Thursday, April 9, 2015

2015 Fantasy Football Rankings: Pre-Draft Update

With so many moves in free agency, I thought I'd update my rankings before guys like Winston and Mariota start flying off the board way too early.  The NFL Draft is in Chicago this year, and it'll all start on Thursday, April 30th.  I'll likely do another article and/or rankings update after the draft, but here's another one in the meantime.  Just a reminder that a lot will change between now and whenever you do your fantasy draft, but this list is starting to take a more realistic form as each month passes.

As usual, you'll find defenses and kickers at the very bottom, but I'll end up moving the defenses around slightly (the kickers will stay at the end).  I'm still not going into that amount of detail just yet.  I've made notes next to players who have moved around since my initial rankings in February.

Cheers,
Bart


1. Eddie Lacy
2. Jamaal Charles
3. Marshawn Lynch 
4. Le'Veon Bell: Hit with a 3-game suspension, I decided to move him below Beast Mode.
5. Rob Gronkowski: With Graham and Thomas moves, Gronk becomes the only elite TE left.
6. LeSean McCoy
7. Adrian Peterson
8. DeMarco Murray: Down slightly. I think he'll see fewer reps, even in that offense.
9. Matt Forte
10. Arian Foster 
11. Jeremy Hill 
12. CJ Anderson
13. Aaron Rodgers: Moved him and Luck out of the 1st round.  Reserving that for RBs/Gronk.
14. Andrew Luck
15. Antonio Brown
16. Demaryius Thomas
17. Calvin Johnson
18. Jordy Nelson
19. Dez Bryant
20. Odell Beckham, Jr.
21. Julio Jones
22. Lamar Miller: Moved him into the 2nd round. Feature back with little competition.
23. Carlos Hyde: He jumps about 20 spots for me with the departure of Frank Gore.
24. AJ Green
25. Randall Cobb
26. Alshon Jeffery: With Brandon Marshall gone, Jeffery is clear #1 WR in Chicago.
27. Emmanuel Sanders
28. Justin Forsett: Pierce gone and Taliaferro unproven. Forsett should continue to get high reps.
29. Joique Bell
30. Alfred Morris
31. Mark Ingram
32. Jimmy Graham: From New Orleans to Seattle...and from the 1st round to the end of the 3rd.
33. TY Hilton: With Andre Johnson's arrival, I had to move TY down to this WR tier.
34. Mike Evans 
35. DeAndre Hopkins: Also related to Andre Johnson's move. Hopkins up a couple of spots.
36. Kelvin Benjamin
37. Jordan Matthews: Up about 30 spots after Maclin left town. Only WR left in Philly.
38. Peyton Manning: Had to move him down to this tier. I think he's on the decline.
39. Russell Wilson: He stays around this QB tier but I actually like him more than Brees.
40. Drew Brees: Losing Graham and Stills is a big deal, but likely still a top-5 fantasy QB.
41. Jonathan Stewart: With DeAngelo gone, I like Stewart at the top of this RB tier.
42. Latavius Murray
43. Tre Mason
44. Frank Gore: Now the (assumed) starter in Indy. This might not be high enough yet... 
45. Isaiah Crowell
46. Andre Ellington
47. Brandin Cooks: He's one of the few receiving weapons still in New Orleans!
48. Brandon Marshall  
49. Julian Edelman: Moved him up to this tier. 
50. Keenan Allen: Him too. 
51. Sammy Watkins  
52. Giovani Bernard: I was definitely too low on Gio in my initial rankings.
53. Melvin Gordon (R)
54. Chris Ivory  
55. Bishop Sankey
56. Jeremy Maclin: This seemed like far enough for Maclin to fall now that he's in KC.
57. DeSean Jackson
58. Andre Johnson: One of the biggest gainers from my initial rankings (up about 50 spots!).
59. Amari Cooper (R) 
60. Tom Brady  
61. Matt Ryan
62. Cam Newton
63. Greg Olsen
64. Travis Kelce
65. Martellus Bennett: Up about 15-20 spots with the departure of Brandon Marshall.
66. Devonta Freeman: Could be the #1 RB in Atlanta now that SJax gone.  COULD be...
67. CJ Spiller: He moves up a couple of spots with the move to New Orleans.
68. Doug Martin
69. Golden Tate
70. Roddy White 
71. Michael Floyd: Moved this next tier of WRs up a few spots...
72. Eric Decker
73. Vincent Jackson
74. Jarvis Landry
75. Martavis Bryant
76. Allen Robinson
77. Torrey Smith: And Torrey moves way down to the bottom of this tier (now a 49er).
78. Mike Wallace: He's down a bit too going from Miami to Minnesota.
