Fantasy Football 2016: Positional Rankings, Team Names and More for Your Draft

August is a big month because it means the NFL is just weeks away from starting up, which also means that it's time to start preparing for your fantasy football draft. 

Before diving into full specifics to make this your most successful year ever, the biggest piece of advice you can take is to not hold your fantasy draft until after all preseason games have been played. That will help in avoiding the headaches that come in the event of injuries. 

With that out of the way, let's look at the top players at each position, notable team names if you want to put everyone in your group to shame and some words of wisdom to make your path to a title easier than it has ever been. 

Fantasy Draft Position Rankings

Quarterback Rankings	Player	Team	Projected Draft Round
Running Back Rankings	Player	Team	Projected Draft Round
Wide Receiver Rankings	Player	Team	Projected Draft Round
Tight End Rankings	Player	Team	Projected Draft Round
Defense/Special Teams Rankings	Player	Team	Projected Draft Round
Kicker Rankings	Player	Team	Projected Draft Round
1	Aaron Rodgers	Green Bay Packers	1st
2	Cam Newton	Carolina Panthers	1st
3	Russell Wilson	Seattle Seahawks	1st-2nd
4	Ben Roethlisberger	Pittsburgh Steelers	1st-2nd
5	Eli Manning	New York Giants	2nd
6	Andrew Luck	Indianapolis Colts	2nd
7	Philip Rivers	San Diego Chargers	2nd-3rd
8	Drew Brees	New Orleans Saints	3rd
9	Carson Palmer	Arizona Cardinals	3rd
10	Tom Brady	New England Patriots	3rd-4th
1	Adrian Peterson	Minnesota Vikings	1st
2	Todd Gurley	Los Angeles Rams	1st
3	David Johnson	Arizona Cardinals	1st
4	Le'Veon Bell	Pittsburgh Steelers	1st
5	Lamar Miller	Houston Texans	1st
6	Ezekiel Elliott	Dallas Cowboys	1st-2nd
7	Devonta Freeman	Atlanta Falcons	1st-2nd
8	Jamaal Charles	Kansas City Chiefs	1st-2nd
9	Thomas Rawls	Seattle Seahawks	1st-2nd
10	Mark Ingram	New Orleans Saints	2nd
1	Antonio Brown	Pittsburgh Steelers	1st
2	Odell Beckham Jr.	New York Giants	1st-2nd
3	DeAndre Hopkins	Houston Texans	1st-2nd
4	Julio Jones	Atlanta Falcons	2nd
5	A.J. Green	Cincinnati Bengals	2nd-3rd
6	Dez Bryant	Dallas Cowboys	2nd-3rd
7	Brandon Marshall	New York Jets	3rd-4th
8	Jordy Nelson	Green Bay Packers	3rd-4th
9	Sammy Watkins	Buffalo Bills	4th-5th
10	Allen Robinson	Jacksonville Jaguars	4th-5th
1	Rob Gronkowski	New England Patriots	1st
2	Greg Olsen	Carolina Panthers	2nd-3rd
3	Jordan Reed	Washington	2nd-3rd
4	Delanie Walker	Tennessee Titans	4th
5	Coby Fleener	New Orleans Saints	5th-6th
6	Zach Ertz	Philadelphia Eagles	5th-6th
7	Gary Barnidge	Cleveland Browns	5th-6th
8	Tyler Eifert	Cincinnati Bengals	6th-7th
9	Julius Thomas	Jacksonville Jaguars	7th
10	Martellus Bennett	New England Patriots	7th
1	N/A	Denver Broncos	6th-7th
2	N/A	Carolina Panthers	6th-7th
3	N/A	Seattle Seahawks	8th-9th
4	N/A	Arizona Cardinals	8th-9th
5	N/A	Houston Texans	10th
6	N/A	Los Angeles Rams	10th
7	N/A	Minnesota Vikings	11th-12th
8	N/A	Kansas City Chiefs	11th-12th
9	N/A	Cincinnati Bengals	13th-14th
10	N/A	Miami Dolphins	13th-14th
1	Stephen Gostkowski	New England Patriots	9th-10th
2	Justin Tucker	Baltimore Ravens	10th-11th
3	Mason Crosby	Green Bay Packers	12th-13th
4	Steven Hauschka	Seattle Seahawks	12th-13th
5	Blair Walsh	Minnesota Vikings	13th-14th
6	Graham Gano	Carolina Panthers	13th-14th
7	Dan Bailey	Dallas Cowboys	13th-14th
8	Chandler Catanzaro	Arizona Cardinals	15th or Later
9	Chris Boswell	Pittsburgh Steelers	15th or Later
10	Roberto Aguayo	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	15th or Later

