Fantasy Football 2014: Breaking Down Latest Rankings and Deep Sleepers

Those of you who haven't had your fantasy drafts yet are smart. You waited for the first three preseason weeks to play out. You've seen the trends, you know who has been lost to injury and you've added a week or two of research time as you build your fantasy team. 

Slow and steady wins the race, as they say.

But hey, every little tidbit of information or morsel of opinion can help when planning a draft strategy, so I'm here to lend my hand as you prepare to pick your team. I'll offer up my top 150 rankings and some deep sleepers for you to target too.

It's everything a smart owner needs to own his or her draft.

Fantasy Rankings

Rank	Player	Team	Position
1	LeSean McCoy	Philadelphia Eagles	RB
2	Adrian Peterson	Minnesota Vikings	RB
3	Jamaal Charles	Kansas City Chiefs	RB
4	Matt Forte	Chicago Bears	RB
5	Eddie Lacy	Green Bay Packers	RB
6	Jimmy Graham	New Orleans Saints	TE
7	Calvin Johnson	Detroit Lions	WR
8	Peyton Manning	Denver Broncos	QB
9	Marshawn Lynch	Seattle Seahawks	RB
10	Drew Brees	New Orleans Saints	QB
11	Aaron Rodgers	Green Bay Packers	QB
12	Demaryius Thomas	Denver Broncos	WR
13	Doug Martin	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	WR
14	A.J. Green	Cincinnati Bengals	WR
15	Arian Foster	Houston Texans	RB
16	Zac Stacy	St. Louis Rams	RB
17	Dez Bryant	Dallas Cowboys	WR
18	Brandon Marshall	Chicago Bears	WR
19	DeMarco Murray	Dallas Cowboys	RB
20	Alfred Morris	Washington	RB
21	Julio Jones	Atlanta Falcons	WR
22	Matt Stafford	Detroit Lions	QB
23	Cam Newton	Carolina Panthers	QB
24	Le'Veon Bell	Pittsburgh Steelers	RB
25	Jordy Nelson	Green Bay Packers	WR
26	Montee Ball	Denver Broncos	RB
27	Randall Cobb	Green Bay Packers	WR
28	Antonio Brown	Pittsburgh Steelers	WR
29	Julius Thomas	Denver Broncos	TE
30	Alshon Jeffery	Chicago Bears	WR
31	Andre Ellington	Arizona Cardinals	RB
32	Rob Gronkowski	New England Patriots	TE
33	Andre Johnson	Houston Texans	WR
34	Vincent Jackson	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	WR
35	Giovani Bernard	Cincinnati Bengals	RB
36	Victor Cruz	New York Giants	WR
37	Reggie Bush	Detroit Lions	RB
38	Andrew Luck	Indianapolis Colts	QB
39	Toby Gerhart	Jacksonville Jaguars	RB
40	Keenan Allen	San Diego Chargers	WR
41	Ryan Mathews	San Diego Chargers	RB
42	Vernon Davis	San Francisco 49ers	TE
43	Wes Welker	Denver Broncos	WR
44	C.J. Spiller	Buffalo Bills	RB
45	Frank Gore	San Francisco 49ers	RB
46	Larry Fitzgerald	Arizona Cardinals	WR
47	Ray Rice	Baltimore Ravens	RB
48	Rashad Jennings	New York Giants	RB
49	DeSean Jackson	Washington	WR
50	Pierre Garcon	Washington	WR
51	Ben Tate	Houston Texans	RB
52	Torrey Smith	Baltimore Ravens	WR
53	Trent Richardson	Indianapolis Colts	RB
54	Jeremy Maclin	Philadelphia Eagles	WR
55	Michael Floyd	Arizona Cardinals	WR
56	Robert Griffin III	Washington	QB
57	Nick Foles	Philadelphia Eagles	QB
58	Bishop Sankey	Tennessee Titans	RB
59	Roddy White	Atlanta Falcons	WR
60	Michael Crabtree	San Francisco 49ers	WR
61	T.Y. Hilton	Indianapolis Colts	WR
62	Jason Witten	Dallas Cowboys	TE
63	Kendall Wright	Tennessee Titans	WR
64	Frank Gore	San Francisco 49ers	RB
65	Percy Harvin	Seattle Seahawks	WR
66	Emmanuel Sanders	Denver Broncos	WR
67	Joique Bell	Detroit Lions	RB
68	Chris Johnson	New York Jets	RB
69	Cordarrelle Patterson	Minnesota Vikings	WR
70	Shane Vereen	New England Patriots	RB
71	Marques Colston	New Orleans Saints	WR
72	Eric Decker	New York Jets	WR
73	Terrance Williams	Dallas Cowboys	WR
74	Jordan Cameron	Cleveland Browns	TE
75	Matt Ryan	Atlanta Falcons	QB
76	Golden Tate	Detroit Lions	WR
77	Julian Edelman	New England Patriots	WR
78	Reggie Wayne	Indianapolis Colts	WR
79	Stevan Ridley	New England Patriots	RB
80	Sammy Watkins	Buffalo Bills	WR
81	Colin Kaepernick	San Francisco 49ers	QB
82	Chris Johnson	New York Jets	RB
83	Mike Wallace	Miami Dolphins	WR
84	Cecil Shorts	Jacksonville Jaguars	WR
85	Lamar Miller	Miami Dolphins	RB
86	Fred Jackson	Buffalo Bills	RB
87	Steven Jackson	Atlanta Falcons	RB
88	Anquan Boldin	San Francisco 49ers	WR
89	Pierre Thomas	New Orleans Saints	RB
90	DeAndre Hopkins	Houston Texans	WR
91	Darren McFadden	Oakland Raiders	RB
92	Maurice Jones-Drew	Oakland Raiders	RB
93	Darren Sproles	Philadelphia Eagles	RB
94	DeAngelo Williams	Carolina Panthers	RB
95	Knowshon Moreno	Miami Dolphins	RB
96	Riley Cooper	Philadelphia Eagles	WR
97	Russell Wilson	Seattle Seahawks	QB
98	Khiry Robinson	New Orleans Saints	RB
99	Chris Ivory	New York Jets	RB
100	Danny Woodhead	San Diego Chargers	RB
101	Mark Ingram	New Orleans Saints
102	Danny Amendola	New England Patriots	RB
103	Seattle D/ST	-	-
104	Greg Olsen	Carolina Panthers	TE
105	Jordan Reed	Washington	TE
106	Dennis Pitta	Baltimore Ravens	TE
107	Tom Brady	New England Patriots	QB
108	Tony Romo	Dallas Cowboys	QB
109	Philip Rivers	San Diego Chargers	QB
110	Jay Cutler	Chicago Bears	QB
111	LeGarrette Blount	Pittsburgh Steelers	RB
112	Hakeem Nicks	Indianapolis Colts	WR
113	Jeremy Hill	Cincinnati Bengals	RB
114	Rueben Randle	New York Giants	WR
115	Dwayne Bowe	Kansas City Chiefs	WR
116	Steve Smith	Baltimore Ravens	WR
117	Bernard Pierce	Baltimore Ravens	RB
118	Carlos Hyde	San Francisco 49ers	RB
119	Greg Jennings	Minnesota Vikings	WR
120	Shonn Greene	Tennessee Titans	RB
121	Mike Evans	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	WR
122	Tavon Austin	St. Louis Rams	WR
123	Terrance West	Cleveland Browns	RB
124	Justin Hunter	Tennessee Titans	WR
125	Devonta Freeman	Atlanta Falcons	RB
126	Kelvin Benjamin	Carolina Panthers	WR
127	Brandin Cooks	New Orleans Saints	WR
128	Carolina Panthers D/ST	-	-
129	San Francisco 49ers D/ST	-	-
130	Denver Broncos D/ST	--	-
131	Arizona Cardinals D/ST	-	-
132	Cincinnati Bengals D/ST	-	-
133	James Starks	Green Bay Packers	RB
134	Andy Dalton	Cincinnati Bengals	QB
135	Ben Roethlisberger	Pittsburgh Steelers	QB
136	St. Louis Rams D/ST	-	-
137	Knile Davis	Kansas City Chiefs	RB
138	Andre Williams	New York Giants	RB
139	Jarrett Boykin	Green Bay Packers	WR
140	Eli Manning	New York Giants	QB
141	Markus Wheaton	Pittsburgh Steelers	WR
142	Kyle Rudolph	Minnesota Vikings	TE
143	Kansas City Chiefs D/ST	-	-
144	New England Patriots D/ST	-	-
145	James Jones	Oakland Raiders	WR
146	Jordan Todman	Jacksonville Jaguars	RB
147	Martellus Bennett	Chicago Bears	TE
148	Charles Clay	Miami Dolphins	TE
149	Jonathan Grimes	Houston Texans	RB
150	Zach Ertz	Philadelphia Eagles	TE

