Fantasy Football Re-Rankings Week 5 Through Week 17: Brady Down, Favre Up

Who should I trade for in fantasy football? Who should I get rid of?

Aside from asking which player should start from week to week, these are the two most commonly asked fantasy football questions during the season.

Re-ranking the players every week isn’t something that is commonly done, but that’s exactly what this article is for. The following rankings can best be described as saying that they are “now through the end of the season” rankings.

As fantasy football owners, we need to look at the current situation as well as the future. Though a player may have had a poor game one week, it does not necessarily mean that the trend will continue. In fact, in many cases, a big game or a bad game can be a key time to either acquire or sell-off a player to uneducated fantasy owners.

So where do your players rank now? Whose value is up, whose is down? Read on to find out.

Quarterback Rankings: Week 5 Through Week 17

Jim Rogash/Getty Images

FOXBORO, MA - SEPTEMBER 26: Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots directs the offensive line against the Buffalo Bills in the first half at Gillette Stadium on September 26, 2010 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

The Derek Anderson experiment is officially over in Arizona. Just a few short weeks after the team released former first round pick Matt Leinart and replaced him with veteran Derek Anderson, Anderson himself has been replaced by undrafted rookie Max Hall. Hall has shown little to make anyone believe that he is a viable fantasy option and the numbers of his receivers, namely Larry Fitzgerald, are likely do struggle. Though Hall is likely the starter for the foreseeable future, his value is still very, very minimal.

The addition of Randy Moss in Minnesota pushes Brett Favre up three spots to 8th overall. Favre has had a terrible start to the season, but certainly the Vikings should be credited with understanding that and making a move to bring in one of the best in the game. Likewise, the fantasy value of Tom Brady takes a hit, down three with this move. Though Brady has shown the ability to win without Moss, he was never an elite fantasy quarterback without him.

The injury to Mike Vick drops him nine spots down to 16th among quarterbacks. We still don’t know when he will be back, so Kevin Kolb gets a big upgrade for the time being, up 13 spots. Kolb is quickly earning the nickname “Captain check down” after his week 4 performance when he repeatedly passed up the opportunity to give his receivers a chance deep and dumped passes off to his tight ends and backs. While this style is what most would consider “smart” football, it doesn’t always translate into fantasy success.

Jay Cutler falls five spots in this week’s rankings after a concussion that knocked him out of the game against the Giants. Cutler has been ruled out for week 5 and his status beyond that is still yet to be determined. With the NFL’s new rules on concussions, it will become increasingly more common for quarterbacks to miss a game after a concussion so don’t be too worried yet—he should be back after a week off. In the meantime, the Bears will turn to veteran QB Todd Collins to lead their offense.

Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez continues to impress, having thrown eight touchdowns and zero interceptions through the first four weeks of the season. Though he is just 21st in passing yardage, his touchdown-to-interception ratio has been good enough to make him a quality fantasy starter so far. Though we have to expect these numbers to even out over time, Sanchez will have a new receiver to throw to in on Monday night as Santonio Holmes makes his New York Jets debut after his four game suspension. Sanchez’s value rises a spot this week and it could very well get a big bump next week if he performs well against the Vikings.

