Pre-Preseason Rankings

For my first post of the season I decided to put out pre-pre-season position rankings. I did the rankings based on stats from last year, my opinion of how they’ll fair this season, and obviously I took roster changes into consideration.

My stats are based on PPR, so they are different from standard leagues. Also, my statistics for the defenses are different from standard leagues, but the differences really shouldn’t change my rankings at all. It’s just how my league is set up, and I’m going off that.

Because my stats are based off PPR scoring, the rankings are different. Receiving running backs are valued a lot more than backs that only run, like Ryan Matthews (only 27 catches last season).

These are split up into tiers. The top tier players at each position are listed first, and the second tier ones are listed shortly after. Since tight ends don’t have a whole lot of top tier players, there are only three players in the first tier. Also, defenses are all decently close so I just grouped all the teams I think are the best into one tier.

The tiers are basically just there to show how teams should be. A wide receiver in the first tier should be your RB1 and, if possible, one in the second tier should be a RB2, and so on.

I'm sorry about the inconsistencies in the spacing, but Blogger won't keep it the way it looks in Microsoft Word for some reason even after going into Blogger and editing it to look even.

Look forward to my draft guide, commentary on a mock draft, and full player rankings in the coming weeks.

Running backs

Tier 1

RANK       Name/Team/Bye                                   PTS                          AVG                         TD’s         Rec.         GP

1              Jamaal Charles/KC/6                               371                          24.7                         19            70            15

2              Adrian Peterson/MIN/10                        234                          16.7                         11            29            14

3              LeSean McCoy/PHI/7                             328                          20.5                         11            52            16

4              Matt Forte/CHI/9                                    332                          20.8                         12            74            16

5              Marshawn Lynch/SEA/4                         263                          16.4                         14            36            16

6              Eddie Lacy/GB/9                                     237                          16.9                         11            35            14

7              Doug Martin/TB/7                                  64                            10.7                         1              12            5

8              DeMarco Murray/DAL/11                     245                          17.5                         10            53            14

9              Arian Foster/HOU/10                             105                          13.1                         2              22            8

10            Le’Veon Bell/PIT/12                               206                          12.9                         8              45            13

Tier 2

RANK       Name/Team/Bye                                   PTS                          AVG                         TD’s         Rec.      GP

1              Reggie Bush/DET/9                                  230                          15.4                         7              54            14

2              Giovani Bernard/CIN/4                            205                          12.8                         8              56            16

3              Zac Stacy/STL/4                                      181                          15.1                         8              26          14           

4              CJ Spiller/BUF/9                                     141                          8.8                           2              33            15

5              Montee Ball/DEN/4                                101                          6.3                           4              20            16

6              Alfred Morris/WSH/10                           171                          10.7                         7              9              16

7              Frank Gore/SF/8                                     185                          11.6                         9              16            16

8              Ryan Mathews/SD/10                            205                          12.8                         7              26            16

9              Chris Johnson/NYJ/11                             233                          14.6                         10            42            16           

10            Ray Rice/BAL/11                                    166                          11.1                         4              58            15

Wide Receivers

RANK       Name/Team/Bye                                   PTS                          AVG                         TD’s         Rec.         GP

1              Calvin Johnson Jr/DET/9                         301                          18.8                         12            84            14

2              Demaryius Thomas/DEN/4                    314                          19.6                         13            92            16

3              AJ Green/CIN/4                                      305                          19.1                         11            98            16

4              Dez Bryant/DAL/11                               288                          18.0                         12            93            16

5              Antonio Brown/PIT/12                           310                          19.4                         7              110          16

6              Brandon Marshall/CHI/9                        298                          18.6                         12            100          16

7              Alshon Jeffery/CHI/9                              282                          17.6                         9              89            16

8              Andre Johnson/HOU/10                         274                          17.1                         7              109          16

9              Randall Cobb/GB/9                                 103                          17.2                         8              31            6

10            Jordy Nelson/GB/9                                 260                          16.3                         10            85            16

