Despite playing Daily Fantasy Sports full time, I still participate in a few season long leagues — I played them for years before DFS and there is nothing more fun than doing a season long draft. Most drafts will be done either tonight or tomorrow, so I wanted to put out my positional rankings so you guys have a starting guide if you have little to no other information.
@steemrollin is running a Steemit fantasy league with a draft tomorrow at 530 PST, 830 EST. Check out his thread here and register if you like, there are still a few spots open.
These rankings will be based on the scoring setting in the league above with the assumption that there will be 12 teams, and are my own personal rankings. I’ll list my rankings at each position and the top 100 overall picks for this draft.
Roster and Scoring Settings
1QB, 2RB, 3WR, 1TE, 1FLEX, 1 DEF, 1K, 7 bench spots
QB: 25 yards = 1 point, touchdown pass = 4 points
10 yards rushing or receiving = 1 point, rushing or receiving td = 6 points
Receptions: .5 pts
Defense: Standard scoring
Note: rankings vary greatly based on scoring, so these rankings are made to fit this particular scoring set. The top 100 overall rankings are the most important ones, and they are what you should follow for the draft in this and similar leagues.
Quarterback Rankings
source: giphy
1: Cam Newton
2: Aaron Rodgers
3: Russell Wilson
4: Andrew Luck
5: Drew Brees
6: Ben Roethlisberger
7: Tom Brady (Note: Missing first 4 games)
8: Eli Manning
9: Carson Palmer
10: Blake Bortles
11: Philip Rivers
12: Matthew Stafford
13: Kirk Cousins
14: Andy Dalton
15: Derek Carr
16: Tyrod Taylor
17: Jameis Winston
18: Marcus mariota
19: Matt Ryan
20: Ryan Tannehill
21: Ryan Fitzpatrick
22: Alex Smith
23: Brock Osweiler
24: Joe Flacco
25: Robert Griffin III
26: Jay Cutler
27: Sam Bradford
28: Carson Wentz
I rank Tom Brady much higher than other projections do. The reason being that you can fill in a replacement QB for the first 4 weeks then have Tom for his final 12 games, so even though his overall season projection is lower than many players below him, you have to look at his projection as (25% replacement qb) + Tom projection, which bumps his value up significantly. Not to mention, you'll have him for the playoffs.
Generally QBs are drafted in later rounds, don't take one too early and miss out on valuable running backs and wide receivers that won't be available late.
Running Back Rankings
source: giphy
1: Todd Gurley
2: David Johnson
3: Lamar Miller
4: Ezekiel Elliot
5: Adrian Peterson
6: Le'veon Bell (Note: 3 game suspension)
7: Mark Ingram
8: Devonta Freeman
9: Lesean Mccoy
10: CJ Anderson
11: Eddie Lacy
12: Doug Martin
13: Latavius Murray
14: Thomas Rawls
15: Carlos Hyde
16: Ryan Mathews
17: Jamaal Charles (recovering from injury)
18: Matt Forte
19: Demarco Murray
20: Jeremy Langford
21: Duke Johnson
22: Giovani Bernard
23: Jonathan Stewart
24: Danny Woodhead
25: Melvin Gordon
26: Jeremy Hill
27: Frank Gore
28: Arian Foster
29: Rashad Jennings
30: Matt Jones
31: Ameer Abdullah
32: DeAngelo Williams
33: Charles Sims
34: TJ Yeldon
35: Theo Riddick
36: LeGarrette Blount
37: Justin Forsett
38: Isaiah Crowell
39: Spencer Ware
40: Bilal Powell
Wide Receiver Rankings
source: giphy
1: Antonio Brown
2: Julio Jones
3: Odell Beckham Jr.
