Michael Florio’s Week 1 Fantasy Football Positional Rankings!

Just like The Rock… fantasy football has FINALLY come back into our lives! Well, yeah it never actually leaves our lives, but the drafts are over and it is now time to set those Week 1 Lineups! To give you an overview, you can expect my positional rankings to come out every week with a writeup that explains why I have certain players ranked the way I do. Rather then just give you my rankings I like to explain my thinking so you can not only decide if you agree or not, but also so you can see my logic and hopefully learn from it. I have done this elsewhere in previous seasons but am proud to announce that now Fantrax is the only place you can find my positional rankings!

• The first thing that might jump out is the fact that I have James Conner as a high end RB2. First, I do not expect Le’Veon Bell to play this week and if he does I will obviously adjust accordingly (my positional rankings are updated all week). Bell sat out in Week 17 against the Browns last season and Steven Ridley filled in rushing 17 times for 80 yards and a TD. Additionally, Bell missed significant time in 2015 and DeAngelo Williams averaged the most fantasy points per game (FPPG) in his absence. Not saying Conner will do that, but as a high end RB2? I feel safe ranking him there.
• Another name that may jump out at you is Emmanuel Sanders who I rank literally back-to-back with his teammate Demaryius Thomas. Not only have I been high on Sanders and stating that I think he is a better value than Thomas, I am starting to think he might give DT a run for his money as the top target. So far in the preseason Sanders has ran 58 percent of his snaps from the slot and is easily the most targeted and productive WR with Case Keenum so far. We saw the connection that Keenum and Adam Thielen had last year. I think we could see a similiar rapport with Keenum and Sanders.
• In 3 games Kenny Stills has played without DeVante Parker, he has averaged 7.7 targets, 5 receptions, 66.3 yards, and scored a total of 3 TDs. If he has a line of 5-66-1 this week that would equate to 17.6 PPR points. Add in that all that was with Jarvis Landry and I think Stills can be trusted as a borderline top-30 WR.
• As much as I love Josh Gordon and believe in his talent, this is not a great week for him. According to reports he will be on a snap count and faces a Steelers defense that ranked in the bottom third of FPPG allowed to WRs last year. He is an upside WR3 play this week.
• It will be a rough week for the Giants against the Jags. The only player I am willing to fully trust is Odell Beckham Jr. as he can take it to the house at any time. Evan Engram is a low-end TE1, while everyone else should fully be benched.
• There are a number of sleeper QBs this week. The most popular is Andy Dalton who threw for 243 yards and 2 TDs against the Colts last season. Another is Blake Bortles who faces a Giants team that allowed more FPPG to QBs than any team last season. I would actually use either of them, as well as Dak Prescott and Mitch Trubisky over Jimmy Garoppolo, who faces a Vikings defense that allowed the third fewest FPPG to QBs. Another QB I would try to avoid this week is Pat Mahomes, who I will not deny has upside, but he faces a Chargers defense that allowed the fourth fewest FPPG to QBs.
• Jimmy G is not the only Niner to avoid this week. Well, I would try to avoid them all this week in a very tough matchup, but especially George Kittle. Not only has he been banged up this preseason, but the Vikes allowed the fewest FPPG to TEs last season. Steer clear.
• Two tight ends I like this week are the SJ brothers. By that corny joke I mean Austin Seferian-Jenkins (ASJ) and Ricky Seals-Jones (RSJ). ASJ faces the Giants who allowed the most FPPG and TDs to tight ends last season. RSJ faces the Redskins who allowed the fourth most fantasy points to TEs.
• If I need to pick one Washington RB to use this week it would be Chris Thompson. The Cardinals last season allowed 95 catches to RBs, which was the fifth most in the NFL. Meanwhile, on the ground RBs averaged 3.33 yards-per-carry (second lowest in NFL) and scored just seven times. Forget the revenge game narrative for AP. It will be a long week for the future hall of famer.
• Corey Clement is a deep sleeper in the Thursday Night Football game. The Falcons allowed the most receptions to RBs for a second consecutive season and Jay Ajayi has never been much of a pass catcher.
• While there was some hype for Boston Scott, I am not trusting Mike Gillislee this week. First off, something would have had to gone terribly wrong for you to be in a position where you need to trust him given that there is no byes this week. Additionally, even if Gillislee sees 10-plus touches it will not necessarily translate to fantasy success. In his career he has 12 games with double-digit carries. In those 12 games he has reached double-digit PPR points just four times and scored a TD in each of them. He is super TD dependent and that is just too risky for a player who got cut for Jeremy Hill and just signed with a new team. We are not even sure what his role will definitively be. Don’t get cute.
• There are a number of situations I am unsure about and it reflects in the rankings. For instance, who will step up as the Chargers secondary option in the passing game? One of Mike Williams or Tyrell Williams will likely have a big week, but I am not entirely sure which it will be. The same thing can be said about the Ravens TEs, who are usually heavily targeted. A big part of the first few weeks of the NFL season are picking up on usage trends.

Make sure to check out this week’s episode of Wide Right Fantasy Football with myself and Matt Modica. Together we explain how we attack Week 1, our thinking, and lessons that can be learned this week! Also, follow me on Twitter, @MichaelFFlorio.