If you’re the type of Fantasy Owner that meticulously prepares for draft day, have created several excel workbooks of rankings, read every article, stalked Twitter accounts and know what Gronk takes for hangovers on game day mornings… this isn’t for you. Feel free to stop reading now.
On the other hand… if you’re the type of player/owner that prints out your one set of league website rankings just hours before your draft… from work… and then doesn’t even look at those rankings until you take off with your pals for wherever your draft is then read on… this is for you.
Fantasy Football Procrastinators: Your Cheat Sheet.
…because why should those FFL nerds you call your friends, who have wayhayhaaaaay too much time on their hands to properly prepare for draft night have an unfair advantage over you, the working stiff. Screw that. I bit the bullet and did the work for you, my working class brothers.
I prepared these lists based on review and averaging of several sources, then applied some subjective adjustments here or there. It’s possible I missed some updates since cut-downs last Saturday so be sure if you’re not sure go with the guy you’re sure of… you know what I mean.
In my last post, I listed my defensive rankings so I’ll leave those out of this piece. Feel free to check them out but one word of caution on those though, that list was prepared before the Aldon Smith suspension had been disclosed as well as before that shit bag Ray McDonald decided to test the new league disciplinary policy for domestic violence. So it would behoove you to adjust the 49ers DST down about 5 notches or so. I believe that along with their other players out due to injury are just too much for them and they’ll have a tough time for a good portion of the season. One other word of caution… I left that crazy SOB Wes Welker where I had him before yesterday since I don’t yet know what to make of his situation. And besides… he seems like a guy I’d like to party with so I don’t want to piss him off.
Next, here are a couple of ground rules to remember when using these rankings, or any other rankings for that matter:
- First few rounds not a lot of focus here. Research is easy to find… don’t over-think things, keep it simple stupid. No reaching early.
- Value, Value, Value. Value is how championships are won. Don’t worry about bye weeks, don’t worry about overloading at one position too much (within reason). Example, if you have a number of players you value pretty evenly, which one do you draft? The guy who plays for your favorite team? Fuck no. That’s usually a good way to make a mistake and overvalue that player. Plus… if they end up disappointing, then you feel frustration both in fantasy and with your favorite real life team. The correct answer is… the guy you can pick later. Caution though… this can become a guessing game in which you may have to gamble a bit.
- If you’re going to reach, reach late in the draft and look for the most upside. This is where your “sleepers” come in. Examples here are rookies or younger players with a chance of breaking out. To do well here you usually want to look for a player who dominated during his college career. There are of course late bloomers once in a long while but chances are, if they didn’t absolutely dominate in college they never will at the highest level.
Now how do you apply the value strategy when it comes to sleepers? Well, you usually have to do a little bit of research here… like getting a good sample of players from different, reputable sources, in my case that involves reviewing websites I like or guys I follow on Twitter, get a decent sized list of players and ADPs (average draft positions) and then adapt it to your league, i.e. make sure that if you’re in a 12 team league that you’re not using the usual 10 team league ADP. Do some math.
From there, keep an eye on the guys that fall below their value. (Example: in my home league, for whatever reason folks were staying away from a few players, including Gronk and Eric Decker among others. Certain players always fall below their ADP for known or sometimes unknown reasons. Situations like this can sometimes force you to change your plans. Obviously not rocket science. As a player falls below their ADP, you get more for your money. A Ferrari is bad ass, but if you can get one for the price of a Cadillac that’s better for you, and if you can somehow steal it… even better because it allows you to do more down the road. What exactly do I mean here? Well… don’t worry about grabbing that 3rd receiver yet if your pick is coming up and that receiver is hitting you above or even at their ADP when a running back or tight end is available there and is way below their ADP. It’s a long season and sometimes taking a player at a great value is better than filling out your roster. Moves like this can give you leverage for trades later in the season. Think big picture people.
Enough reading… I promised rankings. Here they are, your 2014 Fantasy Football rankings. The simplest way to use rankings, in my opinion, is really to consider two sets of lists, positional rankings and overall rankings. You have to use some good judgment here. Again, you need to decide what’s more important given your circumstances… i.e. is it time to fill a positional need or can you take the best overall player available. Well… it’s your WAR Room so that’s your call. Good luck, Savages. And if these rankings help you dominate your league, and more importantly your pals, let me know and make sure to rub it in their faces just how little work you had to do to destroy them.
TOP 200 OVERALL
QUARTERBACKS
RUNNING BACKS
WIDE RECEIVERS
TIGHT ENDS
KICKERS