RANK	PLAYER	TEAM	PREVIOUS RANK	MOVEMENT
1	Peyton Manning	IND	2	1
2	Aaron Rodgers	GB	1	-1
3	Drew Brees	NO	3	0
4	Matt Schaub	HOU	5	1
5	Tony Romo	DAL	6	1
6	Philip Rivers	SD	8	2
7	Tom Brady	NE	4	-3
8	Brett Favre	MIN	11	3
9	Joe Flacco	BAL	9	0
10	Kyle Orton	DEN	12	2
11	Ben Roethlisberger	PIT	14	3
12	Matt Ryan	ATL	17	5
13	Eli Manning	NYG	13	0
14	Carson Palmer	CIN	18	4
15	Jay Cutler	CHI	10	-5
16	Mike Vick	PHI	7	-9
17	Donovan McNabb	PHI	15	-2
18	Mark Sanchez	NYJ	19	1
19	Vince Young	TEN	16	-3
20	Chad Henne	MIA	20	0
21	Kevin Kolb	PHI	34	13
22	Josh Freeman	TB	22	0
23	Sam Bradford	STL	26	3
24	Matthew Stafford	DET	23	-1
25	Matt Hasselbeck	SEA	21	-4
26	Bruce Gradkowski	OAK	29	3
27	David Garrard	JAC	25	-2
28	Alex Smith	SF	28	0
29	Matt Cassel	KC	30	1
30	Jimmy Clausen	CAR	32	2
31	Shaun Hill	DET	33	2
32	Ryan Fitzpatrick	BUF	27	-5
33	Jake Delhomme	CLE	31	-2
34	Max Hall	ARI	37	3
35	Seneca Wallace	CLE	35	0
36	Jason Campbell	OAK	39	3
37	Kerry Collins	TEN	36	-1
38	Matt Moore	CAR	38	0
39	Derek Anderson	ARI	24	-15
40	Josh Johnson	TB	40	0
41	Todd Collins	CHI	NR	1

Running Back Rankings: Week 5 Through Week 17

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

CHARLOTTE, NC - SEPTEMBER 26: Cedric Benson #32 of the Cincinnati Bengals is tackled by Chris Gamble #20 of the Carolina Panthers during their game at Bank of America Stadium on September 26, 2010 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/G

If there was a way to move Adrian Peterson up from number one, I would. The addition of Randy Moss is going to help the Vikings offense in many different ways, but most importantly, it will help alleviate some of the pressure that Adrian Peterson has been getting from opposing defenses. With Moss on the field, defenses will no longer be able to stack 8-or-9 men in the box on such a regular basis, leaving Adrian Peterson more space to run. Peterson is a stud running back and at this point it looks like the only way he’s going to fall from the elite is if he gets injured. Knock on wood.

Cedric Benson continues to slide down the chart, falling seven spots this week down to 17th among running backs. After a lackluster performance against the Browns in week four, it’s beginning to look like we might be looking at the “old” Cedric Benson—the one who looked like a complete bust for the Bears. Benson and the Bengals get an underperforming Buccaneers defense which currently ranks 28th against the run. If he doesn’t turn things around, it’ll be tough to justify Benson remaining in the top-20 next week.

Peyton Hillis has risen another ten spots this week, up to 21st. It appears that the Browns have decided that Jerome Harrison is completely useless to them and they would rather give the ball to a converted fullback. Who would have expected this coming into the season? Though he went undrafted in almost every league, Hillis has been extremely productive this season and may very well end up as a top-10 running back. We’ll have to see if he can continue this pace up over the course of an entire season.

The Broncos’ Knowshon Moreno and Eagles’ LeSean McCoy both drop this week due to injury. Though it sounds like McCoy is going to play through his rib injury, Moreno has been ruled out by head coach Josh McDaniels for the second straight week. McCoy should be able to continue to produce decent numbers if he can deal with the pain, but he will likely get a reduced workload until he is healed. As for Moreno, there is no doubt that he is the top back in Denver after the awful performances of Laurence Maroney and Correll Buckhalter in his absence, but the Broncos have been unbelievably bad at running the ball no matter who it is. Kyle Orton may very well average 40+ pass attempts each week.

New England’s BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Washington’s Ryan Torain both received huge boosts to their value, as they have apparently been giving the starting jobs by their respective teams. Though the “starting” running back position in New England hasn’t been particularly important in the past, it could mean more again now that Randy Moss is gone and they may need to start playing more ball-control offense. As for the Redskins, the “starting” job has been very important in past Shanahan regimes, leading many to believe that Ryan Torain is now a viable fantasy option.

The Marshawn Lynch trade from Buffalo to Seattle changes the running back situations on those two teams dramatically. For the Bills, Fred Jackson and CJ Spiller both move up a few spots. It remains to be seen how the Bills will use their two backs, but it seems logical that both players will receive more touches than they did when Lynch was on the team. Spiller has been used primarily as a returner thus far, but should see more carries as well as more targets as a receiver in the upcoming weeks.