79. Steve Smith: Moved him WAY up now that he's one of few receivers left in Baltimore.
80. Matthew Stafford: Moved him and Big Ben up a few spots to a QB tier of their own.
81. Ben Roethlisberger
82. Darren McFadden: He moves up a TON with a chance to be the man in Big D...for now.
83. LeGarrette Blount: With all of the moving around, Blount actually climbs a bit.
84. Rashad Jennings: The first NYG running back who moves down the big board.
85. Todd Gurley (R): This rookie moves up too, even though I have no idea where he'll end up.
86. Denard Robinson 
87. Ryan Mathews: He moves down considerably now that he's a complementary piece in Philly. 
88. Andre Williams: He's also down a bit with the Giants adding Vereen.
89. Fred Jackson: Moved down with Shady now a Bill.
90. Dwayne Allen
91. Antonio Gates 
92. Julius Thomas: Moved WAY down going from Denver to Jacksonville.
93. Owen Daniels: And his replacement cracks the top-100!
94. Philip Rivers
95. Tony Romo
96. Ryan Tannehill 
97. Branden Oliver: For now, assuming he's "#1" RB over Brown (who drops out of rankings).
98. Jerick McKinnon: And he could be #1 RB in Minnesota if Peterson goes elsewhere...
99. Joseph Randle
100. Charles Sims: He's up slightly, as his role should increase if he can stay healthy in 2015.
101. Brandon LaFell
102. Charles Johnson
103. Kenny Stills
104. DaVante Parker (R)
105. DeAngelo Williams: Signed with the Steelers. Should be their #1 RB Weeks 1-3...   
106. Theo Riddick: With Reggie Bush gone, Riddick should have an increased role.
107. Terrance West
108. Terrance Williams
109. Larry Fitzgerald 
110. Percy Harvin: Maybe he'll finally find a home in Buffalo...?
111. Victor Cruz  
112. Zach Ertz: Moved up just a few spots for now, but he might need to be much higher...
113. Knile Davis 
114. Lorenzo Taliaferro: Up slightly.  Should be #2 RB and clear goal line back for Ravens. 
115. Reggie Bush 
116. Shane Vereen: The move to New York has his fantasy stock falling considerably.
117. Dan Herron: Way down with Indy signing Frank Gore. Bradshaw a complete afterthought.
118. Montee Ball  
119. Jordan Cameron  
120. Jordan Reed
121. Delanie Walker 
122. Sam Bradford: Replaces Nick Foles in the rankings. (Starting) QB Eagles has to be ranked!
123. Eli Manning: Moved ahead of Cutler, since Jay lost a big weapon in Marshall.
124. Jay Cutler
125. Brian Quick: He was an oversight in my initial 2015 rankings.  Oops!
126. Doug Baldwin
127. Cecil Shorts: He's back in my rankings as the potential #2 WR in Houston.
128. Pierre Garcon
129. Kendall Wright
130. Anquan Boldin 
131. John Brown 
132. Kevin White (R): Added to the rankings. Maybe not high enough. We'll see where he goes.
133. Dwayne: Now with the Browns. Who belongs in the top-168?  Him or Crabtree...or neither?
134. Colin Kaepernick 
135. Teddy Bridgewater 
136. Joe Flacco
137. Jason Witten
138. Kyle Rudolph
139. Stevan Ridley: He found a team (Jets). He'll need to find his health before I rank him higher.
140. Danny Woodhead 
141. Darren Sproles: He's down to this tier with the addition of Murray/Mathews.
142. Travaris Cadet: He cracks the top-168 with a move to New England. 
143. Antone Smith: He re-signs with Atlanta and could get more reps now with SJax gone.
144. Khiry Robinson: The third option behind Ingram and now Spiller, but lots of reps in NO.
145. Seahawks DEFENSE
146. Cardinals DEFENSE     
147. Bills DEFENSE    
148. Rams DEFENSE: Akeem Ayers and Nick Fairley are nice additions to a solid D already.    
149. Texans DEFENSE
150. Patriots DEFENSE: They let some key pieces walk, including Wilfork and Revis.
151. Ravens DEFENSE: And they lost Ngata and McPhee, though I'm sure both teams will retool.
152. Dolphins DEFENSE: They made a splash adding Suh, but I think team improving overall.
153. Broncos DEFENSE
154. Panthers DEFENSE
155. Bengals DEFENSE
156. Eagles DEFENSE: Niners D lost pro bowlers. Philly now cracks my top-12 Ds.
157. Stephen Gostkowski
158. Justin Tucker
159. Steven Hauschka
160. Cody Parkey
161. Adam Vinatieri
162. Mason Crosby
163. Dan Bailey 
164. Matt Bryant
165. Shaun Suisham 
166. Blair Walsh
167. Dan Carpenter
168. Connor Barth