Fantasy Football 2015: Full Position-by-Position Rankings, Creative Team Names

Differentiating fantasy football advice is perhaps the hardest part of the predraft process. Everyone, assuming you've played the pseudo-sport for long enough, has their favorites by now. Maybe it's a particular writer or website that has been helpful in the past, but smart players tend to know the difference between who has their best interest in mind and who is merely throwing things at a wall.

Of course, that doesn't stop any of us from voraciously scouring the Google box in the days leading up to draft day. Second-, third- and eighth-guessing yourself and others is by far the most nerve-wracking part of the preseason process. Sure, yeah, this guy won me a title last year and says Jeremy Hill's due to break out—but this other guy is having his doubts.

I have no clue whether I'm the guy who won you your league last year or another guy. I hope it's the former, or that if you follow the rankings advice in this column, it will become that way this season. With that in mind, let's bounce through positional rankings and highlight some of the names you need to know.

Quarterback

Ranking	Player	TEAM
1	Aaron Rodgers	GB
2	Andrew Luck	IND
3	Russell Wilson	SEA
4	Peyton Manning	DEN
5	Ben Roethlisberger	PIT
6	Drew Brees	NO
7	Matt Ryan	ATL
8	Cam Newton	CAR
9	Tony Romo	DAL
10	Ryan Tannehill	MIA
11	Tom Brady	NE
12	Eli Manning	NYG
13	Philip Rivers	SD
14	Matthew Stafford	DET
15	Teddy Bridgewater	MIN
16	Colin Kaepernick	SF
17	Sam Bradford	PHI
18	Carson Palmer	ARI
19	Jay Cutler	CHI
20	Robert Griffin III	WAS

Sleeper: Teddy Bridgewater, Minnesota Vikings

Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press

Perhaps it's the easy way out, but Bridgewater should be in line for a second-year leap in 2015. The Louisville product threw for 2,919 yards and 14 touchdowns against 12 interceptions as a rookie, adding 209 yards and a score on the ground. In today's NFL, those are Unusable Fantasy Quarterback numbers.

However, there is reason to believe Bridgewater has more left in the tank. For one, he now has a competent top wide receiver in Mike Wallace. Three years removed from his last 1,000-yard campaign, Wallace isn't the superstar he was in Pittsburgh, but he still managed to make 10 touchdown grabs last season. At the very least, he'll be an improvement over the nonexistent corps that 2014 Bridgewater was stuck with.

The Vikings may also have found an interesting sleeper option in Charles Johnson, who emerged as a Bridgewater favorite in the final two months. We still need to see more production to back him, but Bridgewater is a nice backup option or starter in two-quarterback leagues.

Beware: Robert Griffin III, Washington

Robert Griffin believes he is the best quarterback in football. I do not. 
 

Running Back

Ranking	Player	Team
1	Eddie Lacy	GB
2	Jamaal Charles	KC
3	Marshawn Lynch	SEA
4	Le'Veon Bell	PIT
5	Matt Forte	CHI
6	DeMarco Murray	PHI
7	LeSean McCoy	BUF
8	Adrian Peterson	MIN
9	C.J. Anderson	DEN
10	Jeremy Hill	CIN
11	Alfred Morris	WAS
12	Lamar Miller	MIA
13	Mark Ingram	NO
14	Carlos Hyde	SF
15	Justin Forsett	BAL
16	Joseph Randle	DAL
17	Melvin Gordon	SD
18	Jonathan Stewart	CAR
19	Joique Bell	DET
20	Andre Ellington	ARI
21	Rashad Jennings	NYG
22	Frank Gore	IND
23	Chris Ivory	NYJ
24	LeGarrette Blount	NE
25	Todd Gurley	STL
26	Latavius Murray	OAK
27	T.J. Yeldon	JAC
28	Tevin Coleman	ATL
29	Giovani Bernard	CIN
30	Isaiah Crowell	CLE

Sleeper: Jeremy Hill, Cincinnati Bengals

Frank Victores/Associated Press

OK, sure. The 10th-ranked running back on my board isn't sneaking up on anyone. Hill compiled 1,124 yards and nine touchdowns as a rookie and finished the regular season with three 100-yard games. Plenty of folks know he's good.

But are they ready to consider him a potential top-three back?

Hill's counting stats are so good that many gloss over the context: He put up those numbers in eight starts. Through the Bengals' first seven games, Hill was averaging 27.8 yards per game. Over his last nine, that number skyrocketed to 103.2. Gio Bernard is still around, but there is little question about who is starting this season. If he performs even at 80 percent of his level from 2014, Hill is going to be a fantasy force.

