Silva's Going Forward Rankings
Please note that this is not a ranking of to-date fantasy points scored. If you're interested in fantasy points already scored, you can find them in Rotoworld's members-only Season Pass, or on the website where your league is hosted. This is a free article ranking players as I believe they should be viewed going forward, taking into account performance so far, anticipated performance, schedule, opportunity, and talent.
The basis for these rest-of-season rankings is standard scoring. PPR adjustments are pretty easy. If a player catches a high volume of passes -- Julian Edelman or Andrew Hawkins, for instance -- he would deserve to be ranked higher in that scoring system. If a player has already had his bye week, he gets a slight upgrade in these rankings. If a player is battling injury, I purposely bump him down. When that player gets healthy, he would have the opportunity to move up the rankings in future weeks. These rankings are entirely touch and go and fluid week to week. We learn more about players and teams every game. Admittedly, I would have ranked Ronnie Hillman much lower three weeks ago than I have him now. Many readers called my pre-Week 5 ranking of Matt Ryan at No. 12 among quarterbacks "too low." We've since learned it wasn't low enough. My Percy Harvin ranking was clearly too high, and my Tom Brady ranking was much too low. Recent events that have affected my current rankings include the meteoric rise of Jerick McKinnon, St. Louis and Tampa Bay's unsettled running back corps, New England and Arizona's offensive turnarounds, and injuries in the New Orleans and Buffalo backfields. The top-four running backs ranked here are interchangeable, in my opinion. I have DeMarco Murray ranked fourth based on a combination of his 428-carry pace and Murray's scary injury history. That said, he is winning fantasy weeks and I'd want to ride him for as long as he lasts.
Murray is the No. 1 fantasy running back to this point. I simply believe there are three running backs who are slightly better bets moving forward. Cam Newton is 11th in per-game QB scoring to this point, but I believe Newton will be a fantasy difference maker moving forward with the most quarterback-friendly schedule in football from Week 9 on.
Arguing about a player ranked a few or even several spots lower or higher than where you might have him is something we should probably avoid. If you are interested in doing your own rest-of-season rankings, I'd strongly encourage you to, perhaps using these as a starting point and shuffling based on your own personal opinions and going-forward expectations. Remember that the objective is projection analysis as opposed to hindsight analysis. Our projections are obviously impacted by what's happened so far, but to-date fantasy points scored are not necessarily an accurate predictor of fantasy points that will be scored from here on out.
Top 40 Quarterbacks
1. Peyton Manning
2. Andrew Luck
3. Aaron Rodgers
4. Drew Brees
5. Russell Wilson
6. Cam Newton
7. Philip Rivers
8. Jay Cutler
9. Nick Foles
10. Carson Palmer
11. Tom Brady
12. Matthew Stafford
13. Tony Romo
14. Eli Manning
15. Colin Kaepernick
16. Ben Roethlisberger
17. Matt Ryan
18. Ryan Tannehill
19. Joe Flacco
20. Alex Smith
21. Robert Griffin III
22. Geno Smith
23. Blake Bortles
24. Kyle Orton
25. Teddy Bridgewater
26. Austin Davis
27. Andy Dalton
28. Mike Glennon
29. Brian Hoyer
30. Derek Carr
31. Ryan Fitzpatrick
32. Zach Mettenberger
33. Johnny Manziel
34. Derek Anderson
35. Mark Sanchez
36. Jake Locker
37. Michael Vick
38. Ryan Mallett
39. Brock Osweiler
40. Colt McCoy
Top 90 Running Backs
1. Le'Veon Bell
2. Matt Forte
3. Jamaal Charles
4. DeMarco Murray
5. LeSean McCoy
6. Marshawn Lynch
7. Arian Foster
8. Ronnie Hillman
9. Eddie Lacy
10. Lamar Miller
11. Jerick McKinnon
12. Giovani Bernard
13. Ben Tate
14. Alfred Morris
15. Andre Ellington
