Top 75 Fantasy Football Flex Rankings
2013: A Space Odyssey.
2013: The Return of the Dinosaur.
2013: The Year of the Tight End.
Which sounds the most futuristic?
The trend has been in the making for some time: the athletic, pass-catching tight end who opens up the field for the modern NFL offense. See: Gonzalez, Tony, circa 2000 or Gates, Antonio, circa 2007, or Cameron, Jordan, circa 2013.
This past week, twelve tight ends scored in double digits. Sixteen tight ends caught at least one touchdown. Three tight ends- Jared Cook, Julius Thomas, and Vernon Davis- were inside the top-10 of overall scoring at the flex position (All non-QBs), while an additional two more - Jason Witten and Owen Daniels - made it inside the top-20 at scoring amongst all running backs, wide-receivers, and tight-ends, combined.
While all of this tight-end explosion (don’t repeat that phrase out loud at work, please) was busy, uh, exploding, a proverbial El-Guapo plethora (see: Three Amigos, circa 1986) of top-end running backs severely cramped their owners’ respective styles by putting up dud weeks. Marshawn Lynch, CJ Spiller, Trent Richardson, Arian Foster, and Alfred Morris all scored in single digits, and were thus all out-scored by such fantasy battleships as Fred Jackson, Joique Bell, and Shane Vereen.
Yeah.
Allow me to be the calming voice in a sea of sorrows: they’re going to be OK. No, I don’t buy a Buffalo time-share. Anyone with a pair of eyes can see CJ Spiller is, at this stage in their respective careers, ten times the playmaker as Fred Jackson. While I do buy a Houston time-share to a small degree, there’s room for two productive backs in the Texans offense, and I still think Foster gets the larger half. I also still believe Mike Shanahan doesn’t pull a Shanahan and avoids the never-ending running back carousel that was for so long his modus operandi. No, Morris will be fine for now. And Lynch and Richardson? Beast mode is just around the corner. Please avoid the mistake of the fantasy noob everywhere: over-reaction. You drafted them for a season, not for a week, and while you may be staring at an 0-1, 15-1 sure sounds a lot nicer, doesn’t it? Don’t overreact and do something rash like dealing Spiller for Julius Thomas or David Wilson for Joique Bell.
Keep calm and fantasy on.
There. There’s your soothing voice in the havoc of week one. You can thank me later.
Week 2 Top-75 Flex Rankings
1. Adrian Peterson
2. LeSean McCoy
3. Matt Forte
4. Jamaal Charles
5. Doug Martin
6. Demaryius Thomas
7. AJ Green
8. Ray Rice
9. Trent Richardson
10. CJ Spiller
11. Arian Foster
12. Marshawn Lynch
13. Calvin Johnson
14. Maurice Jones-Drew
15. Brandon Marshall
The Big Boys
No, it’s not an overreaction. I’ve been saying for awhile now that AJ Green is on the same level as Megatron, at least for fantasy purposes. This week, he goes up against a very beatable Pittsburgh secondary that is nowhere near as good as the one featuring two pro-bowl corners he torched last weekend in Chicago. Demaryius Thomas, meanwhile, is making a solid argument to also enter that same tier. That there are four wide receivers inside my top-15 is a testament to the NFL’s not-so-subtle movement towards a passing league. It seems like these days, everyone’s got a quarterback who can chuck it. Oh, except the Jaguars. Hi, MJD! Welcome! Have fun against the Raiders. Seriously though, who would have thought MJD and Cecil Shorts owners would be breathing a sigh of relief and exclaiming, “Thank goodness! Chad Henne! Finally!”
16. Alfred Morris
17. Reggie Bush
18. Eddie Lacy
19. Steven Jackson
20. Jimmy Graham
21. Larry Fitzgerald
22. Julio Jones
23. DeMarco Murray
24. Darren McFadden
25. Randall Cobb
26. Stevan Ridley
27. Jason Witten
28. Chris Johnson
29. Frank Gore
30. Victor Cruz
Punctuate with Question Marks, Please(?)
