Fantasy Football Rankings 2015: Safest Options at Each Position

Safe can be so boring.

How many memories do you have that start with the sentence, "Oh man, remember the time we played it safe?" No, probably not. Fortune favors the bold and all that jazz, you know?

Safe often is smart, however. How often have you looked back at a fantasy draft and asked yourself, "Why did I get so cute and draft the risky player when I knew darn well I could have taken the safer option and guaranteed myself a steady return of points each week?"

The point is, there's a time for risky, and there is a time for playing it safe. Often in fantasy drafts, early in your draft is all about the safer picks. So while we break down my preseason fantasy rankings, let's also take a look at the safest player at each position. 

Quarterbacks

Rank	Player	Team
1	Andrew Luck	Indianapolis Colts
2	Aaron Rodgers	Green Bay Packers
3	Russell Wilson	Seattle Seahawks
4	Peyton Manning	Denver Broncos
5	Ben Roethlisberger	Pittsburgh Steelers
6	Cam Newton	Carolina Panthers
7	Matt Ryan	Atlanta Falcons
8	Drew Brees	New Orleans Saints
9	Matthew Stafford	Detroit Lions
10	Tony Romo	Dallas Cowboys
11	Ryan Tannehill	Miami Dolphins
12	Eli Manning	New York Giants
13	Philip Rivers	San Diego Chargers
14	Tom Brady	New England Patriots
15	Carson Palmer	Arizona Cardinals
16	Sam Bradford	Philadelphia Eagles
17	Colin Kaepernick	San Francisco 49ers
18	Jay Cutler	Chicago Bears
19	Joe Flacco	Baltimore Ravens
20	Alex Smith	Kansas City Chiefs

Aaron Rodgers has thrown for at least 28 touchdowns and 3,900 yards in six of the past seven years. He hasn't thrown double-digit interceptions in a season since 2010. He's missed all of nine games since 2008, and seven of those games came in 2013, his one down season for fantasy owners in recent memory. 

Oh, there's more.

He has a system he is familiar with and one of the best receiving pairs in the game in Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb. He has a running back in Eddie Lacy who takes some of the pressure off of the passing game and is a viable receiver out of the backfield too. 

It is really, really hard to find a reason to dislike Rodgers from a fantasy perspective. 

I have Andrew Luck ranked higher because I think he's a safe option, and he has slightly more upside than Rodgers given how often the Indianapolis Colts throw the ball. But if you were telling me I had one pick and I had to select the player I felt most confident would produce on a weekly basis, I'm taking Rodgers over anybody in football.

Period.

Running Backs

Rank	Player	Team
1	Marshawn Lynch	Seattle Seahawks
2	Adrian Peterson	Minnesota Vikings
3	Eddie Lacy	Green Bay Packers
4	Jamaal Charles	Kansas City Chiefs
5	DeMarco Murray	Philadelphia Eagles
6	Le'Veon Bell	Pittsburgh Steelers
7	Matt Forte	Chicago Bears
8	LeSean McCoy	Buffalo Bills
9	C.J. Anderson	Denver Broncos
10	Jeremy Hill	Cincinnati Bengals
11	Alfred Morris	Washington
12	Carlos Hyde	San Francisco 49ers
13	Lamar Miller	Miami Dolphins
14	Mark Ingram	New Orleans Saints
15	Melvin Gordon	San Diego Chargers
16	Joique Bell	Detroit Lions
17	Frank Gore	Indianapolis Colts
18	Andre Ellington	Arizona Cardinals
19	Justin Forsett	Baltimore Ravens
20	Jonathan Stewart	Carolina Panthers
21	Giovani Bernard	Cincinnati Bengals
22	Todd Gurley	St. Louis Rams
23	T.J. Yeldon	Jacksonville Jaguars
24	C.J. Spiller	New Orleans Saints
25	Tevin Coleman	Atlanta Falcons
26	Latavius Murray	Oakland Raiders
27	Rashad Jennings	New York Giants
28	Joseph Randle	Dallas Cowboys
29	Chris Ivory	New York Jets
30	LeGarrette Blount	New England Patriots
31	Isaiah Crowell	Cleveland Browns
32	Ryan Mathews	Philadelphia Eagles
33	Bishop Sankey	Tennessee Titans
34	Doug Martin	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
35	Alfred Blue*	Houston Texans

I can find something to dislike about most of the top running backs.

Marshawn Lynch, Jamaal Charles and DeMarco Murray get big workloads and could be due to break down at any moment. Adrian Peterson is bound to be a little rusty after a year away from football. LeSean McCoy left the Philadelphia Eagles' explosive offense for the Buffalo Bills' more mediocre unit. Matt Forte is hugely reliant on being utilized in the passing game to crack the elite group of backs.

But it's hard to find a reason to dislike Eddie Lacy. 

He's a three-down back who doesn't get taken off the field near the goal line. He's on an explosive offense. He's a factor in the passing game. He's rushed for at least 1,100 yards in each of his first two seasons, and he's already found the end zone 24 times. After a slow start last season, he scored double-digit fantasy points in 12 of the last 13 weeks in standard-scoring leagues, per ESPN, so he's consistent. 

Finally, he's young, so injuries or workload aren't a major concern. Anyway you slice it, the 25-year-old is as safe as it gets at running back. 

