Fantasy Football 2018: Early Preseason Rankings Before Hall of Fame Game
With the Hall of Fame Game between the Chicago Bears and Baltimore Ravens kicking off Thursday to begin the NFL preseason, it's important to get a rankings foundation in place for fantasy football.
The more we think about this, the better off we'll be in the long run when it comes to draft day.
Below, we'll look at the top 50 players heading into the season and three players of notable interest.
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Top 50 Rankings
1. Todd Gurley
2. Le'Veon Bell
4. David Johnson
5. Ezekiel Elliott
6. Alvin Kamara
7. Saquon Barkley
8. DeAndre Hopkins
9. Julio Jones
10. Odell Beckham Jr.
11. Melvin Gordon
12. Leonard Fournette
13. Kareem Hunt
14. Michael Thomas
15. Keenan Allen
16. Davante Adams
17. A.J. Green
18. Mike Evans
19. Doug Baldwin
20. Dalvin Cook
21. Rob Gronkowski
22. Christian McCaffrey
23. T.Y. Hilton
24. Devonta Freeman
25. Tyreek Hill
26. Travis Kelce
27. Adam Thielen
28. Jerick McKinnon
29. Larry Fitzgerald
30. Aaron Rodgers
31. Zach Ertz
32. Stefon Diggs
33. Jordan Howard
34. Alex Collins
35. Golden Tate
36. Joe Mixon
37. Josh Gordon
38. Allen Robinson
39. Alshon Jeffery
40. Kenyan Drake
41. Tom Brady
42. Demaryius Thomas
43. Russell Wilson
44. Michael Crabtree
45. LeSean McCoy
46. JuJu Smith-Schuster
47. Amari Cooper
48. Jarvis Landry
49. Jay Ajayi
50. Derrius Guice
Notable Players
Dalvin Cook, RB, Minnesota Vikings
Heading into his second NFL season, Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook was off to a booming 2017 start before a season-ending ACL tear in Week 4.
Cook had averaged 21.25 touches per game and 4.8 yards per carry and had two touchdowns.
At this point, the Vikings had already switched quarterbacks a few times, too.
Ahead of the 2018 season, Cook has had a fine start to training camp, according to Albert Breer of MMQB:
Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune is among those who thinks Cook is practicing as if the knee injury never happened:
The Vikings brought in Kirk Cousins this offseason to man the quarterback position, giving them an instant boost not only in general but specifically the passing game.
This will help Cook tremendously as defenses won't be able to focus on stuffing the box in an attempt to stop him.
Additionally, fellow running back Jerick McKinnon is no longer in town, so there is even less threat to his snap and touch numbers—though McKinnon barely factored in when Cook was healthy.
All things are a go for Cook in 2018. He should be in the high-end RB2 range.
T.Y. Hilton, WR, Indianapolis Colts
After a 2017 season that saw T.Y. Hilton finish as the WR27 in points-per-reception formats, he is bound for a bounce-back season.
The main thing that held Hilton back in 2017 was his quarterback play.
While Jacoby Brissett was OK overall, he's not exactly someone who's going to produce top-end wide receivers.
Even with Brissett, though, he finished with 57 receptions for 966 yards and four touchdowns.
Coming back in 2018 is quarterback Andrew Luck, the same guy who assisted Hilton in an incredible season that saw him finish as the WR5 in PPR leagues in 2016 with 1,448 yards receiving.
The Colts depth chart is also without Donte Moncrief, who has gone to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Hilton will never be a huge touchdown guy—he hasn't had seven since 2014.
However, with Luck back and assuming he's healthy and playing all 16 games, Hilton should be on the low-end WR1/high-end WR2 range.
Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers
After breaking his collarbone early in the season (though he returned in Week 15), Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers had a fantasy season to forget.
Minus the game against the Minnesota Vikings where he broke his collarbone, Rodgers did have nice averages, with 276.2 passing yards a game, 2.7 touchdowns and 1.0 interception.
The Packers have since lost wide receiver Jordy Nelson, but they added plenty of weapons in the draft and brought in tight end Jimmy Graham.
The previous three years, Rodgers has played in all 16 games and averaged over 36 touchdowns per season.
The 35-year-old is going to be just fine without Nelson.
His new weapon in Graham will allow for more touchdown upside, and wide receiver Davante Adams is one of the best in the game.
Get ready for a QB1 return in 2018 from Rodgers.
Statistics courtesy of Pro Football Reference and Fantasy Pros.
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