4: Deandre Hopkins
5: AJ Green
6: Allen Robinson
7: Brandon Marshall
8: Keenan Allen
9: Dez Bryant
10: Mike Evans
11: Alshon Jeffery
12: TY Hilton
13: Brandin Cooks
14: Jordy Nelson
15: Sammy Watkins
16: Amari Cooper
17: Demaryius Thomas
18: Randall Cobb
19: Eric Decker
20: Jarvis Landry
21: Jeremy Maclin
22: Donte Moncrief
23: Doug Baldwin
24: Golden Tate
25: Julian Edelman
26: Larry Fitzgerald
27: Jordan Matthews
28: Michael Floyd
29: Emmanuel Sanders
30: Allen Hurns
31: Michael Crabtree
32: Desean Jackson
33: Marvin Jones
34: John Brown
35: Josh Gordon (Suspended 4 games)
36: Tyler Lockett
37: Sterling Shepard
38: Stefon Diggs
39: Kelvin Benjamin
40: Willie Snead
41: Vincent Jackson
42: Devante Parker
43: Tavon Austin
44: Travis Benjamin
45: Corey Coleman
Tight End Rankings
source: USA Today
1: Rob Gronkowski
2: Jordan Reed
3: Greg Olsen
4: Travis Kelce
5: Delanie Walker
6: Coby Fleener
7: Zach Ertz
8: Gary Barnidge
9: Antonio Gates
10: Julius Thomas
11: Dwayne Allen
12: Martellus Bennett
13: Jimmy Graham
14: Tyler Eifert
15: Eric Ebron
16: Zach Miller
17: Jason Witten
18: Jared Cook
19: Charles Clay
20: Virgil Green
21: Kyle Rudolph
22: Vance McDonald
23: Clive Walford
24: Jordan Cameron
Defense
1: Seahawks
2: Broncos
3: Cardinals
4: Panthers
5: Chiefs
6: Texans
7: Rams
8: Steelers
9: Patriots
10: Bengals
11: Vikings
12: Eagles
Top 100 Overall Rankings
1: Antonio Brown (WR)
2: Julio Jones (WR)
3: Odell Beckham Jr. (WR)
4: Todd Gurley (RB)
5: David Johnson (RB)
6: DeAndre Hopkins (WR)
7: Lamar Miller (RB)
8: Ezekiel Elliot (RB)
9: Adrian Peterson (RB)
10: AJ Green (WR)
11: Le'Veon Bell (RB)
12: Allen Robinson (WR)
13: Brandon Marshall (WR)
14: Rob Gronkowski (TE)
15: Mark Ingram (RB)
16: Devonta Freeman (RB)
17: LeSean Mccoy (RB)
18: Keenan Allen (WR)
19: Dez Bryant (WR)
20: Mike Evans (WR)
21: Alshon Jeffery (WR)
22: CJ Anderson (RB)
23: Eddie Lacy (RB)
24: Doug Martin (RB)
25: Latavius Murray (RB)
26: TY Hilton (WR)
27: Brandin Cooks (WR)
28: Jordy Nelson (WR)
29: Cam Newton (QB)
30: Thomas Rawls (RB)
31: Sammy Watkins (WR)
32: Amari Cooper (WR)
33: Demaryius Thomas (WR)
34: Aaron Rodgers (QB)
35: Russell Wilson (QB)
36: Carlos Hyde (RB)
37: Ryan Mathews (RB)
38: Randall Cobb (WR)
39: Jamaal Charles (RB)
40: Matt Forte (RB)
41: Demarco Murray (RB)
42: Jeremy Langford (RB)
43: Eric Decker (WR)
44: Jarvis Landry (WR)
45: Jeremy Maclin (WR)
46: Duke Johnson (RB)
47: Giovani Bernard (RB)
48: Jonathan Stewart (RB)
49: Danny Woodhead (RB)
50: Melvin Gordon (RB)
51: Donte Moncrief (WR)
52: Jeremy Hill (RB)
53: Doug Baldwin (WR)
54: Golden Tate (WR)
55: Andrew Luck (QB)
56: Frank Gore (RB)
57: Jordan Reed (TE)
58: Julian Edelman (WR)
59: Arian Foster (RB)
60: Larry Fitzgerald (WR)
61: Rashad Jennings (RB)
62: Drew Brees (QB)
63: Greg Olsen (TE)
64: Jordan Matthews (WR)
65: Matt Jones (RB)
66: Michael Floyd (WR)
67: Emmanuel Sanders (WR)
68: Ameer Abdullah (RB)
69: Allen Hurns (WR)
70: Michael Crabtree (WR)
71: Travis Kelce (TE)
72: Desean Jackson (WR)
73: Delanie Walker (TE)
74: Marvin Jones (WR)
75: DeAngelo Williams (RB)
76: John Brown (WR)
77: Charles Sims (RB)
78: TJ Yeldon (RB)
79: Coby Fleener (TE)
80: Ben Roethlisberger (QB)
81: Josh Gordon (WR)
82: Theo Riddick (RB)
83: Zach Ertz (TE)
84: LeGarrette Blount (RB)
85: Tom Brady (QB)
86: Gary Barnidge (TE)
87: Justin Forsett (RB)
88: Tyler Lockett (WR)
89: Eli Manning (QB)
90: Carson Palmer (QB)
91: Isaiah Crowell (RB)
92: Sterlin Shepard (WR)
93: Antonio Gates (TE)
94: Blake Bortles (QB)
95: Julius Thomas (TE)
96: Philip Rivers (QB)
97: Matthew Stafford (QB)
98: Stefon Diggs (WR)
99: Dwayne Allen (TE)
100: Kelvin Benjamin (WR)
39 WR, 38 RB, 12 QB, 12 TE
So if you notice, draft WR first, then mix in RB/WR for a few rounds, then the top QBs, then lots of RB/WR, then fill in QB/TE in rounds 6-9. No defenses before round 12. Don't use this exact ranking to draft because occasionally there will be players who have an average draft position much lower than I rank them, so you can wait a little longer to draft those guys since they are undervalued. But use this as a general guideline and try to always exceed value on each pick while filling in your necessities.
Good luck!
UPDATES
-Bumped up Brandin Cooks two spots and Sammy Watkins down 2 spots.
-Bumped many WR up a few spots in the first 3 rounds of the draft due to 3rd WR slot.
-Bumped up Gronk a few spots
-It looks like the @steemrollin league will be 10 players, the adjustment should be to not draft the 11th/12th qbs in the first 10 rounds now and wait longer on those players.