Fantasy Football Week 11 Rankings: Matchups We Love and Player Stat Projections

Matchups already play a major role in Week 11 fantasy football rankings.

Thursday Night Football between the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars was proof enough as the former's Marcus Mariota entered a superb situation and totaled 17 points despite a loss.

Matchups rule the day with the waiver wire mostly over and the full slate ahead. Here's a look at player projections and the top matchups to watch.

Week 11 Schedule

Sunday, Nov. 22	Time (ET)
Monday, Nov. 23	Time (ET)
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	Projected Points
1	Tom Brady	20
2	Derek Carr	18
3	Aaron Rodgers	16
4	Carson Palmer	12
5	Cam Newton	12
6	Matthew Stafford	11
7	Tyrod Taylor	10
8	Matt Ryan	10
9	Brock Osweiler	10
10	Andy Dalton	10
11	Philip Rivers	10
12	Brian Hoyer*	9
13	Russell Wilson	8
14	Tony Romo*	8
15	Ryan Fitzpatrick*	8

It's a great week for quarterbacks, to say the least.

The usual names dot the top of the list, but catching the eye should be Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr. The sophomore has five showings of 20 or more points this year while making great decisions and leaning on rookie Amari Cooper and veteran Michael Crabtree.

It's cakewalk time for Carr, too, as he goes into a showdown with the Detroit Lions. The struggling franchise allows the third-most points to the position on average with 16 or more surrendered in each game.

Also in a great situation is Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons. Owners might have a hard time trusting Ryan because he has posted 15 or fewer points four times as the offense focuses on a newfound ground game.

Despite the mistrust, it cannot be a factor this week when Ryan welcomes the Indianapolis Colts to town. The hapless Colts have let up two or more passing scores six times this year while ranking just outside of the top 10 worst teams against quarterbacks, so Ryan will produce well after a bye week.

Running Backs

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

This week's running back list starts off recognizable enough until the third slot. 

There, it's all about Jamaal Charles replacement Charcandrick West for the Kansas City Chiefs. Since becoming a major part of the game plan, West has 17 or more points in three consecutive games, including a touchdown and at least 20 carries in each.

West cited Charles for his improvement as a runner, too, according to ESPN's Ed Werder:

Wildly enough, West's best might still be on the way thanks to a game against the San Diego Chargers, the team coughing up the most points to backs on average.

A guy by the name of Marshawn Lynch sits in one of the week's best matchups, too.

Owners have hardly heard from Beast Mode this season thanks to injuries, but he's reached double digits in three of his last four with a trio of touchdowns to go with it.

Lynch won't have any problems rolling up yardage against the miserable San Francisco 49ers, who allow the fifth-most points to backs. In fact, he did just that in Week 7 with a score and a season-best 18 points.

Wide Receivers

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

It's DeAndre Hopkins time, folks. 

Well, it usually is time for the Houston Texans' top wideout, who has transformed into one of the game's top three receivers. He's hit double digits in every game but two this year, even hurting a strong Cincinnati defense with 11 points last week.

Hopkins has it even easier this week against the New York Jets. While it sounds terrible on paper, the Jets have allowed 20 or more points to opposing sets of wideouts seven times this year.

Long story short, the Jets are just a game removed from letting up 16 catches, 297 yards and two touchdowns to Jacksonville wideouts, good for 41 points. The man called Nuk is in for a big day.

So too is Tampa Bay Buccaneers target Mike Evans. He's been hurt this year, but Evans still has trips to double digits in three of his last four outings. Now he gets the Philadelphia Eagles in what could be a shootout.

The Eagles allow the fourth-most points to wideouts this year and appear to be getting worse by the week, having let up totals of 41 and 20 points, respectively, in recent weeks. Evans should feast on the road.

Tight Ends

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

Again, sometimes an owner just has to trust that the quiet players who don't dominate rankings can put together strong games. 

Case in point, Detroit Lions tight end Eric Ebron. He has just three trips to double digits on the season with the struggling franchise and posted just two points his last time out.

But he's the guy in the matchup with the Oakland Raiders this week, meaning owners must have him in their lineups. The Raiders still allow the most points to tight ends, and the position has scored against the unit four weeks in a row and 10 times overall.

Those who prefer to ride a hot hand can look at Washington's Jordan Reed, who has 14 or more points in two of his last three outings. He's breaking out, and a game against the Carolina Panthers will only help. 

Carolina has shown a weakness against the position in recent weeks, letting up three scores over its last three games and two trips to double digits in that span. Reed should once again crack at least 10 points.

Defense/Special Teams

Rank	Unit
1	Seahawks	11
2	Broncos	10
3	Rams	9
4	Jets	9
5	Patriots	9
6	Panthers	8
7	Eagles	7
8	Packers	7
9	Ravens	6
10	Cowboys	6

There's just no ignoring the Seahawks this week against the 49ers. 

The best way to describe the 49ers? Train wreck. They allowed the Seattle defense to total 13 points in Week 7 as the Seahawks shut down Colin Kaepernick and limited the offense to all of three points.

It looks even better this week. San Francisco now starts Blaine Gabbert under center, a guy who has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns in his career while completing 53.4 percent of his passes. He tossed a pair of touchdowns and interceptions in his lone start of the season a few weeks ago.

This time around the Seattle defense gets to feast at home, where a ridiculous home-field advantage will only make things more impossible for the 49ers offense.

That's a matchup to love.

Kickers

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

Another week, another good chance Denver Broncos kicker Brandon McManus leads all scorers.

McManus is simply on fire this season, having reached double digits five times with just one performance overall featuring less than six points.

Consistency is half the battle when picking a kicker, but a great matchup sure doesn't hurt. McManus has it this week against the Chicago Bears, the team allowing the eighth-most points to kickers.

Chicago has coughed up three double-digit outings to kickers and eight of six or more points, so McManus has an incredible floor and high ceiling.

All scoring info courtesy of ESPN standard leagues, as is points-against info and ownership stats as of November 20. Cleveland, New Orleans, New York Giants, Pittsburgh on bye.