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Shuffle Up: Will the December schedule sink the Titans?

Marcus Mariota will be tested during a challenging final month
Marcus Mariota will be tested during a challenging final month

Shuffle Up season is here, my friends. Here’s the idea — how would we rank fantasy players if the season were starting right now? These are not weekly ranks, these are rest-of-season ranks.

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A few caveats up front. The prices are unscientific in nature, merely used as a way to compare players within their position. I do not compare prices outside of position — a price of a quarterback is only meant to be considered within his positional class. I am generally far less expectant with injury-returning players, so don’t be surprised when I like them less than you do.

Key seasonal note: At this time of the year, remaining schedule is factored in more than usual.

Every Shuffle Up is done completely from scratch. I think it’s counterproductive to justify an old, dated list. I want my current opinions. I considered a modified PPR scoring system for the field players. You may not agree with the ranks, but there’s been thought put into each and every player.

And of course, you’ll disagree with plenty on this list — that’s why we have a game in the first place.

I’ll do quarterbacks and wide receivers in the even weeks, running backs and tight ends for the odd weeks. You can figure out kickers and defenses on your own (keep streaming, streamers; those positions are rarely worth holding for extended periods, and matchups are critical in those streaming decisions).

[Week 12 rankings: Overall | FLEX | QB | RB | WR | TE | DEF | K]

I reserve the right to edit this list as the day goes along; win the debate, you might win the rank.

Have a major disagreement (and a logical reason)? Catch me on Twitter: @scott_pianowski.

Quarterbacks
$32 Tom Brady
$30 Drew Brees
$30 Aaron Rodgers
$29 Matt Ryan
$29 Russell Wilson — Not really healthy enough to be a proactive runner yet, but at least he can do his normal Wilson things with pocket movement. The Wilson-to-Graham touchdown was my favorite play from Week 12.
$25 Philip Rivers
$24 Kirk Cousins
$24 Derek Carr
$23 Jameis Winston

I’ve never been a big Winston fan, and as you likely know already, I’d take Mariota over him if I were drafting a real team. But the Bucs might have to air things out to close; Doug Martin doesn’t look healthy yet and the Tampa defense can be had. And after Seattle this week, look at the remaining schedule: San Diego, Dallas, New Orleans twice. No shutdown secondary in sight.

$21 Dak Prescott
$20 *Andrew Luck — I’m not his coach or, more importantly, his doctor. There’s no real way to price him, this is just a placeholder.
$20 Ben Roethlisberger
$19 Cam Newton — The QB22 over the last month. One of the sucker plays of the season has played out as such.
$18 Marcus Mariota

No denying how great he’s been, though Mariota has also been a little lucky with the touchdown count based on what would be expected. But after Chicago this week, here is the slate: bye, Denver, at KC, at Jacksonville. Just one home game, and no easy passing matchups. I love the player, always have, but I’m so-so on the supporting cast, not in love with the coaches, and that schedule makes me nervous. It’s also frustrating the Titans aren’t a more proactive with Mariota as a rusher.

$18 Matthew Stafford
$18 Eli Manning
$16 Colin Kaepernick — I know it looks odd to see him this high on the list, but it’s just albegra. Rushing stats lead to very cheap fantasy points; he has five points in his back pocket before the game begins.
$16 Tyrod Taylor
$14 Blake Bortles
$13 Carson Palmer
$10 Andy Dalton — He’s always been a little underrated, but I can’t see how he beats this nightmare draw.
$9 Ryan Tannehill — If Parker is legit, maybe there’s a step forward coming. Seems to have a good working relationship with Gase. But I’ve fallen for false Tannehill signs before.
$8 Joe Flacco
$7 Alex Smith
$7 Sam Bradford
$6 Carson Wentz

Some overreacted to the hot start, sure, and then the skeptics had a field day for the next 6-8 weeks. But overall, this is an obvious hit for Philly. They have a pretty good quarterback. I’m more disappointed in Doug Pederson to this point than Wentz.

$5 Trevor Siemian
$5 Ryan Fitzpatrick
$4 Brock Osweiler
$2 Josh McCown
$1 Jared Goff
$1 Matt Barkley

Wide Receivers
$44 Antonio Brown — Even with Big Ben’s road issues and a road-heavy schedule, Brown has no flags or fleas. He’ll get his.
$43 Mike Evans — Go look at that juicy schedule again. Has a shot at the all-time target record.
$42 Julio Jones
$42 Odell Beckham
$39 Amari Cooper — Finally separated from Crabtree, as most thought he would.
$38 Dez Bryant — Didn’t have early rapport with Prescott, but they’ve made up for lost time.
$32 Doug Baldwin

He wasn’t that bad when Wilson couldn’t run at all; now, the offense is fun again. No one is in Antonio Brown’s class as a route-runner, but Baldwin can hang with anyone else in that department. Kudos to those that stayed the course here, saw the bigger picture. Despite all the potholes along the way, Baldwin still grades as a lower-end WR1 to this point in the season, and now we can raise our expectations.

