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Fantasy Football Rankings Update – Rob Gronkowski, Todd Gurley and Young Upside Wide Receivers

August 24, 2016 By Draft Buddy Leave a Comment

Tyler Boyd

Who is this guy? Someone you should consider taking a chance on drafting before Brandon LaFell and a host of other veteran receivers who aren’t going to help you win your fantasy championship.

We are right in the thick of fantasy football draft season, with this upcoming weekend being perhaps the busiest one of all. Making sure I have a quick turn around answering questions from Draft Buddy customers is putting pressure on my ability to update my player rankings.

This morning I did manage an update however, which you can see all at once on the one-page cheatsheet. Quite a few changes based on recent news, including:

  • New England Patriots RB Dion Lewis requiring a second surgery on his knee
  • positive reports for Carolina Panthers WR Devin Funchess
  • positive vibes for Cleveland Browns offense including QB Robert Griffin III – say what?
  • Denver Broncos QB situation a complete mess to figure out

And numerous other things from the last week. Plus, some of the bigger changes to my rankings are as a result of impressions and strategy considerations from drafting my own leagues the last few weeks. Here goes:

Rob Gronkowski is no longer in Tier 1 at TE by himself
The feeling here is, I am probably not drafting Gronk this season, and I hope showing him in the same tier as the next three – Greg Olsen, Jordan Reed and Travis Kelce – indicates that recommendation to not draft him. Not for a first round or early second round pick. He is dinged up currently, apparently not serious, but it gives us a small reminder he does carry some more injury risk than most with the pounding he takes. He is obviously great when going full steam, but I worry the risk-reward just isn’t worth it to grab Gronk where you need to for his services. Give me one of my other Tier 1 tight ends at a decent discount off the Gronk rate.

Todd Gurley is no longer in Tier 1 at RB by himself
Kicking myself a little here this was even necessary. Originally, it was Gurley plus Le’Veon Bell. Okay, so Bell gets suspended four games (now three), so he drops out of Tier 1. I did feel each of the other closely ranked RB had some small warts, such as Adrian Peterson (age, wear and tear), David Johnson (partial season), Lamar Miller (limited prior workload), but doesn’t Gurley too? His team is going to be starting Case Keenum and a rookie Jared Goff this season, the receivers are dismal, so how much can we expect this guy to do? Lots of carries is great but highly efficient carries are better. I still have him number one, but am I so convinced he is deserving Tier 1 treatment alone versus the other three? No. Lets put them all in Tier 1, which goes to the nature of running the football in today’s NFL anyway, the position is devalued.

More emphasis on young, potential breakout WR in the later tiers
While I’ve always believed this, to draft young, upside wide receivers late in drafts as the fourth, fifth and sixth wideout spots on your roster, I thought my rankings were a bit off in this regard. Perhaps the rankings are supposed to reflect where a player will finish the season, and in that case it makes some sense to rank a veteran player who is mostly ho-hum, like Pierre Garcon, Robert Woods and Cincinnati Bengals “starter” Brandon LaFell (ugh) above Bengals rookie Tyler Boyd or projected San Francisco 49ers slot receiver Bruce Ellington.

For drafting purposes though, and especially drafting this late, lets go for upside. A host of players have it at wide receiver – Boyd, Ellington, Tajae Sharpe, Jaelen Strong, etc. If they work out, great! If they don’t, it cost you little and you can throw them back. Put it this way, are you going to win your fantasy football league championship with Brandon LaFell on your roster? Maybe, but I think the odds are extremely low he contributes to help you get there.

Thanks for reading. Please feel free to post your own comments agreeing or constructively disagreeing with these opinions or any of the rankings. There is a scheduled update for Draft Buddy late tonight, available tomorrow morning. Happy drafting!

Filed Under: Fantasy Football, Fantasy Football Draft Buddy

Preliminary 2016 Tight End Redraft Ranking Tiers

July 8, 2016 By Draft Buddy Leave a Comment

Rob Gronkowski

Some small red flags and up-and-coming talent at the position might be closing the gap between Rob Gronkowski and the field, but he still stands alone in Tier 1 at TE for now.

Lets close out the week with preliminary redraft tight end tiers for the 2016 fantasy football season. This concludes our collection of offensive skill position tiers after posting quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers the prior three days.

Note again 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.

We will publish detailed player projections, rankings and commentary plus updates over the next two plus months leading up to the start of the NFL regular season. Feel free to post your comments below, or on Facebook or Twitter.

Tier 1

Rob Gronkowski

Tier 2

Coby Fleener
Greg Olsen
Jordan Reed
Travis Kelce

Tier 3

Delanie Walker
Gary Barnidge
Jimmy Graham
Julius Thomas
Tyler Eifert
Zach Ertz

Tier 4

Antonio Gates
Austin Seferian-Jenkins
Benjamin Watson
Dwayne Allen
Eric Ebron
Jason Witten
Jordan Cameron
Ladarius Green
Martellus Bennett

Tier 5

Charles Clay
Clive Walford
Jacob Tamme
Kyle Rudolph
Richard Rodgers
Vance McDonald
Will Tye
Zach Miller

Tier 6

Cameron Brate
Darren Fells
Jace Amaro
Jeff Heuerman
Lance Kendricks
Ryan Griffin
Tyler Kroft

Filed Under: Fantasy Football

Preseason Week 4 Fantasy Football News and Notes

September 2, 2015 By Draft Buddy Leave a Comment

No respect for Fred Jackson, at least from the Buffalo Bills front office. He was a surprise release this week and will have some fantasy impact when he inevitably lands on a RB-needy team.

