There are a lot of football players in the NFL. So many that if you tried to fit them into a clown car you’d have to have a monster sized blender and even then I just don’t see it happening. So fitting 50 NFL players on this little screen was no small feat. If you are extremely on top of things, you may notice that Thomas Jones skipped from the top 50 post into this one. And Ray Rice flew from this post in the future and is now in the top 50 post. It’s all very complicated and I have my people on it, but suffice it to say, Jones dropping, Rice rising.
I will be using these rankings when I draft at this Nerd Festival outside Chicago. I hope to meet my childhood hero, Matthew Berry. Where I will do my journalistic duty and find out once and for all what he reads between masturbation sessions.
Also, if you get a hankerin, there are still a couple slots left in the RCL Leagues. Give the organizers an email for more info.
And I’ve updated the 2009 Fantasy Football Tier Rankings because I care.
51. Desean Jackson: All the reports about DJax out of camp have been glowing and hopefully not the radioactive kind. His ceiling is somewhat low with the amount the Eagles spread the ball around, but he is their true #1 and should put up close to #1 numbers. ADP: 43 Projection: 7/1000
52. Eddie Royal: Much of Royal’s value comes from Brandon Marshall’s lack of value. And Marshall’s value seems to fluctuate with every training camp report. Royal should get more looks because the Broncos’ want to see him do well with the unpredictability of Marshall and his lack of playbook knowledge, but don’t go overboard on Royal. He will have a good season, but Marshall is sticking around and they will throw him the ball. ADP: 55 Projection: 6/1050
53. Chad Ochocinco: The annoying one has looked good in preseason. He has risen up my draft charts a little, but I still worry about the Bengals’ O-line and how loco en la cabeza Ocho is. ADP: 37 Projection: 8/950
54. Hines Ward: Mr. Consistent, Ward blocks, he catches, he smiles. We know his upside by now, but that upside is worth quite a bit. I tend to take a mixture of upside and consistency on my teams and Ward has consistency out the upside! ADP: 77 Projection: 7/1000
55. Donald Driver: Hines’ counterpart on the consistency front, Driver is tough and stable. He won’t win you any dropped jaws when you take him to the prom, but he’ll put out. ADP: 81 Projection:7/1000
56. Tony Romo: See the Top 10 Quarterbacks post for projections.
57. Antonio Bryant: His injury in preseason hurts already low expectations for Bryant this year. He won me leagues last year and I want to like him again, but the coaching and QB situation hurt him more than his preseason injury which he should recover from. ADP: 71 Projection: 7/975
58. Willie Parker: Things have been looking good for FWP in preseason. Not that he has wowed the world, but that Rashard Mendenhall hasn’t. The prospects aren’t amazing for Parker, but they aren’t as horrible as they looked earlier. ADP: 65 Projection: 6/950, 1/150
59. Torry Holt: He is old and his fingers go into positions no fingers should go, but he is wiley and crafty and all that stuff and he will run good routes and catch the ball. Garrard hasn’t really had that luxury with his wide receivers. With the constant threat of MJD even on 3rd downs Holt should be able to get open and should have a productive year. ADP: 95 Projection: 7/950
60. Julius Jones: His value keeps fluctuating like a Mike Holmgren heart monitor. First there was news of a trade for Thomas Jones and then the Seahawks signed Edge and then they dropped TJ Duckett! The RB situation is not clear, but I believe Jones has more life in his legs than Edge and will get the bulk of the work. I’m sticking with JJ, for now. ADP: 93 Projection: 5/1000, 1/150
61. Thomas Jones: It’s not unusual to want to draft Thomas Jones. It’s not unusual to look at his stats near the end zone. But if you draft him too high I’m going to see you cry. Oh, you’ll wanna die. ADP: 58 Projection: 7/900, 1/100
62. Joseph Addai: How this RBBC shizz will break down is beyond me. It seems like the “ambiguously starting duo” will see their production mirror each other pretty well over the entire season. I sure don’t expect the Colts to help us fakefootballers out here. ADP: 57 Projection: 5/830, 2/225
63. Donald Brown: See above, weep. ADP: 78 Projection: 5/790, 1/300
64. Lee Evans: Evans is a peculiar case. With the addition of TO he should have more opportunities to get open deep which is what he does well, but he will lose looks. If Edwards was an elite QB I’d be doing a little jig for Evans, but he is way too inconsistent with a Swiss cheese line. He will have some big games along with some duds, just like every year. ADP: 64 Projection: 7/950
65. Derrick Mason: Here forms the triumvirate of oldish consistent WR’s. The Bran Triumvirate of Ward, Driver and Mason will not let you down, so to speak. Flacco has looked good in preseason and should help Mason have another high reception year with decent yardage and TD’s. I don’t see Clayton taking away any touches so he will be the man once again. But check his ADP, he can be had later at value. ADP: 99 Projection: 6/1000
