News

Our Last-Minute Fantasy Rankings

By Jim Adair

Published: Sep 9th, 2015 · 11:48 AM EDT

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These (last-minute) rankings come from Neighbor Mike, who will be our fantasy advice guru throughout the season, mostly for daily fantasy leagues.

Neighbor Mike is not some gimmicky fantasy schlub hiding behind a pen name. His name really is Mike, and he’s literally Kyle’s (potentially degenerate) neighbor. He’s also obscenely good at fantasy sports. He’s a husband, father, son, fantasy man-steed. The kind of guy that works out all year so he can get fat again in football season. He once cut a rabbit’s head off with his lawnmower. He’s won every league he’s ever played in (or so he says), and lately has been dominating Draft Kings, where last year he was a fourth quarter away (in basketball) from being one of those guys you read about in the papers. He’s a fantasy sports addict and will be making his weekly Draft Kings calls all season long. To start, he’s willing to put his season-long league rankings up against any of the experts and encourages you to hold him to these rankings, which he says are pure perfection. This, is his measuring stick:

QB:

1. Andrew Luck
2. Aaron Rodgers
3. Ben Roethlisberger
4. Sam Bradford
5. Peyton Manning
6. Russell Wilson
7. Tom Brady
8. Ryan Tannehill
9. Tony Romo
10. Philip Rivers
11. Matt Ryan
12. Eli Manning
13. Matthew Stafford
14. Drew Brees
15. Carson Palmer
16. Blake Bortles
17. Joe Flacco
18. Cam Newton
19. Teddy Bridgewater
20. Tyrod Taylor

31. Kyle’s Dog

Andrew Luck and Aaron Rodgers are the consensus top-two, but the third-ranked Ben Roethlisberger isn’t something you’ll see on many lists. But his offense was on fire last year, and the Steelers’ mediocre defense will keep him throwing the ball. Sam Bradford takes the number four spot in Chip Kelly’s offense, Blake Bortles is the sleeper of the year, and coming in at #31 is Kyle’s dog, who is a “nice, friendly dog,” according to Neighbor Mike.

 

RB:

1. Adrian Peterson
2. Jeremy Hill
3. Le’Veon Bell
4. Eddie Lacy
5. Jamaal Charles
6. C.J. Anderson
7. Marshawn Lynch
8. Lamar Miller
9. DeMarco Murray
10. Frank Gore
11. Mark Ingram
12. Matt Forte
13. Justin Forsett
14. LeSean Mccoy
15. Carlos Hyde
16. Chris Ivory
17. Jonathan Stewart
18. Latavius Murray
19. Doug Martin
20. Andre Ellington

Adrian Peterson is back and playing with a purpose, so he’s the no-doubt number one here. Jeremy Hill came in and took Gio Bernard’s job and he’s not going to give it back, while Le’Veon Bell would have been the top back if he wasn’t missing a few games. Lamar Miller is primed and ready for a breakout season, and Andre Ellington would find himself in a much higher spot if these were PPR rankings.

 

WR:

1. Dez Bryant
2. Calvin Johnson
3. Demaryius Thomas
4. Antonio Brown
5. A.J. Green
6. T.Y.Hilton
7. Odell Beckham
8. Randall Cobb
9. Mike Evans
10. Julio Jones
11. DeAndre Hopkins
12. Jordan Matthews
13. Allen Robinson
14. Davante Adams
15. Alshon Jeffery
16. Desean Jackson
17. Andre Johnson
18. Brandin Cooks
19. Sammy Watkins
20. Golden Tate

Demaryius Thomas all of a sudden finds himself without Julius Thomas there to steal his touchdown catches, while Antonio Brown will probably go first in your league, because he’s everywhere and catches everything. Mike Evans’ huge rookie year happened in spite of his quarterbacks, and he might have a real one throwing to him now. DeAndre Hopkins is primed for a breakout year now that he’s the man in Houston, and Jordan Matthews should be open all day.

 

TE:

1. Rob Gronkowski
2. Greg Olsen
3. Jimmy Graham
4. Kyle Rudolph
5. Travis Kelce
6. Eric Ebron
7. Tyler Eifert
8. Austin Seferian-Jenkins
9. Zach Ertz
10. Coby Fleener
11. Jason Witten
12. Martellus Bennett
13. Delanie Walker
14. Dwayne Allen
15. Larry Donnell
16. Julius Thomas
17. Jordan Cameron
18. Richard Rodgers
19. Vernon Davis
20. Owen Daniels

Gronk is number one until Gronk doesn’t play. Greg Olsen will get a ton of targets and quietly always puts up points. Kyle Rudolph will benefit from the return of Adrian Peterson and a revitalized running game in Minnesota. Eric Ebron is a hunch pick who likely has a big season coming, and Tyler Eifert is reportedly uncoverable. Eli wil rely on Larry Donnell to cut down on his Manning-face.

 

K:

1. Justin Tucker
2. Adam Vinatieri
3. Cody Parkey
4. Mason Crosby
5. Stephen Gostkowski
6. Steven Hauschka
7. Josh Scobee
8. Dan Bailey
9. Brandon Mcmanus
10. Matt Bryant
11. Matt Prater
12. Dan Carpenter
13. Randy Bullock
14. Blair Walsh
15. Dustin Hopkins
16. Caleb Sturgis
17. Josh Brown
18. Chandler Catanzaro
19. Nick Folk
20. Mike Nugent

These are the kickers. This is the order in which they should be taken.

 

DEF:

1. EAGLES
2. Buffalo
3. St. Louis
4. Houston
5. Miami
6. Seattle
7. Denver
8. New York Jets
9. Green Bay
10. Minnesota
11. Kansas City
12. Cincinatti
13. Baltimore
14. Carolina
15. New England
16. Arizona
17. Cleveland
18. Indianapolis
19. Tampa Bay
20. Washington

These are the defenses. They will rarely win you games but oh man can they lose you games. Don’t mess up.

…

Play in our Week 1 Draft Kings event. It’s $5 to enter. There’s a $250 prize pool. If you beat Kyle, you get a t-shirt from the CB store, courtesy of Draft Kings. Create your team.