Fantasy Football Week 1 Rankings: Reviewing All Positions Before Season Openers

The 2020 NFL season kicks off with divisional rivalries across the board, starting with a matchup between the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday. And, in a world with no preseason film, this week will be the first true opportunity for fantasy managers to gauge offseason changes.

This will be a harder Week 1 than most to project positional rankings, but we can still come up with strong estimates based on player talent, unofficial depth charts and matchups for each season opener. 

What follows is an expected top 12 for each position at the end of Week 1, based on a standard, 12-team league with four-points-per-passing-touchdown, with analysis of each position's most debatable rankings. 

Quarterback

1. Patrick Mahomes, KC (vs. HOU)

2. Lamar Jackson, BAL (vs. CLE)

3. Russell Wilson, SEA (at ATL)

4. Deshaun Watson, HOU (at KC)

5. Drew Brees, NO (vs. TB)

6. Josh Allen, BUF (vs. NYJ)

7. Dak Prescott, DAL (at LAR)

8. Matt Ryan, ATL (vs. SEA)

9. Carson Wentz, PHI (at WAS)

10. Kyler Murray, ARI (at SF)

11. Cam Newton, NE (vs. MIA)

12. Philip Rivers, IND (at JAC)

The top eight quarterbacks all feel relatively safe and fairly interchangeable, as each has some blend of talent, weapons and matchup to fuel a strong QB1 performance. Past those eight, the field muddies substantially.

Carson Wentz has an injured supporting cast, Kyler Murray has a scary matchup and both Cam Newton and Philip Rivers are thrust into new environments after disappointing 2019 seasons. But Newton and Rivers could each start their 2020 redemption arcs in style. Their new teammates and coaches have generally raved about them all offseason and their matchups are not particularly intimidating for Week 1.

Running Back

1. Christian McCaffrey, CAR (vs. LV)

2. Ezekiel Elliott, DAL (at LAR)

3. Josh Jacobs, LV (at CAR)

4. Dalvin Cook, MIN (vs. GB)

5. Derrick Henry, TEN (at DEN)

6. Saquon Barkley, NYG (vs. PIT)

7. Joe Mixon, CIN (vs. LAC)

8. Austin Ekeler, LAC (at CIN)

9. Alvin Kamara, NO (vs. TB)

10. Clyde Edwards-Helaire, KC (vs. HOU)

11. Chris Carson, SEA (at ATL)

12. Raheem Mostert, SF (vs. ARI)

Interestingly, Raheem Mostert is ranked at RB19 by FantasyPros' consensus expert rankings, despite having what should be a plus-matchup against the Arizona Cardinals. This is likely influenced by suspicions that the position's volume is not entirely his due to Tevin Coleman and Jerick McKinnon's intrusions. 

It feels bizarre to discount Mostert's value because of Kyle Shanahan's propensity to involve other backs. On 137 carries in 2019, Mostert proved to be San Francisco's best back by averaging 5.6 yards per carry (and totaling eight touchdowns on the ground). Coleman averaged 4.0 and McKinnon last averaged 3.8, back in 2017 when he was still a Minnesota Viking. 

Most importantly, Mostert's tape shows it all. He has tremendous vision, blazing speed, surprising shiftiness and, to top it all off, a hunger to punish defenders at the end of each play. With Trent Williams in town, the 49ers offensive line gets even better, and Mostert should be the obvious candidate to benefit.

Wide Receiver

1. Michael Thomas, NO (vs. TB)

2. Davante Adams, GB (at MIN)

3. Julio Jones, ATL (vs. SEA)

4. Tyreek Hill, KC (vs. HOU)

5. Chris Godwin, TB (at NO)

6. Allen Robinson, CHI (at DET)

7. Terry McLaurin, WAS (vs. PHI)

8. Kenny Golladay, DET (vs. CHI)

9. Mike Evans, TB (at NO)

10. DJ Moore, CAR (vs. LV)

11. A.J. Brown, TEN (at DEN)

12. Keenan Allen, LAC (at CIN)

Yes, Terry McLaurin is ranked as WR7 here, despite being the consensus WR15. Yes, the Philadelphia Eagles should have a much-improved secondary following the addition of Darius Slay. But, all things considered, no, it does not feel outlandish to rank the man they call "F1" within the WR1 range.

In 2019, Philadelphia boasted one of the league's worst secondaries. Since then, they've lost safety Malcolm Jenkins to the New Orleans Saints, converted cornerback Jalen Mills to safety and added Slay. Those changes should be enough to improve the group, but not quite enough to downgrade top receivers who face them. 