Beware: Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings

A 30-year-old running back who basically just took an entire year off from football? Yeah, there's no chance Peterson will be on any of my teams this season. History's just not kind to people in his spot.   

Wide Receiver

Ranking	Player	Team
1	Antonio Brown	PIT
2	Dez Bryant	DAL
3	Calvin Johnson	DET
4	Demaryius Thomas	DEN
5	Jordy Nelson	GB
6	Odell Beckham Jr.	NYG
7	Julio Jones	ATL
8	A.J. Green	CIN
9	Alshon Jeffery	CHI
10	Randall Cobb	GB
11	T.Y. Hilton	IND
12	Mike Evans	TB
13	Emmanuel Sanders	DEN
14	DeAndre Hopkins	HOU
15	Sammy Watkins	BUF
16	Kelvin Benjamin	CAR
17	Golden Tate	DET
18	Julian Edelman	NE
19	Brandon Marshall	NYJ
20	Keenan Allen	SD
21	Brandin Cooks	NO
22	DeSean Jackson	WAS
23	Jordan Matthews	PHI
24	Vincent Jackson	TB
25	Jeremy Maclin	KC
26	Martavis Bryant	PIT
27	Amari Cooper	OAK
28	Andre Johnson	IND
29	Jarvis Landry	MIA
30	Mike Wallace	MIN

Sleeper: Martavis Bryant, Pittsburgh Steelers

Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press

The Steelers already have arguably the NFL's best wideout in Antonio Brown. No one on the roster is going to challenge his status or prohibit him from being a top-tier fantasy producer in 2015. Still, there are few secondary options with higher upside than Bryant.

Selected as a long-term project last year, Bryant emerged as a brilliant downfield threat in the second half of last season. He finished with 549 yards and eight touchdowns on only 26 receptions; his first four NFL games saw him score six times.

Markus Wheaton and rookie Sammie Coates should also be part of the offense, but Bryant is a perfect compliment to Brown's underneath prowess. The Steelers are obviously looking to push the ball downfield more after selecting Coates, so Bryant should be in line for a few massive games in 2015. Look for his production, as it was last season, to be hit or miss.

Beware: Andre Johnson, Indianapolis Colts

Playing with the best quarterback of his career, Johnson is smart to be optimistic. Fantasy owners, however, should beware. Johnson is a 34-year-old with 173 NFL games (regular season and playoffs) on his legs. Despite playing in all but one game over the last three years, Johnson has seen his yards per catch dip from 14.3 in 2012 to 11.0 in 2015.

Add in the fact that Andrew Luck and T.Y. Hilton already have a built-in rapport, and Johnson will probably be lucky to have an Anquan Boldin-level season. Boldin is ownable in fantasy leagues, but Johnson is incorrectly being graded as an every-week start. You'd probably be better off adding Boldin a few rounds later.

Tight End

Ranking	Player	Team
1	Rob Gronkowski	NE
2	Jimmy Graham	SEA
3	Travis Kelce	KC
4	Greg Olsen	CAR
5	Martellus Bennett	CHI
6	Julius Thomas	JAC
7	Dwayne Allen	IND
8	Zach Ertz	PHI
9	Jason Witten	DAL
10	Jordan Cameron	MIA
11	Josh Hill	NO
12	Delanie Walker	TEN
13	Antonio Gates	SD
14	Jordan Reed	WAS
15	Owen Daniels	DEN

Sleeper: Owen Daniels, Denver Broncos

Peyton Manning loves throwing to tight ends. Owen Daniels has shown the ability to catch footballs in the past. If he's healthy, Daniels is the odds-on favorite to win the job and be at the receiving end of Manning passes. Given the increased questions about Manning's arm strength, Daniels might be an every-week play this season based on his consistency alone.

Beware: Antonio Gates, San Diego Chargers

He has to slow down sometime, right? No? OK, be sure to check back in on this pick and make fun of it in a few months. 

Defense/Kicker

Ranking	Team
1	Seattle Seahawks
2	Houston Texans
3	Buffalo Bills
4	Arizona Cardinals
5	Detroit Lions
6	New York Jets
7	New England Patriots
8	St. Louis Rams
9	Denver Broncos
10	Baltimore Ravens

Ranking	Player	Team
1	Stephen Gostkowski	NE
2	Cody Parkey	PHI
3	Steven Hauschka	SEA
4	Adam Vinatieri	IND
5	Justin Tucker	BAL
6	Connor Barth	DEN
7	Matt Prater	DET
8	Matt Bryant	ATL
9	Dan Bailey	DAL
10	Mason Crosby	GB

Team Names

Just go to this Reddit thread and pick your favorite. I'm not that creative.