Fantasy Football Week 13 Rankings: Guide for Top Players and Sleepers

Week 13 of the fantasy football season might be the most exciting offering yet.

A showdown between the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions on Thursday Night Football certainly figures to start things off with a bang as Aaron Rodgers and Matthew Stafford dish to some of the most explosive weapons in the game.

The divisional showdown is just the beginning, too, with plenty of heavyweight encounters on the slate, making for a profitable time for owners.

Below, let's sort through the chaos and amass rankings while looking at the top players and hinting at a few sleepers.

Week 13 Schedule

Thursday, Dec. 03	Time (ET)
Sunday, Dec. 06	Time (ET)
Monday, Dec. 07	Time (ET)
Green Bay at Detroit	8:25 pm
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
1	Cam Newton
2	Tom Brady
3	Carson Palmer
4	Aaron Rodgers
5	Andy Dalton
6	Matthew Stafford
7	Drew Brees
8	Ryan Tannehill
9	Eli Manning
10	Ben Roethlisberger*
11	Philip Rivers
12	Ryan Fitzpatrick
13	Derek Carr
14	Russell Wilson
15	Blake Bortles

Cam Newton is about to go off.

Of course, owners know the Carolina Panthers signal-caller has the ability, especially after a 30-point outburst in Week 11. For those counting, he's now at double digits in every game this year, with nine trips above 15 points.

Newton might hit a new season high this week, though. Thank an encounter with the New Orleans Saints, the team surrendering the most points to quarterbacks on average—an average almost four points higher than the next team.

Don't forget, too, that Newton already pasted these Saints for 29 points in Week 3. Any hope a divisional rival can figure him out and slow him down doesn't exist.

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles looks like a viable streaming option this week, too. He's the owner of 15 or more points eight times this year in a surprisingly fantasy-friendly offense.

It is important to point out, though, that Bortles struggled to nine points in a Week 11 encounter with the Tennessee Titans. Understand it's an anomaly, though, as Bortles went on to score 22 the next week and Tennessee coughed up 23 the next week, too.

Bortles will be back to his usual self for this matchup against a defense that has let up multiple passing touchdowns seven times.

Running Backs

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

The Muscle Hamster, or whatever in the world Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin wants to be called these days, is set for a huge performance.

Fantasy's third-highest scorer at running back has an encounter against the Atlanta Falcons, a team he mustered seven points against earlier this year. Atlanta, though, has done nothing short of fall off the proverbial cliff and now allows the fourth-most points to backs this season.

This makes Martin one of the week's surefire heavy hitters with his team in playoff contention, so a floor in the neighborhood of 10 points while the Buccaneers attempt to keep the Atlanta offense off the field makes sense.

Like it or not, Jeremy Hill of the Cincinnati Bengals falls under the "sleeper" category these days. He's made it to double digits just three times this year, with six trips to single digits and even a trip into the negatives.

Hill watched as his season derailed with two early-season fumbles and complement Giovani Bernard began to handle the workload. In recent weeks, though, Hill has carried the ball 13 or more times over his past two games, going for 16 and nine points. Last week was a season-high 86 rushing yards to go with a season-high average, so the arrow points up.

This is especially the case against the Cleveland Browns, a team that ranks a few spots below the Falcons. Opportunities equal production, which Hill is about to boast in a big way.

Wide Receivers

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

Chicago Bears wideout Alshon Jeffery hasn't been able to stay healthy this year, but when he's on the field he might be the best in the game.

Through rough circumstances and injuries, Jeffery has been able to cobble together three double-digit outings in sporadic playing time as well as post nine points with seven grabs for 90 yards last week in his return.

As Zach Zaidman of WSCR 670 pointed out, few do what Jeffery does:

Now imagine what Jeffery can do against the San Francisco 49ers, the team allowing the ninth-most points to wideouts. In fact, the 49ers have coughed up a 20-point minimum to wideouts eight times this season, a total it wouldn't be too ridiculous to see Jeffery flirt with if he can find paydirt.

As far as sleepers go at such a deep position, keep an eye out on Kamar Aiken of the Baltimore Ravens.

Aiken might not have Joe Flacco tossing him passes, but he's got a touchdown in each of his past two games to go with two of this three double-digit performances this year.

Expect the good trend to continue for Aiken, who next gets a shot at the Miami Dolphins. The team from down south surrenders the seventh-most points to the position and just allowed four touchdowns to wideouts its last time out, making it six over its last two games.

Tight Ends

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

One has to stick with Newton's favorite target when talking about top players.

Folks know him as Greg Olsen, one of fantasy's most consistent performers at the position with his five trips to double digits this season. He might be the surest factor of the week against the Saints, the team allowing the most points to the spot.

Just for fun's sake, recall that Olsen posted his highest point total of the year back in Week 3 on eight catches for 134 yards and two scores, good for 25 points, against these Saints.

While Coby Fleener of the Indianapolis Colts has yet to explode, his 31 percent of owners might benefit this week from a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Steelers allow the fifth-most points to the position this year and have coughed up two touchdowns over their past three games. With Matt Hasselbeck under center, Fleener should see plenty of chances to post his highest point total of the season.

Defense/Special Teams

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

As always, the Arizona Cardinals sit as one of fantasy's top options this week. 

Fresh off an eight-point showing, the Cardinals next get to take on the St. Louis Rams. Whether it's Case Keenum or Nick Foles under center doesn't matter; the Rams will turn the ball over, and the offense comes off a week in which Todd Gurley mustered just 19 rushing yards. 

Keep a close eye on the Bengals, too. They would be the unit that held Gurley to 19 yards, and a matchup against the Cleveland Browns is, well, a matchup against the Cleveland Browns.

Kickers

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

Consistency would be the name of the game at kicker, which is what makes Newton's teammate Graham Gano so attractive this week.

Gano has seven double-digit outings this year, including five in a row. He too got in on the double-digit action against the Saints earlier this season and will do so again.

As far as sleepers go, Cairo Santos of the Kansas City Chiefs only sits at a 41.6 ownership percentage despite resting as fantasy's third-highest scorer at the spot.

Santos is a little unstable with four double-digit outings, but when he breaks the barrier, he explodes—hence two outings of 20 or more points. A third looks in the cards against an Oakland Raiders defense that surrenders the second-most points to kickers.

All scoring info courtesy of ESPN standard leagues, as is points-against info and ownership stats as of December 1.