Question: You’ve got AP ahead of CJ, which is reasonable, but aren’t you a little concerned about Minnesota’s receiving corps? I mean, I like Harvin, but apart from him, who’s to keep defenses from loading the box?
Anyway, great rankings as usual – hope to see some PPR lists too!
What’s the reason for Mccoy falling 2 spots behind Rice and Mendenhall? I assume Rice gets a bump because Willis is gone and Leach is in, but why Mendenhall? You wrote earlier that this year had a 5 top backs w/ Rice as the consolation prize, is your thinking now that there are still 5 top backs and Mendenhall and Mccoy are the consolation prizes? In other words… what are the tiers for those guys? (sorry, long question)
Look below the rankings; they’re powered by FantasyPros. They allow me to drag and drop my rankings over there which makes things easier than generating a new table everytime I want to do an update. Once they have their PPR functionality up and running I will post PPR rankings here.
Hey John, I am playing in a .5 PPR League. Would you recommend me to use your PPR Rankings or Standard? Just wondering if you think the half point PPR rule is a big enough difference to follow the PPR Rankings? I know most leagues do 1 point PPR. Thanks.
Excellent article, thanks for the link (still learning my way around the site).
Basically the concern is that Brandon Jackson and Montario Hardesty will cut into his carries? At the same time an easier schedule along with the coaching change and a weak passing game suggest a run heavy offense.
I still think he will be the backbone of their offense. It may be foolish to expect the same kind of numbers he had last year but I still like him ahead of Forte, Turner, MJD, and possibly Gore and Jackson depending on what their pass/run ratio looks like.
The schedule is slightly easier (I’m showing -3 instead of -4) but it’s still not good and his schedule down the stretch is rough. I like him more than most (despite the ADP) because I’d take him over a number of WRs in the 2nd round due to my distaste for the RBs in the 3/4 rounds.
Hey John,
How much do you consider a players schedule during fantasy playoffs before drafting him? For instance, I look at Hillis and he plays at BAL and at PIT during fantasy playoffs? Is this something that owners should look at before drafting players?
I use playoff schedule as a tiebraker within tiers, but I wouldn’t move a guy from one tier to another because he has a good/bad playoff schedule. The first goal is to get to the playoffs; maybe a guy like Hillis can get you there.
John, love both the new site, keep up the good work! I have a question for you. 12 team league standard scoring: 1QB 2RB 3WR 1TE 1DT 1K, 1 pt/ 25yrds passing.
What team do you like better? What problems would you predict about either team?
Team 1
QB Manning/Rivers
RBs Peterson and Best/Benson/Moreno RB3(bench)D. Thomas/Lynch/Addai
WRs Wallace, Collie/Britt and Knox/M. Thomas
TE Finley
Team 2
QB Roethlisberger
RBs Peterson and Forte/Hillis RB3(bench) D. Thomas/Lynch/Addai
WRs Wallace, Collie/Britt and Knox/M. Thomas
TE Finley
So really, you’re comparing Peyton/Rivers and Best/Benson/Moreno to Roethlisberger and Forte/Hills. I’d take Big Ben and Forte/Hillis. Roethlisberger is just a bit behind Peyton/Rivers IMO while Forte/Hillis is quite a bit ahead of Best/Benson/Moreno.
My thinking is, i could possibly get close to the same value out of say Best and Lynch as a RBBC at RB2 as i could with just say Forte at RB2. If i had Forte, i likely wouldn’t use Lynch unless i had to. This would give me an little bit better of an option at QB. Am i playing with fire?
I prefer Big Ben and Forte/Hillis. Greene should get more work this year, but I think the other two RBs you mentioned are more trustworthy. On a per game basis, Big Ben was right there with Peyton/Rivers last season.
Edit: Thought this was PPR. These two pairs are very close in standard leagues. I’d still prefer the Big Ben combo.
John,
I look forward reading your articles and your rankings this year, i just recently found out about your website. I’m in a 16 team league, standard scoring, with 2 keepers. It’s a difficult league to say the least. I’m got Vick and Rice as my two keepers. I’m wondering if I should trade Vick for someone like Charles or some other running back along with a draft pick, like Vick for Charles and a 3rd or 4th rounder. Should I be content with Vick and Rice and ride it out or do you think i should offload Vick and try to keep two great RB’s?
