Top 150 Fantasy Football Rankings (With Auction Values) for 2013

Here are the overall Top 150 Rankings. These are based on the projections and rankings at Quarterback, Running Back, Wide Receiver, and Tight End. They are also based on value based drafting principles, for a league with one starting QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 Flex, and 1 TE, and with a 6 point all TD, 0.5 point PPR (to split between PPR and non-PPR rankings).

I have color coded it with the following, looking at ESPN’s average fantasy draft info so far. Dark Green means a player I have rated much better than consensus (at least 30 picks). I provide because, I don’t actually draft straight off my board. You want value, and you want to understand when you need to pull the trigger. You want to get a guy a couple of rounds after you think he is worth, if most people don’t agree. So I might bypass a dark green player for another in the same range who will be gone.

Light Green are guys I have rated between 19 and 30 spots better than consensus, so about a round or two. You can probably wait one round on these guys from where I have them. Blue are the guys that are 7 to 18 spots higher in my rankings; you might need to pull the trigger depending on how bad you want them.

On the flip side, Brown is the slightly overvalued guys in my opinion, and Red is for all guys who I have 18 or more spots lower than where they are being drafted. In short, guys that are not likely to end up on my team.

Here were last year’s rankings: looking at the green and red flagged players, it did pretty well. Andre Johnson was really the only red flagged guy that I regret. Greens were hit and misses (Vick and Mathews, the misses, a fair amount of value). Lynch and Doug Martin were two backs I had as values in a sea of non-values after the top RB’s were off the board.

In looking at my flags this year by position, it’s the same story for me. People overrate the value of the second running back.  I have Lamar Miller and DeMarco Murray as values in a sea of RB 2’s, as I have them at the top of that tier, and they are generally falling near the bottom. For QB, I have the reds and browns showing up in the middle of the starters, QB 4 to 8 range, and then value after that. At WR, I have some mild values early, a mix of red flags on WR3 types, and lots of values late, as the opinions vary widely at that position.

I don’t rate the kickers and defenses; 15 of those positions are going in the top 150 at ESPN, and that is why you see a lot of greens on my chart late. The defenses and kickers would be red flagged as a result. Wait. Don’t spend picks on those positions until you have to. Defense is the EASIEST to platoon, and kicker is unpredictable.

Use the knowledge you have of how your league drafts also. If people will take ten straight running backs to start, and still take seven more in the next ten picks, take running back if you are in the first five picks and then reap the next best receivers in the second round before moving to Lamar Miller or DeMarco Murray.

Here they are, the Top 150 position rankings, with auction prices (for a 12-team, $200 league) also listed: