Week 3 Rankings

These Thursday games are forcing me to get these out pretty early, so no introduction here.  Just some week three rankings with a little bit of commentary.  Enjoy.

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

8.Eli Manning 9.Joe Flacco 10.Michael Vick 11.Matthew Stafford 12.Philip Rivers 13.Big Ben

14.Ryan Fitzpatrick 15.Peyton Manning 16.Andrew Luck 17.Jay Cutler 18.Andy Dalton RGIII is creeping up in the rankings.  As a Redskins fan, I hope it's accurate this week against Cincy.  If Stafford finally has a big game this week, I'll move him back into the top 10.  But until he does so, he's moving down.  None of the experts have Fitzpatrick very high, but he's had a couple of solid starts, and I think he'll throw for 300 yards and 2 TDs against the Brownies.

RBs

1.Arian Foster

2.Ray Rice 3.CJ Spiller 4.LeSean McCoy

5.Maurice Jones-Drew 6.Marshawn Lynch 7.Michael Bush 8.DeMarco Murray 9.Trent Richardson 10.Frank Gore 11.Reggie Bush 12.Darren McFadden 13.Green-Ellis 14.Doug Martin 15.Ryan Mathews 16.Stevan Ridley 17.Darren Sproles 18.Jamaal Charles 19.Adrian Peterson 20.Chris Johnson 21.Steven Jackson 22.Alfred Morris 23.Willis McGahee 24.Michael Turner 25.Andre Brown 26.Donald Brown 27.Peyton Hillis 28.Kevin Smith 29.Mark Ingram 30.Cedric Benson 31.Shonn Greene 32.Ben Tate 33.Beanie Wells 34.DeAngelo Williams 35.Mikel Leshoure 36.Isaac Redman 37.David Wilson 38.Ryan Williams 39.Jonathan Stewart 40.Jacquizz Rodgers Michael Bush cracks the top 10 this week (probably no Forte for a little while *sigh*).  He should step into the feature back role quite nicely, just like he did in Oakland when McFadden went down.  Ryan Mathews and Andre Brown are a couple of the new names on this list.  For my sake, I hope Mathews starts and gets 15-20 touches.  I think he can do a lot with that against Atlanta (McGahee did last week).  Andre Brown looks to get the start for the G-Men with Bradshaw out.  Assuming they keep the game close, he should get a lot of work.  Mikel Leshoure is another new face here, and it'll be interesting to see how the Lions use him.  I expect Kevin Smith to get injured any day now, and Leshoure could be that late round flier who turns into fantasy gold by the middle of the season.  I guess we'll see. WRs

1.Victor Cruz 2.Calvin Johnson 3.AJ Green 4.Brandon Marshall 5.Percy Harvin 6.Andre Johnson 7.Steve Smith 8.Julio Jones 9.Miles Austin 10.Roddie White 11.Demaryius Thomas 12.Larry Fitzgerald 13.Reggie Wayne 14.Mike Wallace 15.Vincent Jackson 16.Dwayne Bowe 17.Stevie Johnson 18.Jordy Nelson 19.Brandon Lloyd 20.Torrey Smith 21.Antonio Brown 22.Wes Welker 23.Marques Colston 24.Jeremy Maclin 25.Dez Bryant 26.Malcom Floyd 27.Danny Amendola 28.Greg Jennings 29.Eric Decker 30.Anquan Boldin 31.Pierre Garcon 32.Brandon LaFell 33.DeShaun Jackson 34.Greg Little 35.Lance Moore 36.Mike Williams 37.Darrius Heyward-Bey 38.Alshon Jeffery 39.Michael Crabtree 40.Kenny Britt 41.Justin Blackmon 42.Donnie Avery It's tough not to rank Megatron #1, but with Hakeem Nicks out this week (*double sigh*), Cruz will probably get 20+ targets.  New York is down other key players too, so I could see them falling behind early and having to air it out.  I don't see why Cruz shouldn't be the top WR this week.  Then again, I had Brandon Marshall up there last week, so maybe it's the kiss of death.  Larry Fitzgerald is going to continue to fall until I see better fantasy potential from him this year, and the same goes for the Patriots receivers.  With the latter, I think it's only a matter of time before they both get back into the top 10.  Jennings and Garcon are back in the mix, but it's hard to tell how healthy they are, and thus how effective they will be.  Hence, they're not in the top 25 or so for me. TEs

1.Jimmy Graham

2.Rob Gronkowski 3.Vernon Davis 4.Brandon Pettigrew 5.Brent Celek 6.Tony Gonzalez 7.Martellus Bennett 8.Jermichael Finley 9.Antonio Gates 10.Jason Witten 11.Kyle Rudolph 12.Jacob Tamme 13.Owen Daniels 14.Jared Cook 15.Dennis Pitta I hate to keep talking about the Giants, but Martellus Bennett has had a good start to the season.  And again with Nicks out, he should see increased targets.  Even though he's a giant tease, I still have Gates in my top 10.  He better produce this week!!!

DEF 1.Bears

2.Jets 3.49ers 4.Texans 5.Eagles 6.Steelers 7.Packers 8.Lions 9.Cowboys 10.Bills 11.Ravens

12.Dolphins 13.Cardinals 14.Browns Defense is always a little tough to predict, but I like the Bears at home against St. Louis to be at the top of the list this week.  The Niners are the safe pick, and I still have them at #3, but Minnesota has looked somewhat promising thusfar and they are playing in Minneapolis.  The Seahawks don't make the list this week because they're playing Green Bay, but maybe I'm not giving them enough credit.  They probably belong instead of a team like the Browns, but we shall see...