2016 Fantasy Football Rankings v1.2: ROOKIE UPDATE

Well the NFL draft was pretty interesting.  Myles Jack fell out of the first round due to concerns over his knee, and Laremy Tunsil dropped about 10 spots because he likes to pretend he's Bane when he smokes weed!  But we don't need to talk about those guys because they're not QBs, RBs, WRs, or TEs.  Those are the guys WE care about for fantasy purposes, right?

Let's start with the WRs, and with my Washington Redskins drafting Josh Doctson out of TCU.  While time will tell if they made the right pick, I personally like it.  Either Pierre or DeSean (or both) will surely be gone after this season, seeing as how they're both in the final year of their contracts.  So let's keep those weapons coming for Kirk!  I think the WR in the best position to have an immediate impact is probably Corey Coleman though.  Yes, even though he's in Cleveland.  I mean, who are the other WRs there?  They lost Travis Benjamin to free agency (Chargers), and Josh Gordon isn't likely to see the field any time soon.  I don't care if it's RGIII or Josh McCown tossing the ball around (or even Cody Kessler for that matter!).  They have to throw it to someone, and Coleman should be that guy.

You may recall from my last rankings update that I only had a handful of rookies, and that was assuming those guys ended up in good fantasy situations.  In fact I even cheated at #113, where I simply listed a handful of rookie wideouts.  I said I didn't think all of those rookie WRs will be draftable (from a fantasy perspective), but whoever lands with the right team could be.  I mentioned teams like the Bengals, Cowboys, Giants, Saints, or Steelers.  Well, some of those teams drafted WRs fairly high, and I'll have notes on other rookie WRs in my rankings below.

What about the running backs?  Well, Dallas made a big splash at #4 by taking Ezekiel Elliott, which has me moving McFadden WAY down my top-168 and Alfred Morris out of it altogether.  (Come back to Washington, Alfred!!!)  I think if you want to draft Zeke in 2016, you're going to have to pay a very high price.  I know it's early, but I don't think it's unrealistic to think that he'll be a 1st rounder in your fantasy draft.  Plan accordingly. 

Derrick Henry slipped out of the first round and landed with the Titans.  Didn't see that coming, did you DeMarco?  That lowers my value of both of those running backs considerably, as I'd imagine a bit of a time share in Tennessee.  Seattle not only drafted CJ Prosise in the 3rd round, but they also took Alex Collins in the 5th and Zac Brooks in the 7th.  I'm wondering how much they believe in Rawls to be the heir to Beast Mode, and I also wonder if some of that has to do with him coming off a serious injury.  Either way, it'll be an interesting situation to monitor when training camps start.

Matthew Berry seems to think that the Dolphins selecting Kenyan Drake is somehow a good thing for Jay Ajayi.  It's just about the only thing about which I disagree with him on in this article he wrote.  Before Miami took Drake near the top of Round 3, I was seeing Ajayi as a potential every-down back.  Now I'm not so sure.  To me, that takes a little value away from him, but we'll have to see how this all shakes out.  I think Drake has the potential to be the better NFL running back from Bama taken in this draft, and I think he's in a better position than Henry to produce in 2016.

The Bucs traded up to take a kicker...in the second round!

Now that we're into the month of May, I've also added below my top-168 a few more players to keep an eye on over the next couple of months at each position.  You'll notice some rookie QBs in that list, along with one rookie tight end who found himself in a decent fantasy situation (Hooper in ATL).  I doubt I'll rank any of the first year QBs in my top-168, but Austin Hooper could find his way up there if he looks good this summer.

You may or may not also notice my kicker rankings at the bottom shuffled up a bit.  If you have read my blog in previous years, you know that I don't like drafting a kicker with an early bye week.  Sorry, Mason Crosby.  You're gone.  I just can't stand the thought of drafting someone who I KNOW I'll be waiving three weeks into the season.  I've also adjusted down kickers like Hauschka and Santos, who got hit with a Week 5 bye.  Assuming other people sleep on Roberto Aguayo, I'll probably end up drafting him in the last round of whatever leagues I end up in this year.

That's it for now.  Enjoy!

