Welcome to TheFantasyFix.com’s twelfth installment of our DFS quarterback rankings. We will list six quarterbacks here that we think you should start based on their current price on Draftkings. The first tier is for the elite quarterbacks, the high priced big name guys with favorable matchups that everyone will likely be after. The next tier is “value”, where you will find the best value for your buck. The final tier is “contrarian” where you will spend little on your QB with the hope that they will exceed expectations and help you cash out. As always, good luck this week! I hope you take home big money.

Note: This post typically runs on Fridays, so I’m not including the Thanksgiving games in this piece. That means you won’t see any Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford, Cam Newton, Tony Romo, etc.

Tier 1 – Elite

Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints, $7,300 – I’m fading Tom Brady this weekend as I don’t trust anybody against the Denver Broncos defense. That being said, he is still Tom Brady, so don’t be afraid to start him if your gut tells you to. In his place, I have two quarterbacks with favorable matchups who are somewhat quietly having huge seasons and are primed to bust out this weekend. First, I have Drew Brees. The Saints are coming off a bye week and will be taking on the Houston Texans on the road. In the three games leading up the bye, Brees tallied 1,101 yards through the air to go along with 12 touchdown passes. Meanwhile, the Texans defense has allowed five quarterbacks throw for two or more TD passes this year, including Alex Smith and Blake Bortles throwing three touchdowns passes against them, while Ryan Tannehill tallied four touchdowns. The Texans own the best pass rushers in the game in J.J. Watt, but even he isn’t enough to cool down Brees at the moment. If you’re willing to spend a little heavy on a quarterback, Brees fits the bill.

Carson Palmer, Arizona Cardinals, $7,100 – You can’t spell “Elite” without Carso-… wait, what? Whether you like it or not, Carson Palmer has been one of the very best quarterbacks in all of football this year coming into this weekend. He is third in the league with 3,066 passing yards, behind Phillip Rivers and Tom Brady. Palmer leads all of football with 27 touchdown passes, while throwing nine picks on the season. His competition percentage is nearly at 65% AND he’s facing the San Francisco 49ers this weekend. Yup, Palmer is your guy. This will be one of the most popular picks this weekend, and it’s obviously with good reason. The 49ers defense is absolutely dreadful, and they just allowed Russell Wilson to throw for three touchdowns for the first time this season. So there’s that. Palmer is my “must start” this weekend, as he is primed to have a huge game against the 9ers.

Tier 2 – Value

Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers, $6,700 – There is no denying that Phillip Rivers and the Chargers have not been the same since we’ve seen Keenan Allen go down with a season-ending injury two weeks ago. Since he went down, the Chargers have scored a total of 22 points and Rivers has tallied just 458 yards in that span, with one touchdown. This isn’t what we’ve come to expect from Rivers, who earlier this season was on pace to break personal records in both yards in a season and touchdown passes in a season. That all being said, Rivers and the Chargers get the pleasure of taking on the Jaguars this weekend, who rank 22^nd in the league in pass defense. Just two weeks ago, they allowed Joe Flacco to drop three touchdowns on them, while also throwing for over 300 yards. Meanwhile, Flacco is one of the few guys in the NFL who actually had fewer weapons to play with this season on offense than Rivers. I’d pair Rivers with tight end Antonio Gates if you were looking for someone to stack with Rivers, as the Jaguars have allowed the 12th most points in fantasy to opposing tight ends.

Eli Manning, New York Giants, $6,500 – Manning and the Giants have dominated the Washington Redskins since he first took over as quarterback in 2004. In his career, Manning is 16-6 against the Skins, throwing for over 5,000 yards and totaling 25 touchdowns. Coming off of a bye week, it’s easy to see Manning and the first place Giants easily taking care of the Redskins. Plus, the banged up G-Men are coming off of a bye week, which gave them plenty of time to think about their last-minute loss to the New England Patriots in week 10. The Redskins have also allowed an opposing quarterback to throw for multiple touchdowns in five straight weeks, which should only continue this weekend with Manning and company. The first time these two teams faced off this season, Manning threw for 279 and two touchdown passes, so it won’t be shocking if he puts up similar, if not better numbers this weekend against the second-place Redskins.

Tier 3 – Contrarian

Kirk Cousins, Washington Redskins, $5,400 – Welcome to my article for the second time this year, Mr. Cousins. The first time he was included (in this very same spot, I might add) was prior to his breakout game against the New Orleans Saints, where he threw for a career-high four touchdown passes. I don’t expect Cousins to repeat that performance this weekend against the New York Giants, though I still expect him to embarrass my favorite team in this NFC East matchup. The Giants’ defense is getting somewhat better against the pass, ranking only 17^th in the league now, though they still 27^th in fantasy points allowed to opposing quarterbacks. Oh, and in case you haven’t noticed, the Redskins’ running game is pretty much non-existent at this point in the season, so I expect Cousins to be throwing the ball all afternoon.

Brian Hoyer, Houston Texans, $5,000 – I love cheap quarterbacks. Investing in a bottom of the barrel QB can make a huge difference for your fantasy team, especially when those picks help you cash out. Last week, I had Brock Osweiler in this slot. This week, I have Brian Hoyer exploding for a huge game against the league’s worst defense. Hoyer (concussion) is officially cleared to play this weekend, and he was actually pretty solid before going down with the injury. Hoyer posted 17 fantasy points or more in five straight games, which should only indicate to us what he’s capable of doing this weekend. On top of all that, he has DeAndre Hopkins to throw to. This is the cheapest you will find a QB this weekend, and honestly, there’s a very good chance Hoyer finishes the weekend with a top-10 performance.