66. Donovan McNabb: See the Top 10 Quarterbacks post for projections.
67. Derrick Ward: If he was the every down back he would be the second coming of 2008’s Derrick Ward, but with a rotation of Graham and “Don’t call me Yugo” Williams it is very difficult to see how the backfield will shake out. I’m staying away even though I’m tempted. ADP: 47 Projection: 4/850, 1/275
68. Kurt Warner: See the Top 10 Quarterbacks post for projections.
69. LenDale White: LenScaled-Down White will continue to get goalline carries. If you need the TD’s then grab the TD’s. ADP: 66 Projection: 11/750
70. Jonathan Stewart: His lingering achilles injury is concerning a lot of owners right now. How long will it linger? Will it flare up during the season? Will it run off and join the circus? All valid questions. Right now I am somewhat concerned, but his TD potential is too good to let him drop far. ADP: 68 Projection: 7/800, 0/125
71. Chris Wells: I hate rookies. I mean, really, what good are they? But sadly rookie RB’s can be good and Wells is in a good situation to produce. Hightower couldn’t do much last season except score touchdowns, so Wells, if he can learn the system and show something in preseason could see a lot of work early on. I am not sold on either him or Hightower and could see either or neither making an impact this season. How’s that for waffling?! But Wells’ upside is higher while Hightower’s stability is higher. Go with the upside. ADP: 76 Projection: 5/795, 1/175
72. Matt Schaub: See the Top 10 Quarterbacks post for projections.
73. Dallas Clark: The Colts have a nice schedule against poor pass D’s and Manning is ready to go. Clark will continue to do well, with more upside this year than the last. ADP: 58 Projection: 6/825
74. Tony Gonzalez: Gonzo will block more this season and won’t get nearly the targets he got with KC last year. But he will have a better QB and supporting cast so he should see plenty of Red Zone targets. ADP: 53 Projection: 6/800
75. Leon Washington: It looks more and more likely that a large share of the offense will run through him, but he’ll have to fight off mean Jones and Greene. ADP: 105 Projection: 4/750, 1, 250
76. Felix Jones: There isn’t much room in the Cowboys backfield for Jones to get too many looks. A lot will depend on what he does when he gets those looks. He has the ability to break one at any time. ADP: 72 Projection: 2/600, 2/425
77. Santana Moss: I’ve been preaching against Moss this preseason and I’m not going to stop until the whole world knows my message! I will spam email you, will leave little anti-Moss pamphlets on park benches! Ah, he’s not THAT bad, he’s just too inconsistent with a sad QB. In head to head leagues he will make you cry. ADP: 74 Projection: 6/950
78. Fred Jackson: He gave all those Lynch owners who handcuffed him a scare when he injured his wrist, but it looks like he’ll be ok for the season. He’s tied to Lynch, but with a little more upside than other handcuffs because he will get 3 games of extensive work. ADP: 103 Projection: 3/650, 1/375
79. Cedric Benson: He’s a starter. Not a very good one. ADP: 73 Projection: 4/800, 1/175
80. Owen Daniels: He looked poised for a huge season until Schaub went down. He still ended up with top 10 numbers, but this year with a healthy Schaub he should push the big 4. ADP: 92 Projection: 5/850
81. Rashard Mendenhall: Mendy is dropping like that stone in the stone vs. feather experiment. If only we lived in that vacuum! Willie Parker is small, injury prone, light as a feather, and in the last year of his contract. The Steelers want Rashard to get a lot of time and take over, but he’s just not doing it yet. I need to see a little more life out of him. ADP: 103 Projection: 5/700, 1, 200
