Fantasy Football Week 12 Rankings: Highlighting Top 50 Players

Fantasy owners are hoping to have plenty to be thankful for this week, with the fantasy playoffs looming. Hopefully, you have plenty of players on the list below.

To break down the top 50 players this week and avoid listing 20 quarterbacks since the position traditionally scores more than other positions, we'll go with the top-five quarterbacks and tight ends and top-20 running backs and wide receivers for the week to get to our top 50.

Happy holidays, and as always, may the fantasy points be with you!

Quarterbacks

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1. Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers

2. Tom Brady, New England Patriots

3. Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks

4. Kirk Cousins, Washington

5. Carson Wentz, Philadelphia Eagles

Before Carolina's bye this past week, Newton was on fire. In Week 10, he torched the Miami Dolphins for 254 passing yards and four touchdowns and five rushes for another 95 yards. The New York Jets have been middle of the road against quarterbacks in fantasy, giving up 17 or more fantasy points to the position five times.  

Of note: Dual-threat quarterback Tyrod Taylor put up 26.9 fantasy points against them in Week 9, rushing six times for 35 yards and a score. Newton, coming off a week of rest and preparation, is primed for a big game.

Running Backs

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1. Todd Gurley, Los Angeles Rams

2. Le'Veon Bell, Pittsburgh Steelers

3. Mark Ingram, New Orleans Saints

4. Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints

5. Leonard Fournette, Jacksonville Jaguars

6. Kareem Hunt, Kansas City Chiefs

7. Melvin Gordon, Los Angeles Chargers

8. LeSean McCoy, Buffalo Bills

9. Lamar Miller, Houston Texans

10. Carlos Hyde, San Francisco 49ers

11. Jordan Howard, Chicago Bears

12. Latavius Murray, RB, Minnesota Vikings

13. Orleans Darkwa, New York Giants

14. Christian McCaffrey, Carolina Panthers

15. Duke Johnson Jr., Cleveland Browns

16. DeMarco Murray, Tennessee Titans

17. Dion Lewis, New England Patriots

18. Tevin Coleman, Atlanta Falcons

19. Frank Gore, Indianapolis Colts

20. Joe Mixon, Cincinnati Bengals

It's rare that running backs can equally share the workload and each post elite stats. But that's become the case for Ingram and Kamara.

Ingram has rushed 32 times for 265 yards and four—yes, four—touchdowns the past two weeks. Kamara has posted 19 or more fantasy points in three straight games. 

The Rams just gave up 21.6 fantasy points to Latavius Murray. Ingram and Kamara are gonna eat.

Darkwa, meanwhile, has quietly been solid for the Giants in the past six games, rushing for 70 or more yards four times in that span and notching two rushing touchdowns as well. Darkwa isn't an elite option, but his steady production and a matchup against a Washington defense that just got torched by New Orleans' running backs makes him a strong RB2.

Wide Receivers

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1. Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers

2. DeAndre Hopkins, Houston Texans

3. A.J. Green, Cincinnati Bengals

4. Alshon Jeffery, Philadelphia Eagles

5. Adam Thielen, Minnesota Vikings

6. Tyreek Hill, Kansas City Chiefs

7. Brandin Cooks, New England Patriots

8. Doug Baldwin, Seattle Seahawks

9. Jarvis Landry, Miami Dolphins

10. Robby Anderson, New York Jets

11. Davante Adams, Green Bay Packers

12. Marvin Jones Jr., Detroit Lions

13. Michael Thomas, New Orleans Saints

14. Julio Jones, Atlanta Falcons

15. Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

16. Devin Funchess, Carolina Panthers

17. Demaryius Thomas, Denver Broncos

18. Michael Crabtree, Oakland Raiders

19. T.Y. Hilton, Indianapolis Colts

20. Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals

Case Keenum and Thielen have established a special rapport, which wasn't a sentence you would have ever predicting typing before the season. But here we are. In Minnesota's past three games, Thielen has 19 receptions for 387 yards and three touchdowns.

The touchdown production isn't sustainable. Thielen didn't have a single score before this three-game stretch, after all. But the rest of his production is replicable. He hasn't finished with fewer than five receptions in a single game and has reached 96 or more receiving yards six times. 

The touchdowns have pushed him from WR2 to WR1 standing. Ride his hot streak while it lasts and reap your rewards.

One player who just barely makes this list is Fitzgerald, who has been one of the most consistent fantasy wideouts this season. But here's the thing—his opponent, the Jacksonville Jaguars, have given up double-digit fantasy points to an opposing wide receiver just twice this season. He's likely to get a healthy dose of Jalen Ramsey, one of the most dominant cornerbacks in the NFL.

Fitzgerald has been great again this season, but he's not matchup proof, especially against this particular matchup. Week 12 could be a tough one for the veteran wideout, though his consistency to this point will make it hard for most fantasy players to sit him.

Tight Ends

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1. Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs

2. Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots

3. Zach Ertz, Philadelphia Eagles

4. Jimmy Graham, Seattle Seahawks

5. Evan Engram, New York Giants

While the rest of the Chiefs are slumping, Kelce has hit his stride, catching 22 passes for 315 yards and two touchdowns the past three weeks.

Buffalo has generally been stingy against opposing tight ends this season, though it hasn't faced a player of Kelce's ability at the position. When the Bills faced dangerous options at tight end in Week 9 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, however, they gave up a combined 12 receptions for 158 yards and two touchdowns to O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate.

Expect Kelce to continue his reign as the top option at the position.

All points against and fantasy stats for standard-scoring leagues via Yahoo Sports.