19.5 fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks per week, 30th in the NFL.

In deeper leagues, McCown is worth a start this week. 

Running Backs

Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
1	DeMarco Murray	48	22	15	10	A+ (95)
2	Jamaal Charles	49	21	14	10	A+ (94)
3	Arian Foster*	48	18	14	9	A (89)
4	Matt Forte	48	16	14	10	A (88)
5	LeSean McCoy	46	22	10	7	A (85)
6	Eddie Lacy	43	18	10	7	A (78)
7	Giovani Bernard**	44	14	12	8	A (78)
8	Denard Robinson	40	18	10	7	A- (75)
9	Marshawn Lynch	49	3	14	8	A- (74)
10	Andre Ellington	44	8	13	8	A- (73)
11	Justin Forsett	37	15	12	8	B+ (72)
12	Isaiah Crowell	37	20	10	5	B+ (72)
13	Lamar Miller	42	7	12	8	B (69)
14	C.J. Anderson	38	11	14	6	B (69)
15	Trent Richardson	38	17	10	4	B (69)
16	Rashad Jennings	40	12	11	6	B (69)
17	Darren Sproles	39	22	5	3	B (69)
18	Joique Bell	40	15	7	5	B- (67)
19	Jerick McKinnon	38	13	10	5	B- (66)
20	Mark Ingram	43	3	11	8	C+ (65)
21	Alfred Morris	44	4	10	7	C+ (65)
22	Ryan Mathews	40	11	9	5	C+ (65)
23	Terrance West	35	20	5	4	C+ (65)
24	Fred Jackson*	40	7	10	7	C (64)
25	Reggie Bush*	38	15	6	4	C (63)
26	Frank Gore	40	7	9	5	C (61)
27	Chris Ivory	40	4	11	6	C (61)
28	Bishop Sankey	36	14	5	4	C (59)
29	Steven Jackson	35	13	7	4	C (59)
30	Tre Mason	35	12	7	3	C- (57)
31	Charles Sims	35	11	7	3	D+ (56)
32	Branden Oliver	35	9	7	4	D+ (55)
33	Shane Vereen	36	6	8	4	D (54)
34	Jonas Gray	36	6	7	3	D (52)
35	Darren McFadden	37	5	5	4	D (51)

Denard Robinson is an RB1 this week.

I'll be honest, I never, ever thought I would type that sentence. But after four straight games with double-digit fantasy points and facing an Indianapolis Colts defense giving up 21 fantasy points to opposing running backs per week, 28th in the NFL, he's earned it.

Peter Aiken/Getty Images

So unpredictable is the running back position that even in a week when he's facing the second-stingiest defense against opposing running backs, the Arizona Cardinals, Marshawn Lynch is still an RB1. Ignore all of the odd drama surrounding Lynch—when the game begins and Lynch starts pounding the rock between the tackles, all is right in the world. 

If he wants to sit on the bench at halftime instead of joining his teammates in the locker room, who cares? He's still scored 77 fantasy points in the past three weeks for owners. A spat here or a spat there with the organization isn't about to keep him off the field, and a tough matchup shouldn't keep him out of your starting lineups, either.

I really like Isaiah Crowell this week. He's seized the starting gig in Cleveland over Terrance West, at least for the time being, and the Atlanta Falcons are 31st in the NFL in fantasy points given up to opposing running backs. Crowell should absolutely be in your starting lineups this week.

