Fantasy Football Week 11 Rankings: Top Players and Matchups for All Positions

Going into Week 11, fantasy football player rankings are like the power rankings of teams themselves.

As in, they're a great groundwork for owners to use while crafting lineups, but there's always a sub-.500 AFC South team lurking out there and ruining plans. Or in fantasy's case, a running back such as Jeremy Langford besting all others with 29 points like he did in Week 10.

Below, let's take a look at the full Week 11 schedule and rank the top players at each position based on past performance, projection, matchup and more.

Week 11 Schedule

Thursday, Nov. 19	Time (ET)
Sunday, Nov. 22	Time (ET)
Monday, Nov. 23	Time (ET)
Tennessee at Jacksonville	8:25 p.m.
St. Louis at Baltimore	1 p.m.
Washington at Carolina	1 p.m.
Denver at Chicago	1 p.m.
Oakland at Detroit	1 p.m.
Indianapolis at Atlanta	1 p.m.
Dallas at Miami	1 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Philadelphia	1 p.m.
N.Y. Jets at Houston	1 p.m.
Kansas City at San Diego	4:05 p.m.
Green Bay at Minnesota	4:25 p.m.
San Francisco at Seattle	4:25 p.m.
Cincinnati at Arizona	8:30 p.m.
Buffalo at New England	8:30 p.m.

Quarterbacks

Rank	Player
1	Tom Brady
2	Derek Carr
3	Aaron Rodgers
4	Carson Palmer
5	Cam Newton
6	Matthew Stafford
7	Tyrod Taylor
8	Matt Ryan
9	Blake Bortles
10	Andy Dalton
11	Philip Rivers
12	Brian Hoyer*
13	Russell Wilson
14	Tony Romo*
15	Ryan Fitzpatrick*

It's fun to look at quarterback and talk about Tom Brady and others, but perhaps even more fun is looking at some of the young quarterbacks charging up the rankings on a weekly basis.

Look at Derek Carr of the Oakland Raiders, who has 20 or more points five times this year and only two occurrences of single-digit production, one because he left a game early with an injury.

Carr's development has been fun to watch, and it helps he gets to lean on Michael Crabtree and top rookie Amari Cooper. It's going to get even better in Week 11 against the Detroit Lions, the unit allowing the third-most points to quarterbacks.

Also a bit unexpected is Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles, another young riser. He's more of a matchup-based play, but he happens to have four outings of 20 or more points and has thrown two or more touchdowns in all but two of his outings.

Folks may shy away from the Jacksonville offense, but it would be a mistake as Bortles takes on the Tennessee Titans, the team coughing up the eighth-most points to quarterbacks, with two or more touchdowns allowed in six games.

Running Backs

Rank	Player
1	Devonta Freeman
2	Adrian Peterson
3	Charcandrick West
4	Marshawn Lynch
5	Todd Gurley
6	Darren McFadden
7	Jonathan Stewart
8	Jeremy Langford
9	Lamar Miller
10	DeMarco Murray
11	Latavius Murray
12	LeGarrette Blount
13	Justin Forsett
14	T.J. Yeldon*
15	Chris Ivory
16	Frank Gore
17	LeSean McCoy
18	Chris Johnson
19	Doug Martin
20	Carlos Hyde*
21	Danny Woodhead
22	Antonio Andrews
23	Giovani Bernard
24	Melvin Gordon
25	Joique Bell
26	Matt Jones
27	C.J. Anderson
28	James Starks
29	Jeremy Hill
30	Alfred Blue

More often than not, owners expect the unexpected names to pop up at running back, not quarterback. 

Fret not, because running back has a few surefire surprises this week amid the monotony.

One is Dallas Cowboys running back Darren McFadden, who earned the starting gig a few weeks back and now has 17 or more carries in four consecutive outings, which has helped him create three double-digit outings.

DraftKings' Adam Levitan explained the scenario around the veteran:

McFadden's matchup comes against the Miami Dolphins, the team letting up the second-most points to running backs.

It's going to be an interesting game, to say the least—McFadden's Miami counterpart, Lamar Miller, is one to watch as well. Miller has 15 or more points in four of his last five games since the Dolphins made a coaching change.

Those Cowboys? They rank right behind the Dolphins in terms of points allowed to backs, so expect the explosive Miller to have a massive day.

