As the fantasy football season nears the playoffs, teams are battling for position hoping to get that first round bye that will help get their squad to the championship.
There have been a lot of valuable players around the league this season, including running back Ray Rice and quarterback Tom Brady, but there were some in Week 12 that shined brighter than the rest. Here is a breakdown of some of the top performers in fantasy football this week and reasons why they can be valuable assets down the stretch.
The scoring totals for players is based on standard PPR scoring leagues and includes 25 passing yards per point, 10 rushing yards per point, 15 reception yards per points and six points per touchdown.
The top quarterbacks of Week 12 all took care of business on Turkey Day on Thursday.
Tony Romo, Tom Brady, Robert Griffin and Matthew Stafford were the four highest-scoring quarterbacks this week, all surpassing 30 points in standard leagues.
Romo and the Dallas Cowboys lost to the Washington Redskins 38-31, but he threw for 411 yards and three touchdowns in the game. He threw two interceptions, but got a boost from a successful two-point conversion attempt. Romo scored 33.40 points Yahoo leagues and has passed for nearly 1,000 yards in the past three weeks to go along with a combined six touchdowns.
In the same game, Robert Griffin III showed off his impressive set of skills, completing 20-of-28 passes for 311 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed for 29 yards and threw one interception to score 31.27 fantasy points.
Griffin has been one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the league, throwing only four interceptions companies to 16 touchdowns. In the past two weeks he has thrown for eight touchdowns and has completed 34-of-43 passes.
Tom Brady was the second-highest scoring quarterback this week, gaining 32.27 points while throwing for 323 yards and three touchdowns. He also added five rushing yards and one rushing touchdown.
As usual, he has been one of the best players in the NFL this season, throwing for over 600 yards and six touchdowns the past two weeks, both Patriots wins.
Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford had 30.40 points in a losing effort, as the Lions lost 34-31 to the Houston Texans. He passed for 441 yards and two touchdowns along with seven rushing yards.
Houston's Arian Foster was the highest-scoring running back, continuing the trend of the biggest fantasy performers this week playing on Thanksgiving. Foster rushed for 102 yards and two touchdowns and also added five receptions for 15 yards for a total of 28.20 points.
This season Foster has been the highest-scoring running back, amassing 222.53 points while rushing for 12 touchdowns. He is one of the top double-threats in the league and is valuable out of the backfield, grabbing 25 receptions this season for two touchdowns.
Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice was impressive on a forth-and-29 play that he converted in overtime in the win against the Chargers, but he was just as impressive on the stat sheet.
Rice put up 22.17 points this week, rushing for 97 yards while grabbing eight receptions for 67 yards. He is the fourth-rated running back this year with 196.33 points, including seven rushing touchdowns.
Cleveland Browns rookie Trent Richardson put up 20.30 points this week and has proven to be a fantasy star in his first season in the league. He rushed for 85 yards and one touchdown, while also adding four receptions for 27 yards.
Richardson has rushed for 755 yards this year and has scored six touchdowns. He is also in the top-five among running backs in receptions, with 41 on the season for 316 yards and one touchdown.
Wide receivers around the league had big Week 12 performances, including Dallas wideout Dez Bryant, Detroit receiver Calvin Johnson, Houston wideout Andre Johnson and Atlanta wide receive Julio Jones.
Johnson caught nine balls for 188 yards for 21.53 fantasy points, but was kept out of the endzone for the first time in two weeks. The other Johnson, Calvin, grabbed eight receptions for 140 yards in the same game, but also added a touchdown for a total of 23.33 points.
The wide receiver with the most targets this week though was Chicago Bears wideout Brandon Marshall, who was thrown to 17 times and made 12 receptions for 92 yards and scored 18.13 points for fantasy owners.
Calvin Johnson was tied with Marshall for the most, while Andre Johnson had 15 and Bills receiver Stevie Johnson had 15. The most targeted tight end this week was Detroit's Brandon Pettigrew, who was looked at 15 times by Matthew Stafford.
These players were the top performers in Week 12 of the NFL and should continue to star for their teams as the season comes to a close.
