Way Too Early 2014 Fantasy Football Rankings

I realize it's January and we haven't even officially completed the 2013 NFL season, but I don't care.  The fantasy season has long been over, and I want to get an early jump on next season.  I could have called this the "Never Too Early Rankings", but let's be real.  This list is going to look very different in the months to come, and it's way too early to be anything close to accurate.  But let's get the discussion going, shall we?  For your reference, here are some key dates to keep an eye on once the NFL season is officially over this Sunday:

I won't rank Sammy yet, but he'll make the list in the summer.

February 18th: Draft Combine starts.  I might do an article at this time on guys to watch when the draft comes around, but probably not.  With fantasy, a lot depends on which teams draft which players.  If Sammy Watkins goes to Oakland, he might not be on my radar as much as he would if he goes somewhere like Detroit.  Will Houston take a QB with the #1 pick?  Most likely.  Will it be Teddy Bridgewater?  Maybe not.  February is too early to speculate on these things, at least for me.  I'll leave that to the 4-letter guys.

March 11: Free agency begins.  Here is a good article from Michael Fabiano over at NFL.com discussing 2014 free agents-to-be.  And while I agree with him that Jimmy Graham will most likely be a Saint for life, there will surely be some shuffling around with other players.  I'd especially keep an eye on running backs, and I might be updating my rankings in the spring if there are any big signings.  Look out for guys like Ben Tate and Rashad Jennings to potentially find themselves in position for feature roles in 2014.

May 8: NFL Draft starts in NYC.  You might not hear anything else from me until May, but I promise I'll at least do a post-draft article once we see where all of the collegiate position players land.  Looking at the 2013 rookie class, there were several big impact players.  Some of these guys were top picks in fantasy drafts, and some were mid-season waiver wire gems.  Either way, it's especially important to look at RBs and WRs in each draft...and to a lesser extent, QBs and TEs.  I don't want to discount rookie QBs.  It's just not every year you have a class with Luck, Wilson, and RGIII.  Anyway, here are some of the top fantasy rookies this past season: Eddie Lacy, Gio Bernard, Le'Veon Bell, Keenan Allen, Zac Stacy, Cordarrelle Patterson, Jordan Reed, and DeAndre Hopkins.  Not bad, right?

If I can't land Graham at the end of the 1st round, I'm going RB

So here's my initial list for the 2014 fantasy football season.  Like I said, a lot will change between now and August (or whenever you do your fantasy draft).  A lot might even change in the next 2 or 3 months.  But this is a start.  I'll leave the rookies out of my top-168 for now, but some will find their way in there in May.  And I haven't forgotten about guys like Eli Manning and Sidney Rice...or question marks like David Wilson and Jermichael Finley.  I have several names that didn't quite make the top-168.  They might make the cut when things start really taking shape.  But that's a long time from now.  You may also notice I have 15 RBs in my top-20 and 32 in the top-66.  I just feel like good QBs and WRs are plentiful as you go through the list, but  quality RBs are always tough to find later in drafts.  You'll find defenses and kickers at the very end of the list, but I'll end up moving the defenses around a bit (the kickers will stay at the tail end though).  There's no way the Seahawks, Niners, or Panthers last into the double-digit rounds of fantasy drafts next year.  I just didn't want to get that detailed yet.  But enough talk.  Here's my first edition of the 2014 rankings!

