Commentary

Fantasy football 2012 rankings

Updated: July 5, 2012, 5:48 PM ET
By Christopher Harris | ESPN.com

These are my personal ranks as we emerge from May's ESPN Fantasy Football Summit. There are still some veteran free agents available which could upset a few NFL depth charts, and of course injuries and rehabilitation news can definitely affect who should be ranked where. But as we head into a long summer before training camps, this is where I currently believe players should be drafted for fantasy football. As always, though, these ranks are subject to change, so check back as NFL news trickles in.

Fantasy Football Top 200


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 I like the addition of Steve Hutchinson to upgrade the TEN o-line.
8 Tom Brady, NE QB2 In three of his past four healthy years, he has 36, 39 and 50 TD passes.
9 Drew Brees, NO QB3 The contract thing will get worked out, but the Saints are in flux.
10 Larry Fitzgerald, ARI WR2 Unbelievable talent, and produced a great season with substandard QB play.
11 Matthew Stafford, DET QB4 Seems like a long time ago people were grousing about his injuries.
12 Ryan Mathews, SD RB6 Two injury-marred years, but the job should be his.
13 Andre Johnson, HOU WR3 Back to year-to-year injury worries? Another knee procedure this winter.
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, and Michael Bush is around.
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 He's not just a deep threat any longer.
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 Peyton Hillis makes J-Mail a TD nightmare, and he's coming off a torn ACL.
24 Steven Jackson, STL RB12
25 A.J. Green, CIN WR6
26 Frank Gore, SF RB13 A full backfield could take a bite out of Gore's workload.
27 Michael Vick, PHI QB6 The issue with Vick will always be whether he can play close to a full season.
28 Wes Welker, NE WR7 Wipe away the ACL year and he's averaged 117 catches per year as a Patriot.
29 Hakeem Nicks, NYG WR8 Nicks-clone Rueben Randle adds some uncertainty into the mix.
30 Roddy White, ATL WR9 I love Roddy. But I love Julio, too.
31 Julio Jones, ATL WR10
32 Trent Richardson, CLE RB14
33 Fred Jackson, BUF RB15
34 Steve Smith, CAR WR11
35 Brandon Marshall, CHI WR12
36 Jordy Nelson, GB WR13 He's good, but I'm not chasing last year's TDs.
37 Dez Bryant, DAL WR14
38 Darren Sproles, NO RB16
39 Roy Helu, WAS RB17
40 Michael Turner, ATL RB18 I know. He was the No. 5 RB in fantasy last year. But the cliff is coming.
41 Ahmad Bradshaw, NYG RB19 He shook off foot concerns, but David Wilson might be a better player than Brandon Jacobs.
42 Reggie Bush, MIA RB20
43 Dwayne Bowe, KC WR15
44 Vincent Jackson, TB WR16
45 Marques Colston, NO WR17
46 Percy Harvin, MIN WR18
47 Miles Austin, DAL WR19
48 Eli Manning, NYG QB7
49 Victor Cruz, NYG WR20 Are his myriad big run-after-catch plays repeatable? I worry that they're not.
50 Demaryius Thomas, DEN WR21 He's an injury risk, but Peyton also gives him No. 1 WR upside.
51 Brandon Lloyd, NE WR22
52 Peyton Manning, DEN QB8 So much risk, so much reward a mile high.
53 Tony Romo, DAL QB9
54 Philip Rivers, SD QB10
55 Jonathan Stewart, CAR RB21 This should be his final season toiling in the world's most frustrating platoon.
56 DeAngelo Williams, CAR RB22
57 Adrian Peterson, MIN RB23 Opinions on AP will vary wildly until we get true August medical reports, but he's already running.
58 Jeremy Maclin, PHI WR23 He'd have been more attractive had DeSean Jackson left Philly.
59 Willis McGahee, DEN RB24 Will the play-calling change with Peyton around? Denver hasn't yet acquired another power back.
60 Steve Johnson, BUF WR24
61 Eric Decker, DEN WR25 Goes from unranked to a 10-team-league starter. Ah, the promise of Peyton.
62 Jahvid Best, DET RB25 Listen, I know he's my binky. But with the alternatives looking dicey, he'll get another chance.
63 Antonio Brown, PIT WR26
64 Beanie Wells, ARI RB26 It's hard to trust those knees.
65 DeSean Jackson, PHI WR27
66 Kenny Britt, TEN WR28 Additional knee surgery this spring scares the bejeezus out of me.
67 BenJarvus Green-Ellis, CIN RB27 Dodged a bullet in the draft, as the Bengals stayed away from RBs.
68 Michael Bush, CHI RB28 He would be higher if Forte holds out.
69 Peyton Hillis, KC RB29 He was always overvalued last season, but now he could be undervalued. He's 26.
70 Robert Meachem, SD WR29
71 Antonio Gates, SD TE3
72 C.J. Spiller, BUF RB30 He had 21 carries in his first 10 games before Jackson's injury.
73 Pierre Garcon, WAS WR30
