2018 Fantasy Football Rankings v5

The last time I updated my rankings, the Capitals were up 3 games to 1 in the Stanley Cup Final.  As you likely know, they got the job done in Game 5 and won the whole thing for the first time in franchise history.  I still kind of can't believe it.  It wasn't until the next day when I realized I haven't really experienced this as a fan before: the team I root for actually won a championship! 

OK.  So I rooted for Duke basketball in the 90s, and there were a couple of championships I was happy about then.  But this is very different.  I'm an adult now with adult things going on.  I couldn't really care less about Duke basketball anymore, but I'm a fan of the Redskins, Orioles, and the Caps.  Oh, and Tottenham, but that feels secondary compared to American sports.  I live in Mechanicsville, Virginia...not London, England.  But I spend a lot of my time watching those sports teams, mostly on tv, but once or twice a year in person if I can. 

Anyway, I was so excited for all of those guys, but especially Ovi.  The look on his face after the last game was priceless, and there was just so much joy on that ice.  I don't want the feeling to end for those guys.  And as I thought more about it, I realized it's a little strange to feel so happy about the achievements of other grown men - men I don't even know personally.  I didn't do anything but watch them play hockey.  But I've been watching them for years, and so many other Caps fans have shared in those heartbreaking losses and series collapses.  We didn't do anything but cheer them on, but it still feels good now that they've won it.  Congrats, boys!

There haven't been a ton of moves in the NFL since my last update, but that's not stopping me from updating my rankings.  Julian Edelman got hit with a 4 game suspension, so that was big news for a couple of days.  Guys like Dez Bryant and DeMarco Murray still haven't signed anywhere, and the Chargers didn't re-sign Antonio Gates like a lot of people expected.  But there's still plenty of time for those things to happen.  I'm sure Gates wouldn't want to go through all of the offseason camp stuff anyway.  It wouldn't surprise me if they sign him in August and he's good to go Week 1.  But for now, he stays in my watch list.  And for now, Dez and DeMarco continue to slide down my big board. 

Lets see who else has moved around in my latest rankings!