Cheers,
Bart

1. Le'Veon Bell

2. Todd Gurley

3. Antonio Brown

4. Odell Beckham, Jr.

5. Julio Jones

6. David Johnson: Moved him and Lamar Miller up a couple of spots.

7. Adrian Peterson

8. Lamar Miller

9. Ezekiel Elliott: Moved him WAY up after landing in Big D.  Too high?  We'll see...

10. Devonta Freeman

11. Jamaal Charles

12. Doug Martin  13. DeAndre Hopkins

14. Allen Robinson

15. AJ Green: Moved him and Dez up to this second WR tier.

16. Dez Bryant

17. Rob Gronkowski: Probably in the minority moving him down, but TE position is deep this year.

18. Mark Ingram: Moved up one spot to just above Shady.

19. LeSean McCoy

20. Thomas Rawls: Down quite a bit after Seattle drafted 3 RBs.

21. CJ Anderson

22. Eddie Lacy

23. Latavius Murray

24. Alshon Jeffery

25. Jordy Nelson

26. Cam Newton

27. Aaron Rodgers: Moved him up to this tier in between Cam and Luck.

28. Andrew Luck

29. Sammy Watkins

30. Mike Evans: Moved him and Amari up to this WR tier with Watkins.

31. Amari Cooper

32. Carlos Hyde: Moved him to the top of this RB tier. Chip runs a LOT...

33. Jonathan Stewart

34. Matt Forte

35. Demaryius Thomas: Moved him and Marshall down a few...Who are their QBs???

36. Brandon Marshall

37. Russell Wilson

38. Jeremy Hill

39. Jeremy Langford: While a Rd5 pick, Jordan Howard could compete with Langford right away.

40. Matt Jones

41. Ryan Mathews: Thought the Eagles would draft a RB highly. They didn't. He moves up.

42. Brandin Cooks

43. TY Hilton

44. Randall Cobb

45. Keenan Allen

46. Kelvin Benjamin

47. Jay Ajayi: Down just a few spots with the Dolphins drafting Kenyan Drake.

48. Melvin Gordon: Microfracture surgery has me moving him slightly down my board.

49. DeMarco Murray: Moved him WAY down, and maybe this isn't far enough!

50. Ben Roethlisberger

51. Drew Brees

52. Dion Lewis: Moved him down here with Gio. Patriot RBs so volatile.

53. Giovani Bernard

54. Julian Edelman

55. Eric Decker

56. Jeremy Maclin: Up to this WR tier. He's coming off a quiet top-20 WR season.

57. Tyler Eifert

58. Jordan Reed

59. Jarvis Landry

60. Michael Floyd

61. Doug Baldwin: Moved up to this WR tier.

62. Golden Tate

63. Greg Olsen: Down a few spots. Benjamin back hurts his value a bit.

64. Ameer Abdullah

65. Chris Ivory

66. Justin Forsett

67. Frank Gore

68. T.J. Yeldon

69. Carson Palmer

70. Tom Brady: Assuming 4 game suspension at beginning of year, he drops to this tier.

71. Blake Bortles

72. Allen Hurns: Moved him slightly up this tier.

73. DeVante Parker

74. Emmanuel Sanders: And him slightly down it.

75. John Brown

76. Jordan Matthews

77. Steve Smith

78. Larry Fitzgerald: And this old man slightly down the tier as well.

79. Danny Woodhead: Moved the little guy a few spots higher.

80. Duke Johnson: Essentially swapped him with Crowell in the rankings.

81. Donte Moncrief: Moved him and Lockett WAY up to this WR tier.

82. Michael Crabtree

83. Tyler Lockett

84. Corey Coleman: Top WR taken in the draft, and landed where there are no WRs.

85. DeSean Jackson

86. Travis Kelce

87. Delanie Walker

88. Javorius Allen: Moved him up to this tier. Could move around more.

89. Karlos Williams

90. Charles Sims

91. Isaiah Crowell

92. Eli Manning

93. Philip Rivers

94. Tony Romo

95. Andy Dalton

96. Dorial Green-Beckham: Moved him and a few other receivers up to this tier.

97. Markus Wheaton

98. Travis Benjamin

99. Kevin White

100. Gary Barnidge: He's up a few spots to crack the top-100.

101. Rashad Jennings

102. LeGarrette Blount

103. Marcus Mariota: Swapped him and Tyrod. If he plays 16 games, could be top-12 QB.

104. Derek Carr

105. Tyrod Taylor

106. Vincent Jackson: Moved a couple of veterans to the top of this WR tier.

107. Tavon Austin

108. Marvin Jones

109. Sterling Shepard: Followed by a couple of rookies in good fantasy situations.