RANK	PLAYER	TEAM	PREVIOUS RANK	MOVEMENT
1	Adrian Peterson	MIN	1	0
2	Chris Johnson	TEN	2	0
3	Frank Gore	SF	3	0
4	Michael Turner	ATL	4	0
5	Maurice Jones-Drew	JAC	5	0
6	Rashard Mendenhall	PIT	6	0
7	Arian Foster	HOU	9	2
8	Ray Rice	BAL	7	-1
9	Steven Jackson	STL	8	-1
10	Matt Forte	CHI	12	2
11	DeAngelo Williams	CAR	14	3
12	Beanie Wells	ARI	16	4
13	LeSean McCoy	PHI	11	-2
14	Pierre Thomas	NO	13	-1
15	Ahmad Bradshaw	NYG	20	5
16	Ryan Mathews	SD	19	3
17	Cedric Benson	CIN	10	-7
18	Jahvid Best	DET	15	-3
19	LaDainian Tomlinson	NYJ	26	7
20	Peyton Hillis	CLE	30	10
21	Ronnie Brown	MIA	18	-3
22	Joseph Addai	IND	21	-1
23	Thomas Jones	KC	22	-1
24	Shonn Greene	NYJ	23	-1
25	Jamaal Charles	KC	25	0
26	Knowshon Moreno	DEN	17	-9
27	Darren McFadden	OAK	27	0
28	Jonathan Stewart	CAR	24	-4
29	Marshawn Lynch	SEA	39	10
30	CJ Spiller	BUF	32	2
31	Ricky Williams	MIA	29	-2
32	BenJarvus Green-Ellis	NE	43	12
33	Ryan Torain	WAS	NR	34
34	Mike Tolbert	SD	44	10
35	Brandon Jacobs	NYG	41	5
36	Felix Jones	DAL	33	-4
37	Marion Barber	DAL	36	-2
38	Cadillac Williams	TB	35	-3
39	Michael Bush	OAK	37	-2
40	Fred Jackson	BUF	47	7
41	Clinton Portis	WAS	34	-7
42	Justin Forsett	SEA	31	-11
43	Brandon Jackson	GB	28	-15
44	Tim Hightower	ARI	48	4
45	Willis McGahee	BAL	49	4
46	Bernard Scott	CIN	45	-1
47	Rashad Jennings	JAC	46	-1
48	Ladell Betts	NO	NR	19
49	Laurence Maroney	NE	38	-11
50	Jerome Harrison	CLE	40	-10
51	Donald Brown	IND	42	-9
52	Tashard Choice	DAL	50	-2
53	Reggie Bush	NO	51	-2
54	Mike Bell	PHI	NR	13
55	Chris Ivory	NO	NR	12
56	Chester Taylor	CHI	54	-2
57	Leon Washington	SEA	53	-4
58	John Kuhn	GB	58	0
59	Derrick Ward	HOU	NR	8
60	Fred Taylor	NE	56	-4
61	Correll Buckhalter	DEN	55	-6
62	Darren Sproles	SD	57	-5
63	Steve Slaton	HOU	52	-11
64	Kareem Huggins	TB	59	-5
65	Toby Gerhart	MIN	60	-5
66	Kevin Smith	DET	NR	1

Wide Receiver Rankings: Week 5 Through Week 17

Adam Bettcher/Getty Images

EDEN PRAIRIE, MN - OCTOBER 7: Wide receiver Randy Moss #84 of the Minnesota Vikings runs during his first practice after re-joining the Vikings at Winter Park on October 7, 2010 in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)

Would this really be a worthwhile article if we didn’t discuss the trade of Randy Moss from the New England Patriots back to his original NFL team, the Minnesota Vikings? With the Vikings in desperate need of a deep threat and Tom Brady targeting Moss just once last week, it seems obvious that Moss is going to see an increased number of targets on the Vikings. While there is no doubt that Moss still has physical ability to perform at a high level, the move from New England to Minnesota is a tough one—primarily because Brett Favre simply isn’t playing well this season. Moss gets Darrelle Revis and the Jets for the second time already this season on Monday night—it will be interesting to see how many times the Vikings try out their new (or is it old) toy. While this news may slightly increase the value of the Vikings’ receivers aside from Moss, it also decreases the value of Wes Welker, who will see additional attention from defenses without Moss.

