Tuesday fantasy football mailbag: Rankings Edition
By Chris Brent
Yesterday via the Fantasy Football Insight Facebook page, I released my newly updated rankings for each position and of course questions started to occur about why certain guys are ranked where they are. This post will not contain my updated rankings (i’ll make sure to get them up on this site though), it’s more of a questions and answers to those rankings.
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Let the Mailbag begin:
1.) Okay, a lot of people have been ranking Marshawn Lynch on the the low side, here you have him as your 10th best running back, why?
Chris Brent: If you look at the CBSSports.com rankings, they have Marshawn Lynch as a second round pick. I have him as a borderline first rounder, so I’m actually higher on him. However, I get the confusion. Lynch is coming off a season where they just won the Super Bowl and he finishes as the number four fantasy running back last year. So what has changed from last year to this year? Lynch is coming off a season where he had 400-touches if you combine the playoffs and regular season. If you go look at history, only a handful of running backs manage to come off a 400-touch season and improve their fantasy stock. Dozens of running backs have fallen completely off the fantasy radar the following season. Lynch slightly worries me. However, I do believe Seattle does a nice job of managing his offseason work load, which is why I have him 10th and not 15th.
2.) Andre Johnson is not the same player he was last year. How do you have him over Cobb, Crabtree, White, and Fitzgerald? You do realize that Ryan Fitzpatrick is there, right?
Chris Brent: Yes, I realize Ryan Fitzpartick is the quarterback, and that’s why I actually like Andre Johnson. Say what you will about Ryan Fitzpatrick, but he gets the ball to his number one receiver at an alarming rate. Last year in Tennessee when Fitzpatrick started, Kendall Wright managed to catch 51 passes in just eight games. That stat would put Wright on pace to catch 102 passes, and let’s not pretend that Wright is on the same level as Andre Johnson. I’m slightly worried about the touchdown production that you are going to get, but this is a different offense than what Gary Kubiak ran last season, which relied on red zone targets to the tight end. Maybe now Andre Johnson will get some red zone looks.
Aug 24, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green (18) against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
3.) A.J. Green should be the second or third ranked receiver, he’s much better than Dez Bryant and Julio Jones. Is Julio Jones even going to be the same guy?
Chris Brent: Everything that I have read and saw tells me that Julio Jones is going to be back to the old Julio Jones. He’s been through this procedure before, and he was able to battle through it and look fine. Last season before the injury, Julio Jones was on pace to put up Josh Gordon like numbers and he would have actually been the number one fantasy wide receiver. I like A.J. Green, but the Bengals are learning a new system and have struggled on offense during the preseason. Dez Bryant is clearly better than A.J. Green because with Dez I can count on the double digit touchdowns.
4.) Kyle Rudolph a top-5 tight end?
Chris Brent: I wasn’t a fan of Kyle Rudolph at all to start the offseason. In fact, I wrote Rudolph as an early bust. I didn’t like anything I saw, I thought he wasn’t explosive, and was only a red zone threat. Then I got into the tape a lot more this preseason and looked at him from his weight loss standpoint. It’s impressive that he is down 15 pounds, and he looks healthier and more explosive. Plus, his coordinator is the “tight end whisperer” Norv Turner. I expect nothing but a top-5 season from Kyle Rudolph this season.
Check out my rankings through the other pages, give your thoughts! More Mailbag on Friday!