Commentary

Fantasy football 2012 rankings

Updated: March 29, 2012, 10:49 AM ET
By Christopher Harris | ESPN.com

These ranks are subject to dramatic change as the free-agent and draft seasons advance on us. I'll keep them updated when major NFL personnel changes happen. I also reserve the right to change my mind on hard-to-rank players like Cam Newton and Rob Gronkowski, whom some readers will instantly howl are "too low" at their respective positions. (If you know my work, you know I tend toward conservative estimates of amazing-season repeatability.) At this point it's all grist for the mill. Let the debates begin!

[Editor's Note: Rankings were updated March 28 to reflect Brandon Jacobs signing with the 49ers.]

Fantasy Football Top 100


Rank Player Pos. Rank Comment
1 Arian Foster, HOU RB1 Big contract, two-year consistency puts him at the top.
2 Ray Rice, BAL RB2 Pretty nice now that he's the goal-line back, too.
3 LeSean McCoy, PHI RB3 Does Vick take some of the TDs back?
4 Aaron Rodgers, GB QB1 Everything went ultra-perfect, and he still wasn't VBD's No. 1 in '11.
5 Calvin Johnson, DET WR1 No reason the Lions' aerial circus slows down now.
6 Maurice Jones-Drew, JAC RB4 Could he break down? Yep. So could every RB on the planet.
7 Chris Johnson, TEN RB5 Underplayed story is weakness in TEN o-line, which must be addressed.
8 Tom Brady, NE QB2 In three of his past four healthy years, he has 36, 39 and 50 TD passes.
9 Andre Johnson, HOU WR2 Back to year-to-year injury worries?
10 Drew Brees, NO QB3 The contract thing will get worked out, but he's losing weapons.
11 Larry Fitzgerald, ARI WR3 Unbelievable talent, and produced a great season with substandard QB play.
12 Matthew Stafford, DET QB4 Seems like a long time ago people were grousing about his injuries.
13 Ryan Mathews, SD RB6 Two injury-marred years, but the job should be his.
14 Greg Jennings, GB WR4 I still prefer him to Jordy Nelson, despite their '11 stat disparity.
15 Marshawn Lynch, SEA RB7 Was the end of '11 simply a contract run?
16 Rob Gronkowski, NE TE1 I hate putting him even this high, but the dude has 28 TDs in two pro seasons.
17 Matt Forte, CHI RB8 Watch out for a potential holdout.
18 DeMarco Murray, DAL RB9 Felix Jones is still in the mix, and Murray is an injury risk, but still.
19 Darren McFadden, OAK RB10 So much ability, but red flags abound because of all the injuries.
20 Mike Wallace, PIT WR5
21 Jimmy Graham, NO TE2
22 Cam Newton, CAR QB5 I'll be doing tons of Cam analysis this summer, and reserve the right to change my mind.
23 Jamaal Charles, KC RB11 Coming off torn ACL, Peyton Hillis makes J-Mail a TD nightmare.
24 Steven Jackson, STL RB12
25 A.J. Green, CIN WR6
26 Frank Gore, SF RB13 Brandon Jacobs could take a bite out of his TDs.
27 Michael Vick, PHI QB6 The issue with Vick will always be whether he can play close to a full season.
28 Ahmad Bradshaw, NYG RB14 He shook off foot concerns, and should have a heavier load with Brandon Jacobs gone.
29 Wes Welker, NE WR7 Wipe away the ACL year and he's averaged 117 catches per year as a Patriot.
30 Hakeem Nicks, NYG WR8
31 Roddy White, ATL WR9 I love Roddy. But I love Julio, too.
32 Julio Jones, ATL WR10
33 Fred Jackson, BUF RB15
34 Roy Helu, WAS RB16
35 Steve Smith, CAR WR11
36 Brandon Marshall, CHI WR12
37 Jordy Nelson, GB WR13 He's good, but I'm not chasing last year's TDs.
38 Dez Bryant, DAL WR14
