Fantasy Football Rankings: Updates

Derek Lofland, from Fantasy Football Maniaxs

Recently, there have been a number of developments in the NFL that warrant an update to the fantasy rankings. Without further delay, here is how some recent roster changes, injuries, and suspensions are affecting fantasy teams in the NFL.

Carolina Panthers

The Panthers suspended Steve Smith for the first two games of the regular season. We had him ranked as the 10th-best receiver. He was probably an early third-round pick. With this move, I would say he drops to the end of the third round or beginning of the fourth round.

He was a question mark to begin with, given that Jake Delhomme was coming off Tommy John’s surgery. There are no other dependable quarterbacks to get him the ball if Delhomme goes down. Still, you can’t have a No. 1 receiver that isn’t playing the first two weeks.

That could be the difference between going 2-0 or 0-2. In a 14-game season, that is a big risk. He is still a high pick, but make sure he is no better than your second WR.

As for the rest of the team, D.J. Hackett gets more value in Weeks One & Two. Same with Dwayne Jarrett, who was nonexistent as a rookie. I would say they have about as much value as they did before. You aren’t going to elevate those guys to fifth or sixth round picks to be productive for two games. Keep your other Panthers about where you had them.

Denver Broncos

Same problem as Carolina. Brandon Marshall has been suspended three games by the Commissioner with the possibility of a game being taken off that. He was a borderline No. 2 and excellent No. 3 receiver.

He probably is a solid No. 3 receiver or excellent number four receiver now. Draft Darrell Jackson or Eddie Royal to cope with the situation. Forgotten D-Jax could prove to be a sleeper this year.

Jay Cutler also takes a hit for this. He wasn’t going to be a top-10 quarterback anyway.  I would say this makes him a ninth to 10th-round pick instead of a seventh to eighth round pick.

He still has a lot of promise and will survive this, but it will hurt his totals to start the season. All other Denver players are not significantly affected.

Green Bay Packers

With Favre out and Aaron Rodgers officially in the lineup, our rankings don’t change too much. We made the rankings to our skill position players based on Rodgers being the quarterback. Only thing to remember is that Rodgers job was tough enough with No. 4 riding off into the sunset.

His job has gotten that much tougher with Favre being forced out of Green Bay and in a Jets uniform. Not only does he have a legend to replace, but also the legend is playing elsewhere.

I would leave the rankings as is for now, but watch Rodgers' performance in preseason. He went 7-for-20 for 84 yards and one pick in a non-contact family scrimmage. If he continues to handle the pressure that way, you may want to adjust your rankings accordingly for all the players on offense.

Indianapolis Colts

The Favre drama has really kept this story under the radar. Peyton Manning had a knee surgery that is not expected to keep him out of the opener. The problem is that knee injuries can be a little unpredictable. The fear is that the knee could become infected and he wouldn’t be able to get out to the practice field.

The Colts are hopeful he will be able to return to the practice field at the end of August to allow him to get his timing down.

The Colts have a tough start. They play the Bears, Vikings, and Jaguars in the first three weeks of the season. You can’t really drop these Colts down, because they are going to get scooped before they comeback to you.

I have Reggie Wayne in a keeper league and unless something drastic is announced by Aug. 30 (my draft day), I will be keeping him. Every player is an injury risk and it’s not worth the risk of passing on annually productive players and allows your competition to get them at a discount.

My only advice is that I usually only carry one quarterback when I draft Manning, because he is so durable. Matt Leinart would make a great ninth to 10th-round insurance pick. The Cardinals play San Francisco and Miami the first two weeks.

They also play the Jets in Week Four, which did rank ninth in pass yards allowed, but doesn’t have a shutdown corner to keep up with the Cardinals receivers.

Jacksonville Jaguars 

Reggie Williams and Jerry Porter are both expected to miss most of training camp with injuries. David Garrard wasn’t going to be a top-tier fantasy quarterback to begin with.  While his ridiculously low interceptions are nice, he doesn’t pass for enough yards or touchdowns to warrant regular fantasy play.

However, a lot of people thought his numbers could improve with the addition of Porter and Williamson to team up with Williams. I would say that if these guys are around after the eighth or ninth round, they may become value picks.

Otherwise, if someone wants to take them early, it really isn’t going to cripple your team not to have them. The Jags will rely on Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor, so their value should remain as high as ever.

Miami Dolphins

Miami became the new home for Chad Pennington once the New York Jets signed Brett Favre. Pennington hasn’t had more than 20 touchdowns since 2002, hasn’t had more than 3,352 yards in his career, and other than 2006, has been injury prone. He is better than what the Dolphins had, but is a late round to waiver-wire pickup at best.

From a football standpoint, this is huge. It gives the Dolphins a veteran quarterback that can bring stability to a young team. From a fantasy standpoint it, isn’t very exciting.

This may help Ronnie Brown and Ernest Wilford’s value. It doesn’t do a lot for Ted Gin, as he is a speed threat that Pennington doesn’t have the range to find. All in all, this is probably the least significant of all the signings.

New England Patriots

LaMont Jordan is a very interesting signing. Randy Moss showed that the Patriots are a great home for disgruntled Raiders. Laurence Maroney is still going to be the starter, but he has shown a tendency to get hurt. He also seems to fall out of favor with The Hood on a week-by-week basis.

Jordan doesn’t have a ton of value unless Maroney is injured or benched. He is a great handcuff for Maroney to protect your fantasy team in the event of an injury. Savvy fantasy owners will take a chance on him in the later rounds, so if you want the handcuff, you probably need to do that in the ninth to 11th round.

New York Jets

Now, the question is where does Brett Favre rank and how much better does he make the skill position players?

Favre is going to find it difficult to duplicate the success he had last season. Those skill position players were custom made for his talents. He is going to have to learn new teammates and a new system. He is a year older and late getting into camp.

I would expect him to be a top-10 fantasy quarterback. We currently have him ranked No. 8. I am expecting 3,600 to 3,900 yards, 22-25 touchdown passes, and 14-16 interceptions. He plays the Dolphins twice, Bengals, Chiefs, 49ers, and Rams this season, so there will be plenty of chances for him to put up numbers.

Favre has a history spreading the ball around, so don’t expect him to lock onto one guy. Laveranues Coles and Jerricho Cotchery’s value goes up as a result of this move. We had those two ranked 27th and 29th.

I can’t see ranking them over Torry Holt, whom we had ranked 14th. I would say they are somewhere in the 15-20 range as a result of this move. Both should get close to 1,000 yards and six-eighth touchdowns. Coles should get more of the deeper routes and Cotchery will benefit in the short-passing game.

As for Thomas Jones, we had him ranked 27th as well, entering the season. He ranked in the top 10 in rushing yards last season, but had no touchdown value. He also has Leon Washington fighting him for touches.

Still, it seems impossible to believe his touchdown totals won’t go up as a result of having defenses worrying about Favre in the red zone. I see 1,200 yards and six to eight touchdowns. He moves up to the 20th range, which makes him a fourth to fifth-round pick.

Check out all UPDATED Rankings.