1. Le'Veon Bell

2. Todd Gurley

3. Ezekiel Elliott

4. Alvin Kamara

5. Antonio Brown: Up one spot. It felt wrong not having him in the top-5.

6. David Johnson

7. Saquon Barkley

8. Leonard Fournette

9. DeAndre Hopkins: Down to this WR tier, leaving AB in a tier of his own.

10. Odell Beckham, Jr.: And moved these other WRs up into Round 1 too.

11. Michael Thomas

12. Julio Jones 13. Rob Gronkowski: Up a couple more spots with the Edelman suspension. Nearly back into Rd 1. 14. Dalvin Cook 15. Kareem Hunt 16. Melvin Gordon 17. Keenan Allen  18. Davante Adams 19. A.J. Green   20. Mike Evans 21. Doug Baldwin 22. Devonta Freeman      23. Jerick McKinnon    24. Christian McCaffery 25. Joe Mixon  26. LeSean McCoy: Moved to the bottom of this RB tier. His O-line is worse, and he's getting old. 27. T.Y. Hilton  28. Adam Thielen 29. Alshon Jeffery 30. Stefon Diggs 31. Jordan Howard: Down to this RB tier. Nagy sounds like he's going to use Cohen a LOT. 32. Jay Ajayi  33. Alex Collins 34. Derrius Guice: Moving up to this RB tier because he feels like he belongs in Round 3. 35. Zach Ertz: Ertz and Kelce slightly up too. I'm starting to really value the top-3 TEs. 36. Travis Kelce 37. Larry Fitzgerald 38. JuJu Smith-Schuster: Up to this WR tier. Why not? With Martavis gone, he could be special. 39. Amari Cooper 40. Kenyan Drake 41. Derrick Henry: Down a RB tier. New OC sees him and Lewis as "1A and 1B".  Not a good sign. 42. Rashaad Penny 43. Tyreek Hill: Down a WR tier. I don't trust him as much in a new offense with a new QB. 44. Demaryius Thomas 45. Brandin Cooks 46. Marvin Jones 47. Josh Gordon: I feel like Tyrod will get him the ball. Gordon seems to belong in the top-50. 48. Michael Crabtree 49. Aaron Rodgers: Fell about ten spots. QB is deep, and losing Jordy could hurt. 50. Deshaun Watson: Assuming he's fully healthy, I moved him a few spots above Russell Wilson. 51. Sony Michel 52. Lamar Miller: With D'Onta possibly ready for Week 1, I felt I had Miller too high.  53. Marshawn Lynch 54. Ronald Jones 55. Mark Ingram: Back up slightly. Could still be top-12 RB even with missing first 4 games. 56. Tevin Coleman    57. Dion Lewis: There should be plenty of touches for both RBs in this offense. Up. 58. Chris Hogan: Already had him high before Edelman's suspension, but now up a WR tier. 59. Golden Tate 60. Allen Robinson 61. Corey Davis 62. Jarvis Landry 63. Devin Funchess 64. Tom Brady: Moved him back up to the top of this QB tier. 65. Russell Wilson: And moved both him and Wentz down a few spots to this tier. 66. Carson Wentz 67. Marlon Mack 68. Royce Freeman: Up to this RB tier with Marlon Mack. Like Mack, he could be the starter. 69. Chris Thompson: Moved him up too. Should be healthy and have a big role like last year. 70. Allen Hurns: If he can stay healthy, he can replicate his 2015 season. WAY up for me. 71. DeVante Parker: I think I had him too low. Landry leaves a lot of targets in Miami. 72. Sterling Shepard: I also moved him up. Adam Rank has him as a top-12 WR! 73. Will Fuller  74. Pierre Garcon: He was decent last year when healthy. Up a couple of WR tiers. 75. Cam Newton: Swapped him with Kirk. If I draft Cam, I'll just draft another QB (Week 4 bye).  76. Drew Brees: Not a great fantasy year in 2017. Down a bit to this QB tier.  77. Kirk Cousins  78. Jimmy Graham: No sure thing he's a top-5 fantasy TE. Down to here with rest of these guys. 79. Kyle Rudolph  80. Delanie Walker: Moved him WAY back up to this TE tier...above Olsen even! 81. Greg Olsen  82. Evan Engram: Down two spots to the bottom of this TE tier. 83. Rex Burkhead: Up slightly to this RB tier.  84. Isaiah Crowell 85. Kerryon Johnson: Rookie running backs. So hot right now. Up to this RB tier.  86. Emmanuel Sanders 87. Randall Cobb 88. Robert Woods 89. Robby Anderson: A suspension is coming, but how many games will it be?  Down... 90. Kelvin Benjamin 91. Aaron Jones: Head coach making this backfield sound like a 3-headed monster.  Down. 92. Nick Chubb  93. C.J. Anderson 94. Tarik Cohen: Up to this RB tier. Sounds like he'll be very involved in Bear offense this year.  95. Jamaal Williams: Also down, but I have him and Aaron Jones in same RB tier for now. 96. Sammy Watkins 97. Jordy Nelson: Down another WR tier. I just don't trust him without Aaron Rodgers. 98. Marqise Lee 99. D.J. Moore: Up to this WR tier. Could be in a position to be #1 WR in Carolina right away.   100. Julian Edelman: Starting the year with a 4 game PED ban. Down but not out of top-100. 