Top Team Names

Category	Team Name
Best Player-Based Name	Abdullah Oblongata
Best Game of Thrones-Inspired Name	A Team Has No Name
Best Topical Name	Make Golden Tate Again
Best Song-Based Name	Le'Veon My Wayward Son

Note: Team names via Reddit.com, which includes many more to choose from

Overdrafted: Alshon Jeffery, Chicago Bears

Nam Huh/Associated Press

In his first full season without Brandon Marshall on the other side of the field, Alshon Jeffery had the second-worst year of his career.

Injuries limited Jeffery to nine games, the fewest he's played in four NFL seasons, during which he caught 54 passes for 807 yards and four touchdowns. Those numbers are strong considering how much time he missed. 

However, per ESPN's average draft position, Jeffery is being overvalued by fantasy players. He's being taken around the 26th pick, which is 10th among all wide receivers. 

As always, value is everything. There is nothing wrong with Jeffery at the right spot, but he's being taken ahead of Sammy Watkins (29.3), Amari Cooper (29.8) and Doug Baldwin (45.6). 

The Bears have the potential for a very good offense if Jeffery and Kevin White stay healthy, which is no sure thing. Quarterback Jay Cutler is always erratic, but he's been good enough to not take away from Jeffery, Marshall and Matt Forte when all three players were in Chicago. 

The key to Jeffery's season is health. He was terrific last year when on the field, as Pro Football Focus noted he was sixth in fantasy points per opportunity. 

Health is a fickle beast in the NFL. Jeffery has missed at least six games in two of his four seasons, making him too risky to be taken where his current positioning has him. 

Underdrafted: Tyrod Taylor, Buffalo Bills

Bill Wippert/Associated Press

Going back to the previously mentioned value associated with fantasy drafts, even though Buffalo Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor missed two games in 2015, he is not getting nearly enough credit for his breakout season. 

Taylor is currently the 14th quarterback being taken in fantasy drafts, around pick 114. Per Sporting Charts, in standard scoring leagues, Taylor averaged the seventh-most fantasy points per game among quarterbacks (19.33), tied with Carson Palmer and ahead of Andy Dalton (18.78) and Aaron Rodgers (18.33).

The skepticism around Taylor is not unwarranted, because he's only been a starting quarterback for one season. But he looks like the player everyone expected Colin Kaepernick to be around 2013. 

The Bills have done a terrific job of surrounding Taylor with great weapons like Sammy Watkins and LeSean McCoy, though he is outstanding at making plays on his own. Cam Newton and Russell Wilson were the only quarterbacks with more rushing yards than Taylor in 2015.

Taylor also showed great poise as a passer with a completion percentage of 63.7, 3,035 yards and 20 touchdowns. He's not a top-tier quarterback at this stage, but players with his combination of throwing and rushing capabilities are not easy to find. 

Sleeper: Melvin Gordon, San Diego Chargers

Michael Zito/Associated Press

Big things were expected of Melvin Gordon when the San Diego Chargers drafted him in the first round last year. However, his own inconsistencies and a horrid offensive line prevented him from reaching those heights. 

Gordon ended 2015 with 641 rushing yards, 3.5 yards per attempt and no touchdowns. The problems were only compounded when he underwent microfracture knee surgery in January.

Those numbers have significantly dropped his value entering 2016, with 25 running backs being taken before him. 

One huge part of Gordon's development will be connected to San Diego's offensive line improving.

Nathan Jahnke of Pro Football Focus has the Chargers' line ranked 29th in the NFL heading into this season but tried to bring some optimism by noting if King Dunlap, Orlando Franklin and D.J. Fluker can stay on the field, they "could actually be very good."

It's obviously something that is easier said than done, but there is talent on San Diego's offensive line. Gordon started the preseason on a high note with 12 rushing yards on three carries and a 44-yard touchdown reception to help alleviate some concerns about his knee. 

Even though rookie running backs tend to make the most impact for fantasy players, the NFL is not an exact science and players move at different rates.

Now that Gordon knows what to expect from the league, he can start to fulfill that promise everyone had for him last year. 

Fantasy results per ESPN.com.