16. Ahmad Bradshaw
17. Joique Bell
18. Shane Vereen
19. Justin Forsett
20. Rashad Jennings
21. Frank Gore
22. Mark Ingram
23. Chris Ivory
24. Bishop Sankey
25. Darren McFadden
26. Ryan Mathews
27. Tre Mason
28. Reggie Bush
29. Branden Oliver
30. Isaiah Crowell
31. Fred Jackson
32. Trent Richardson
33. Knile Davis
34. DeAngelo Williams
35. Denard Robinson
36. James Starks
37. Carlos Hyde
38. Andre Williams
39. Montee Ball
40. Jeremy Hill
41. Bryce Brown
42. Zac Stacy
43. Darren Sproles
44. Steven Jackson
45. Jonathan Stewart
46. Doug Martin
47. Bobby Rainey
48. Charles Sims
49. Anthony Dixon
50. Pierre Thomas
51. Travaris Cadet
52. Toby Gerhart
53. Bernard Pierce
54. Joseph Randle
55. Roy Helu
56. Benny Cunningham
57. Chris Johnson
58. Adrian Peterson
59. Jonas Gray
60. Alfred Blue
61. Ka'Deem Carey
62. Stepfan Taylor
63. Matt Asiata
64. Juwan Thompson
65. Dan Herron
66. Lorenzo Taliaferro
67. Robert Turbin
68. Christine Michael
69. Khiry Robinson
70. Antone Smith
71. Theo Riddick
72. Daniel Thomas
73. Lance Dunbar
74. Terrance West
75. LeGarrette Blount
76. Chris Polk
77. Maurice Jones-Drew
78. Latavius Murray
79. Devonta Freeman
80. C.J. Anderson
81. Dexter McCluster
82. Brandon Bolden
83. Damien Williams
84. Donald Brown
85. Jacquizz Rodgers
86. Storm Johnson
87. Shonn Greene
88. Darrin Reaves
89. James White
90. Marcus Lattimore
Top 90 Wide Receivers
1. Demaryius Thomas
2. Jordy Nelson
3. Dez Bryant
4. Calvin Johnson
5. Antonio Brown
6. Brandon Marshall
7. Julio Jones
8. Kelvin Benjamin
9. Emmanuel Sanders
10. Mike Wallace
11. T.Y. Hilton
12. Jeremy Maclin
13. Alshon Jeffery
14. Josh Gordon
15. Randall Cobb
16. Vincent Jackson
17. Andre Johnson
18. Steve Smith Sr.
19. Michael Floyd
20. Sammy Watkins
21. A.J. Green
22. Keenan Allen
23. Roddy White
24. Eric Decker
25. Michael Crabtree
26. Julian Edelman
27. Rueben Randle
28. Marques Colston
29. Golden Tate
30. DeSean Jackson
31. Andre Holmes
32. DeAndre Hopkins
33. Brian Quick
34. Davante Adams
35. Torrey Smith
36. Percy Harvin
37. Pierre Garcon
38. Anquan Boldin
39. Terrance Williams
40. Odell Beckham
41. Justin Hunter
42. Allen Robinson
43. Mike Evans
44. Doug Baldwin
45. Cecil Shorts
46. Brandin Cooks
47. Jermaine Kearse
48. Dwayne Bowe
49. Mohamed Sanu
50. Larry Fitzgerald
51. Malcom Floyd
52. Andrew Hawkins
53. Cordarrelle Patterson
54. James Jones
55. Reggie Wayne
56. Kendall Wright
57. Greg Jennings
58. Riley Cooper
59. Wes Welker
60. Brandon LaFell
61. Jordan Matthews
62. Jarvis Landry
63. Jerricho Cotchery
64. Kenny Stills
65. Donte Moncrief
66. Eddie Royal
67. John Brown
68. Harry Douglas
69. Stevie Johnson
70. Louis Murphy
71. Andre Roberts
72. Robert Woods
73. Miles Austin
74. Brian Hartline
75. Jeremy Kerley
76. Paul Richardson
77. Marquess Wilson
78. Hakeem Nicks
79. Brandon Lloyd
80. Martavis Bryant
81. Markus Wheaton
82. Corey Fuller
83. Devin Hester
84. Danny Amendola
85. Nate Washington
86. Allen Hurns
87. Jarius Wright
88. Jarrett Boykin
89. Marqise Lee
90. Brian Tyms
Top 50 Tight Ends
1. Julius Thomas
2. Rob Gronkowski
3. Jimmy Graham
4. Greg Olsen
5. Jordan Reed
6. Antonio Gates
7. Jordan Cameron
8. Travis Kelce
9. Martellus Bennett
10. Larry Donnell
11. Dwayne Allen
12. Vernon Davis
13. Zach Ertz
14. Charles Clay
15. Delanie Walker
16. Tyler Eifert
17. Jared Cook
18. Kyle Rudolph
19. Heath Miller
20. Austin Seferian-Jenkins
21. Coby Fleener
22. Clay Harbor
23. Crockett Gillmore
24. Owen Daniels
25. Jason Witten
26. Eric Ebron
27. Ladarius Green
28. Brent Celek
29. Gavin Escobar
30. Niles Paul
31. Jermaine Gresham
32. Jace Amaro
33. Zach Miller
34. Luke Willson
35. Marcedes Lewis
36. Brandon Pettigrew
37. Anthony Fasano
38. Garrett Graham
39. Tim Wright
40. Andrew Quarless
41. Joseph Fauria
42. Brandon Bostick
43. Scott Chandler
44. Chase Ford
45. Richard Rodgers
46. Mychal Rivera
47. Brandon Myers
48. Brandon Williams
49. John Carlson
50. Levine ToiLOLo (h/t @Chet_G)