74 Shonn Greene, NYJ RB31
75 Isaac Redman, PIT RB32 Amazingly, the Steelers didn't draft a RB. But will they sign a veteran?
76 Vernon Davis, SF TE4
77 Jermichael Finley, GB TE5 One of the few elite TEs who didn't fully participate in the "Year of the Tight End."
78 Jason Witten, DAL TE6
79 Mark Ingram, NO RB33
80 Toby Gerhart, MIN RB34
81 Stevan Ridley, NE RB35
82 James Starks, GB RB36 Ryan Grant may be gone, 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 Donald Brown, IND RB38 Not a terrible sleeper; he averaged 4.8 yards per carry and Joseph Addai is gone.
87 Anquan Boldin, BAL WR31
88 Doug Martin, TB RB39 He'll split early-down work with Blount and dominate later downs.
89 Daniel Thomas, MIA RB40
90 Pierre Thomas, NO RB41
91 Matt Schaub, HOU QB12
92 Aaron Hernandez, NE TE7 Lloyd's presence makes this trickier for a No. 2 TE.
93 Texans Defense, HOU DEF2
94 Fred Davis, WAS TE8
95 Santonio Holmes, NYJ WR32 One gets the sense that if the Jets could jettison him, they would.
96 Bears Defense, CHI DEF3
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 Robert Griffin III, WAS QB14
100 Lance Moore, NO WR34
101 Darrius Heyward-Bey, OAK WR35
102 Titus Young, DET WR36
103 Torrey Smith, BAL WR37
104 LeGarrette Blount, TB RB42 Drafting Martin shows that the Bucs agree with my assessment of this guy.
105 Michael Crabtree, SF WR38
106 Brandon Pettigrew, DET TE9
107 Ravens Defense, BAL DEF4
108 Justin Blackmon, JAC WR39 He's not a No. 1 WR skills-wise, and Gabbert is throwing it to him.
109 Tony Gonzalez, ATL TE10
110 Malcom Floyd, SD WR40
111 Rueben Randle, NYG WR41
112 David Wilson, NYG RB43
113 Jay Cutler, CHI QB15
114 Eagles Defense, PHI DEF5
115 Reggie Wayne, IND WR42 Lots of new receiving weapons in Indy for Wayne to compete with.
116 Joseph Addai, NE RB44
117 Felix Jones, DAL RB45
118 Bernard Scott, CIN RB46
119 Laurent Robinson, JAC WR43 Big free-agent dollars don't cushion the blow of Blackmon arriving.
120 Mike Williams, TB WR44
121 Nate Washington, TEN WR45 Kendall Wright muddies waters for Washington, though if Britt's health is bad, they both could be good.
122 Jared Cook, TEN TE11
123 Seahawks Defense, SEA DEF6
124 Josh Freeman, TB QB16
125 Dustin Keller, NYJ TE12
126 Brent Celek, PHI TE13
127 Jacob Tamme, DEN TE14
128 Mario Manningham, SF WR46
129 Steelers Defense, PIT DEF7
130 Sidney Rice, SEA WR47
131 Michael Floyd, ARI WR48
132 Nate Burleson, DET WR49 Is Burleson being phased out? Titus Young last year, Ryan Broyles this year?
133 Randy Moss, SF WR50
134 Leonard Hankerson, WAS WR51
135 Mike Tolbert, CAR RB47
136 Kevin Smith, DET RB48
137 Mike Goodson, OAK RB49
138 Jonathan Dwyer, PIT RB50
139 Jets Defense, NYJ DEF8
140 Falcons Defense, ATL DEF9
141 Lions Defense, DET DEF10
142 Cedric Benson, FA RB51
143 Shane Vereen, NE RB52
144 Brandon Jacobs, SF RB53 The 49ers drafting LaMichael James tells us Jacobs could get cut.
145 Ryan Williams, ARI RB54
146 Delone Carter, IND RB55
147 Evan Royster, WAS RB56
148 Ryan Grant, FA RB57
149 Dion Lewis, PHI RB58
150 Rashard Mendenhall, PIT RB59
151 Stephen Gostkowski, NE K1
152 Mason Crosby, GB K2
153 David Akers, SF K3
154 Sebastian Janikowski, OAK K4
155 Garrett Hartley, NO K5
156 Dan Bailey, DAL K6
157 Alex Henery, PHI K7
158 Matt Prater, DEN K8
159 Rob Bironas, TEN K9
160 Robbie Gould, CHI K10
161 Jonathan Baldwin, KC WR52
162 Greg Little, CLE WR53
163 Brian Quick, STL WR54
164 Plaxico Burress, FA WR55
165 Brandon LaFell, CAR WR56
166 Kendall Wright, TEN WR57
167 James Jones, GB WR58
168 Andre Caldwell, DEN WR59
169 Eddie Royal, SD WR60
170 Joe Flacco, BAL QB17
171 Le'Ron McClain, SD RB60
172 Bernard Pierce, BAL RB61
173 Isaiah Pead, STL RB62
174 Kendall Hunter, SF RB63
175 Owen Daniels, HOU TE15
176 Martellus Bennett, NYG TE16
177 Randall Cobb, GB WR61
178 Greg Olsen, CAR TE17
179 Alex Smith, SF QB18
180 Jacoby Ford, OAK WR62
181 Vincent Brown, SD WR63
182 Carson Palmer, OAK QB19
183 Taiwan Jones, OAK RB64
184 Sam Bradford, STL QB20
185 Jermaine Gresham, CIN TE18
186 Jason Snelling, ATL RB65
187 Lamar Miller, MIA RB66
188 Jacquizz Rodgers, ATL RB67
189 Packers Defense, GB DEF11
190 Bills Defense, BUF DEF12
191 Matt Bryant, ATL K11
192 Neil Rackers, WAS K12
193 Ryan Fitzpatrick, BUF QB21
194 Andrew Luck, IND QB22
195 Alshon Jeffery, CHI WR64
196 Braylon Edwards, FA WR65
197 Stephen Hill, NYJ WR66
198 Coby Fleener, IND TE19
199 LaMichael James, SF RB68
200 Joe McKnight, NYJ RB69

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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