101. Matthew Stafford: Moved to the top of this QB tier. Feels like the safest top-10 QB pick.  102. Andrew Luck 103. Philip Rivers 104. D'Onta Foreman 105. Frank Gore: He felt a little high where I had him. Dolphins could struggle to score TDs. 106. DeMarco Murray: Still unsigned and out of my top-100. 107. Kenny Stills  108. Cooper Kupp 109. Rishard Matthews 110. Marquise Goodwin 111. Dez Bryant: He also falls out of my top-100 after going unsigned for so long. 112. Nelson Agholor 113. Jamison Crowder: Back up a little. Has been top-40 WR and averaged 100 targets last 2 years.  114. Mike Williams 115. Josh Doctson  116. Bilal Powell  117. Peyton Barber: As long as the Bucs don't sign a guy like DeMarco Murray, Barber up for me. 118. Devontae Booker  119. Carlos Hyde: Duke Johnson signed a contract extension. Hyde down even further. 120. Giovani Bernard: Down to the Bilal Powell RB tier. Bilal and Gio feel like similar values. 121. Jordan Reed: Up slightly. This feels like a good spot to take a chance on the injury-prone TE. 122. Trey Burton: Could be this year's Kelce/Ertz. Had to get him back up here, even with early bye. 123. Michael Gallup 124. Cameron Meredith 125. Calvin Ridley: Even in a keeper league, he felt too high in top-100. Julio/Sanu ahead of him. 126. Tyrell Williams 127. Matt Breida 128. Duke Johnson 129. Theo Riddick: SO many RBs in Detroit right now. Down a RB tier. 130. Paul Richardson 131. Kenny Golladay: Without a solid TE now, Golladay feels like option 3 or 4 in this offense. Up. 132. Geronimo Allison 133. Tyler Lockett 134. Jordan Matthews: Some of the worst hands in the NFL, but has Brady throwing to him. Up. 135. Kenneth Dixon 136. Corey Clement: Sproles re-signed and Clement down a RB tier. 137. Spencer Ware 138. Jared Goff: Moved him and Jimmy G down to this last QB tier. 139. Jimmy Garoppolo 140. Marcus Mariota: Got him and Mahomes into my top-150 and Matt Ryan/Alex Smith out of it.  141. Patrick Mahomes 142. Austin Seferian-Jenkins: Down to the last TE tier before the Ds. 143. George Kittle: Added him to this TE tier. Feels safer than a guy like Eifert. 144. Charles Clay: I know he's old, but who else will catch balls in Buffalo? Should get targets. Up. 145. Chargers DEFENSE 146. Broncos DEFENSE 147. Jaguars DEFENSE 148. Ravens DEFENSE 149. Rams DEFENSE 150. Saints DEFENSE 151. Eagles DEFENSE 152. Vikings DEFENSE 153. Steelers DEFENSE 154. Patriots DEFENSE 155. Chiefs DEFENSE 156. Seahawks DEFENSE Watch List: QBs Matt Ryan Alex Smith Ben Roethlisberger Dak Prescott Blake Bortles Derek Carr Jameis Winston: Bottom of the watch list. Will only draft him if also draft a QB with early bye. RBs Nyheim Hines: Down to the top of the watch list until this backfield gets sorted out. Jordan Wilkins Ty Montgomery Doug Martin Jalen Richard DeAndre Washington James White Jeremy Hill Kalen Ballage: Lots of hype around this rookie, so I added him to the watch list. LeGarrette Blount Ameer Abdullah Latavius Murray Samaje Perine Charles Sims Chris Carson C.J. Prosise Terrance West Chris Ivory James Conner Javorius Allen Austin Ekeler John Kelly Darren Sproles Elijhaa Penny T.J. Yeldon Joe Williams Alfred Morris Orleans Darkwa Eddie Lacy WRs Martavis Bryant: Too many question marks.  Down to the watch list. Mohamed Sanu: Will lose targets to Ridley. Down to the watch list. Albert Wilson: Added to the watch list. Could be #1 WR for Miami this year. Yes, really. John Ross Anthony Miller Kevin White Taylor Gabriel Chris Godwin DeSean Jackson Ted Ginn James Washington Christian Kirk J.J. Nelson Brice Butler Brandon Marshall Jaron Brown Terrelle Pryor Quincy Enunwa Jermaine Kearse Malcolm Mitchell Kenny Britt Jeremy Maclin Willie Snead John Brown Chester Rogers Ryan Grant Dontrelle Inman Dede Westbrook Keelan Cole Donte Moncrief D.J. Chark Eric Decker Travis Benjamin Mike Wallace Mack Hollins Kendall Wright Courtland Sutton Deon Cain Cole Beasley: The Cowboys lost over half of their targets from 2017. Beasley a sneaky late pick. TEs Tyler Eifert: His back issues concern me. Down to the watch list. Mike Gesicki: And while I like his potential, he also belongs in the watch list. At least for now... Hayden Hurst Antonio Gates Benjamin Watson Jack Doyle Eric Ebron Austin Hooper Rico Gathers Blake Jarwin: Not sure who the TE to own in Dallas is, so added Jarwin too (for now). David Njoku Luke Willson Nick Vannett Vance McDonald: Added to the list, assuming he gets more playing time than Jesse James... Clive Walford: A long shot to be a top-15 or so TE, but could be big target if Anderson misses time. O.J. Howard: I definitely have too many TEs on this list, but Howard and Brate should be here. Cameron Brate Jake Butt: He belongs at the END of a list...ya know?