Wide Receivers

Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
1	A.J. Green	49	23	11	9	92
2	Brandon Marshall	47	23	12	7	89
3	Jordy Nelson	48	15	15	9	87
4	Alshon Jeffery	45	23	12	7	87
5	Randall Cobb	46	15	15	9	85
6	Dez Bryant	49	9	13	9	80
7	T.Y. Hilton	44	15	14	7	80
8	Demaryius Thomas	48	7	15	9	79
9	Julio Jones	49	11	12	6	78
10	Jeremy Maclin	45	10	13	8	76
11	Calvin Johnson	49	5	13	8	75
12	DeSean Jackson	45	13	11	6	75
13	Emmanuel Sanders*	45	7	15	9	75
14	Josh Gordon	42	20	8	5	75
15	Sammy Watkins	43	16	10	6	75
16	Torrey Smith	40	19	10	6	75
17	Mike Evans	42	13	12	7	74
18	Steve Smith	40	19	8	6	73
19	Mike Wallace	44	10	11	7	72
20	Mohamed Sanu	38	23	6	5	72
21	Reggie Wayne	39	15	10	6	70
22	Anquan Boldin	40	15	9	5	69
23	Kendall Wright	38	21	5	5	69
24	Golden Tate	43	5	10	8	66
25	Roddy White	39	11	9	6	65
26	Odell Beckham Jr.	40	7	10	7	64
27	Jordan Matthews	39	10	10	5	64
28	Percy Harvin	42	12	5	5	64
29	Vincent Jackson	42	13	5	4	64
30	Michael Crabtree	40	15	6	3	64
31	Julian Edelman	39	5	13	6	63
32	Brandon LaFell	39	5	13	5	62
33	DeAndre Hopkins	40	5	9	7	61
34	Pierre Garcon	40	13	5	3	61
35	Eric Decker	38	12	5	5	60
36	Terrance Williams	38	9	8	5	60
37	Larry Fitzgerald	40	3	7	6	56
38	Andre Johnson	40	5	7	3	55
39	Rueben Randle	35	7	8	3	53
40	Michael Floyd	40	3	5	4	52

A.J. Green is producing once again, folks. So is Calvin Johnson, even if he wasn't great in Week 11. Brandon Marshall is finally healthy and tearing opposing defenses to shreds.

We're back to normal, folks.

Mike Evans is just the latest rookie wide receiver to defy expectations by playing like a top receiver, while Vincent Jackson struggles. Odell Beckham Jr. has been excellent since returning from injury. Jordan Matthews is carving out a nice role for himself on the Philadelphia Eagles. The rookies are taking over.

Michael Floyd was all but left for dead but exploded in Week 11.

DeAndre Hopkins has surpassed Andre Johnson as the top gun in Houston, T.Y. Hilton has done the same to Reggie Wayne in Indianapolis and Torrey Smith went into a Week 11 bye with double-digit points in five of seven games, while Steve Smith has faltered.

Things have never been more bizarre at wide receiver, folks. But hey, that's what makes fantasy football fun, right?

Tight Ends

Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
1	Rob Gronkowski	49	11	15	9	84
2	Jimmy Graham	49	8	13	8	78
3	Julius Thomas	48	5	14	7	74
4	Coby Fleener	38	15	11	6	70
5	Martellus Bennett	41	11	12	5	69
6	Travis Kelce	42	15	8	4	69
7	Antonio Gates	42	7	12	7	68
8	Jason Witten	40	15	7	6	68
9	Larry Donnell*	37	18	9	4	68
10	Kyle Rudolph	40	13	5	3	61
11	Delanie Walker	39	5	8	4	56
12	Owen Daniels	36	5	8	6	55

Let's focus on two fringe starters this week.

With Ahmad Bradshaw out for the year and Dwayne Allen beat up, the Indianapolis Colts are now without their two best weapons in the red zone. Coby Fleener was already the No. 12 tight end in fantasy points this season, but now he should garner additional looks from Andrew Luck near the red zone.

Against the Jacksonville Jaguars, that absolutely makes him a TE1.

When last the Giants met the Dallas Cowboys, Larry Donnell caught seven passes for 90 yards. Coming off an 11-point performance this past week, Donnell is well worth a look as a low-end TE1.

Defense/Special Teams

Rank	Defense
1	Buffalo Bills
2	Green Bay Packers
3	San Francisco 49ers
4	Kansas City Chiefs
5	Philadelphia Eagles
6	Arizona Cardinals
7	New England Patriots
8	San Diego Chargers
9	Houston Texans
10	Indianapolis Colts

Kickers

Rank	Player	Team
1	Adam Vinatieri	Indianapolis Colts
2	Cody Parkey	Philadelphia Eagles
3	Dan Bailey	Dallas Cowboys
4	Mason Crosby	Green Bay Packers
5	Justin Tucker	Baltimore Ravens
6	Dan Carpenter	Buffalo Bills
7	Phil Dawson	San Francisco 49ers
8	Steven Hauschka	Seattle Seahawks
9	Caleb Sturgis	Miami Dolphins
10	Stephen Gostkowski	New England Patriots

Hit me up on Twitter—I'll answer your fantasy questions and make some corny jokes, too. It's more fun than being Aaron Rodgers right now. OK, not quite. Fine, it's not like that at all. Jeez.