$31 T.Y. Hilton — Almost impossible to price until we know where Luck is at.
$31 Larry Fitzgerald
$29 Allen Robinson —It hasn’t been that awful; he’s still in the Top 20 at the position, scoring a few touchdowns, getting a ton of targets. Remains a no-doubt starter for me.
$28 Brandin Cooks
$28 Jordy Nelson — Not the same explosive player, everyone sees that, but he is the No. 1 option in a passing offense that has a ridiculous volume floor.
$24 Michael Crabtree
$23 Michael Thomas
$23 Demaryius Thomas
$22 Julian Edelman — New England doesn’t force the ball to anyone, and they basically start fresh with every game plan. Smart way to do business, but it makes them forever tricky as a fantasy projection, no matter that we see 30-plus in most weeks.
$21 Davante Adams — Not all the way there, but he is one of the more improved players in the league.
$21 Emmanuel Sanders
$20 DeAndre Hopkins — Has zero rapport with Osweiler, none, zilch. Obviously a lot of the blame falls on the coaching staff and the QB, but it’s frustrating to see Houston’s quarterback situation actually get worse from last year’s awful situation. One of the hardest weekly ranks.
$19 *Stefon Diggs
$19 Tyrell Williams
$18 Jamison Crowder

One of my favorites and a dynamite slot man. He’s always open. He’s also shown he can win on deeper routes, something we weren’t sure about in September. But this offense has several mouths to feed, and they certainly don’t force the ball to specific players. Crowder has four targets or less in four different games. I’m still giving Crowder a solid rank, but try to see the jumbled situation for what it is.

$17 Jordan Matthews — Double-digit targets in four straight games.
$17 Randall Cobb
$17 Kelvin Benjamin — It’s a crowded tree, he doesn’t command the ball, Newton has been up and down.
$15 Jarvis Landry
$14 Willie Snead
$14 Brandon Marshall
$13 Rishard Matthews

This price isn’t going to mesh with how productive he’s been, but again, look at the schedule. And Matthews is probably done sneaking up on people; teams are going to start devoting higher-end resources in an attempt to stop him. And even if you’re not the biggest proponent of adjusting for matchups, we can all agree that a bye is pesky in Week 13, and the Denver secondary is a date with death in Week 14.

$13 Steve Smith — It’s been a pretty good year for old guys.
$13 Mike Wallace
$12 Sterling Shepard
$12 Donte Moncrief — Touchdowns are a great deodorant. Efficiency stats don’t like him, he’s dinged, and his QB is dinged, too.
$11 Terrelle Pryor — The only win in Cleveland’s offense this year, though Coleman is also going to be good someday.
$10 Cole Beasley — Efficiency master, but his best skill is moving the chains. Not enough speed to win deep, not enough size to win in the congested goal-line packages. And now Dez is back in form.
$10 Golden Tate — Not good enough to command the ball, and if Stafford’s learned one thing in the post-Calvin year, it’s that there’s no need to force the ball to anyone in this offense.
$10 DeVante Parker
$10 Tyler Boyd — If you had to bet on a Cincinnati receiver, this is who I’d want.
$9 Marvin Jones
$8 Pierre Garcon
$7 Travis Benjamin
$7 DeSean Jackson
$7 Kenny Britt — Just when he grew up and into his career, he gets saddled with a dated coach and awful quarterbacks; no justice.
$6 Ty Montgomery
$6 Corey Coleman
$5 Marqise Lee
$5 Adam Thielen — He’s taken a nice step up in class, but with that comes more attention from opponents. A good meter is coming.
$5 Allen Hurns
$5 Tyreek Hill — Alex Smith ruins everything.
$4 Michael Floyd
$4 Tyler Lockett — Maybe he’ll get in on the fun now that Wilson is a weapon again, but he’s still behind a few people in line, and he’s been such a zero to this point; hard to trust.
$4 Brandon LaFell
$4 Quincy Enunwa
$4 Tajae Sharpe — Learning to crawl, but docked $2-4 for the schedule.
$4 Dorial Green-Beckham
$3 Mohamed Sanu
$3 Robert Woods — He was interesting for a moment before he got hurt.
$3 John Brown
$3 Ted Ginn
$3 J.J. Nelson — It’s been a terrible year for Palmer and a disappointing one for Bruce Arians. This should have been one of the 4-5 best offenses in the league, and despite David Johnson going nuts, it’s not close.
$3 Sammie Coates
$2 Chris Hogan
$2 Anquan Boldin
$2 Will Fuller — There are at least three players ahead of him on the target chain, maybe four, and his quarterback stinks. Stop clinging to September. Find a more proactive way to use this slot.
$2 Dontrelle Inman
$2 Cordarrelle Patterson — At least he’s somewhat involved now; he was mothballed for two years, for no good reason.
$2 Cameron Meredith — He looked so fun in mid-October. But that was two quarterbacks ago, and I don’t trust this coaching staff at all.
$2 Quinton Patton
$2 Adam Humphries
$2 Phillip Dorsett — I want to burn everything I wrote about him in the summer.
$2 Eli Rogers
$2 Kendall Wright
$2 Devin Funchess
$1 Taylor Gabriel
$1 Seth Roberts
$1 Tavon Austin — At least Goff didn’t waste much time with him last week.
$1 Jermaine Kearse
$1 Jeremy Kerley

I’m not ranking these guys, but do what you want
*Sammy Watkins — The player I’d most like to believe in on this list, but can’t use him until a show-me week, something I’m not sure he’s ready to provide
*A.J. Green — No reason to push him back, given where team is
*Jeremy Maclin— Been hurt too long, Smith is Smith
*Alshon Jeffery— Before he got hurt, he’s been a three-month pox on your team; Barkley certainly isn’t an upgrade