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Preliminary 2016 Wide Receiver Redraft Ranking Tiers

July 7, 2016 By Draft Buddy Leave a Comment

A.J. Green

Miss out on the top two RB in your draft? No worries. It might even be better to set your team up with one of these stud WR, including the Cincinnati Bengals A.J. Green.

The last two days we posted preliminary quarterback tiers and running back tiers for the upcoming fantasy football season. Today, the longest list at 70 players, our preliminary wide receiver tiers.

Note the players are only tiered, not ranked within their groups, so focus on the tiers as opposed to where a player is situated relative to other players in their own tier.

Expect detailed projections and rankings, plus some fantasy football player commentary in the coming weeks. Feel free to post your feedback in the comments below, or on Facebook or Twitter.

Tier 1

A.J. Green
Antonio Brown
Julio Jones
Odell Beckham Jr.

Tier 2

Allen Robinson
DeAndre Hopkins
Dez Bryant
Mike Evans
T.Y. Hilton

Tier 3

Alshon Jeffery
Amari Cooper
Brandon Marshall
Demaryius Thomas
Jarvis Landry
Jordy Nelson
Larry Fitzgerald

Tier 4

Brandin Cooks
Doug Baldwin
Eric Decker
Golden Tate
Jeremy Maclin
Julian Edelman
Keenan Allen
Kelvin Benjamin

Tier 5

Allen Hurns
DeSean Jackson
Donte Moncrief
Emmanuel Sanders
John Brown
Jordan Matthews
Markus Wheaton
Randall Cobb
Sammy Watkins
Sterling Shepard ®

Tier 6

DeVante Parker
Kendall Wright
Kevin White
Marvin Jones
Michael Crabtree
Michael Floyd
Stefon Diggs
Steve Smith
Tavon Austin
Ted Ginn
Torrey Smith
Tyler Lockett
Vincent Jackson
Willie Snead

Tier 7

Bruce Ellington
Corey Coleman ®
Jerome Simpson
Kamar Aiken
Kenny Britt
Laquon Treadwell ®
Michael Thomas ®
Mike Wallace
Mohamed Sanu
Pierre Garcon
Robert Woods
Terrance Williams

Tier 8

Brandon LaFell
Danny Amendola
Dorial Green-Beckham
Jamison Crowder
Josh Doctson ®
Nelson Agholor
Rueben Randle
Sammie Coates
Travis Benjamin
Tyler Boyd ®

Filed Under: Fantasy Football

St. Louis Rams Team Report

August 3, 2015 By Dave Leave a Comment

Do the St. Louis Rams know how to draft running backs? Their recent track record says no, but is Todd Gurley a can't miss prospect that is going to buck that trend?

Do the St. Louis Rams know how to draft running backs? Their recent track record says no, but is Todd Gurley a can’t miss prospect that is going to buck that trend?

QB Nick Foles

Coming off a breakout season in 2013 when he threw for 2,891 yards with 27 touchdowns and two interceptions in what amounted to less than 11 full games, Nick Foles was a fantasy darling heading into last season. Although a dropoff was to be expected from his 2013 production, Foles disappointed as he threw for just 2,163 yards with 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in eight games as he was unable to remain healthy. The interceptions were clearly a problem for Foles but his completion percentage also dropped from 64.8% to 59.8% and his accuracy on deep balls was noticeably reduced. That was enough for Eagles coach Chip Kelly, who shipped Foles to the Rams as part of a package to acquire Sam Bradford. In St. Louis Foles will lead a Rams offense that has struggled for years and lacks the receiving talent Foles worked with in Philadelphia, and also lacks the talent on the offensive line that the Eagles have. While there is a chance that Foles rediscovers his accuracy and big play ability, the Rams lack of proven weaponry at wide receiver and their poor offensive line limit his fantasy upside making him a low end QB2.

RB Todd Gurley

Desperate for help along the offensive line and lacking a true number one wide receiver as well as a franchise quarterback, the Rams instead selected Todd Gurley with the 10th pick in this year’s draft. This, despite selecting Tre Mason with an early 3rd round pick last year and Zac Stacy in the 5th round the year before. Don’t even get me started about the Rams taking Isiah Pead in the 2nd round of the 2012 draft. Gurley is the first running back selected in the 1st round since the 2012 NFL Draft when Trent Richardson, Doug Martin and David Wilson were rookies. It is highly questionable to believe this Rams administration knows how to draft running backs.