Wide Receivers

Rank	Player	Team
1	Antonio Brown	Pittsburgh Steelers
2	Demaryius Thomas	Denver Broncos
3	Dez Bryant	Dallas Cowboys
4	Jordy Nelson	Green Bay Packers
5	Odell Beckham Jr.	New York Giants
6	Julio Jones	Atlanta Falcons
7	A.J. Green	Cincinnati Bengals
8	Calvin Johnson	Detroit Lions
9	Alshon Jeffery	Chicago Bears
10	Randall Cobb	Green Bay Packers
11	Mike Evans	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
12	T.Y. Hilton	Indianapolis Colts
13	Emmanuel Sanders	Denver Broncos
14	Kelvin Benjamin	Carolina Panthers
15	DeAndre Hopkins	Houston Texans
16	DeSean Jackson	Washington
17	Jeremy Maclin	Kansas City Chiefs
18	Golden Tate	Detroit Lions
19	Jordan Matthews	Philadelphia Eagles
20	Brandin Cooks	New Orleans Saints
21	Sammy Watkins	Buffalo Bills
22	Brandon Marshall	New York Jets
23	Mike Wallace	Minnesota Vikings
24	Keenan Allen	San Diego Chargers
25	Vincent Jackson	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
26	Jarvis Landry	Miami Dolphins
27	Brandon LaFell	New England Patriots
28	Julian Edelman	New England Patriots
29	Amari Cooper	Oakland Raiders
30	Victor Cruz	New York Giants
31	Steve Smith	Baltimore Ravens
32	Torrey Smith	San Francisco 49ers
33	Andre Johnson	Indianapolis Colts
34	Martavis Bryant	Pittsburgh Steelers
35	Nelson Agholor	Philadelphia Eagles
36	Roddy White	Atlanta Falcons
37	Anquan Boldin	San Francisco 49ers
38	Kevin White	Chicago Bears
39	Eric Decker	New York Jets
40	Michael Floyd	Arizona Cardinals

Here's what Dez Bryant has done in the past three seasons:

• 2012: 92 receptions for 1,382 yards and 12 touchdowns on 138 targets.
• 2013: 93 receptions for 1,233 yards and 13 touchdowns on 160 targets.
• 2014: 88 receptions for 1,320 yards and 16 touchdowns on 138 targets.

Oh, and he hasn't missed a game either. Can you say consistency?

There isn't a receiver better at going up and getting the ball in the red zone than Bryant (outside of perhaps a healthy Calvin Johnson), so his touchdown production seems quite sustainable. And with Murray now in Philadelphia, the Cowboys may be throwing the ball even more than they have in years past, meaning Bryant's receptions and receiving yards could be set to rise. 

It's tough to pick a receiver to label as "safest," of course, because both Antonio Brown and Demaryius Thomas are viable alternatives for the designation.

Brown has a whopping 239 receptions, 3,197 receiving yards and 21 touchdowns. Thomas, meanwhile, has posted at least 92 receptions, 1,400 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns in the past three years, and with Julius Thomas gone, he should be play an even bigger role in the red zone.

Basically, the top three receivers in my rankings offer all upside and minimal risk. They play in good offenses with veteran quarterbacks, they have proved to be consistent on a yearly basis and they each excel in one area or another. You can't go wrong here.

Tight Ends

Rank	Player	Team
1	Rob Gronkowski	New England Patriots
2	Jimmy Graham	Seattle Seahawks
3	Greg Olsen	Carolina Panthers
4	Martellus Bennett	Chicago Bears
5	Travis Kelce	Kansas City Chiefs
6	Julius Thomas	Jacksonville Jaguars
7	Zach Ertz	Philadelphia Eagles
8	Jason Witten	Dallas Cowboys
9	Dwayne Allen	Indianapolis Colts
10	Jordan Cameron	Miami Dolphins
11	Delanie Walker	Tennessee Titans
12	Owen Daniels	Denver Broncos
13	Coby Fleener	Indianapolis Colts
14	Kyle Randolph	Minnesota Vikings
15	Tyler Eifert	Cincinnati Bengals

Rob Gronkowski and Jimmy Graham have much bigger upsides than Greg Olsen and should be drafted higher, but they are also riskier. Both have been plagued by injury issues in the past, and each faces a question about his team this season. 

If the court upholds Tom Brady's suspension, how much will that hurt Gronk? Will Graham's production go down now that he's a part of the Seattle Seahawks' ground-and-pound philosophy?

But Olsen just chugs along. For three straight years, he's posted at least 800 receiving yards and five touchdowns, and he exceeded 1,000 receiving yards last year. He also hasn't missed a game since his rookie season. 

Quarterback Cam Newton and Olsen have an obvious connection. For fantasy owners, that's just another reason Olsen's the safest option at tight end. 

Defense/Special Teams

Rank	Team
1	Seattle Seahawks
2	Buffalo Bills
3	New York Jets
4	St. Louis Rams
5	Houston Texans
6	Miami Dolphins
7	Arizona Cardinals
8	Denver Broncos
9	Baltimore Ravens
10	Minnesota Vikings

You should monitor Kam Chancellor's situation closely, as the star safety continues to hold out. But Seattle has an awesome defense each and every year, and it is loaded once again this season. I really like Buffalo and the New York Jets this year, but year in and year out, the Seahawks end up a valuable unit for fantasy owners. 

If you are going to look at defense for the final rounds, Seattle is the only option given how reliable it's become in the past few seasons. 

Kickers

Rank	Player	Team
1	Stephen Gostkowski	New England Patriots
2	Adam Vinatieri	Indianapolis Colts
3	Cody Parkey	Philadelphia Eagles
4	Steven Hauschka	Seattle Seahawks
5	Justin Tucker	Baltimore Ravens
6	Matt Prater	Detroit Lions
7	Connor Barth	Denver Broncos
8	Matt Bryant	Atlanta Falcons
9	Dan Bailey	Dallas Cowboys
10	Shaun Suisham	Pittsburgh Steelers

Like Seattle's defense, you know what you are getting with Adam Vinatieri. On Indy's explosive offense, he'll get plenty of opportunities to score you points, something that might not happen for Stephen Gostkowski if Brady is out for the first four weeks.