Fantasy Football Week 1 Rankings: Reviewing All Positions Before Season Openers

Fantasy projections and rankings heading into the first week of NFL regular-season play should always be taken with a grain of salt, since we have only seen these players in limited preseason action.

Nevertheless, we have enough tools, including preseason performance, 2015 scoring stats and expert projections, to paint a picture of how Week 1 of the NFL season will play out for fantasy owners. 

This is a great opportunity to establish how well your draft went and if you have any major holes to fill on your roster. If you have any of the players featured below at every position, you'll definitely want to start them this week. 

Quarterbacks

Rank	Player	Team
1	Russell Wilson	SEA
2	Aaron Rodgers	GB
3	Eli Manning	NYG
4	Derek Carr	OAK
5	Ben Roethlisberger	PIT
6	Andrew Luck	IND
7	Matthew Stafford	DET
8	Drew Brees	NO
9	Kirk Cousins	WAS
10	Cam Newton	CAR
11	Tyrod Taylor	BUF
12	Carson Palmer	ARI

Aaron Rodgers put together somewhat of a disappointing fantasy season in 2015 compared to expectations, finishing seventh among quarterbacks with 286 points. 

The loss of his favorite target, wide receiver Jordy Nelson, for the entire year definitely affected Rodgers' output, but he also experienced a decrease in accuracy, throwing eight interceptions on 31 touchdowns. While that's not a high number of interceptions for an average quarterback, the touchdown-to-interception ratio for Rodgers is typically much better. 

However, fantasy owners can expect Rodgers to climb back to the top of the scoring leaderboards this season.

Not only is Nelson back in the offense, but Rodgers got a new weapon this offseason when the Packers signed tight end Jared Cook in free agency. Cook will help Rodgers progress down the field on short gains and draw the defense upfield so that Rodgers can connect with Nelson on deep strikes. 

Packers wideout Randall Cobb will also be able to return to his slot receiver role after having to take on the role of a No. 1 wideout with Nelson out last season, and that should improve both Cobb's and Rodgers' stats. 

Look for Rodgers to get off to a hot start against the Jaguars defense in Week 1. 

Running Backs

Rank	Player	Team
1	Todd Gurley	LA
2	Adrian Peterson	MIN
3	Lamar Miller	HOU
4	DeAngelo Williams	PIT
5	Ezekiel Elliott	DAL
6	LeSean McCoy	BUF
7	Devonta Freeman	ATL
8	Mark Ingram	NO
9	David Johnson	ARI
10	Ryan Mathews	PHI
11	Doug Martin	TB
12	Carlos Hyde	SF
13	Spencer Ware	KC
14	Frank Gore	IND
15	Latavius Murray	OAK
16	DeMarco Murray	TEN
17	C.J. Anderson	DEN
18	Jeremy Langford	CHI
19	Matt Forte	NYJ
20	Eddie Lacy	GB
21	Rashad Jennings	NYG
22	Ameer Abdullah	DET
23	Thomas Rawls	SEA
24	Jeremy Hill	CIN
25	Derrick Henry	TEN
26	Jonathan Stewart	CAR
27	Melvin Gordon	SD
28	Isaiah Crowell	CLE
29	Terrance West	BAL
30	Theo Riddick	DET

Todd Gurley finished No. 5 in scoring among running backs in fantasy last season.

Is he primed to become the top fantasy running back this year?

Some may think that Minnesota's Adrian Peterson is only going to improve his production this season with starting Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater lost for the season with a knee injury, but the Vikings will have to show opponents that they have something to fear from the passing game.

Otherwise, opponents will just stack the box against the Vikings and limit what Peterson can do on the field.

Gurley has always seen a lot of attention from defenders in a Rams offense not known for its high-octane passing game, but he still managed to rush for 1,106 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2015.

Furthermore, though he rushed behind a young and inexperienced offensive line in 2015, all five starters return with another training camp under their belts and should jell better this season.

While we don't yet know how the Rams passing offense will look under Case Keenum, or when rookie Jared Goff will start, we know that Gurley will be running the ball down opponents' throats to start the year.  

