With the third week of preseason football set to close following Monday Night Football in a battle of New York between the Giants and Jets, I have now solidified and finished polishing off the final ranking for my Offensive Top 50 list before Week One of the regular season. Not surprisingly, there were some major changes from the very first ranking I did to the final one. Remember, these rankings do not reflect all the individual offensive rankings. Owners should view this list as a separate entity. Check back regularly during the regular season to see who is moving up and who is bottoming out.
For quarterbacks, Aaron Rodgers managed to keep his No. 1 overall status as the best quarterback for this season intact. Watching the game against the Colts last week, Rodgers looked in midseason form, getting all this receivers involved and making tight end Jermichael Finley look like he did before his injury in 2010. Even in leagues that give quarterbacks only four points for passing touchdowns, Rodgers has still been going in the top 10 of the first round in a majority of leagues. Not surprisingly, Peyton Manning has been sliding fast over the last few weeks. With the notion that he may not be ready by Week One and the unretiring of Kerry Collins, Manning has gone from a top 15 pick to a 4th, 5th and even a 6th round option. Even if Manning does start Week One, the rust will take time to wear off.
The running backs list has made the most changes of all the positions. With Chris Johnson and Tennessee still embroiled in a contract dispute, his fantasy value has taken a tumble. Ryan Mathews and Matt Forte also took a fantasy hit with Mike Tolbert expected to share with Mathews and Forte dealing with a rejuvinated Marion Barber. Unfortunately for Tolbert, I had to knock him out of the rankings completely and move Reggie Bush into the mix with rookie Daniel Thomas looking absolutely awful in practice and the preseason. While Bush will always have question marks, his value in the passing game will come in handy in PPR leagues. Plus it doesn't hurt that he is locked into the starting job and not in a timeshare like Tolbert/Matthews.
As for wide receivers and tight ends; Mike Wallace took a leap up after not being in the top 50 at the start of training camps, mainly due to my negligence. Sorry Wallace fans. Andre Johnson still leads the pack, with Calvin Johnson not too far behind. Dallas Clark took a hit with Peyton's neck problems. Collins is much better than Curtis Painter. But if Collins has to start more than one-two games, the Colts offense is in trouble.
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