Fantasy Football 2015: Skill-Position Rankings and Top Sleepers

Rank	Player	Team
1	Andrew Luck	Indianapolis Colts
2	Aaron Rodgers	Green Bay Packers
3	Russell Wilson	Seattle Seahawks
4	Peyton Manning	Denver Broncos
5	Ben Roethlisberger	Pittsburgh Steelers
6	Eli Manning	New York Giants
7	Drew Brees	New Orleans Saints
8	Matt Ryan	Atlanta Falcons
9	Tony Romo	Dallas Cowboys
10	Ryan Tannehill	Miami Dolphins
11	Philip Rivers	San Diego Chargers
12	Cam Newton	Carolina Panthers
13	Tom Brady	New England Patriots
14	Matthew Stafford	Detroit Lions
15	Colin Kaepernick	San Francisco 49ers
16	Carson Palmer	Arizona Cardinals
17	Joe Flacco	Baltimore Ravens
18	Teddy Bridgewater	Minnesota Vikings
19	Sam Bradford	Philadelphia Eagles
20	Jay Cutler	Chicago Bears

No offense to kickers or defense and special teams units, but fantasy football is all about the skill-position players.

Not only do quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers and tight ends dominate the first several rounds of drafts and score most of your points, but those positions also represent most of the time and energy spent by team owners on fantasy football.

For that reason, it's important to have your personal rankings at quarterback, running back, wide receiver and tight end nailed down before the draft and available for tweaking during the season as you navigate the trade market and the waiver wire.

Below is a sample top 20 at each of those positions put together by yours truly, along with one possible sleeper at each spot to consider in the later rounds.

Quarterback

Rank	Player	Team
1	Adrian Peterson	Minnesota Vikings
2	Eddie Lacy	Green Bay Packers
3	Le'Veon Bell	Pittsburgh Steelers
4	Jamaal Charles	Kansas City Chiefs
5	Marshawn Lynch	Seattle Seahawks
6	C.J. Anderson	Denver Broncos
7	Matt Forte	Chicago Bears
8	DeMarco Murray	Philadelphia Eagles
9	LeSean McCoy	Buffalo Bills
10	Jeremy Hill	Cincinnati Bengals
11	Lamar Miller	Miami Dolphins
12	Alfred Morris	Washington Redskins
13	Justin Forsett	Baltimore Ravens
14	Carlos Hyde	San Francisco 49ers
15	Frank Gore	Indianapolis Colts
16	Mark Ingram	New Orleans Saints
17	Latavius Murray	Oakland Raiders
18	Melvin Gordon	San Diego Chargers
19	Andre Ellington	Arizona Cardinals
20	Jonathan Stewart	Carolina Panthers

Sleeper to watch: Derek Carr, Oakland Raiders

The Raiders are almost always an afterthought in any sort of predictive exercise, whether it be a standings forecast or fantasy projections. To some degree, it's valid, as the team has gone 4-12 or worse in three consecutive seasons and its offense has been 24th or worse in points scored in each of those seasons.

However, you'd be foolish to dismiss Derek Carr as a terrible fantasy quarterback for 2015.

The second-year signal-caller's leading receiver won't be Andre Holmes (!) again, because he'll have rookie first-round wideout Amari Cooper and free-agent acquisition Michael Crabtree catching a hefty chunk of his throws.

Oakland's 32nd-ranked running game from last season should be slightly better this year with Latavius Murray taking away carries from the disappointing (and departed) Darren McFadden, but the offense is still more passing-focused.

Feel good about drafting Carr as your No. 2 quarterback, and possibly starting him based on matchups if the Raiders offense starts to click.

Running Back

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

Sleeper to watch: Duke Johnson, Cleveland Browns

David Richard/Associated Press

Like the Raiders, the Browns are rarely given the benefit of the doubt in fantasy discussions. The team rarely has a statistical beast leading its charge.

However, Duke Johnson, a rookie third-round pick, could surprise with a nice fantasy campaign in 2015.

