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Fantasy Football 2020: Flex Rankings, Team Names and More Draft Cheat Sheets
August 26, 2020
The 2020 NFL regular season is two weeks away, which means crunch time for fantasy football is here.
Now is right in the sweet spot for fantasy drafting. Even though injuries can—and will—happen during team practices, rosters are starting to settle for all 32 teams in most cases.
One downside of having no preseason games this year is not being able to determine potential late-round sleepers for fantasy drafts, though that can also be a benefit. Remember the Jakobi Meyers' hype train last August?
As you head into the war room trying to assemble a roster that will defeat your opponents, here are our updated flex rankings, cheat sheets and more to make things easier for your draft.
2020 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet
Quarterback
1. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
2. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
3. Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks
4. Deshaun Watson, Houston Texans
5. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
6. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals
7. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
8. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints
9. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons
10. Carson Wentz, Philadelphia Eagles
Running Back
1. Christian McCaffrey, Carolina Panthers
2. Saquon Barkley, New York Giants
3. Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas Cowboys
4. Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints
5. Derrick Henry, Tennessee Titans
6. Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
7. Dalvin Cook, Minnesota Vikings
8. Nick Chubb, Cleveland Browns
9. Joe Mixon, Cincinnati Bengals
10. Austin Ekeler, Los Angeles Chargers
Wide Receiver
1. Michael Thomas, New Orleans Saints
2. Julio Jones, Atlanta Falcons
3. Chris Godwin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
4. Davante Adams, Green Bay Packers
5. Tyreek Hill, Kansas City Chiefs
6. DeAndre Hopkins, Arizona Cardinals
7. Kenny Golladay, Detroit Lions
8. Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
9. Odell Beckham Jr., Cleveland Browns
10. Allen Robinson, Chicago Bears
Tight End
1. Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs
2. George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers
3. Zach Ertz, Philadelphia Eagles
4. Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens
5. Darren Waller, Las Vegas Raiders
6. Evan Engram, New York Giants
7. Hunter Henry, Los Angeles Chargers
8. Tyler Higbee, Los Angeles Rams
9. Jared Cook, New Orleans Saints
10. Austin Hooper, Cleveland Browns
Defense/Special Teams
1. Pittsburgh Steelers
2. Buffalo Bills
3. Baltimore Ravens
4. San Francisco 49ers
5. New England Patriots
6. Minnesota Vikings
7. Chicago Bears
8. Kansas City Chiefs
9. Los Angeles Rams
10. New Orleans Saints
Top 40 Flex Rankings
1. Christian McCaffrey, RB, Carolina Panthers
2. Saquon Barkley, RB, New York Giants
3. Michael Thomas, WR, New Orleans Saints
4. Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Dallas Cowboys
5. Derrick Henry, RB, Tennessee Titans
6. Alvin Kamara, RB, New Orleans Saints
7. Julio Jones, WR, Atlanta Falcons
8. Joe Mixon, RB, Cincinnati Bengals
9. Chris Godwin, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
10. Davante Adams, WR, Green Bay Packers
11. Tyreek Hill, WR, Kansas City Chiefs
12. Nick Chubb, RB, Cleveland Browns
13. DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Arizona Cardinals
14. Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City Chiefs
15. Josh Jacobs, RB, Las Vegas Raiders
16. George Kittle, TE, San Francisco 49ers
17. Kenny Golladay, WR, Detroit Lions
18. Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
19. Odell Beckham Jr., WR, Cleveland Browns
20. Zach Ertz, TE, Philadelphia Eagles
21. Austin Ekeler, RB, Los Angeles Chargers
22. Mark Andrews, TE, Baltimore Ravens
23. Allen Robinson, WR, Chicago Bears
24. Kenyan Drake, RB, Arizona Cardinals
25. Mike Evans, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
26. Amari Cooper, WR, Dallas Cowboys
27. A.J. Brown, WR, Tennessee Titans
28. Darren Waller, TE, Las Vegas Raiders
29. Aaron Jones, RB, Green Bay Packers
30. Miles Sanders, RB, Philadelphia Eagles
31. Chris Carson, RB, Seattle Seahawks
32. Adam Thielen, WR, Minnesota Vikings
33. DJ Moore, WR, Carolina Panthers
34. JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers
35. Todd Gurley, RB, Atlanta Falcons
36. Calvin Ridley, WR, Atlanta Falcons
37. Robert Woods, WR, Los Angeles Rams
38. Tyler Lockett, WR, Seattle Seahawks
39. Cooper Kupp, WR, Los Angels Rams
40. James Conner, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers
Top Team Names
Green New Deal
Catalina Wine Mixon
Lamar The Merrier
Beg, Burrow, And Steal
Golladay Inn Express
Golden Tate Warriors
Saving Matt Ryan
Dakstreet's Back
Baker Of Chains
Batman And Dobbins
If you are still searching for winning strategies to help you win your league, here are two pieces of information to keep in mind: Get one top-tier running back and don't feel pressured to overdraft a quarterback.
Starting with the quarterbacks, there's always heavy competition to get one of the top players at the position. That will likely be even more so in 2020 because Lamar Jackson is coming off the most unique fantasy season in history.
The 23-year-old led all players in standard scoring leagues with 421.7 points last year, per Fantasy Pros. Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey was a distant second with 355.2 points.
Patrick Mahomes is the toast of the NFL coming off a Super Bowl MVP and signing the biggest contract in league history this offseason.
The Kansas City Chiefs star and Jackson are going to be great players and valuable fantasy assets, but they are also being selected, on average, 20 spots higher than the No. 3 quarterback.
According to Fantasy Pros' average draft position, Mahomes (20) and Jackson (20.5) are mid-second-round picks in 12-team leagues. Deshaun Watson and Dak Prescott are the next quarterbacks coming off the board, tied with an ADP of 44.
Going by fantasy points per game, Jackson (28.11), Watson (22.13), Prescott (21.8), Matthew Stafford (21.45) and Jameis Winston (20.96) were the top five fantasy quarterbacks last season.
Even arguing that Mahomes, who was sixth (20.86), will move into that group with a healthy 2020, the top tier extends beyond the group that occupies the top tier in real football.
If you can add an elite player like George Kittle or Travis Kelce, who play a position that's not particularly deep, in the second or third round and wait for a quarterback such as Watson or Russell Wilson (ADP: 51.0) in the fourth, your roster will look much better in the long run.
On the other hand, make sure you do everything possible to get as many top-tier running backs with diverse skill sets as soon as possible.
Here's what Vinnie Iyer of Sporting News wrote about fantasy running backs to keep in mind:
"In your RB1-RB2 combination, you should have one dependable, often explosive back and one consistently complementary one. If you are required to start only two, you should draft five or six among your 17 total players. If you have a FLEX position, having up to seven backs is acceptable.
"The key with your backups is diversifying your portfolio: Drafting those with well-defined roles for early in the season and those with massive upside for the second half. Later, make sure you try to land whatever insurance you can, handcuffing your top backs or even someone else's, depending on the injury history of said backs."
A player like Josh Jacobs of the Las Vegas Raiders is a risk in the first round because the team has yet to show it trusts him as a receiver. He had a strong rookie campaign with 1,150 rushing yards but finished 21st among running backs in PPR scoring because he only had 20 catches.
Despite the 22-year-old's desire to catch 60 passes in 2020, the Raiders have Jalen Richard and Theo Riddick on the roster as proven pass-catchers out of the backfield.
Players with a diverse skill set like Aaron Jones and James White have more value in the first two rounds than someone such as Jacobs.