A 6’1”, 222 pound Georgia product, Gurley enjoyed a prolific collegiate career, rushing for over 3,000 yards, showcasing solid receiving skills and finding the end zone over 40 times. One highlight is all it takes to see that Gurley is a special player. However, he is coming off a torn ACL and joins a Rams team with an offensive coordinator with no NFL experience in that role in Frank Cignetti, lacks offensive talent, has major issues along the offensive line (will likely start two rookies and has a trio of unproven players fighting to start at center) and which scored 20 or more points in only half of their games last season. Initial reports are that Gurley will be on the Rams opening day roster. However, we have no idea when or if he will regain full health in 2015 or when or if he will supplant Mason in the starting lineup. While Gurley has the potential to emerge as one of the top running backs in the league playing for a coaching staff that wants to run the ball heavily, he is a risk at his current ADP as the 24th running back taken in fantasy drafts. He does rate as the top dynasty prospect at the position, however.

RB Tre Mason

Supposedly drafted to be the Rams running back of the future after being taken in the 3rd round of last year’s draft, Mason didn’t disappoint as a rookie, gaining 765 rushing yards, 146 receiving yards and scoring five touchdowns while averaging a respectable 4.3 yards per carry behind one of the league’s worst offensive lines. Did we mention that Mason failed to get a single touch during the first four games of the year? As impressive as Mason was, the Rams didn’t view him as a feature back, choosing to select Todd Gurley with the 10th pick in this year’s draft. While that killed Mason’s value in dynasty leagues, he still figures to have value in redraft formats in 2015 since Gurley isn’t likely to be fully healthy early in the season. Look for Mason to start enough games early in the year to approach 800-900 total yards with 4-5 touchdowns. He rates as an upper tier RB4 since he won’t likely have much value during the second half of the season.

RB Benny Cunningham

After emerging as a reasonably productive backup during the 2013 season, Cunningham watched as the Rams drafted Tre Mason in the 3rd round of last year’s draft. In 2014, Cunningham pushed Zac Stacy aside to finish the season as Mason’s main backup. Then St. Louis drafted Todd Gurley in the 1st round of this year’s draft. The Rams don’t believe in Cunningham and, with a pair of highly drafted young players ahead of him on the depth chart, neither should you.

WR Brian Quick

Taken with the 2nd pick of the 2nd round in the 2012 draft, Quick was a huge disappointment during his first two years in the league but the light seemed to come on early in 2014. During his first four games of the year, Quick hauled in 21 of his 31 targets for 322 yards and three touchdowns. After a pair of middling performances in Weeks 5 and 6, he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury that ended any thoughts of a 3rd year breakout season. However, he was on pace to approach 1,000 receiving yards with eight touchdowns after Week 6 and he is expected to open 2015 in the starting lineup as he enters the final year of his rookie contract. While we aren’t about to predict a breakout campaign given the Rams expected struggles on offense as well as a wide receiver depth chart that runs four deep, Quick is definitely worth taking a flyer on in fantasy drafts this summer provided he is fully recovered from shoulder surgery.

WR Kenny Britt

Coming off the worst season of his five-year career in 2013, having caught just 11 of his 35 targets for 96 yards, Britt was signed to a one-year, prove it contract with the Rams for the 2014 season. Sure enough, he resurrected his career in St. Louis, catching a career-high 48 passes for 748 yards and three touchdowns despite playing in an offense that regularly had difficulty moving the football. Given his level of play, Britt would have enjoyed an even stronger bounce back campaign playing in a stronger offense with better quarterback play. Signed to a two-year contract to remain in St. Louis, Britt will enter training camp as a starter but will have to hold off the likes of Brian Quick, Stedman Bailey and Tavon Austin to remain the Rams leading wide receiver. With the Rams expected to run the ball heavily, look for Britt to stay in the starting lineup given his size. However, we don’t expect his target count from a year ago (just 84) to increase significantly given that Quick missed significant time last season. Just 26 on opening day, Britt rates as a WR4 in 2015, although a bit of an intriguing one who could surprise.

