Fantasy Football Week 1 Rankings: Flex and PPR Listings for Top 50 Players

In fantasy, volume is king. That is no different in PPR leagues, except that receiving work ascends in importance. For Week 1, defenses and player roles are incredibly hard to predict, particularly following an offseason without any preseason matches, so player talent should trump matchups in projections.

All week, fantasy managers will need to monitor injuries and team updates, as the murmurs from training camps begin to solidify through official channels. Right now, a variety of official and unofficial depth charts are flowing across the fantasy media world, but those have to be taken with a grain of salt as history has proved that they can be unreliable.

Looking at PPR leagues exclusively, we've ranked the top 50 flex players and analyzed three of the more intriguing players, one from each general third of the list. 

Week 1 PPR Flex Rankings

1. Christian McCaffrey, RB, CAR (vs. LV)

2. Ezekiel Elliott, RB, DAL (at LAR)

3. Dalvin Cook, RB, MIN (vs. GB)

4. Michael Thomas, WR, NO (vs. TB)

5. Saquon Barkley, RB, NYG (vs. PIT)

6. Alvin Kamara, RB, NO (vs. TB)

7. Austin Ekeler, RB, LAC (at CIN)

8. Davante Adams, WR, GB (at MIN)

9. Josh Jacobs, RB, LV (at CAR)

10. George Kittle, TE, SF (vs. ARI)

11. Joe Mixon, RB, CIN (vs. LAC)

12. Julio Jones, WR, ATL (vs. SEA)

13. Tyreek Hill, WR, KC (vs. HOU)

14. Chris Godwin, WR, TB (at NO)

15. Allen Robinson, WR, CHI (at DET)

16. Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB, KC (vs. HOU)

17. Miles Sanders, RB, PHI (at WAS)

18. Derrick Henry, RB, TEN (at DEN)

19. Terry McLaurin, WR, WAS (vs. PHI)

20. DJ Moore, WR, CAR (vs. LV)

21. James Conner, RB, PIT (at NYG)

22. Aaron Jones, RB, GB (at MIN)

23. Todd Gurley, RB, ATL (vs. SEA)

24. Chris Carson, RB, SEA (at ATL)

25. Keenan Allen, WR, LAC (at CIN)

26. DeAndre Hopkins, WR, ARI (at SF)

27. Raheem Mostert, RB, SF (vs. ARI)

28. JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, PIT (at NYG)

29. Kenyan Drake, RB, ARI (at SF)

30. Mike Evans, WR, TB (at NO)

31. Nick Chubb, RB, CLE (at BAL)

32. Robert Woods, WR, LAR (vs. DAL)

33. Adam Thielen, WR, MIN (vs. GB)

34. Mark Andrews, TE, BAL (vs. CLE)

35. Calvin Ridley, WR, ATL (vs. SEA)  

36. David Johnson, RB, HOU (at KC)

37. A.J. Brown, WR, TEN (at DEN)

38. Tyler Lockett, WR, SEA (at ATL)

39. Mark Ingram II, RB, BAL (vs. CLE)

40. DJ Chark Jr., WR, JAC (vs. IND)

41. Zach Ertz, TE, PHI (at WAS)

42. Cooper Kupp, WR, LAR (vs. DAL)

43. Odell Beckham Jr., WR, CLE (at BAL)

44. T.Y. Hilton, WR, IND (at JAC)

45. Stefon Diggs, WR, BUF (vs. NYJ)

46. Will Fuller V, WR, HOU (at KC)

47. A.J. Green, WR, CIN (vs. LAC)

48. James White, RB, NE (vs. MIA)

49. Amari Cooper, WR, DAL (at LAR)

50. Courtland Sutton, WR, DEN (vs. TEN)

Austin Ekeler, RB, Los Angeles Chargers

Many wonder if rookie Joshua Kelley will factor more extensively into the Los Angeles Chargers' running back rotation as 2020 progresses. That's reasonable, as Austin Ekeler isn't the biggest back around and has built his career complementing a weightier back in Melvin Gordon—including eight of his games in 2019. 

But, although Ekeler's yards per carry dropped to 4.2 in 2019, he still averages 4.8 on his career and was averaging 8.3 rushing attempts and a whopping 6.8 targets per game last season. That production netted him a new contract this offseason, and those targets make him a strong candidate to finish top 10 in Week 1 against what should be a mediocre Cincinnati Bengals defense.

Terry McLaurin, WR, Washington Football Team

Some players just have too much talent to be denied. Terry McLaurin is one of those players, and his situation should be improved in 2020. The Washington Football Team not only gets the positive energy of finally changing its team name, but Dwayne Haskins (a former college teammate of McLaurin's) has a year of experience under his belt, and the team's coaching situation looks to have improved under Ron Rivera. 

As a rookie, McLaurin was an immediate matchup problem who made his presence known in a campaign that helped him smash onto everyone's radar with yardage (919) and touchdown (7) totals that felt substantially below his potential. He faces the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1, and although their secondary should be improved over an abysmal 2019, it's hard to project them as particularly scary.

Zach Ertz, TE, Philadelphia Eagles

On the other side of the Washington vs. Philadelphia matchup, Zach Ertz is likely to tear things up. Philadelphia's rookie receiver Jalen Reagor is hurt, Alshon Jeffery is on the trade block and Miles Sanders is questionable for Week 1. That all leaves Ertz and DeSean Jackson as the Eagles' top two targets. 

Ertz averaged nine targets per game in 2019. Jackson? 3.3. The big tight end has long been one of Carson Wentz's favorite targets, and that should only prove more obvious in a Week 1 divisional matchup without much competition for targets. Fellow tight end Dallas Goedert is dynamic and could have himself a good week as well, but Ertz should be a PPR machine this week.