John,
Thanks for the quick reply. Would you go as far to say to trade Vick straight up for Charles or some young stud RB? I’ll be following you all year this year, looking forward to it! Take care.
Quick question…. In a 1/2 PPR league would you rather have Calvin/(Felix or Greene) or Forte/(Stevie Johnson or Marshall). I basically know I can get Calvin or Forte and if I take Calvin I would end up with Felix or Greene as my rb…. Same with taking Forte will give me Stevie or Marshall as my wideout.
Hello – in a 10 team keeper league. We keep 4 players, Have a salary cap of 400, 1 qb, 2 rb, 3 wr, 1 te, 1 k. My team is very stacked right now, struggiling a bit with who to keep. Keeper worthy players and salaries include:P Rivers 52R Rice 31P Hillis 15H Nicks 35M Austin 45R Wayne 65A Gates 50J Finley 21M Manningham 6 Thinking of keeping Rice, Nicks, Austin, Wayne unless I can pull off a 2 for trade for another stud rb. What do you think?
How do you see the addition of Williams affecting Rice’s output? So far this year the hype has been huge for Rice with McGahee gone. No doubt Rice will probably get yards but the extra TD’s this year was what would put him over the top.
i would drop ray rice a couple of spots as ricky will basically takeover mcgahee’s role and can also steal some rec too,ricky was still avg 4.2 yds per carry last yr and looked much better then ronnie brown
I’m picking 12th in a ppr. Everytime I take a RB/WR combo my end result isnt good. So I’m set on taking 2 RB’s. I want Dmac/Forte but if DMac is taken I’m having a hard time with who to take to pair up with Forte. If Hillis, SJax,Mendy are there in ppr which one do you take as your #2? I’m leaning towards a Forte/Hillis combo but would love your thoughts on this. I could take a Calvin but again, I hate the RB’s available at the 3/4 so would rather take 2 RB’s at the 1/2. So Hillis? SJax? Mendy?
Love your work and the level of analysis you put into your projections. Right now I think you are the best in the business.
I have a bit of a dodgy scoring system in our non-ppr league. All TDs are worth 6pts but we only give 1pt for every 15yd ru/re, which devalues yardage a bit compared to TDs. Would it be possible for you to post your raw projections you used to arrive at your rankings so I could adjust them to my league’s scoring system?
I am not publishing projections at this time — not enough bandwidth in my week. I am consulting on 4for4′s projections/rankings, however. Josh Moore does a very good job with those.
I pick 7th in a keeper league i know Andre Johnson will be there but i dont like the RBs on the way back down. On the other hand MJD will be there and so will Michael Turner and the recievers on the way down are better could possibly get Wayne. What direction would lean, and if you went RB would you take Turner or MJD. thanks
I am the #4 pick in a non ppr league that rewards long scores, I am stuck between Rice and Charles but I just cant get over how difficult Charles’s schedule is compared to Rice. Plus with Rice getting Leach to lead the way I just feel that will be a huge benefit in the long run. Am I crazy to think Rice is the safer pick here? Any advice would be helpful since I am at a loss. haha
I am in a double keeper league and have a bit of a predicament.
So I have Vick as my first keeper. I picked him up last season because he went undrafted, so I get to keep Vick as my last pick in the draft. No problem there.
But I have to choose between Turner and Gore. Turner would take my 1st round pick away, and Gore would take my 2nd. I need some help deciding who to choose.
I am picking #5 in my league and it looks like Chris Johnson is falling down to this position. With is holdout not looking to end soon. Who would you pick #5 if Peterson, Foster, Charles, and Rice is off the board? Would you pick Johnson or another pick?
In a new 20 team standard league this year and guess what pick I drew? Yup… 20th! I can’t find anything out there or mock drafts for this. Any strategy you recommend?
John, Picking 5th in a Non-PPR League with 10 pts for Touchdowns, 1 pt for every 10 Yards Rec/Rush and a 10pt bonus for 100 yards give me your top 6 in order. Our League is in its 23rd Season.
I’m in a 10 team standard scoring league at yahoo and I received an interesting trade offer the other day. I would receive Maurice Jones-Drew and Dez Bryant and give up Vincent Jackson and Ahmad Bradshaw. I have Reggie wayne, marques colston and darren mcfadden also on my team. Do you think this trade would be worth it to give me two top-tier running backs and is Jones-Drew worth the risk?