Wide Receivers

Rank	Player
1	DeAndre Hopkins
2	Julio Jones
3	Calvin Johnson
4	Dez Bryant
5	A.J. Green
6	Larry Fitzgerald
7	Michael Crabtree
8	Amari Cooper
9	Alshon Jeffery
10	Brandon Marshall
11	Allen Robinson
12	Mike Evans
13	Randall Cobb
14	Danny Amendola
15	Stevie Johnson
16	Sammy Watkins
17	Kamar Aiken
18	Jeremy Maclin
19	Brandon LaFell
20	Eric Decker
21	Michael Floyd*
22	Demaryius Thomas
23	John Brown
24	Davante Adams
25	Jordan Matthews
26	Nate Washington
27	Jarvis Landry
28	T.Y. Hilton
29	Golden Tate
30	Allen Hurns
31	Emmanuel Sanders*
32	Marvin Jones
33	Anquan Boldin*
34	Tavon Austin
35	Robert Woods

Other than the target hogs who make up the meat of the receiver rankings, owners need to know about the Mike Evans and Sammy Watkins-esque players of the world. 

Evans is a good place to start. He's dealing with a rookie quarterback in Jameis Winston under center, but it hasn't stopped him from posting three double-digit outings over his past four games.

Winston will always look to force the ball to Evans, which is especially good news as the team heads into a matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles. Those Eagles allow the fourth-most points to receivers this year and have coughed up 20 or more to opposing wideout corps six times, including twice in a row.

Watkins isn't playing with a rookie thanks to Tyrod Taylor, but the Buffalo Bills' No. 1 wideout has to struggle with inconsistency issues regardless in a run-first offense.

For example, Watkins mustered just a single point in Week 10 against Darrelle Revis and the New York Jets. No problem, though, as he next gets the New England Patriots—a team he scored 12 against in Week 2 for one of his three trips to double digits.

The Patriots rank right behind the Eagles in terms of points allowed to the position, so Watkins putting up another strong day looks like a sure thing.

Tight Ends

Rank	Player
1	Rob Gronkowski
2	Greg Olsen
3	Antonio Gates
4	Tyler Eifert
5	Eric Ebron
6	Jordan Reed
7	Julius Thomas
8	Jimmy Graham
9	Coby Fleener
10	Zach Ertz
11	Martellus Bennett
12	Jason Witten

Other than Eric Ebron of the Lions sitting in an outstanding matchup, things look normal at tight end this weekend. 

One name to watch would be Washington's Jordan Reed, which seems obvious considering he exploded for 14 points last week, good for his second double-digit performance in his past three outings.

Reed has the look of a lock to do so again on the road against the Carolina Panthers, who have let up three double-digit allowances to the position over their last five.

Also in a great situation is Bortles' tight end, Julius Thomas. The veteran hasn't had the season he would prefer since joining the team this past offseason. He's posted more than 10 points just once, but he's still seen 32 targets in limited playing time.

Thomas shouldn't have any problems producing against the Titans, who have let up 16 or more points to tight ends in two consecutive games and have allowed three sets of opposing tight ends to score two touchdowns.

Defense/Special Teams

Rank	Unit
1	Seahawks
2	Broncos
3	Rams
4	Jets
5	Patriots
6	Panthers
7	Eagles
8	Packers
9	Titans
10	Cowboys

The Seattle Seahawks have been a smooth play for fantasy owners most of the season, even if their overall record doesn't showcase it much. 

Seattle has four trips to double digits this season with a few clunkers mixed in for good measure, but matchups with explosive offenses such as Green Bay and Carolina were bound to be off weeks.

Week 11 certainly won't be thanks to another date against the San Francisco 49ers, a team surrendering the fourth-most points to opposing defenses.

Back in Week 7, Seattle allowed just three points on the way to 13 points for owners, who should be all over the rematch as the 49ers trot out the turnover-prone Blaine Gabbert on the road.

Kickers

Rank	Player
1	Justin Tucker
2	Brandon McManus
3	Stephen Gostkowski
4	Nick Novak
5	Steven Hauschka
6	Josh Lambo
7	Andrew Franks
8	Graham Gano
9	Dan Bailey
10	Mason Crosby

It's time for owners to once again buy the stock of Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker.

Tucker started hot, with three double-digits outings over his first four this season, but has posted just one such outing since. He hit a new season low in Week 10 with just a single point. 

Still, if there's a time for Tucker to turn it around, it would be this week against the St. Louis Rams. Those Rams allow the sixth-most points to the position and have allowed each kicker to score at least six points.

That's a solid floor for owners who trot out Tucker, but with the Rams stopping the Baltimore offense often and forcing field goals, Tucker has the highest ceiling of any kicker on the week.

All scoring info courtesy of ESPN standard leagues, as is points-against info and ownership stats as of November 18. Cleveland, New Orleans, New York Giants, Pittsburgh on bye.