Tier

RANK       Name/Team/Bye                                   PTS                          AVG                         TD’s         REC          GP

1              Wes Welker/DEN/4                                 205                          15.8                         10            73            13

2              Julio Jones/ATL/9                                   105                          21                            2              41            5

3              Vincent Jackson/TB/7                             233                          14.6                         7              78            16

4              Pierre Garcon/WAS/10                            268                          16.8                         5              113          16

5              DeSean Jackson/WAS/10                        266                          16.6                         9              82            16

6              Larry Fitzgerald/ARI/4                           230                          14.4                         10            82            16

7              Michael Crabtree/SF/8                            51                            17                            1              19            3*

8              Keenan Allen/SD/10                               215                          14.3                         8              71            15

9              Percy Harvin/SEA/4                               4                              4                              0              1              1

10            Roddy White/ATL/9                              143                          11                            3              63            13

*Crabtree played in 5 games but only recorded stats in 3, so I will assume he was limited in two of them

Quarterbacks

RANK       Name/Team/Bye                                   PTS                          AVG                         TD’s         YDS          INT          GP

1              Peyton Manning/DEN/4                        406                          25.4                         56            5477        10            16

2              Aaron Rodgers/GB/9                              161                          23                            17            2509        6              7*

3              Drew Brees/NO/6                                  348                          21.8                         42            5162        12            16

4              Cam Newton/CAR/12                            282                          17.6                         30            3379        13            16

5              Andrew Luck/IND/10                            279                          17.4                         27            3822        9              16

6              Nick Foles/PHI/7                                   251                          20.1                         30            2891        2              12

7              Philip Rivers/SD/10                               276                          17.3                         32            4478        11            16

8              Russell Wilson/SEA/4                            251                          15.7                         27            2257        9              16

9              Robert Griffin III/WSH/10                    200                          15.4                         16            3203        12            13

10            Matthew Stafford/DET/9                      267                          16.7                         31            4650        19            16

*Rodgers played in 8 games technically, but only enough to throw for 27 yards and 1 point, so I took that game out

Tier 2

RANK       Name/Team/Bye                                   PTS                          AVG                         TD’s         YDS          INT          GP

1              Colin Kaepernick/SF/8                            276                          17.6                         21            3197        8              16           

2              Matt Ryan/ATL/9                                  271                          16.9                         26            4515        17            16

3              Tom Brady/NE/10                                  270                          16.9                         25            4343        11            16

4              Tony Romo/DAL/11                              279                          18.6                         31            3828        10            15

5              Ben Roethlisberger/PIT/12                     280                          17.5                         28            4261        14            16

Tight Ends

RANK       Name/Team/Bye                                   PTS                          AVG                         TD’s         REC          GP

1              Jimmy Graham/NO/6                              301                          18.8                         16            86            16

2              Julius Thomas/DEN/4                             210                          13.1                         12            65            14

3              Rob Gronkowski/NE/10                          119                          17                            4              39            7

TIER 2

RANK       Name/Team/Bye                                   PTS                          AVG                         TD’s         REC          GP

1              Vernon Davis/SF/8                                  211                          14.1                         13            52            15

2              Jordan Cameron/CLE/4                           205                          13.7                         7              80            15

3              Jason Witten/DAL/11                             200                          12.5                         8              73            16

Defense/ST

RANK       Team/Bye                               PTS                          AVG                         HIGH       LOW        TD’s

1              Seahawks/4                                222                          13.9                         27            5              4

2              Panthers/12                               204                          12.8                         23            -1             4

3              Chiefs/6                                     199                          12.4                         29            -7             11

4              Patriots/10                                 127                          7.9                           29            -4             3

5              Bills/9                                        144                          9.0                           24            0              2

6              Bengals/4                                   193                          12.1                         29            -3             7

7              49ers/8                                       170                          10.6                         22            1              5

8              Cardinals/4                                 180                          11.3                         23            1              5

9              Rams/4                                       154                          9.6                           29            -1             6

10            Broncos/4                                   121                          7.6                           25            -4             5