110. Tyler Boyd

111. Derrick Henry: He moved way down the rankings. TN not a great landing spot for the rookie.

112. Julius Thomas

113. Zach Ertz: I think my anti-Philly bias left him off my initial rankings.  Oops!

114. Darren McFadden: He fell out of the top-100 with Zeke now a Cowboy.

115. Ronnie Hillman: And he fell a few spots with Denver drafting Booker.

116. Arian Foster: I keep moving him down until he lands with a team.

117. Kirk Cousins: He gets a new weapon in Doctson and moves slightly up for me.

118. Jameis Winston

119. Theo Riddick: Moved him and Sproles up a few spots.

120. Darren Sproles

121. Kenyan Drake: And Kenyan Drake up here with them.

122. Stefon Diggs: He's down a few spots with the Vikings drafting Treadwell.

123. Willie Snead: And him with the Saints drafting Michael Thomas.

124. Torrey Smith

125. Laquon Treadwell: Moved down after getting drafted by the Vikings.

126. Coby Fleener

127. Ladarius Green

128. Austin Sefarian-Jenkins

129. Jimmy Graham: Moved him down to this tier. Injury a concern for Week 1.

130. Dwayne Allen

131. Antonio Gates

132. Charcandrick West: Up slightly. Chiefs shopping Knile. West the clear #2 finally?

133. James Starks

134. Mohamed Sanu

135. Sammie Coates

136. Pierre Garcon

137. Chris Thompson

138. Andre Ellington: Down a few spots.

139. Tevin Coleman

140. Cameron Artis-Payne

141. DeAngelo Williams: Down a few. Only a backup for an injured Le'Veon.

142. Jerick McKinnon: Moved him into the rankings. Good handcuff if you draft AP.

143. Jordan Howard: A couple of rookies to round out the position players...

144. C.J. Prosise

145. Seahawks DEFENSE

146. Cardinals DEFENSE: Swapped them with Carolina (who lost Norman to Washington!)

147. Broncos DEFENSE

148. Panthers DEFENSE

149. Texans DEFENSE

150. Rams DEFENSE

151. Patriots DEFENSE

152. Chiefs DEFENSE

153. Bengals DEFENSE

154. Bills DEFENSE: Removed Green Bay (Week 4 bye). Added Buffalo, who drafted D high.

155. Jets DEFENSE

156. Vikings DEFENSE

157. Stephen Gostkowski

158. Justin Tucker

159. Dan Bailey

160. Roberto Aguayo

161. Chandler Catanzaro

162. Graham Gano

163. Brandon McManus

164. Adam Vinatieri

165. Steven Hauschka

166. Cairo Santos

167. Blair Walsh

168. Dan Carpenter

...and a few more players to consider at each position QBs Ryan Fitzpatrick: Still a free agent and the Jets drafted Hackenberg in Round 2... Matt Ryan Joe Flacco Jay Cutler Ryan Tannehill Brock Osweiler Matthew Stafford Jared Goff Carson Wentz Paxton Lynch RBs Kenneth Dixon: Baltimore rookie could battle for some touches. Paul Perkins: And he could emerge as the RB for the G-Men. Devontae Booker: Denver took him late, but he could be best RB in the draft. Tyler Ervin: A speedster who could find his way into the mix in Houston. Wendell Smallwood: Doug Pederson didn't hand pick Mathews or Sproles... Christine Michael Tre Mason Bilal Powell Ka'Deem Carey Shane Vereen CJ Spiller Tim Hightower Pierre Thomas Chris Johnson Alfred Morris Robert Turbin Josh Ferguson Joique Bell (FA) WRs Josh Gordon: Moved him down to the watch list. Who knows if he'll even play again? Josh Doctson: I want to rank him, but Pierre and DeSean still in Washington (for now). Will Fuller: Could be clear #2 WR alongside Hopkins, but time will tell. Michael Thomas: He could easily crack my top-168 in a couple of months. Malcolm Mitchell: Patriots drafted him in the 4th round. What do they know...? Chris Hogan Nate Washington Kendall Wright Phillip Dorsett Devin Funchess Ted Ginn Kamar Aiken Breshad Perriman Jeff Janis Chris Conley Terrance Williams Marqise Lee Anquan Boldin (FA) TEs Eric Ebron Jared Cook Martellus Bennett Zach Miller (Chicago Bears...there are two of them!) Austin Hooper: He finds himself in a nice spot to start in Atlanta...