Hey JP, Glad I found you last year thanks to FantasyPros. Do you see any problem with dealing Foster & D Ward for R Rice & R Williams in a keeper? The other owner nabbed Tate in front of me in the 10th.
FJackson scary CJ spiller last years first rounder has more talent and F Jax is getting upwards 30 he has low miles
Question: You’ve got AP ahead of CJ, which is reasonable, but aren’t you a little concerned about Minnesota’s receiving corps? I mean, I like Harvin, but apart from him, who’s to keep defenses from loading the box?
Anyway, great rankings as usual – hope to see some PPR lists too!
#2 thru #5 are very close in standard formats. I think MIN will add someone at WR to help Harvin.
What’s the reason for Mccoy falling 2 spots behind Rice and Mendenhall? I assume Rice gets a bump because Willis is gone and Leach is in, but why Mendenhall? You wrote earlier that this year had a 5 top backs w/ Rice as the consolation prize, is your thinking now that there are still 5 top backs and Mendenhall and Mccoy are the consolation prizes? In other words… what are the tiers for those guys? (sorry, long question)
Top 5 (now 6 w/Rice) backs is for PPR. This is std format, and R. Brown may steal some goal line carries from McCoy.
I am warming to Rice due to McGahee & McClain leaving and the addition of V. Leach as his FB.
Mendy/McCoy is a toss up in standard, IMO.
Hi John ~
Any idea when (if?) we can expect updated PPR rankings for RB and WR? Thanks! Love the site!
Rankings are ready to go, waiting on FantasyPros to turn on that functionality. Yesterday, I was told that would be on within a week.
I don’t understand what FantasyPros has to do with it – are you saying that you are not going to post them here on your site?
Look below the rankings; they’re powered by FantasyPros. They allow me to drag and drop my rankings over there which makes things easier than generating a new table everytime I want to do an update. Once they have their PPR functionality up and running I will post PPR rankings here.
Awesome. You the man, John! Thanks!
Hey John, I am playing in a .5 PPR League. Would you recommend me to use your PPR Rankings or Standard? Just wondering if you think the half point PPR rule is a big enough difference to follow the PPR Rankings? I know most leagues do 1 point PPR. Thanks.
Yes if I were playing in a 0.5 PPR league, I’d use PPR rankings instead of standard.
Wow amazing the quick response we get from the top fantasy expert. Gotta love it. Thanks brotha!
I’ve found that if I don’t respond right away then I’ll probably forget.
I just found your site and love the solid advice and info here.
May I ask for your thoughts on Petyon Hillis? I have him ranked higher, like around # 6 or 7 RB overall. I’m thinking he’s on par with MJD or Mendy.
Thanks
http://www.fantasyshrink.com/2011/05/31/the-curious-case-of-peyton-hillis/
Excellent article, thanks for the link (still learning my way around the site).
Basically the concern is that Brandon Jackson and Montario Hardesty will cut into his carries? At the same time an easier schedule along with the coaching change and a weak passing game suggest a run heavy offense.
I still think he will be the backbone of their offense. It may be foolish to expect the same kind of numbers he had last year but I still like him ahead of Forte, Turner, MJD, and possibly Gore and Jackson depending on what their pass/run ratio looks like.
Am I crazy??
Yes
The schedule is slightly easier (I’m showing -3 instead of -4) but it’s still not good and his schedule down the stretch is rough. I like him more than most (despite the ADP) because I’d take him over a number of WRs in the 2nd round due to my distaste for the RBs in the 3/4 rounds.
Hey John,
How much do you consider a players schedule during fantasy playoffs before drafting him? For instance, I look at Hillis and he plays at BAL and at PIT during fantasy playoffs? Is this something that owners should look at before drafting players?
Great Website by the way, keep it up!!
Steve J
I use playoff schedule as a tiebraker within tiers, but I wouldn’t move a guy from one tier to another because he has a good/bad playoff schedule. The first goal is to get to the playoffs; maybe a guy like Hillis can get you there.
Will you have tier rankings posted in the near future? That seems to help me decide what position to draft next.
Steve J
John’s tiers would be awesome to see. The best way, I think, to draft.
John, love both the new site, keep up the good work! I have a question for you. 12 team league standard scoring: 1QB 2RB 3WR 1TE 1DT 1K, 1 pt/ 25yrds passing.