Wide Receivers

Rank	Player	Team
1	Antonio Brown	PIT
2	Odell Beckham Jr.	NYG
3	Julio Jones	ATL
4	DeAndre Hopkins	HOU
5	Allen Robinson	JAC
6	Dez Bryant	DAL
7	Jordy Nelson	GB
8	Sammy Watkins	BUF
9	Amari Cooper	OAK
10	A.J. Green	CIN
11	Brandon Marshall	NYJ
12	T.Y. Hilton	IND
13	Mike Evans	TB
14	Alshon Jeffery	CHI
15	Jeremy Maclin	KC
16	Donte Moncrief	IND
17	Keenan Allen	SD
18	DeSean Jackson	WAS
19	Doug Baldwin	SEA
20	Michael Crabtree	OAK
21	Randall Cobb	GB
22	Eric Decker	NYJ
23	Brandin Cooks	NO
24	Larry Fitzgerald	ARI
25	Michael Floyd	ARI
26	John Brown	ARI
27	Demaryius Thomas	DEN
28	Marvin Jones	DET
29	Golden Tate	DET
30	Jordan Matthews	PHI

Stephen B. Morton/Associated Press

If you were lucky (or astute) enough to land Houston's DeAndre Hopkins in your draft, you managed to acquire a rising star who could become one of the best wideouts in fantasy football this year.

Hopkins was the sixth-best wide receiver in fantasy in 2015, bringing in 111 receptions for 1,521 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Those numbers make him a great pickup in both standard and PPR leagues.

Hopkins remains the Texans' No. 1 wideout heading into 2016, but rather than catch passes from a rotating stable of quarterbacks as he did last season, Hopkins will be connecting with his new quarterback, Brock Osweiler.

Though the Texans added Will Fuller and Braxton Miller in this year's draft, there's no question that Hopkins will be Osweiler's go-to target this season.  

Tight Ends

Rank	Player	Team
1	Jordan Reed	WAS
2	Rob Gronkowski	NE
3	Delanie Walker	TEN
4	Travis Kelce	KC
5	Zach Ertz	PHI
6	Gary Barnidge	CLE
7	Greg Olsen	CAR
8	Coby Fleener	NO
9	Clive Walford	OAK
10	Julius Thomas	JAC
11	Jason Witten	DAL
12	Antonio Gates	SD

With New England tight end Rob Gronkowski's production up in the air with quarterback Tom Brady suspended for the first four games of the season, many fantasy owners have turned to Washington's Jordan Reed as their No. 1 tight end this season.

In 2015, Reed came in right behind Gronkowski as the second-best tight end in fantasy football, racking up a total of 150 points with 952 yards and tying Gronkowski in touchdowns with 11.

Evan Vucci/Associated Press

The 2013 third-round pick has established himself as one of Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins' favorite targets on the field, seeing 114 targets in 2015.

And Reed certainly benefited from Cousins' consistent and at times excellent quarterback play last season, as the signal-caller completed almost 70 percent of his passing attempts and protected the ball in the latter half of the season as he helped lead the team to the playoffs. 

Certainly, part of Reed's success in 2016 will depend on Cousins' replicating his own success from last season, but fantasy owners are putting their faith in him. 

Defense/Special Teams

Rank	Unit
1	SEA
2	CAR
3	GB
4	LA
5	PHI
6	ARI
7	MIN
8	HOU
9	CIN
10	BUF
11	DEN
12	NYJ

Some fantasy owners like to select what they feel will be an elite defense/special teams unit right off the bat and stick with that unit throughout the season, while others like to surf the waiver wire from week to week and favor the best matchups.

But there's no denying that owners who took the Seattle defense this season are planning to keep that unit around.

Coming in fifth in scoring last season, the Seahawks tallied five defensive touchdowns and enjoyed multiple explosive returns from Tyler Lockett, who had a touchdown on both a punt return and kick return and returned one kick for 105 yards. 

Kickers

Rank	Player	Team
1	Steven Hauschka	SEA
2	Adam Vinatieri	IND
3	Justin Tucker	BAL
4	Matt Bryant	ATL
5	Dan Bailey	DAL
6	Blair Walsh	MIN
7	Mason Crosby	GB
8	Cairo Santos	KC
9	Nick Novak	HOU
10	Roberto Aguayo	TB
11	Matt Prater	DET
12	Chandler Catanzaro	ARI

Minnesota's Blair Walsh is a fantasy stalwart, coming in third among all kickers in 2015 in scoring with 148 points.

He made 87.2 percent of his field-goal attempts last season and was 33-of-37 in extra points. His longest field-goal conversion was for 54 yards. 

Fantasy owners have to wonder how Sam Bradford's replacing Teddy Bridgewater will affect Walsh's stats, if at all. If Bradford can't get the offense into the red zone, which is a reasonable concern when looking back over his career with the Rams, perhaps Walsh gets more opportunities to put points on the board for the Vikings. 

All scoring info and rankings courtesy of ESPN standard leagues and current as of Sept. 6.