39 Demaryius Thomas, DEN WR15 He's an injury risk, but Peyton also gives him No. 1 overall WR upside.
40 Kenny Britt, TEN WR16 It's a leap of faith, but I still consider him borderline elite.
41 Michael Turner, ATL RB17 I know. He was the No. 5 RB in fantasy last year. But the cliff is coming.
42 Reggie Bush, MIA RB18
43 Dwayne Bowe, KC WR17
44 Vincent Jackson, TB WR18
45 Marques Colston, NO WR19
46 Miles Austin, DAL WR20
47 Eli Manning, NYG QB7
48 Victor Cruz, NYG WR21 And he was the No. 4 WR. I'm simply scared of the one-year wonder factor.
49 Brandon Lloyd, NE WR22
50 Peyton Manning, DEN QB8 So much risk, so much reward a mile high.
51 Percy Harvin, MIN WR23
52 Jonathan Stewart, CAR RB19 This should be his final season toiling in the world's most frustrating platoon.
53 DeAngelo Williams, CAR RB20
54 Darren Sproles, NO RB21
55 Tony Romo, DAL QB9
56 Philip Rivers, SD QB10
57 Adrian Peterson, MIN RB22 Opinions on AP will vary wildly until we get true August medical reports.
58 Jeremy Maclin, PHI WR24 He'd have been more attractive had DeSean Jackson left Philly.
59 Willis McGahee, DEN RB23 Will the play-calling change with Peyton around? And does he catch it enough?
60 Steve Johnson, BUF WR25
61 Trent Richardson, -- RB24
62 Jahvid Best, DET RB25 Listen, I know he's my binky. I don't trust Leshoure returning from a torn Achilles', though.
63 Antonio Brown, PIT WR26
64 Mark Ingram, NO RB26
65 Beanie Wells, ARI RB27 It's hard to trust those knees.
66 DeSean Jackson, PHI WR27
67 Antonio Gates, SD TE3
68 BenJarvus Green-Ellis, CIN RB28
69 Michael Bush, CHI RB29 He would be higher if Forte holds out.
70 Peyton Hillis, KC RB30 He was always overvalued last season, but now he could be undervalued. He's 26.
71 Robert Meachem, SD WR28
72 Eric Decker, DEN WR29 Goes from unranked to a 10-team-league starter. Ah, the promise of Peyton.
73 Jason Witten, DAL TE4
74 C.J. Spiller, BUF RB31 He had 21 carries in his first 10 games before Jackson's injury.
75 Pierre Garcon, WAS WR30
76 Shonn Greene, NYJ RB32
77 Isaac Redman, PIT RB33
78 Jermichael Finley, GB TE5 One of the few elite TEs who didn't fully participate in the "Year of the Tight End."
79 Vernon Davis, SF TE6
80 Toby Gerhart, MIN RB34
81 Stevan Ridley, NE RB35
82 James Starks, GB RB36 I don't believe in Ryan Grant, but Green Bay doesn't run enough.
83 Ben Tate, HOU RB37
84 49ers Defense, SF DEF1
85 Matt Ryan, ATL QB11 I love his receivers, but he's yet to turn in an elite season.
86 Fred Davis, WAS TE7
87 Ravens Defense, BAL DEF2
88 Donald Brown, IND RB38 Not a terrible sleeper; he averaged 4.8 yards per carry and Joseph Addai is gone.
89 Anquan Boldin, BAL WR31
90 Pierre Thomas, NO RB39
91 Matt Schaub, HOU QB12
92 Aaron Hernandez, NE TE8 Lloyd's presence makes this trickier for a No. 2 TE.
93 Santonio Holmes, NYJ WR32 One gets the sense that if the Jets could jettison him, they would.
94 Bears Defense, CHI DEF3
95 Montario Hardesty, CLE RB40
96 LeGarrette Blount, TB RB41
97 Ben Roethlisberger, PIT QB13
98 Denarius Moore, OAK WR33 I love his talent, but Darrius Heyward-Bey, Jacoby Ford, Louis Murphy&and Carson Palmer.
99 Torrey Smith, BAL WR34
100 Daniel Thomas, MIA RB42

Christopher Harris | email

Fantasy
  • Senior writer for ESPN.com
  • Six-time Fantasy Sports Writing Association award winner
  • Author of "The Big Clear," a noir thriller

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