Johnson is a versatile scatback who'll line up all over the field in his rookie year, according to Browns running backs coach Wilbert Montgomery, via ESPN.com. Montgomery also noted Johnson has a shot at Cleveland's lead back spot. In that circumstance, the Browns will still have a three-headed attack in the backfield, with Johnson, Isaiah Crowell and Terrance West.

Rank	Player	Team
1	Antonio Brown	Pittsburgh Steelers
2	Dez Bryant	Dallas Cowboys
3	Demaryius Thomas	Denver Broncos
4	Julio Jones	Atlanta Falcons
5	Odell Beckham Jr.	New York Giants
6	Randall Cobb	Green Bay Packers
7	A.J. Green	Cincinnati Bengals
8	Calvin Johnson	Detroit Lions
9	Alshon Jeffery	Chicago Bears
10	T.Y. Hilton	Indianapolis Colts
11	Mike Evans	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
12	Brandin Cooks	New Orleans Saints
13	DeAndre Hopkins	Houston Texans
14	Andre Johnson	Indianapolis Colts
15	DeSean Jackson	Washington Redskins
16	Jarvis Landry	Miami Dolphins
17	Emmanuel Sanders	Denver Broncos
18	Amari Cooper	Oakland Raiders
19	Julian Edelman	New England Patriots
20	Nelson Agholor	Philadelphia Eagles

Still, it's remarkable that a potential starter on a run-oriented team has an average draft position of 115.3.

Johnson hasn't played in the preseason yet due to a hamstring injury. Keep an eye on what he does in Cleveland's final two exhibition games, starting Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Wide Receiver

David Zalubowski/Associated Press/Associated Press

Sleeper to watch: Eddie Royal, Chicago Bears

Eddie Royal's ADP of 132.5 ranks him 51st among all wide receivers. In his rookie (and only) season with Jay Cutler throwing him passes, Royal notched 138.9 fantasy points, good for No. 19 among wideouts. Now, he's reunited with Cutler in Chicago.

'Nuff said.

Pick	Player	Team
1	Rob Gronkowski	New England Patriots
2	Jimmy Graham	Seattle Seahawks
3	Greg Olsen	Carolina Panthers
4	Travis Kelce	Kansas City Chiefs
5	Jason Witten	Dallas Cowboys
6	Martellus Bennett	Chicago Bears
7	Zach Ertz	Philadelphia Eagles
8	Julius Thomas	Jacksonville Jaguars
9	Jordan Cameron	Miami Dolphins
10	Dwayne Allen	Indianapolis Colts
11	Antonio Gates	San Diego Chargers
12	Delanie Walker	Tennessee Titans
13	Kyle Rudolph	Minnesota Vikins
14	Josh Hill	New Orleans Saints
15	Owen Daniels	Denver Broncos
16	Coby Fleener	Indianapolis Colts
17	Larry Donnell	New York Giants
18	Vernon Davis	San Francisco 49ers
19	Heath Miller	Pittsburgh Steelers
20	Tyler Eifert	Cincinnati Bengals

Well, he probably won't rank that high in 2015, but either way, the 29-year-old Royal is getting overlooked by far too many fantasy owners because he's not a sexy pick. However, he's the clear No. 2 receiver for the Bears after Alshon Jeffery in a solid passing attack, which should warrant at least a 10th-round pick.

Scoop Royal up late in your draft while your opponents foam at the mouth over high-upside players.

Tight End

Michael Conroy/Associated Press

Sleeper to watch: Coby Fleener, Indianapolis Colts

It's not every day a 26-year-old who was the No. 6 fantasy player at his position drops out of the top 20 in many preseason rankings without any major circumstantial changes, but that's what has happened to Fleener.

The biggest reason for the drop was because a bulk of his 2014 production came when fellow tight end Dwayne Allen was out for almost four full games with ankle issues during the second half of the season. But are we so sure Allen is going to be completely healthy in 2015? I'm not.

Allen is a better blocker and red-zone threat, but Fleener is more athletic and has been developing chemistry with quarterback Andrew Luck since their days together at Stanford. There's also enough passing attempts to go around in Indianapolis to get both tight ends decent fantasy production.

Don't be scared to take a flier on the Colts' No. 2 tight end. He definitely won't be close to an every-down player with Allen healthy, but when he's on the field, he'll produce for you.