Deep Sleepers

Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Yes, you guessed it—with the trade of Tim Wright to the New England Patriots, I think he becomes a fascinating deep sleeper at the tight end position. You can read my more in-depth thoughts on him here, but the general though process is as follows:

• He's a fast, athletic player for his size and isn't much of an in-line blocker, so he could settle nicely into the "move" tight end role that Aaron Hernandez used to fill. That could lead to very nice numbers for Wright.
• The Patriots don't exactly have elite playmakers at wide receiver, so Wright has the chance to carve out a role for himself in this offense.
• If nothing else, he's depth at the position behind a player in Rob Gronkowski who has a hard time avoiding injury. In other words, the worst-case scenario for Wright is that he's a very tantalizing handcuff.
• He finished last year with 54 receptions for 571 yards and five touchdowns, but three of them came in the last four weeks. He was a rookie last year, remember, so he showed solid growth. 
• Again, you're drafting him as a late-round TE2, namely in deeper leagues. It's not like this guy is someone you are targeting as a starter. 

But hey, you don't have to take my word for it. Albert Breer of NFL.com should convince you:

So there you have it. 

There are a few other tight ends I like as deep sleepers, such as Ladarius Green (a freakish athlete who will overtake Antonio Gates soon enough in San Diego), Zach Ertz (though everyone seems keen on him this year, so he isn't coming terribly cheap) and Travis Kelce (though Kansas City's stubborn loyalty to Anthony Fasano could end up being frustrating).

All are players with big-time talent who are essentially waiting for their teams to lean on them heavily. In two-tight end leagues, all should be owned and are high upside TE2s worth rostering in most formats. 

At quarterback, I'm not so sure you should be worrying about deep sleepers since there are about 15 players I would feel comfortable starting this season (I'm always a little nervous about players like Philip Rivers, Tony Romo, Colin Kaepernick and Jay Cutler, but each has QB1 potential).

If you think Johnny Manziel will eventually start this year—and honestly, he should—there's your deep sleeper right there. He could give you Robert Griffin III-lite numbers this year.

David Richard/Associated Press

But beyond that, there isn't much reason to get cute at quarterback.

At running back, well, a whole lot of folks feel like they could end up contributing this season. The first group of players you should be looking at is the crop of rookie runners who likely will start the season as handcuffs:

• Carlos Hyde is a Frank Gore injury away from being an RB2 candidate. Seeing as Gore is 31 and has carried a heavy load for the San Francisco 49ers over the last three years (at least 250 carries in each campaign), Hyde is the handcuff you absolutely want.
• Devonta Freeman is behind Steven Jackson in Atlanta's backfield and is a far more talented runner than Jacquizz Rodgers. Jackson too is 31 and has already battled injuries in camp after battling injuries last season. Freeman is going to be the starter at some point this year.
• Here's how many games Ben Tate has played in the last four years: 40. Here's how many games he's missed: 24. There's a very good chance Terrance West will be called upon in relief of Tate, who simply has durability issues.
• Rashad Jennings is the starter in New York, but the fact that he's earned his first starting gig at the age of 29 should tell you something. With Andre Williams lurking, nabbing the rookie runner to handcuff Williams makes a ton of sense.

If you want really, really deep sleepers at the position, I have two guys for you, both currently third-string players. The first is Bryce Brown of the Buffalo Bills, currently behind C.J. Spiller (injury-prone) and Fred Jackson (33 years old). I've watched a lot of Brown during his stint with the Philadelphia Eagles, and outside of his fumbling tendencies, I've always been impressed.

He's a downhill, one-cut runner with good balance, solid vision and sneaky speed. He's a guy who could absolutely blow up if one of the two guys in front of him (or both) goes down to injury.

Don Wright/Associated Press

The other is Latavius Murray for the Oakland Raiders. Murray is big and fast, and the two players in front of him, Darren McFadden and Maurice Jones-Drew, represent a gigantic injury risk and a player in the twilight of his career, respectively. If Murray gets the chance to play, he could be this year's Rashad Jennings but with even more home run hitting potential. 

And then there is wide receiver, where every year a few deep sleepers take us all by surprise. John Brown is a name to remember. He's behind Larry Fitzgerald and Michael Floyd in the pecking order for now, but the dynamic rookie could carve out a nice role for himself in the slot.

Just consider the following, from Peter King's weekly MMQB.com column:

"

John Brown this, John Brown that. John Brown out wide, John Brown in the slot, John Brown at the top of bunch formations. Forget Sammy Watkins, we got John Brown! The 91^st pick of the 2014 draft, from that big NFL feeder Pittsburg (Kans.) State, is the hit of Cardinals training camp, forcing his way into first-team dialogue ('I’d say we could use him about 60 percent of the offensive snaps,' coach Bruce Arians said), just a few months after he took the gridiron against Emporia State and Nebraska-Kearney.

"

Excited yet?

Forget about Brandin Cooks for a moment—everybody seems to be in love with him, despite the fact that New Orleans Saints receivers not named Marques Colston traditionally don't produce for fantasy owners in the Sean Payton era—and turn your attention to Kelvin Benjamin instead.

The Carolina Panthers receiver is a big body, a major red-zone threat and, let's be honest, probably the best option in the passing game Cam Newton has outside of Greg Olsen. I think Benjamin could shock everyone and snag 10 touchdowns this season (I'm not saying he will, just that it is his upside). I don't think Cooks will get anywhere close to that number.

Grant Halverson/Getty Images

Benjamin's catches and yards won't be as high as Cooks, of course, but I'd rather have him as a top option in the passing attack as opposed to Cook, who is one of many mouths Drew Brees has to feed. 

Oh, and don't forget about Rueben Randle. The third-year man didn't show huge growth a season ago (41 catches for 611 yards and six touchdowns), but the entire New York Giants offense was a mess. If Eli Manning can limit the turnovers, Randle's going to be the No. 2 receiver in an offense that once was known for airing it out. 

With Victor Cruz likely to play in the slot whenever possible and Hakeem Nicks now in Indianapolis, Randle enters the season as New York's top receiver out wide. That should translate to much bigger numbers this year.