Week 11 Fantasy Rankings: Top 10 Touchdown Targets Sure To Score

When it comes to winning fantasy football games you have to score touchdowns.  Yards help you stay in it, but what it comes down to is who is getting to pay dirt.

Having a guy run for 100 yards and being held out of the end zone may be a good day on the field, but it's just a measly 10 points.  We're looking for the 10 guys who have found the end zone often this year and are trending to do it again this week.  Some players are just a lock to get six because of the role they play on their offense; some guys are here because they play teams that can't keep opposing skill players out of the end zone.

Here are the 10 players who can smell the end zone already and have favorable matchups to make it a reality.

10. Denarius Moore, Oakland Raiders

Denarius Moore only has four touchdowns on the season so it may be surprising to see him on a fantasy football touchdown list.  Things have changed recently in Oakland, though.  Mainly the arrival of a consistent arm in Carson Palmer is the biggest difference.

Darius Heyward-Bey was the team's top deep threat, but he has found himself down the depth chart for whatever reasons lately and Moore has stepped up in his place.  With Palmer in the lineup the Raiders no longer have to pound the ball with Darren McFadden and Michael Bush, even though that is their preference.

Last week Moore hauled in two touchdown passes against the Chargers who have allowed the third-most passing touchdowns in the league.  This week it gets even better for Palmer and Moore when they play the hapless Vikings.  Minnesota allows more passing touchdowns than all but one team in the league with 18 given up on the season.

The Packers just threw the ball on them with ease and Palmer will look to his most talented young receiver to get the Raiders in the end zone early and often.  Look for Moore to have another big game here while finding the pay dirt for you.

9. Frank Gore, San Francisco 49ers

Frank Gore is of course battling a knee injury, but the early prognosis is he will play.  Even if it is sparingly, Gore loves to play the Arizona Cardinals.  He has 11 touchdowns in his last nine meetings with Arizona and has run for at least 96 yards in four of his last six.

He may not need 25 touches to do big damage this week due to his past experiences with the Cardinals, but the more the merrier so let's hope he's good to go.  It's not just Gore running all over the Cardinals; they have allowed an NFL-high 12 rushing touchdowns this season so even Kendall Hunter would be a decent play if you're short a running back. 

8. Greg Jennings, Green Bay Packers

Greg Jennings, as with all the Green Bay pass-catchers, is a huge benefactor of Aaron Rodgers' prowess.  Rodgers has thrown 14 touchdowns in his last four games and has made it look easy.

Greg Jennings is easily Rodgers' most talented and favorite target.  He is a superior deep threat with great hands and has already hauled in seven touchdowns this season.  Jennings has caught a touchdown now in five of his last six games so he's as good a bet as anyone to score this week.

His opponent, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, have only allowed eight touchdown passes which is good for No. 14 in the league.  They have been pretty solid defensively, but not so much on the road where they are 1-2.  They have given up five of their eight passing touchdowns in just their last two road games.  In Green Bay this week they will also see an offense unlike any they have faced to this point.  Watch out for a big game from big-time Greg Jennings.

7. Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots

Rob Gronkowski may have gotten most of his attention this season from his photo with Bibi Jones, but not if he's on your fantasy team.  He is probably your most consistent scorer, and he's a tight end. 

Playing with Tom Brady will always have its benefits, but becoming Brady's go-to guy in the red zone as a second-year player can give you a pretty illustrious career.  Gronkowski has a big body and great hands.  He never shies away from the ensuing contact in the end zone either, making him the perfect guy deep in the opponent's territory.

Gronkowski has not disappointed Brady many times, already hauling in 18 touchdowns in his brief 25-game career.  He has eight already this season, well on his way to another double-digit campaign.  This week should be no hitch for him as he faces the Chiefs, who have allowed a whopping 16 passing touchdowns this season, five of those caught by tight ends.

Brady has targeted Gronkowski 26 times in the last two games turning into 16 catches, three of them for scores.

6. Ray Rice, Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens have the speed on the outside, the veteran quarterback who has won huge games and a daunting defense.  Still, they go as far as they allow Ray Rice to take them.

In the Ravens' three losses this season, Rice has averaged only 8.6 carries.  They have not lost a game this season when he gets at least 18 carries, and more importantly for our purposes, Rice has scored a touchdown in four of those five games.

He has eight touchdowns on the season, with two of them coming through the air, showing his dual-threat abilities.  So how do we know he will get his 18-plus carries Sunday? 

Well, the Ravens are coming off a bad loss to the lowly Seahawks, a game in which Rice got his season low of five carries.  Last time the Ravens lost to the Jaguars, Rice had only eight carries and Jim Harbaugh knew what the problem was—get Rice the ball, and he did.  Rice got 18 carries the next game and scored three touchdowns.