82. Matt Ryan: See the Top 10 Quarterbacks post for projections.
83. Santonio Holmes: Holmes has breakout potential, but I think Ward will still get most of Big Ben’s attention unless Holmes learns how to fix a TV. ADP: 60 Projection: 7/850
84. Greg Olsen: He will be Cutler’s security blanket. He is now the official starter and will challenge the top 5 TE’s this year. And he could be related to Merlin Olsen. ADP 67 Projection: 5/850
85: Carson Palmer: Lots of upside and lots of downside because there’s a good chance he’ll be on his backside. If he can stay healthy I think he’ll have a good year. Ochocinco, Coles and Henry make up a nice core of receivers and he’ll need to get them the ball a lot. ADP: 86: Projection: 27/3650
86. Kellen Winslow: Winslow should do well in his new tropical environs. Whoever his QB ends up being, probably Leftwich, he’ll need to have an outlet like Winslow. He should have a top 10 season with top 5 potential. Why do I think of cantaloupes when I think of Winslow? ADP: 80 Projection: 5/825
87. Devin Hester: Cutler will make Hester better. It is inevitable. He will never be a true #1 receiver, but he can get close on the back of Jay Cutler’s arm (mixed metaphor alert!). ADP: 79 Projection: 6/925
88. Jerricho Cotchery: There isn’t much drabber than Mr. Cotchery. He makes me sleepy just typing his name. ADP: 94 Projection: 6/900
89. Percy Harvin: He is a wildcard at this point. He is explosive, but sometimes explosions are, well, painful. He is very much worth a flier, but the hype machine is in full force, so don’t get caught in it’s gears. ADP: 97 Projection: 1/100, 5/800
90. Chris Cooley: He is a safe bet for 75-80 receptions, but on a Redskins team that I find painful to watch I don’t see him getting into the endzone too often. ADP: 84 Projection: 5/800
91. Steve Breaston: He only needs Boldin to tweak something for a few games for him to post big numbers for a #3 receiver. ADP: 101 Projection: 6/900
92. Patrick Crayton: He is being overlooked, but he is the #2 receiver on a team that is built to put points on the oversized giant low hanging scoreboard. ADP: 140 Projection: 6/875
93. Ted Ginn: Another player being overlooked this season, Ginn is the #1 receiver on a team that should be better offensively this year. This is also his magical 3rd year and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him belch first downs and fart rainbows. ADP: 106 Projection: 6/870
94. Donnie Avery: He seems to be healing quickly from his stress fractured foot. I just don’t know what kind of stress his foot must have been under? Did his foot have to speak in front of a large crowd or was his foot behind on his mortgage payment? Whatever the problem it seems to be getting better and Avery is the best receiver on that Rams team. ADP: 89 Projection: 6/850
95. Laverneus Coles: He seemed like a nice replacement for Houshmandzadeh, but with Henry playing so well in preseason I could see Coles losing some looks to him. There is even a possibility Henry could take over as the #2 so I am going with Henry if I can get him later. ADP: 88 Projection: 7/800
96. Jay Cutler: He has an arm bestowed by Purple Jesus himself. But sometimes he thinks he’s bigger than PJ and nobody is bigger than PJ! He will make the Bears better, but won’t have the numbers he had last year. ADP: 85 Projection: 24/3600
97. Tim Hightower: Beanie is a weanie or at least his muscles and ligaments are and if he can’t really take over the job it defaults to Hightower. He is worth a late round pick. ADP: 98 Projection: 5/700, 1/175
98. Pittsburgh Steelers: The only defense I would even contemplate picking in the top 100. I still wouldn’t do it, but I’d contemplate it. ADP: 90 Projection: Bringing Pain!
99. Ahmad Bradshaw: I am banking on Jacobs injuring himself this year. When I wrote that down and slid it to the teller they thought I was robbing the place. Getting Bradshaw late in your draft might be like robbing your league mates, bah doomp chee cha! ADP: 91 Projection: 3/550, 2/380
100. LeSean McCoy: With Westbrook’s oldness taking over his leg area McCoy is a safe bet to get at least some work, but with a chance for much more. ADP: 83 Projection: 4/650, 1/275
101. Kevin Walter: The Houston offense is going to be a fantasy village to pillage. ADP: 82 Projection: 5/825
UPDATE: Brandon Marshall: (Marshall has been suspended for the rest of the preseason. He will drop in ADP, but as long as he gets on the field he is still worth a pick. I’ll insert him back in the rankings soon) Well, he didn’t get sent to prison so he will be playing football, which needs to happen if you want him to score points on your team. Eddie Royal looks to take away some of his receptions this year and he has Orton (or maybe Simms) throwing to him rather than the strong armed Cutler. He won’t disappear, but lower your expectations a bit. ADP: 37 Projection: 7/1050