All-Pro Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald continues to fall this season, down seven spots this week to 13th. The play of quarterback Derek Anderson has him on the bench and Max Hall hasn’t looked much better. This is a classic case of a great player in a bad situation. Think Calvin Johnson before Matt Stafford. Yeah, it’s bad.

Terrell Owens sees a nice jump this week, moving up to 30th among wide receivers this week. His monster game in Cincinnati’s 20-23 loss to the Browns last week makes it increasingly obvious that the Bengals are losing confidence in their running game and will be relying heavily on their passing attack in 2010. Through four games, Owens has been targeted a team-high 48 times—9 more times than his counterpart Chad Ochocinco, who drops a spot this week.

Though he is not the highest-scoring or most targeted receiver in the Denver offense, Eddie Royal seems to be the Broncos’ most consistent offensive weapon this season. Having caught 25 of the 32 passes thrown his way this season; Royal appears to be playing like he was in his rookie season when he caught 91 passes. Royal moves up eight spots this week to 24th, and could continue to move up if quarterback Kyle Orton stays hot.

Mike Sims-Walker, and really anyone in the Jacksonville passing game, seems to be far too inconsistent to be a viable fantasy option this season. Sims-Walker already has a game with 10 receptions, but two with zero receptions. The trend on Sims-Walker in 2009 was that he played significantly better at home than he did on the road, but that trend hasn’t carried into 2010—his 10 reception game came on the road, while both zero reception games came at home.

RANK	PLAYER	TEAM	PREVIOUS RANK	MOVEMENT
1	Andre Johnson	HOU	1	0
2	Roddy White	ATL	3	1
3	Miles Austin	DAL	4	1
4	Brandon Marshall	MIA	5	1
5	Randy Moss	MIN	2	-3
6	Anquan Boldin	BAL	7	1
7	Austin Collie	IND	9	2
8	Greg Jennings	GB	10	2
9	Reggie Wayne	IND	11	2
10	Calvin Johnson	DET	12	2
11	DeSean Jackson	PHI	13	2
12	Wes Welker	NE	8	-4
13	Larry Fitzgerald	ARI	6	-7
14	Hakeem Nicks	NYG	14	0
15	Donald Driver	GB	19	4
16	Malcom Floyd	SD	21	5
17	Chad Ochocinco	CIN	16	-1
18	Steve Smith	CAR	15	-3
19	Marques Colston	NO	17	-2
20	Steve Smith	NYG	20	0
21	Michael Crabtree	SF	18	-3
22	Jeremy Maclin	PHI	24	2
23	Braylon Edwards	NYJ	28	5
24	Eddie Royal	DEN	32	8
25	Mike Wallace	PIT	22	-3
26	Dez Bryant	DAL	25	-1
27	Sidney Rice	MIN	26	-1
28	Santana Moss	WAS	23	-5
29	Hines Ward	PIT	27	-2
30	Terrell Owens	CIN	42	12
31	Percy Harvin	MIN	29	-2
32	Mike Williams	TB	30	-2
33	Santonio Holmes	NYJ	37	4
34	Demaryius Thomas	DEN	31	-3
35	Mark Clayton	STL	48	13
36	Johnny Knox	CHI	43	7
37	Brandon Lloyd	DEN	57	20
38	Dwayne Bowe	KC	33	-5
39	Mike Thomas	JAC	40	1
40	Lance Moore	NO	NR	30
41	Pierre Garcon	IND	36	-5
42	Jabar Gaffney	DEN	35	-7
43	Mike Sims-Walker	JAC	34	-9
44	Kevin Walter	HOU	39	-5
45	Mario Manningham	NYG	44	-1
46	Roy Williams	DAL	49	3
47	Legedu Naanee	SD	50	3
48	Lee Evans	BUF	45	-3
49	Derrick Mason	BAL	38	-11
50	Louis Murphy	OAK	47	-3
51	Brandon Tate	NE	NR	19
52	Jacoby Jones	HOU	41	-11
53	Devin Hester	CHI	54	1
54	T.J. Houshmandzadeh	SEA	59	5
55	Kenny Britt	TEN	61	6
56	Josh Cribbs	CLE	56	0
57	Danny Amendola	STL	NR	13
58	Vincent Jackson	SD	51	-7
59	Steve Johnson	BUF	NR	11
60	Steve Breaston	ARI	46	-14
61	Nate Washington	TEN	55	-6
62	Josh Morgan	SF	60	-2
63	Chris Chambers	KC	62	-1
64	Robert Meachem	NO	52	-12
65	Mohamed Massaquoi	CLE	53	-12
66	Laurent Robinson	STL	58	-8
67	Devery Henderson	NO	63	-4
68	Chaz Schilens	OAK	64	-4
69	Bernard Berrian	MIN	65	-4