McLaurin is a top receiver. He's not the biggest or the fastest, but he can run every route and catch every ball. Philadelphia projects to run a hybrid defense, meaning Slay, who had a down year in 2019, won't even be glued to the sophomore standout. Washington should improve with Dwayne Haskins' first-year experience and Ron Rivera's coaching, so McLaurin projects to have an excellent week, especially since Philadelphia is likely to force them into passing the ball a ton.

Tight End

1. George Kittle, SF (vs. ARI)

2. Travis Kelce, KC (vs. HOU)

3. Mark Andrews, BAL (vs. CLE)

4. Zach Ertz, PHI (at WAS)

5. Hayden Hurst, ATL (vs. SEA)

6. Darren Waller, LV (at CAR)

7. Hunter Henry, LAC (at CIN)

8. Tyler Higbee, LAR (vs. DAL)

9. Evan Engram, NYG (vs. PIT)

10. Noah Fant, DEN (vs. TEN)

11. Jared Cook, NO (vs. TB)

12. Mike Gesicki, MIA (at NE)

The Mike Gesicki conundrum is very interesting this season. Over the last six games of 2019, he averaged 7.7 targets per game, piled up five touchdowns and was fantasy's TE7. Those numbers bode well for the 2018 second-round pick's third season, but many have been scared off by the Miami Dolphins' unofficial depth chart listing Gesicki as the backup tight end—to the point that he is the consensus TE17 for Week 1.

The counterpoint here is that Gesicki is not a tight end; he is a gigantic slot receiver. 

The Dolphins brought Chan Gailey out of retirement to be their offensive coordinator. Although Gailey's tight ends have been inconsistent producers, his slot receivers have regularly received high usage. Coincidentally, the last time he had a pedigree tight end was in 2008 with Gonzalez. That season, Tony G played his team's most snaps in the slot and racked up 1,058 yards and 10 touchdowns (as noted by the FantasyFootballers' Matthew Betz). Gesicki is not Gonzalez, but the depth chart shouldn't prevent managers from expecting high usage from a player with a high ceiling.   

Kicker

1. Harrison Butker, KC (vs. HOU)

2. Wil Lutz, NO (vs. TB)

3. Justin Tucker, BAL (vs. CLE)

4. Greg Zuerlein, DAL (at LAR)

5. Robbie Gould, SF (vs. ARI)

6. Younghoe Koo, ATL (vs. SEA)

7. Jake Elliott, PHI (at WAS)

8. Jason Myers, SEA (at ATL)

9. Michael Badgley, LAC (at CIN)

10. Joey Slyce, CAR (vs. LV)

11. Chris Boswell, PIT (at NYG)

12. Mason Crosby, GB (at MIN)

Consensus has Younghoe Koo as the K12 for Week 1, and it's hard to understand why. Although Koo played only eight games for Atlanta in 2019, leaving him as the K26 on the season (per FantasyPros), he averaged 11.6 points per game over that span, the highest in the league. 

The matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and Atlanta Falcons should be a fairly high-scoring affair and Koo is a strong bet to factor in.

Defense

1. Buffalo Bills (vs. NYJ)

2. Pittsburgh Steelers (at NYG)

3. New England Patriots (vs. MIA)

4. Philadelphia Eagles (at WAS)

5. Indianapolis Colts (at JAC)

6. Baltimore Ravens (vs. CLE)

7. Tennessee Titans (at DEN)

8. Chicago Bears (at DET)

9. Kansas City Chiefs (vs. HOU)

10. Los Angeles Chargers (at CIN)

11. Detroit Lions (vs. CHI)

12. Washington Football Team (vs. PHI)

The Tennessee Titans defense is only rostered in 39 percent of Yahoo leagues, and that feels odd ahead of a Week 1 matchup against an uninspiring Denver Broncos. Tennessee wasn't a dominant defense in 2019, particularly in the latter half, but the team has replaced Jurrell Casey (who was traded, coincidentally, to the Broncos) with the highly touted Jadeveon Clowney.

The Broncos had the fewest passing touchdowns in the NFL last season and ranked in the bottom half of the league for rushing touchdowns. They should be improved this year, having added Jerry Jeudy and Melvin Gordon to the lineup, but the development of 2019 rookies, quarterback Drew Lock and tight end Noah Fant, may not come into effect until midseason. 

Finally, Tennessee's grind-it-out rushing offense slows the game down, and the absence of newly injured Von Miller should make it even harder for Denver to prevent Derrick Henry from getting his. All of those factors engender a strong performance for the Titans defense in Week 1.