Cheers,
Bart

1. Jamaal Charles

2. LeSean McCoy

3. Adrian Peterson

4. Marshawn Lynch

5. Matt Forte

6. Eddie Lacy

7. Jimmy Graham

8. Calvin Johnson

9. Le'Veon Bell

10. Alfred Morris

11. DeMarco Murray

12. Reggie Bush

13. Aaron Rodgers

14. Peyton Manning

15. Drew Brees

16. Knowshon Moreno

17. Zac Stacy

18. Doug Martin

19. Chris Johnson

20. CJ Spiller

21. AJ Green

22. Dez Bryant

23. Josh Gordon

24. Demaryius Thomas

25. Arian Foster

26. Ray Rice

27. Giovani Bernard

28. Brandon Marshall

29. Antonio Brown

30. Julio Jones

31. Alshon Jeffery

32. Ryan Mathews

33. Ben Tate

34. Frank Gore

35. Maurice Jones-Drew

36. Andre Brown

37. Andrew Luck

38. Cam Newton

39. Pierre Garcon

40. Jordy Nelson

41. Vincent Jackson

42. Keenan Allen

43. Randall Cobb

44. Eric Decker

45. DeSean Jackson

46. Shane Vereen

47. Julius Thomas

48. Vernon Davis

49. Nick Foles

50. Matthew Stafford

51. Larry Fitzgerald

52. Andre Johnson

53. Trent Richardson

54. Rashad Jennings

55. Lamar Miller

56. Torrey Smith

57. Wes Welker

58. Michael Crabtree

59. Roddy White

60. Rob Gronkowski

61. Andre Ellington

62. Montee Ball

63. Steven Jackson

64. Fred Jackson

65. Stevan Ridley

66. Percy Harvin

67. Kendall Wright

68. Michael Floyd

69. TY Hilton

70. Victor Cruz

71. Marques Colston

72. Cordarelle Patterson

73. Matt Ryan

74. Tom Brady

75. Darren McFadden

76. Chris Ivory

77. Danny Woodhead

78. Tony Romo

79. Russell Wilson

80. Jordan Cameron

81. Mike Wallace

82. Cecil Shorts

83. DeAndre Hopkins

84. James Jones

85. Julian Edelman

86. Colin Kaepernick

87. RGIII

88. Justin Blackmon

89. Tavon Austin

90. Reuben Randle

91. Greg Olsen

92. Jason Witten

93. DeAngelo Williams

94. Benjarvis Green-Ellis

95. Joique Bell

96. Darren Sproles

97. Reggie Wayne

98. Danny Amendola

99. Hakeem Nicks

100. Dwayne Bowe

101. Anquan Boldin

102. Brian Hartline

103. Philip Rivers

104. Jay Cutler

105. Andy Dalton

106. Charles Clay

107. Dennis Pitta

108. Coby Fleener

109. Marvin Jones

110. Aaron Dobson

111. Marlon Brown

112. Rashard Mendenhall

113. Daniel Thomas

114. Pierre Thomas

115. LeGarrette Blount

116. Donald Brown

117. Stevie Johnson

118. Steve Smith

119. Greg Jennings

120. Jeremy Maclin

121. Emmanuel Sanders

122. Riley Cooper

123. Bernard Pierce

124. Shonn Greene

125. Bilal Powell

126. Jacquizz Rodgers

127. Roy Helu

128. Ryan Tannehill

129. Ben Roethlisberger

130. Alex Smith

131. Golden Tate

132. Denarius Moore

133. Terrance Williams

134. Kenny Stills

135. Robert Woods

136. Harry Douglas

137. Mike Williams

138. Bryce Brown

139. Mike Tolbert

140. Ahmad Bradshaw

141. Jordan Todman

142. Mark Ingram

143. Knile Davis

144. Toby Gerhart

145. Seahawks DEFENSE

146. 49ers DEFENSE

147. Panthers DEFENSE

148. Chiefs DEFENSE

149. Rams DEFENSE

150. Bengals DEFENSE

151. Cardinals DEFENSE

152. Patriots DEFENSE

153. Ravens DEFENSE

154. Bills DEFENSE

155. Broncos DEFENSE

156. Bears DEFENSE

157. Stephen Gostkowski

158. Matt Prater

159. Justin Tucker

160. Dan Bailey

161. Steven Hauschka

162. Blair Walsh

163. Nick Novak

164. Matt Bryant

165. Mason Crosby

166. Phil Dawson

167. Sebastian Janikowski

168. Jay Feely