They play a Bengals team in an important divisional matchup this week.  The Bengals have given up eight rushing touchdowns, good for just No. 22 in the league.  I can guarantee Rice gets his touches this week.  There is no way Baltimore makes the same mistake two straight weeks.

5. DeMarco Murray, Dallas Cowboys

DeMarco Murray got his shot as a rookie five weeks ago when starter Felix Jones went down with injury, and boy has he taken advantage of it.  One of the game's budding stars, Murray has run for 601 yards in his four starts averaging over eight yards per carry.

We are talking touchdowns here and Murray only has two, but two in four games isn't bad at all.  And when you see his breakaway ability, evidenced by his per carry average, you know he has the chance to score on any given play.  He's one of the rare players that can literally score any time he touches it and I wouldn't be surprised to see a three-score game in the near future for him.

This week they play in Washington against the Redskins who will always play Dallas tough even if they are 0-15.  It won't be the easiest game, but Washington is No. 22 in the league in rushing touchdowns allowed.  Even better news for Murray, the Redskins let Reggie Bush find the end zone twice last week and he almost never scores as a running back.

4. Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions

Calvin Johnson is on the list because his name has just become synonymous with touchdowns this season.  He had a record-breaking start to the season for touchdown receptions and despite slowing a bit still has 11 a little over halfway through the year.

The Lions took their worst beating by far last week in Chicago and will take out their frustrations on the 2-7 Panthers.  Following their first losing streak of the season Detroit demolished Denver 45-10 in a game where Calvin Johnson was able to beat Champ Bailey for a long touchdown catch en route to a big game.

They again will play an inferior opponent who will have their hands full with Megatron.  Carolina has given up just 11 passing touchdowns this year, with eight to wide receivers, but Johnson has the skill set that tends to buck the trends. 

Detroit will be ready to come out and quiet the critics saying their start was just a flash in the pan and will likely do it without a solid running game once again.  Stafford will throw nowhere near his 63 attempts from a week ago, but there will be plenty enough passes heading Johnson's way.  It never seems to take many opportunities for Johnson to get in the end zone either.

3. Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals

Larry Fitzgerald, all-world talent that he is, had just two touchdowns over his first seven games this year.  Then John Skelton took over for Kevin Kolb at quarterback and either Skelton loves Fitzgerald, as he should, or Fitzgerald has just made himself way more available. 

The past two games with Skelton under center materialized into three touchdowns for Fitzgerald, two of which were last week against the star-studded Eagles secondary.  The San Francisco 49ers will try to slow down the red-hot Skelton-Fitzgerald combination.  The 49ers have allowed 13 passing touchdowns this year and 10 of them have been to receivers, ranking No. 20 in the league. 

Fitzgerald has nine touchdowns against the 49ers in 14 career meetings, but he has a quarterback who probably over-targets him now.  Skelton has targeted Fitzgerald 25 times over the past two games and the Cardinals are 2-0 in those two games after starting 1-6.  Don't expect them to change their game plan; do expect them to hook up for another score or two.

2. LeSean McCoy, Philadelphia Eagles

LeSean McCoy, affectionately known as "Shady," has been a menace to opposing defenses.  He came out this year lightning-fast and making agile cuts that are reminiscent of Barry Sanders cutbacks.  He is the perfect back to complement the rushing threat of quarterback Michael Vick who appears on track to miss this game.

McCoy shouldn't have any problem getting going and Vince Young should provide a similar rushing threat to keep their beloved sprint-draw play in the works.  What is more likely to happen is Young will struggle through the air and McCoy will get even more touches.

He already has 12 touchdowns this year and has amazingly scored in each and every contest.  He is as close to a sure thing as there is in fantasy football.  This week they play the New York Giants who they Eagles have already lost to this year, but Shady did run for 128 yards and, of course, a touchdown.

New York, despite being in first place, does have a suspect rush defense allowing 4.6 yards per rush and over a touchdown per game on the ground.  The Giants have one of the league's most feared pass rushes, and their tenacity towards getting after the quarterback could really hurt them with McCoy's draw plays.

A player as dynamic as McCoy has shown he can get in the end zone every week and this week will be no different for him.

1. Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings

The touchdown king himself, Adrian Peterson, comes in at our top spot.  Peterson has scored 11 rushing touchdowns so far this season with 10 coming on the ground.

He has scored double-digit touchdowns in each of his four previous seasons and is already there this season and well on his way to hit his career high of 18 touchdowns which he had in 2008. 

They will play the Oakland Raiders this week, who allow 166 yards on the ground and have given up nine rushing touchdowns in nine games.  Peterson is on a five-game touchdown streak now and will be very amped up to play at home.  Of his 10 rushing touchdowns, seven of them have come at home in just four games.

He gets in the end zone a lot in Minnesota and I like him to have a monster day against Oakland with at least two touchdowns.  He is the week's biggest threat to score a touchdown and it will likely be more than one.