What team do you like better? What problems would you predict about either team?
Team 1
QB Manning/Rivers
RBs Peterson and Best/Benson/Moreno RB3(bench)D. Thomas/Lynch/Addai
WRs Wallace, Collie/Britt and Knox/M. Thomas
TE Finley
Team 2
QB Roethlisberger
RBs Peterson and Forte/Hillis RB3(bench) D. Thomas/Lynch/Addai
WRs Wallace, Collie/Britt and Knox/M. Thomas
TE Finley
Thanks
So really, you’re comparing Peyton/Rivers and Best/Benson/Moreno to Roethlisberger and Forte/Hills. I’d take Big Ben and Forte/Hillis. Roethlisberger is just a bit behind Peyton/Rivers IMO while Forte/Hillis is quite a bit ahead of Best/Benson/Moreno.
My thinking is, i could possibly get close to the same value out of say Best and Lynch as a RBBC at RB2 as i could with just say Forte at RB2. If i had Forte, i likely wouldn’t use Lynch unless i had to. This would give me an little bit better of an option at QB. Am i playing with fire?
Or throw out Best etc. How about Manning/Rivers and Greene or Roethlisberger and Forte/Hillis? Who do you like?
I prefer Big Ben and Forte/Hillis. Greene should get more work this year, but I think the other two RBs you mentioned are more trustworthy. On a per game basis, Big Ben was right there with Peyton/Rivers last season.
Edit: Thought this was PPR. These two pairs are very close in standard leagues. I’d still prefer the Big Ben combo.
John,
I look forward reading your articles and your rankings this year, i just recently found out about your website. I’m in a 16 team league, standard scoring, with 2 keepers. It’s a difficult league to say the least. I’m got Vick and Rice as my two keepers. I’m wondering if I should trade Vick for someone like Charles or some other running back along with a draft pick, like Vick for Charles and a 3rd or 4th rounder. Should I be content with Vick and Rice and ride it out or do you think i should offload Vick and try to keep two great RB’s?
I would try to move Vick for a young stud RB, if possible. I’m not sure how long Vick will be an elite fantasy football player.
John,
Thanks for the quick reply. Would you go as far to say to trade Vick straight up for Charles or some young stud RB? I’ll be following you all year this year, looking forward to it! Take care.
Depends on your scoring system, but in standard or PPR leagues, I think the top 5 or 6 RBs have more value than Vick.
John,
Quick question…. In a 1/2 PPR league would you rather have Calvin/(Felix or Greene) or Forte/(Stevie Johnson or Marshall). I basically know I can get Calvin or Forte and if I take Calvin I would end up with Felix or Greene as my rb…. Same with taking Forte will give me Stevie or Marshall as my wideout.
Thanks,
I really like Stevie so Forte/Johnson looks strong, but Calvin/(Felix/Greene) is pretty solid as well. I’d go with Forte/Johnson.
With Leshoure out for the year where does Best end up on your ppr list? Like him as a low end #1 or more of a #2?
In PPR, I’d be comfortable with him as my RB2 in the 3rd round.
Hello – in a 10 team keeper league. We keep 4 players, Have a salary cap of 400, 1 qb, 2 rb, 3 wr, 1 te, 1 k. My team is very stacked right now, struggiling a bit with who to keep. Keeper worthy players and salaries include:P Rivers 52R Rice 31P Hillis 15H Nicks 35M Austin 45R Wayne 65A Gates 50J Finley 21M Manningham 6 Thinking of keeping Rice, Nicks, Austin, Wayne unless I can pull off a 2 for trade for another stud rb. What do you think?
At those prices, Rice, Hillis, Manningham and Nicks seem like the best values.
How do you see the addition of Williams affecting Rice’s output? So far this year the hype has been huge for Rice with McGahee gone. No doubt Rice will probably get yards but the extra TD’s this year was what would put him over the top.
i would drop ray rice a couple of spots as ricky will basically takeover mcgahee’s role and can also steal some rec too,ricky was still avg 4.2 yds per carry last yr and looked much better then ronnie brown
I’m picking 12th in a ppr. Everytime I take a RB/WR combo my end result isnt good. So I’m set on taking 2 RB’s. I want Dmac/Forte but if DMac is taken I’m having a hard time with who to take to pair up with Forte. If Hillis, SJax,Mendy are there in ppr which one do you take as your #2? I’m leaning towards a Forte/Hillis combo but would love your thoughts on this. I could take a Calvin but again, I hate the RB’s available at the 3/4 so would rather take 2 RB’s at the 1/2. So Hillis? SJax? Mendy?
