Fantasy Football Week 13 Rankings: Each Position's Flex and PPR Projections

Fantasy football owners who approached the Week 13 flex decision with Green Bay Packers tight end Richard Rodgers got a Hail Mary for the ages, 20 points and likely a win before the main slate begins.

It's the latest example of what a brave, matchup-based and gut-feeling decision in the flex spot can do for owners.

For those who ignored Rodgers (he's owned in just 48 percent of leagues), there's plenty of time and chances to strike gold in a similar fashion along the rest of the Week 13 action.

Below, let's take a look at flex rankings by position based on scoring in points-per-reception formats.

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	David Johnson
10	Todd Gurley
11	Darren McFadden
12	Jonathan Stewart
13	Javorius Allen
14	Charcandrick West*
15	LeGarrette Blount
16	T.J. Yeldon
17	Thomas Rawls
18	C.J. Anderson
19	Chris Ivory
20	Latavius Murray
21	DeMarco Murray
22	Jeremy Langford
23	Jeremy Hill
24	Alfred Morris
25	Frank Gore
26	Giovani Bernard
27	Shaun Draughn
28	Antonio Andrews
29	Danny Woodhead
30	Alfred Blue

It's the time of season where running backs become more and more difficult to figure out as injuries and simple wear and tear help form committees with most teams.

Look at the Chicago Bears and Matt Forte. The veteran returned from injury in Week 12 after Jeremy Langford played well in his place and received 15 carries and caught one pass while Langford stole 12 carries.

With any luck, Forte looks healthier this week and eats a bigger piece of the pie as a result against a weak San Francisco 49ers team. The 49ers have coughed up 119 or more rushing yards to opposing backfields five times this year.

It's the perfect situation for the veteran, so expect him to land near the top of the leaderboard.

Ditto for Arizona Cardinals lead back David Johnson, who earned the title this week with Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington hobbled. Coach Bruce Arians confirmed as much, according to Alex Marvez of FoxSports.com:

Most running backs in Arizona's scheme do quite well. Johnson will see lead-back carries and already has six games with two or more catches. He'll be on the field more than ever now, so those numbers should go up. 

It's a great week for Johnson to take over. He gets the St. Louis Rams, a defense that has absolutely collapsed in recent weeks against backs, allowing the last four backfields encountered to rush for at least 96 yards.

Wide Receivers

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

It might be now or never for New England Patriots wideout Brandon LaFell.

With so many injuries in New England, it seemed LaFell would step in and act as a key flex contributor the rest of the way. Instead, his high point since Week 7 was five catches for 102 yards in Week 9.

Rob Gronkowski just suffered an injury, so LaFell might be in line for a major workload. It happens to come against the tanking Philadelphia Eagles, too, a team allowing the most points to wideouts on average in standard formats—so imagine the bloodletting in PPR formats.

Philadelphia has allowed 13 or more catches to wide receivers in four straight games and 11 touchdowns, so owners have to ride LaFell no matter what.

Don't count out Dez Bryant of the Dallas Cowboys just yet, either. 

Bryant suffered last week when Tony Romo went down with an injury, catching just two passes. But he caught four or more in three consecutive games before that with Matt Cassel leading the charge.

In other words, Bryant can produce well with the backup under center, it just alters his ceiling. It helps he gets to go against Washington this weekend, a defense that has let up 13 or more catches to wideouts four times over its last six games.

Bryant has a nice floor despite the iffy quarterback situation, meaning he could sneak way up the leaderboard.

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*

Rodgers might be out of the picture, but there's plenty to like across the board at tight end this weekend.

Keep in mind Scott Chandler with Gronk sidelined. The veteran went in last week and caught five passes for 58 yards and a score after Gronk had already caught six passes for 88 yards and a score of his own.

Tom Brady loves his tight ends, so Chandler posting massive production against an Eagles defense that has been stingy against the position wouldn't be so surprising.

As far as another borderline sleeper goes, consider Coby Fleener of the Indianapolis Colts.

Fleener has remained pretty steady no matter who lines up under center this year, having caught at least three passes in four consecutive games and eight times on the season. 

Such a floor doesn't sound like much, but the ceiling varies based on matchup. It's a doozy this week for Fleener against the Pittsburgh Steelers, a team that has allowed five or more catches to seven sets of tight ends this year, with four of the last five encountered going for at least 60 yards. 

All scoring info courtesy of ESPN standard leagues, as is points-against info and ownership stats as of December 4.