No respect for Fred Jackson, at least from the Buffalo Bills front office. He was a surprise release this week and will have some fantasy impact when he inevitably lands on a RB-needy team.

The big news in our last update dealt with the Martavis Bryant suspension (appeal since denied) and bad vibes out of Washington for Robert Griffin III (inevitable benching since confirmed), and a handful of other smaller items.

We got through a big drafting weekend this past weekend, but the news didn’t stop as a few impactful things came to light, requiring another projections and rankings update this week. Lets get to it. News and notes first, and then the ranking changes.

Arizona Cardinals

Michael Floyd is working his way back from dislocated fingers that required surgery early in training camp. HC Bruce Arians is optimistic Floyd will be back Week 1. Floyd is a worthwhile risk as a WR5 on your team. It just might be difficult to justify starting him any given week.

Atlanta Falcons

Devonta Freeman returned to practice after missing multiple weeks with a hamstring injury. There is no clear indication which player will start or dominate carries – if anyone – between Freeman and Tevin Coleman. This situation looks like a mess.

Baltimore Ravens

Dennis Pitta placed on the PUP list. Only thing mildly surprising here is he wasn’t put straight on IR, the reports of his recovery are so grim.

Buffalo Bills

Released Fred Jackson. Fans can’t believe it, and fantasy players equally question the decision. There even appears to be some grumblings that not all of the Bills coaches were onside with this call by the GM. Regardless, FJax is out there ready for some other lucky team to pick him up. It will have some domino effect on that team, but keeping mind he is 34, it shouldn’t be a huge impact.

The Bills named Tyrod Taylor their starting QB as expected.

Carolina Panthers

The Panthers acquired WR Kevin Norwood from the Seattle Seahawks in a trade. Rookie Devin Funchess does not seem to be doing much to establish himself as the projected starter in the absence of Kelvin Benjamin. I don’t mind Funchess as a rather late, hope for the best upside pick, but this is mainly a stay away from situation.

Chicago Bears

Alshon Jeffery continues to miss practice with a “day-to-day” calf injury. No adjustment yet but it is getting a bit worrisome. The way Bears receivers are limping around, Martellus Bennett may top his 90 catches from last season … and then promptly ask for a big raise.

Cleveland Browns

Duke Johnson is sidelined with a concussion. The team may have issues with Isaiah Crowell, but they may have no choice but to get him there to play unless they sign someone else. It is always a possibility even at this late stage. Seems fantasy players are shying as far away from Browns backs as possible right now.

Detroit Lions

RB Joique Bell returned to practice after a long layoff (longer than fantasy players feel very comfortable with, this time of year) and now represents a bit of a value where he is getting drafted. Even with rookie Ameer Abdullah wowing people, Bell should be a regular contributor on a good offense as long as he can stay healthy.

Green Bay Packers

Randall Cobb is expected to play Week 1 even with his shoulder he injured in preseason.

Indianapolis Colts

Did you know T.Y. Hilton has a concussion? Its true, and he is in the league’s concussion protocol, but he is trending in the right direction with positive reports he’ll be ready Week 1. No alarm bells to sound but something to keep tabs on.

Jacksonville Jaguars

If you saw the comment from my recent draft recap, you know how I feel about this one. After a quiet few weeks with the idea TE Julius Thomas would be back for Week 1, now he requires surgery on his hand and will miss 3 games. If you are desperate for a TE to start the season, give Marcedes Lewis a go.

Kansas City Chiefs

TE Travis Kelce also went down with an ankle injury, but this one looks minor as reports indicate he could play if it was the regular season.

New England Patriots

Tom Brady decision expected end of this week. No sense commenting any further on this story until that happens.

New Orleans Saints

Brandon Coleman has apparently won the WR3 job for the Saints. I did draft him the other night, but WR3 on the Saints is still pretty far down the pecking order for catches, in recent years. Still, if Marques Colston is truly at the end of the line there is a nice opportunity for Coleman if he can take advantage.

New York Jets

TE Jace Amaro placed on IR. Was not going to be a fantasy factor anyway, but he has enough name recognition I thought I should mention it.

Oakland Raiders

In no surprise at all, the Raiders released RB Trent Richardson. That was a short ride.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers lost another kicker. Garrett Hartley was placed on IR. Between this and the suspensions, it is almost like the fantasy Gods are trying to tell us something about Pittsburgh.

Washington Redskins

Kirk Cousins is the Redskins starting QB. God help diehard ‘Skins fans.

Filed Under: Fantasy Football

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