I’ll be updating/posting my PPR rankings tomorrow — but right now I think Mendy is your best bet.
At that point would you consider going elite wr or stick with 2 RB because of the lack of options at the 3/4 turn?
Thanks!
When can we expect updated PPR rankings? Thx.
John,
Love your work and the level of analysis you put into your projections. Right now I think you are the best in the business.
I have a bit of a dodgy scoring system in our non-ppr league. All TDs are worth 6pts but we only give 1pt for every 15yd ru/re, which devalues yardage a bit compared to TDs. Would it be possible for you to post your raw projections you used to arrive at your rankings so I could adjust them to my league’s scoring system?
Thanks and keep up the great work!
I am not publishing projections at this time — not enough bandwidth in my week. I am consulting on 4for4′s projections/rankings, however. Josh Moore does a very good job with those.
I pick 7th in a keeper league i know Andre Johnson will be there but i dont like the RBs on the way back down. On the other hand MJD will be there and so will Michael Turner and the recievers on the way down are better could possibly get Wayne. What direction would lean, and if you went RB would you take Turner or MJD. thanks
I take it this is a standard league? If so, I’d probably go RB — you can check my rankings for who I would take first.
I am the #4 pick in a non ppr league that rewards long scores, I am stuck between Rice and Charles but I just cant get over how difficult Charles’s schedule is compared to Rice. Plus with Rice getting Leach to lead the way I just feel that will be a huge benefit in the long run. Am I crazy to think Rice is the safer pick here? Any advice would be helpful since I am at a loss. haha
You are not crazy. The top 5 picks (top 6 in PPR) are all very close.
Hi John,
I am in a double keeper league and have a bit of a predicament.
So I have Vick as my first keeper. I picked him up last season because he went undrafted, so I get to keep Vick as my last pick in the draft. No problem there.
But I have to choose between Turner and Gore. Turner would take my 1st round pick away, and Gore would take my 2nd. I need some help deciding who to choose.
Any advice?
Thanks,
JohnEM
PPR league, no-brainer Gore. But in a std league, I’d still go Gore due to the lower price.
Hi John:
I am picking #5 in my league and it looks like Chris Johnson is falling down to this position. With is holdout not looking to end soon. Who would you pick #5 if Peterson, Foster, Charles, and Rice is off the board? Would you pick Johnson or another pick?
In a new 20 team standard league this year and guess what pick I drew? Yup… 20th! I can’t find anything out there or mock drafts for this. Any strategy you recommend?
Please see this.
Love the site ! ! ! Will the rankings be updated soon?? I see they are still dated for Aug 3rd. Can’t wait for the season to begin!
That’s the post date, the rankings were updated this week. Check the red text below the rankings.
John, Picking 5th in a Non-PPR League with 10 pts for Touchdowns, 1 pt for every 10 Yards Rec/Rush and a 10pt bonus for 100 yards give me your top 6 in order. Our League is in its 23rd Season.
Please see this.
Hey John, love your website.
I’m in a 10 team standard scoring league at yahoo and I received an interesting trade offer the other day. I would receive Maurice Jones-Drew and Dez Bryant and give up Vincent Jackson and Ahmad Bradshaw. I have Reggie wayne, marques colston and darren mcfadden also on my team. Do you think this trade would be worth it to give me two top-tier running backs and is Jones-Drew worth the risk?
I have a new Q&A policy – please see this.
Love these ranking they are they best…. What would be the best way to print these?Is there a printer friendly version?
I’d just copy and paste into Excel.
Hey JP, Glad I found you last year thanks to FantasyPros. Do you see any problem with dealing Foster & D Ward for R Rice & R Williams in a keeper? The other owner nabbed Tate in front of me in the 10th.
In a keeper, I would hold on to Foster, but it’s not a terrible deal. He’s trying to bait you, IMO.
John,
I get the last draft pick in a league with 12 teams. Default yahoo scoring.
What’s the general strategy here when you’re fighting for scraps?
Check out this piece I wrote for 4for4.