Fantasy Football 2015: Team Names, Rankings and Draft Advice

This is when things start to get really fun.

The utterly meaningless opening preseason games in which teams barely play their starters are behind us. The second and third preseason games are when we get to really see how new additions are adjusting to their teams, how players are recovering from injuries and how promising rookies are developing. 

These are the games that often hint at a player ready to have a breakout season or another player in line for a slump. Pay attention to these upcoming preseason games very closely.

And as you do, be sure to check out my rankings, draft advice and team name suggestions below. The difference between a good draft and a great one is not only knowing when exactly a player is worth taking, but also knowing which players you should be targeting. 

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

Take your pick between Aaron Rodgers or Andrew Luck, but just know they are far and away the top two targets for fantasy owners this year. Rodgers is arguably the best player in all of football, while Luck is on an Indianapolis offense that loves to throw it early and often. Even with Frank Gore in the fold, Luck will be throwing the ball with great frequency.

Russell Wilson's scrambling ability always makes him valuable for fantasy owners, and the addition of Jimmy Graham gives him another weapon in the red zone. Peyton Manning is on more of a running offense now, but don't think the Broncos will suddenly neglect the passing game, either.

Big Ben has Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant to throw to, so he'll post big numbers again. Cam Newton will have a bounceback year. Matt Ryan is a very solid option and has one of the top receivers in the game, Julio Jones. Drew Brees and Tony Romo are always reliable. Matt Stafford isn't, but he has huge upside on Detroit's explosive offense. 

And there are plenty of good finds outside of the top 10, with players like Ryan Tannehill, Philip Rivers, Carson Palmer, Eli Manning and even Sam Bradford—Chip Kelly's offense has done wonders for lesser players—available later in drafts.

Quarterback is a very deep position. You can afford to wait until later in the draft to nab your signal-caller.

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	Alfred Blue*	Houston Texans
32	Isaiah Crowell	Cleveland Browns
33	Ryan Mathews	Philadelphia Eagles
34	Doug Martin	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
35	Ameer Abudullah	Detroit Lions

You probably can't afford to wait until later in the draft to select a running back, however. Even the top options have question marks. 

Will this be the season Marshawn Lynch's bruising style catches up to him? Will Adrian Peterson be rusty after missing a year of football? Will LeSean McCoy be less effective outside of Kelly's offense? 

In general, however, if you have one of the top picks, you have to nab a running back. There are too many question marks later in the draft at the position. C.J. Anderson has huge upside but we have a partial season to go on when evaluating him. Lamar Miller has posted one good year. Jeremy Hill and Mark Ingram will be in timeshares. Carlos Hyde has never been the feature back in the pros. Melvin Gordon is a rookie.

Running back is a position of question marks. Nail your picks at the position and you should consistently perform well. Fail to land a top option and miss on your running back picks?

You'll be facing a very long season. 

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	Eric Decker	New York Jets
39	Michael Floyd	Arizona Cardinals
40	Allen Robinson	Jacksonville Jaguars

Like quarterback, wide receiver is very deep and is a position you can afford to wait on. Yes, consistent performers like Antonio Brown, Demaryius Thomas and Dez Bryant are nice to have, but wait a round and you can still draft players like Jordy Nelson or A.J. Green.

You really shouldn't even be considering drafting a wideout before the second round unless you have one of the last first-round selections and the top backs are off the board. 

And when players like Emmanuel Sanders, Kelvin Benjamin or Jeremy Maclin might be awaiting you in the third round, it's easy to see why waiting on wide receivers is a pretty viable strategy. 

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

There are three tiers at tight end this year:

1. Rob Gronkowski
2. Jimmy Graham and Greg Olsen
3. Everyone Else

Gronkowski is in a league of his own because he's a touchdown machine and will be the focal point of New England's passing game once again this year. Graham gets knocked down a tier this year because Seattle runs the ball quite a bit, so his usage will go down somewhat, though he'll still be a stud. Greg Olsen remains in that tier because he's so consistent, though his upside is much lower than the other top options.

Travis Kelce probably has the most upside in the third tier, and with Jeremy Maclin on the outside, he might find even more mismatches to exploit in Kansas City's passing game. I like Zach Ertz quite a bit in Philly's offense, though monitor his injury status, as he is currently out for the entire preseason.

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

Don't draft a defense too early. It might be tempting to go after the Seattle Seahawks, Buffalo Bills or New York Jets right away, but just wait. Streamlining defenses on a weekly basis based on matchups is a viable strategy and one that renders drafting a defense in the middle rounds a very poor idea.  

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

Don't draft a bad one. That may sound simplistic, but the difference between the top kicker and the 10th kicker is pretty minimal on a weekly basis. So long as you nab a player who has consistently produced in the past—which the top 10 here have—you'll be fine.

Team Names

Tony Avelar/Associated Press

There are a slew of team names out there for you to find on the Internet. Here are a few fresh ideas—at least I think they are fresh; it's totally possible somebody somewhere already thought of some of these without my knowledge—for you to use this season.

• Amari 2600 (Where my old nerds at?)
• Gurley Talk
• Gotta Go To Odell's
• All About the Kelvin Benjamins
• Too Many Brandin Cooks (Watch this)
• MegaErtz
• Not One Mariota (That's how much Chip Kelly will pretend he cared about not being able to draft him.)

As always, share your favorite team names in the comments.