Assessing a Fantasy Football Grade for Every NFL Team

Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints and Tom Brady of the New England Patriots have led their teams to be the top producers of fantasy football points.

We will rate each NFL team from a fantasy football perspective. The analysis performed assumed that fantasy teams could use only players from one real team for the entire season. The roster format used the typical QB, WR1, WR2, RB1, RB2, TE, W/R (flex), K and DEF format. So the analysis is as heavily weighted towards the offense as the fantasy leagues are.

Fantasy points through Week 12 were taken from Yahoo! fantasy football scoring.

There are some surprises in the relative grades of the 32 NFL teams.

The Wasteland of Fantasy Football

There are six teams that qualify for inclusion in the wasteland of fantasy football. On average the teams in this category are 3-8. You probably don't ever look at their players when you scan the waiver wire.

All these teams get a grade of F for fantasy production:

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Cleveland Browns

Miami Dolphins

Seattle Seahawks

Jacksonville Jaguars

One Step Higher on the Rung of Futility

These three teams also have an average record of 3-8 but have some good fantasy-point-producers. Adrian Peterson, Steve Jackson and Mike Williams are all top-notch players at their position. But their teams are hampered by low production from the quarterback position and a lack of depth.

These teams get a D grade for fantasy point production:

St. Louis Rams

Minnesota Vikings

Tampa Bay Bucs

More Than One Roster-Worthy Player on the Team

This next set of teams is not setting the world on fire, but each of them has two or more players that if healthy might be playing every week in a 12-team fantasy league.

These teams all get a C- grade for fantasy production. We listed two of each team's most productive players on the season:

Arizona Cardinals: Larry Fitzgerald and Beanie Wells

Washington Redskins: Fred Davis and Roy Helu

Denver Broncos: Tim Tebow and Eric Decker

Oakland Raiders: Darren McFadden and Michael Bush

Average Productivity

As we continue to move up the ladder, we again see teams with several productive players, but the production is at a higher level. And as we have moved up in fantasy production we have gotten to the point where these three teams combined have a winning record.

We give these teams a C grade for fantasy production and show two of their top producers on the season:

San Diego Chargers: Vincent Jackson and Antonio Gates

Cincinnati Bengals: A.J. Green and Cedric Benson

Tennessee Titans: Matt Hasselbeck and Chris Johnson

A-Tad-Above-Average Production

Now we have arrived at the point where each team in this category has a stud fantasy producer. We give these two teams each a C+ grade on fantasy production.

In the fantasy league I used in this analysis, Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers was the fourth-rated quarterback. His teammate Steve Smith was the third-rated wide receiver. This duo puts the Panthers a clear step above the other teams we have discussed so far.

Fred Jackson of the Buffalo Bills was the third-rated running back before his unfortunate season-ending injury. Ryan Fitzpatrick put up good numbers early in the season before the Bills fell apart. This combination has earned the bills the slightly-better-than-average rating.

Moving on Up

Moving on up, we give these three teams a B- grade for fantasy production:

New York Jets

The Jets don't have any stud producers but they are deeply consistent across all positions. Dustin Keller makes the list of top 10 tight ends.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers have two wide receivers in the top-25 list: Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown.

Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles were considerably higher on the list until Michael Vick and Jeremy Maclin went out with injuries and DeSean Jackson went "T.O." on the team. With over 1,000 rushing yards and 13 total touchdowns, LeSean McCoy is the top running back in the league.

Meat-and-Potatoes Teams

Now we have arrived at the meat-and-potatoes teams that provide the staples of  good fantasy teams. These teams get a grade of B.

San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers have the top-rated kicker and the second-most productive defense. Now add to that running back Frank Gore and we have a solid team.

Houston Texans

The Texans have the second-ranked running back in Arian Foster and the third-most productive defense. Their RB2, Ben Tate, is better than several teams' RB1. As the season continues, their issues at quarterback will drag the team down in the ratings.

New York Giants

The Giants are very deep at wide receiver. Mario Manningham, Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks are all capable of putting up a monster game. And despite the team's usual second-half swoon, Eli Manning is still putting up very good numbers at the quarterback position.

Chicago Bears

The Bears are anchored by their strong defense and Matt Forte at running back. Devin Hester and Johnny Knox can each add in a high enough total of pass receiving and return yardage to be effective. The loss of Jay Cutler should also drag them down in the ratings over the next month.

The Top Tiers

Now we have moved into the top quarter of the teams. We give the three teams discussed here a grade of B+ for fantasy production.

Atlanta Falcons

Roddy White, Matt Ryan, Michael Tuner and Tony Gonzalez give the Falcons
four of the top 50 fantasy producers. And when he is healthy, rookie Julio Jones can have
a great game as well.

Baltimore Ravens

Ray Rice is the third-rated running back. Both Torrey Smith and Anquan Boldin have moved into the top-25 wide receiver list. To top it off, the Ravens have the most productive defense.

Dallas Cowboys

Laurent Robinson came out of nowhere to be a top wide receiver this year. Dez Bryant is just a tad behind him in productivity. Now add to this fewer interceptions by Tony Romo and surprising production from running back DeMarco Murray and you have another top-quarter team in the Cowboys.

4. Detroit Lions

Calvin Johnson is the primary reason that we give the Detroit Lions an A- grade and the fourth-highest team rating. His 12 touchdowns leads all wide receivers. Matt Stafford's 26 touchdown passes is another factor.

One thing that puts the Lions behind the other three teams higher on the list is the falloff in production when we move down to their second wide receiver. We have to drop down to 55 on the list of wide receivers to find Nate Burleson, who has only two touchdowns.

3. Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers get a grade of A and are ranked third among the 32 NFL teams in fantasy production.

Aaron Rodgers has an awesome set of targets when he goes back to pass. His 33 touchdown passes leads the league. His trio of wide receivers, Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson and James Jones is the best in the league. Ironically that is what causes the Packers to not be the top team. The Packers' production at running back is just not as good since they choose not to run the ball as much.

2. New England Patriots

The New England Patriots are a powerhouse of fantasy production. Wes Welker's 82 pass receptions lead the league by a large margin. Tom Brady's 28 touchdown passes put him second in the league. Rob Gronkowski's 11 touchdown receptions are top among tight ends.

In most years, I think the New England Patriots would be the top fantasy team. They might even be that at the end of the season. But a little quirk keeps them from being the very top team right now.

The Patriots have two good tight ends. But in the standard roster format, only one of them can count. That one is Gronkowski. That means that Aaron Hernandez' 47 catches and five touchdowns do not contribute to the Patriots' total fantasy production. That doesn't seem right, but rules are rules. 

The Patriots get a grade of A+.

1. New Orleans Saints

Jimmy Graham leads all tight ends in catches at 67 and yardage at 957. Drew Brees leads all quarterbacks with 3,689 passing yards. Triple-threat Darren Sproles is the fifth-most productive running back as he has scored by rushing, pass receiving and return.

Despite these excellent numbers, it is Robert Meachem, the Saints' third wide receiver who made the difference that allowed the New Orleans Saints to nudge out the New England Patriots for the top spot. The Patriots do not have a productive wide receiver or running back that can be put into the flex (W/R) roster spot. Meachem fills that spot nicely for the Saints.

The Saints are the top fantasy production team this year and receive a grade of A+.