WR Stedman Bailey

When given a chance to produce, Bailey hasn’t disappointed. The 5’10” and 195 pound West Virginia product hauled in 15 of his 22 targets for 195 yards and a pair of touchdowns over the final five games of his rookie season in 2013 when given an expanded role in the Rams offense. Over the final six games of last season, Bailey caught 22 of his 32 targets for 371 yards and one touchdown. Which begs the question – is Bailey worthy of more playng time or do the Rams view him as a capable backup whose playing time is dependent on injuries to those ahead of him on the depth chart? In 2015, Bailey faces an uphill climb to unseat Brian Quick and Kenny Britt in the starting lineup with Tavon Austin likely to work mainly out of the slot. Since Britt has a history of off the field issues and Quick is returning from a major shoulder injury, it wouldn’t exactly rate as a surprise if Bailey winds up in the starting lineup at some point and produces. Nonetheless, right now he is waiver wire material in redraft formats and is a middling dynasty prospect.

WR Tavon Austin

Entering his third year in the league, the fantasy community seems to have given up on Austin. And it’s hard to arrive at any other conclusion based on his production and usage during his first two years in the league. Taken with the 8th overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, Austin has failed to carve out a meaningful role in the Rams offense. Or did former offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer fail to devise a playbook that put Austin in a position to succeed? With Frank Cignetti taking over for Schottenheimer, at least there is some faint hope that Austin can emerge as a consistent contributor in a Rams offense desperate for playmaking ability. While he is unlikely to start or play on two wide receiver packages, Austin has the tools to contribute as a slot receiver, occasional threat on deep passes and as a runner out of the backfield. The key for his fantasy prospects is Cignetti’s willingness to get him enough touches. And with Austin having amassed just 660 receiving yards and 375 rushing yards with three touchdowns in two years, we don’t see enough evidence to expect that to happen. That makes Austin waiver wire material in redraft formats and nothing more than a slot pull in dynasty formats.

WR Chris Givens

Givens used his blazing speed to haul in 42 passes for 698 yards and three touchdowns during his rookie season in 2012 but his career has gone downhill since then. The former 3rd round pick barely topped 500 receiving yards in his 2nd season but failed to find the end zone before falling further down the depth chart last season, catching 11 passes for 159 yards and a touchdown. In fact, Givens may not even have a roster spot heading into training camp if not for the Rams having failed to develop any other potential big play threats on their roster. While Givens has a chance of being on the unemployment line on opening day, he also has a chance to emerge as a big play threat for St. Louis although those odds are slim.

TE Jared Cook

Two years into his career with the Rams, it’s fair to say that Cook hasn’t produced as the team envisioned when they signed him to a five-year, $35.1-million contract prior to the 2013 season. After catching 51 passes for 671 yards and five touchdowns during his first year in St. Louis, Cook wasn’t much better last season, hauling in just 52 of his 98 targets for 634 yards and three touchdowns. While the Rams have replaced the unimaginative Brian Schottenheimer with Frank Cignetti at offensive coordinator, you would be hard pressed to find many who will predict a breakout season for Cook in 2015 in his seventh year in the league. While he has the talent to produce such a season, his inconsistency (just six games with more than 60 yards during his two years in St. Louis) is just too hard to overlook. Cook rates as a lower tier TE2.

Also see: St. Louis Rams IDP Team Report · Arizona Cardinals Team Report

Filed Under: Fantasy Football

Rankings Second Opinion, NFC West: Bullish on Colin Kaepernick, Skeptical on Russell Wilson

August 1, 2014 By AskTony Leave a Comment

San Francisco 49ers starting quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) scrambles against Seattle Seahawks' Richard Sherman (25) in the second quarter of the NFC Championship game at CenturyLink Field in Seattle on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2014; Photographer: Tacoma News Tribune/Zuma Press/Icon Sportswire

Is it the San Francisco 49ers turn to emerge from the tough NFC West and win a Super Bowl? Tony says this will be a breakout year for QB Colin Kaepernick. Photo: Icon Sportswire

As training camps ramp up, injuries start to mount, and endless fantasy football player analysis continues, here is my seventh “Second Opinion” article in the series, offering a counter-point to the projections, rankings and player commentary published at DraftBuddy.com. As in prior weeks, my job is to identify one player from each NFL team whose forecast is either too optimistic or too pessimistic. Here is my analysis of the NFC West division.

This division, by far, has the best defenses in the league. The Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco have established defenses, but with successful drafts the past two years, the St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals have pumped up their size and power. What once was thought to be a walk over division is now one of the most feared divisions in the NFL. To have these teams face each other twice in one season only benefits all us fans from an entertainment standpoint, even if we cringe a little when our fantasy players faceoff against them.

