Fantasy Football's Top-50 Rankings for PPR Leagues, Part One

Point per reception is a different animal. On its surface, it looks deceptively simple. Guys get a point for each catch. The value of guys who catch the most balls goes up. This is true whether it’s a wide receiver like Derrick Mason (104 receptions last year) or a running back like Reggie Bush (73 receptions).

It also goes the other way. Guys like Greg Jennings (53 receptions) and Marshawn Lynch (18 receptions) see their value drop. A guy like Michael Turner, perhaps a borderline top-30 pick in a standard league, doesn’t make this list and may even end up being outscored by Jerious Norwood.

Conventional wisdom gets thrown to the side, but by how far?

You’re probably starting four wide receivers instead of two.

It’s no longer an advantage to have a running back in the flex.

If you play a flex, you want three good running backs instead of four. You can stick your third running back in on bye weeks and in the flex when you don’t have a better option with your receivers.

If you’re playing in a league where you’re likely to start four receivers (2 RB, 1 RB/WR, 3 WR) you need to stockpile quality wideouts, but that doesn’t mean you should pass up a RB who’s head and shoulders the best player left on the board because you can’t play him. (You can always trade good RBs.)

Alright.

Here’s my list of the top 50 for those in a PPR. This isn’t where I think a player will go, but where I think they stack up relative to others. Certain players (Earnest Graham, for one) are ranked higher than where I think they’ll go, (and where you should draft them), and others (Maroney) are ranked lower. 

The first 21 you’re about to read, and the rest shall come tomorrow.

1) LaDainian Tomlinson

Duh.

However, he’s 29-years old and he’s got more mileage on him than Indiana Jones. His final stats were great last year, but week to week, he was a little inconsistent. He’s one of the greatest backs ever and probably has two or three seasons left as a top pick, but from here on out, he could break down.

I’ve never owned him, and suffice to say, I don’t want the first pick this year. (And if you took Westbrook here, I salute you.)

At some point, aren’t kids just going to refuse to play running back? Would you let your kid play running back? Isn’t wide receiver the way to go? Shouldn’t Jim Brown be telling L.T. that he needs to hang it up before he’s crippled?

Do we really need Rick Reilly traveling to El Paso 20 years from now and doing a piece on how L.T. spends most of his time telling football stories in the barber shop and riding around town in his rascal?

2) Brian Westbrook

Outscored L.T. in PPR last year, and if he were two years younger, I’d take him first (and I still might). Sitting down on the one last year in the Dallas game might’ve been the smartest play I’ve ever seen. McNabb should be fully recovered, which means the offense should be better, and, in turn, he may even be better.

3) Steven Jackson

Scott Linehan has to be on the hot seat. Jackson caught 90 passes two years ago. So he should get more touches than anyone in football. You know what else? Jackson knows this because he’s holding out.

He’s worried that Linehan is going to run him into the ground this year. He should be this year’s top-scoring running back. Though, his line, coach, and holdout are all red flags.

4) Tom Brady

I’m having a really hard time putting him here, but I keep coming back to this spot. If this were a standard league, and RBs were more valuable, I’d drop him behind Peterson and Addai.

I just don’t think Addai is going to get many more touches than last year. Peterson will, but he doesn’t catch a lot of passes, and he’s inconsistent as all hell.

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