You know who watched the Redskins-Eagles game? This guy. And, uh, Washington couldn’t really stop anything the Eagles tried, during the portion of the game where the Eagles were trying. I don’t like their chances of successfully handling Aaron Rodgers and the Cheeseheads this week, and have graded the Green Bay position players accordingly. You know whose defense also looked bad? Green Bay’s. So uh, play all the guys you have in this one. I maintain my stance: as long as DeMarco Murray is healthy, he should play for your fantasy team. 20 rushes and 8 catches will do good things, and Jason Witten won’t grab two touchdowns every week. I expect Murray to find the endzone against the Chiefs, and continue to put up more than serviceable yardage. Speaking of finding the endzone, how happy is Larry Fitzgerald? Very happy, that’s how happy. Thank you, Carson Palmer.
31. Jordan Cameron
32. Dez Bryant
33. Wes Welker
34. Darren Sproles
35. Reggie Wayne
36. Vincent Jackson
37. Jordy Nelson
38. Marques Colston
39. Andre Johnson
40. Desean Jackson
41. Ryan Matthews
42. Daryl Richardson
43. Anquan Boldin
44. Julius Thomas
45. Pierre Garcon
OK, Who Do We NOT Guard?
That’s the question that anyone facing the 2013 Denver Broncos will have to answer. Between Thomas, Welker, Thomas Part Two, and Eric Decker, someone is going to have a favorable matchup, if not simply just be open. This might be Peyton Manning’s best set of offensive weapons he has ever had at his disposal. That’s pretty scary to think about. Also, Wes Welker: Goal-Line Weapon. Is the sequel coming to theatres near you? Welker’s two scores came in close, and the second was a beautiful WR Screen that left him wide open running into the right front corner of the endzone. Am I ignoring my own advice and overreacting to Jordan Cameron’s week one? Maybe. But we all saw what happened to the Baltimore Ravens when they went up against a tall, athletic pass-catching tight end last Thursday. No, Brandon Weeden is no Peyton Manning, but Cameron will remain the focus of their passing game until Josh Gordon returns, and maybe beyond. As I said, play your skill players in the Packers-’9ers game, which means also start:
46. Vernon Davis
47. Jared Cook
48. Julian Edelman
49. Hakeem Nicks
50. Ben Tate
51. DeAngelo Williams
52. Owen Daniels
53. David Wilson
54. Greg Olsen
55. Lamar Miller
56. Dwayne Bowe
57. Cecil Shorts
58. Torrey Smith
59. Mike Williams
60. Brandon Myers
61. Rashard Mendenhall
62. Eric Decker
63. Knowshon Moreno
64. Vick Ballard
65. Miles Austin
66. Giovani Bernard
67. Brian Hartline
68. Steve Johnson
69. Joique Bell
70. Antonio Brown
71. Steve Smith
72. Kenbrell Thompkins
73. Fred Jackson
74. Jermichael Finley
75. Martellus Bennett
Starting, (I guess?)
I wish I could add an “I Guess” to several of the above rankings, namely: Stevan Ridley (I guess?), David Wilson (I guess?), and Lamar Miller (I guess?). We need to see more from each and more from their respective teams in general. I feel marginally more confident about Giovani Bernard, who was clearly the better rusher against Chicago, and Knowshon Moreno, who played the most snaps for Denver, received the most carries, caught the most balls, and has the trust of Peyton Manning. (Hey, remember when I called that last week?) I may be too low on Ben Tate and Steve Smith. I would not be surprised if Martellus Bennett found the endzone again. I would also not be surprised if Miles Austin was the highest-scoring fantasy receiver in Dallas, again. Dwayne Bowe will have many better weeks than week one, but until we see it, I’m lowering him. The same can be said for Torrey Smith, who didn’t have a terrible first outing. I expect more from him in the future.
That’s it for this week. Best of luck in Week 2.