Tight End Rankings: Week 5 Through Week 17

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

SAN DIEGO - OCTOBER 3: Tight end Antonio Gates #85 of the San Diego Chargers catches a 33 yard touchdown pass in the first quarter against the Arizona Cardinals at Qualcomm Stadium on October 3, 2010 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty

Antonio Gates surpasses Dallas Clark this week as the top fantasy tight end. Though Clark has played exceptionally well and this shouldn’t be a knock on him, Gates is simply outstanding right now. Gates currently leads the Chargers in every important fantasy statistic for receivers, catching 24 of the 34 passes thrown his way for 386 yards and an amazing six touchdowns already. Not only is Gates the highest scoring tight end so far in 2010, he’s also outscoring every receiver in the league—simply extraordinary.

Zach Miller is really making a case for him being discussed as a top-tier tight end. Not only is he the Raiders’ leading receiver, but he is coming off of a monster game where he caught 11 passes for 122 yards and a touchdown in the Raiders’ loss to the Texans. Miller has scored a touchdown in back-to-back games—both of which were started by Bruce Gradkowski. Gradkowski seems to be in love with Miller, so there’s no reason to believe that he can’t continue to move toward the top of the tight end rankings.

Lions tight end Brandon Pettigrew moves up a few more spots this week. Pettigrew has now caught six or more passes in three straight games, accumulating 243 yards in the process. Though he hasn’t reached the end zone yet, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before he gets there. Pettigrew would be moving up more if we were guaranteed that Shaun Hill was going to be the Lions’ starter for the remainder of the season. Instead, with Matt Stafford presumably returning soon, don’t expect him to continue to target Pettigrew (or his fellow tight end Tony Scheffler) nearly as often as Hill has.

RANK	PLAYER	TEAM	PREVIOUS RANK	MOVEMENT
1	Antonio Gates	SD	2	1
2	Dallas Clark	IND	1	-1
3	Jermichael Finley	GB	4	1
4	Vernon Davis	SF	3	-1
5	Chris Cooley	WAS	5	0
6	Brent Celek	PHI	6	0
7	Visanthe Shiancoe	MIN	8	1
8	Dustin Keller	NYJ	9	1
9	Aaron Hernandez	NE	11	2
10	Zach Miller	OAK	13	3
11	Tony Gonzalez	ATL	7	-4
12	Kellen Winslow	TB	10	-2
13	Jason Witten	DAL	12	-1
14	John Carlson	SEA	15	1
15	Jermaine Gresham	CIN	14	-1
16	Tony Moeaki	KC	17	1
17	Brandon Pettigrew	DET	19	2
18	Greg Olsen	CHI	16	-2
19	Heath Miller	PIT	18	-1
20	Rob Gronkowski	NE	20	0
21	Jeremy Shockey	NO	21	0
22	Tony Scheffler	DET	23	1
23	Todd Heap	BAL	22	-1
24	Marcedes Lewis	JAC	25	1
25	Benjamin Watson	CLE	NR	4
26	Anthony Fasano	MIA	NR	3
27	Bo Scaife	TEN	NR	2
28	Kevin Boss	NYG	24	-4