Week 2 Rankings

It was fifteen minutes til the 1:00 kickoffs last Sunday, and my buddy and I were talking about starting or sitting Adrian Peterson.  I was checking yahoo, twitter, etc. to see what the experts were saying.  Of course they were saying to play it safe and stay away from AP.  But he was now starting the game!  I drafted him in the second round.  I couldn't sit him.  I couldn't imagine the regret of not playing him, and everyone was already assuming he'd get 10-15 touches.  I'll take that with Peterson...all day.  And take it I did.  I also convinced my friend to start him.  Needless to say, we were both very pleased with the results.  However, I still lost my matchup by like 40 or 50 points, so it didn't really matter for me personally.  My defense and WRs didn't show up, and the other guy had production from everywhere.  Hey, that's how it goes.

But it could have mattered for someone else.

I didn't do week one rankings because I was too busy, and I didn't even think about it until Sunday to be honest.  But I'm doing Week 2 rankings by position, and I'll try to update this every week (and maybe my top 200ish)...we'll see.  I'm getting married in a month, so blogging isn't exactly at the top of the priority list (but football is, so I'll try to put blogging at #3 or 4).  The point of my story about starting or sitting AP is this (and I've said it before):  these are my rankings.  If you want to use them, go for it.  If you want to use someone else's, fine.  Ultimately, I think you need to make up your own mind and listen to your gut.  If you have a tiny gut (or no feelings), then use these rankings on Sunday (and Thursday if you have any Packers or Bears playing).  Otherwise, gather information from everywhere possible and ultimately make your own decision.  That's what I did when it came to AP...of course my friend listened to my advice :)

I'm assuming a max 12 team league, so I'm not going to rank 32 QBs.  If you really want to know if you should start or sit Ryan Fitzpatrick or Mark Sanchez, check a real website.  I'm not ranking everyone here.  I'll give you what I think is enough to know who I think you should start or sit, and if it's not then let me know.  I'm also not ranking kickers.  If you want kicker rankings, you should quit fantasy football forever.

QBs
1.Tom Brady
2.Cam Newton
3.Aaron Rodgers
4.Drew Brees
5.Matt Ryan
6.Matthew Stafford
7.RGIII

8.Eli Manning 9.Peyton Manning 10.Jay Cutler 11.Michael Vick 12.Tony Romo 13.Philip Rivers

14.Joe Flacco 15.Carson Palmer 16.Josh Freeman 17.Andrew Luck 18.Big Ben I'm not ranking any more quarterbacks than that.  Sorry, folks.  Just a comment here.  I can't believe how gutless the experts are with ranking Rodgers as #1.  I realize he's the best QB in the league, but the Bears defense is solid, and in a shortened-week rivalry game, I don't think we're looking at a game in the 30s or 40s for each team.  Maybe I'm wrong but I'd take the under in that game.  I think Aaron will still get a lot of points, but I like Brady to destroy the Cardinals in New England's home opener, and I think Cam Newton will pick apart the Saints D the way RGIII did last week (maybe even more so!).

RBs

1.Arian Foster

2.Ray Rice 3.Darren McFadden 4.Adrian Peterson

5.Matt Forte 6.LeSean McCoy 7.Maurice Jones-Drew 8.Jamaal Charles 9.CJ Spiller 10.Green-Ellis 11.Chris Johnson 12.DeMarco Murray 13.Steven Jackson 14.Stevan Ridley 15.Doug Martin 16.Marshawn Lynch 17.Frank Gore 18.Ahmad Bradshaw 19.Darren Sproles 20.Ryan Mathews (if he plays) 21.Alfred Morris 22.Trent Richardson 23.Donald Brown 24.Willis McGahee 25.Reggie Bush 26.Michael Turner 27.Kevin Smith 28.Shonn Greene 29.Michael Bush 30.Cedric Benson 31.Peyton Hillis 32.Jonathan Dwyer 33.Beanie Wells 34.Ben Tate 35.Ryan Williams 36.Mark Ingram 37.Ronnie Brown (or Curtis Brinkley...if RM doesn't play: I'll be playing neither) 38.DeAngelo Williams 39.Jonathan Stewart 40.Jacquizz Rodgers I just want to go on record here as saying that Green-Ellis is going to finish the season as a top-10 running back.  I couldn't believe the expert draft pre-rankings with as low as Benjarvis was on all of them.  I realize I had him pretty high, but I also realize how the Bengals use a running back.  I also realize that if you extrapolate his numbers from New England to a full season in Cincy, you get crazy good fantasy numbers.  He looked really good against a tough Ravens defense, and he didn't even get all that many carries in the second half.  I think at home against Cleveland he's going to have 100+ yards and maybe 2 TDs.  I wanted to rank him 6th or 7th, but it's tough this early in the season.  Don't sleep on this guy... WRs

1.Calvin Johnson 2.Brandon Marshall 3.Larry Fitzgerald 4.Julio Jones 5.Andre Johnson 6.Roddie White 7.Brandon Lloyd 8.AJ Green 9.Victor Cruz 10.Wes Welker 11.Percy Harvin 12.Steve Smith 13.Demaryius Thomas 14.Dez Bryant 15.Torrey Smith 16.Marques Colston 17.Antonio Brown 18.Jordy Nelson 19.Reggie Wayne 20.Jeremy Maclin 21.Miles Austin 22.Hakeem Nicks 23.Pierre Garcon 24.Vincent Jackson 25.Eric Decker 26.Dwayne Bowe 27.Stevie Johnson 28.Mike Wallace 29.Anquan Boldin 30.Lance Moore 31.Malcom Floyd 32.Randall Cobb 33.DeShaun Jackson 34.Darrius Heyward-Bey 35.Titus Young 36.Mike Williams 37.Sidney Rice 38.Alshon Jeffery 39.Brandon LaFell 40.Michael Crabtree 41.Robert Meachem 42.Justin Blackmon 43.Greg Little 44.Danny Amendola 45.Greg Jennings (I'm assuming he's not playing, but keep an eye on him if he does...) Wow.  One week and people are off the Patriots bandwagon it seems.  I'm all in.  I have Tom Brady as my #1 QB this week, and I'm staying high on Brandon Lloyd and Wes Welker.  Bring it on.  TEs

1.Jimmy Graham

2.Rob Gronkowski 3.Aaron Hernandez 4.Antonio Gates 5.Vernon Davis 6.Jermichael Finley 7.Jacob Tamme 8.Brandon Pettigrew 9.Jared Cook 10.Fred Davis 11.Tony Gonzalez 12.Coby Fleener 13.Jason Witten 14.Greg Olsen 15.Kyle Rudolph How many more tight ends do you need ranked?  That's enough.  I hope Gates is a top 5 play this week, but we'll see how serious the rib injury is this week.  Tamme is the biggest riser for me.  I think with a healthy Peyton, he's a top 10 start every week.

DEF 1.Texans

2.Jets 3.Patriots 4.Raiders 5.Bengals 6.Ravens 7.49ers 8.Steelers 9.Seahawks 10.Cowboys 11.Bears

12.Eagles 13.Giants 14.Redskins I'll end on that note.  Hail to the Redskins!!!