Never Too Early 2020 Fantasy Football Rankings

You may have noticed that a lot of analysts in the industry put out their initial rankings for next season during these winter months and call them something like their "WAY TOO EARLY" rankings.  I never understood that.  How about the NEVER too early rankings?!  I realize it's February, but there's no reason you can't be thinking about fantasy football.  The FantasyPros Expert Tool has actually had the 2020 draft rankings available for a while now, so I feel like I'm late getting these out.  Whether you think these are too late or too early...they're here, baby!

You'll notice the ranking tool already has rookies available, so I took full advantage there.  I'll talk up a few in my position notes below my rankings, and I'll be moving rookies and free agents around in the coming months.

Let's get right to it, shall we?

2020 Fantasy Football Rankings powered by FantasyProsECR ™ - Expert Consensus Rankings
ADP - Average Draft Position

QBs
This time last year, I had Mahomes in a QB tier of his own, but I didn't have him in my top-24 overall.  This year I'm essentially doing the same thing with Lamar Jackson.  I realize the kind of seasons these guys have had (and can have), but they won't be easy to replicate.  So the trend of waiting on quarterback will continue for me, which means I probably won't get any of my top-5 QBs in drafts this year.  But I'd much rather wait and get Matt Ryan in the middle rounds or someone like Daniel Jones or Matthew Stafford at the end of my draft.  I think all of those guys could end up as top-5 fantasy QBs next year.

Joe Burrow is expected to be the #1 pick in April, and I easily have him in my top-25 QBs here in February.  I'd rather take a shot on him over someone like Trubisky or Goff, and I might end up moving Burrow into my top-20 depending on what happens with free agency and everything else before August.  Speaking of Goff, he and Aaron Rodgers are down the most versus my preseason ranking of them last year.  I doubt I'll end up with either in 2020, but Rodgers could actually end up being a value if he gets another weapon or two other than Davante Adams.


RBs
Todd Gurley was the obvious #1 RB (and #1 overall player) in fantasy this time last year, but that certainly changed as we got closer to training camps/preseason.  Another guy I was keeping an eye on in the cold months of 2019 was Kareem Hunt, so not much has changed in a year.  I feel like he'll be an interesting guy to rank until he ends up out of the league (which I expect will happen in less than a year or so to be honest).  I currently have him just above David Johnson, who I think could be a trade candidate this offseason.  His ranking will likely fluctuate depending on his health and landing spot (if other than Arizona).

Speaking of landing spots, it probably goes without saying that those will be key to rookies.  I feel like this is especially important with running backs but certainly with WRs to a lesser extent.  I've ranked a few rookie RBs, and I think D'Andre Swift and Jonathan Taylor are the best of the bunch.  But they'll move around depending on who drafts them, and that goes for the rest of the rookies I've ranked here in February.


WRs
A ton of second year WRs have skyrocketed up my rankings versus where they were in my preseason rankings last season.  And while of course that makes complete sense, it's also making me pay more attention to the rookies coming into the league this year.  If certain teams spend a first or second round pick on a WR, I'll be paying even more attention.  I'm thinking about teams like the Packers, Texans, Chiefs, Eagles, and Steelers (assuming Ben is back).  Right now my highest ranked rookie receiver is Jerry Jeudy, but he didn't even crack my top-30.  With a handful of rookies cracking the top-30 in 2019, I'll likely need to move a couple up there before September.

TEs
I don't have much to say about my tight end rankings versus the ECR, but I'll quickly mention my draft strategy with the tight end position.  It's pretty simple: if I don't get Kelce or Kittle in Round 2 or 3, I'm waiting on tight end.  Those two are in a tier of their own, and there are several guys after that who I'd be comfortable being my tight end. 

Once you get to the Hockenson/Fant tier, it starts getting really dicey.  But at that point, you're likely in the later rounds anyway.  So like quarterback, I'm likely waiting on tight end.  And just a quick note about rookies that you probably know anyway.  Rookie tight ends usually don't produce right away, so I'm not paying much attention to any right now even though I've ranked a couple in my last TE tier.

DEFs
Ranking defenses in February is a pretty boring topic, but at least I won't talk about kickers!  I mentioned in my "potential postseason moves" article that I like the Ravens DST in 2020, so you may notice they're fairly high.  But my defense rankings are fairly in line with the ECR, so there's not much to talk about here.

So that's it for my early rankings.  I'll post an update in a month or two if there are any big changes before the draft.

Cheers,
Bart