St. Louis Rams
Team Report – Jul 22

St. Louis Rams are always a team with a lot of optimism heading into a season, but then an injury to a major contributor quashes that idea. In 2013, Sam Bradford was off to a hot start before getting hurt. His injury sent the Rams down the path towards yet another losing record.

The bright light that came out of 2013 was rookie running back Zac Stacy emerging as a legit threat to defenses. He ran all over the place wreaking havoc on defensive coordinators’ game plans. The wide receivers the past few years have not given us any reason to turn our heads. In 2014, with a healthy Bradford and Stacy the focal point of the offense, the receivers need to step up if the Rams want any chance of competing in the division.

Buried in a pool of young talent including Kenny Britt, Austin Pettis, Chris Givens and Brian Quick is second-year receiver Tavon Austin. Austin should be the main man for Bradford. Austin was a disappointment as a rookie with an underwhelming season in which he was expected to make a significant impact. Austin recently admitted he felt lost last season and struggled to get comfortable with the playbook.

With that experience and a full offseason to work with the team, Austin should make great strides in 2014. He is one of the fastest receivers in the league, so assuming the coaches can figure out how to get him in space and let him make defenders miss, he should regularly find the end zone. My bold prediction is a drastically improved year for Austin leading to a Top 30 performance.

Seattle Seahawks
Team Report – Jul 23

The reigning Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks are dealing with a few early bumps in the road on their way to back-to-back titles. First, Sidney Rice unexpectedly retired. Okay, maybe that isn’t overly significant. However, the holdout of running back Marshawn Lynch does cause some concern to a team that prides itself on defense and bludgeoning the opposition with their running game. Even a non-holding out Lynch does have a lot of tread on his tires from recent seasons, including long playoff runs.

The player I am most concerned about from a fantasy perspective is potential Top 10 QB Russell Wilson. There’s no doubt that Wilson is a good quarterback, but the skill players around him are limited. He’s done a lot with very little so far in his career, but how long can he keep that up?

Seattle’s number one wide receiver, Percy Harvin, hasn’t played a full season in two years. Number two wide receiver Doug Baldwin ranks a little outside the Top 50. Starting tight end Zach Miller is old and on the decline. Top it all off with a Lynch holdout, and there isn’t a lot to support Wilson ranking as high as he is usually getting drafted. After leading his team to the Super Bowl, Russell Wilson takes a step backwards this season and finds himself outside the Top 15.

Arizona Cardinals
Team Report – Jul 24

It is hard not to like what the Arizona Cardinals have going their way heading into 2014. They have a smart, veteran quarterback in Carson Palmer leading the charge. From there, the second year running back Andre Ellington should continue where he left of being a quality dual-threat running back. At wide receivers, the Cards sport one of the top duos in the league between future Hall of Fame candidate Larry Fitzgerald and third-year player Michael Floyd.

I agree with this website’s prediction of Michael Floyd surpassing Larry Fitzgerald and being, statistically, the number one receiver on the team this season. However, after those two, most think Ted Ginn Jr. will be the third option, but I am really liking John Brown as a fantasy football sleeper.

Brown is younger and faster than Ginn. Ginn has had his chances in the NFL and has shown little success beyond his duties on special teams. I believe once Brown outperforms Ginn in the preseason, then the Cardinals will give Brown more opportunity to show what he can do during the regular season than most are expecting. Playing in the shadow of Fizgerald and Floyd, Brown could prove to be surprisingly successful.

San Francisco 49ers
Team Report – Jul 25

San Francisco 49ers continue to make moves to improve and push to win the Super Bowl. Many of those offseason moves were overshadowed by Colin Kaepernick’s new contract. The question everyone asks is what did Kaepernick do to earn that deal, after an uneven 2013 season? Well sit back and enjoy the ride, because this is the year we see him breakout.

Kaepernick’s rushing ability puts enormous pressure on opposing defenses. The 49ers added Steve Johnson from the Buffalo Bills to compliment an already solid trio of Michael Crabtree, Anquan Boldin and Vernon Davis. Lets not forget Crabtree was sidelined much of last season, but provided a big spark for the passing game after he returned. Whereas Russell Wilson doesn’t have a ton of talent at his disposal, Kaepernick does, resulting in a lot of upside and potential for him to finish as a Top 10 quarterback. Regardless of the defenses he’s on tap to face, when your team is so well rounded at all offensive positions, it’s hard to not see success in this young quarterback’s future.

Also see: NFC East | AFC East | NFC North | AFC North | NFC South | AFC South | AFC West
 

Filed Under: Fantasy Football

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