Early Observations From Our Fantasy Football Rankings
With the NFL Draft a month in the books, things are really starting to take shape. This includes ADP and rankings at each position. You can always access our consensus and individual fantasy football rankings for free on the website. Inside the Ultimate Draft Kit, you can get access to Premium Rankings which include Tiers, Reception Perception Data, Projected Points, and more. Here’s a quick summary of our early 2017 rankings:
Quarterbacks
Aaron Rodgers is not only the consensus #1 QB but also #1 for us individually. Luck, Brady, Brees, and Matt Ryan round out the Top 5. What may be a surprise to some is Andy Dalton cracking the Top 10. Andy has him at #7, while Jason and Mike both at #12. Captain Kirk is just outside of the Top 10 and with some mixed opinion with Andy at #11, Jason at #15, and Mike at #7. Big Ben sits at #14 overall, with Mike having him ranked up at #7. He was called out for his higher ranking of Big Ben on our recent Explain Yourself episode.
Running Backs
As expected, David Johnson, Le’Veon Bell and Ezekiel Elliott are in a tier of their own at the top of the RB landscape. An argument can be made for any of them to be taken 1st overall. LeSean McCoy is #4 among RBs, consensus and individually. Gurley sits just outside the top 10 after being drafted in the 1st Round of fantasy drafts in 2016. The highest ranked rookie is Leonard Fournette at #14, with Christian McCaffrey at #16 overall. It should be noted that Jason is an outlier with McCaffrey, having him ranked down at #24. He also had to defend his reasoning on the show. Gillislee sits in between those two rookies at the #15 spot with Mike’s optimistic #11 ranking, while Andy and Jason are tempering expectations with him ranked down at #19 and #21. Joe Mixon is Jason’s favorite rookie RB, having him ranked at #14, while Andy and Mike’s ranks bring him to #21 consensus.
There are a handful of other major discrepancies among Andy, Jason, and Mike’s rankings. This is the beauty of getting rankings from three separate fantasy experts. No one gets everything right in fantasy football, and you listen to show for advice, but ultimately make your own decisions. Jason and Andy seem ready to give up on C.J. Anderson, while Mike does not. One of the biggest differences in opinion is with Danny Woodhead: #18 for Andy, #41 for Jason, and #26 for Mike.
Wide Receivers
You’ll notice the usual suspects at the top with Antonio Brown, Odell Beckham Jr., and Julio Jones. It’s being overlooked that depending on scoring format, Jordy Nelson finished as the #1 receiver last season. While Michael Crabtree checks in tied for 17th among WRs, Mike has him up at #10. He believes Crabtree will remain the WR1 in that offense rather than Amari Cooper taking over. Jason is much lower on Terrelle Pryor due to target share in Washington. While Andy and Jason have Brandin Cooks around WR15, Mike has him over double that at WR33. While he believes in the talent, Mike still views Edelman as Brady’s go-to wideout until we see otherwise. Edelman had 30.5% of the Patriots targets in the 12 games Brady played last season. Keenan Allen‘s had trouble staying healthy but Mike still believes in the elite talent with him ranked at #15, while the other guys have him ranked 30th or lower.
Tight Ends
Gronk sits up top in his own tier. Jordan Reed comes next, also in his own tier at #2. Both have dealt with injuries, but both are true difference makers when on the field. Kelce, Olsen, Eifert, and Graham make the next group of TEs. Eifert and Graham were recently featured on our This or That episode, where we had to choose between two players with a close ADP. One of the biggest discrepancies is Zach Miller. He’s been a solid fantasy TE the last couple seasons, but there are major injury concerns. Mike has him at #13, Andy down at #30, and Jason in-between. Andy is bullish on rookie TE, David Njoku, with him ranked up at #11, while Jason and Mike both have him down at #30. Andy and Mike both are buying into the rookie hype for Giants TE, Evan Engram. The Giants should have a strong passing offense but Jason isn’t buying into Engram making a splash in his first year, with Engram ranked down at #33.
Again, our full player rankings are constantly updated and always available. For access to our Premium Rankings with Tier Breakdowns, Risk Ratings, Stat Projections, and so much more, check out the Ultimate Draft Kit.