Silva's July Fantasy Top 200
NFL training camps are less than two weeks away. My focus leading into camp has been my Team Fantasy Preview Series. I didn't include player comments in these Top 200 Rankings because I'm writing an extensive paragraph on each player in the series. You can find the Team Fantasy Preview Series at this link.
For full transparency, I included here where I rank each player with respect to their position. If "RB5" appears behind Marshawn Lynch, I have him ranked as my No. 5 fantasy back. Invariably, some players will severely outperform their positional ranking, particularly toward the bottom of the list. For instance, I feel confident Eddie Royal will finish well above his WR58 ranking, but I am taking into account his low Average Draft Position as well as his low odds of being a difference-making re-draft asset. I really like Royal as a best-ball pick, but don't see him as more than a fringe WR3/4 in PPR leagues with next to no chance of becoming a bankable WR2. In re-draft fantasy, we should prioritize taking shots on guys with chances to become legitimate week-to-week difference makers over relatively steady producers who might catch 4-5 balls per game but are almost never going to hit 100 yards or score multiple touchdowns in a given week. Anquan Boldin is another player I fully expect to outscore his WR33 ranking on this list.
Put more simply, ranking players where they are best drafted is different from ranking players where you think they'll finish. Let's get to it.
First-Round Picks
1. Le'Veon Bell (RB1)
2. Jamaal Charles (RB2)
3. Adrian Peterson (RB3)
4. Eddie Lacy (RB4)
5. Marshawn Lynch (RB5)
6. Rob Gronkowski (TE1)
7. Julio Jones (WR1)
8. Dez Bryant (WR2)
9. Antonio Brown (WR3)
10. Demaryius Thomas (WR4)
11. Odell Beckham (WR5)
12. Arian Foster (RB6)
Second-Round Picks
13. C.J. Anderson (RB7)
14. DeMarco Murray (RB8)
15. Calvin Johnson (WR6)
16. Matt Forte (RB9)
17. Jeremy Hill (RB10)
18. A.J. Green (WR7)
19. Alshon Jeffery (WR8)
20. Jordy Nelson (WR9)
21. LeSean McCoy (RB11)
22. T.Y. Hilton (WR10)
23. Randall Cobb (WR11)
24. Mike Evans (WR12)
Third-Round Picks
25. Justin Forsett (RB12)
26. Andrew Luck (QB1)
27. Aaron Rodgers (QB2)
28. DeAndre Hopkins (WR13)
29. Frank Gore (RB13)
30. Mark Ingram (RB14)
31. Melvin Gordon (RB15)
32. C.J. Spiller (RB16)
33. Jordan Matthews (WR14)
34. Jimmy Graham (TE2)
35. Lamar Miller (RB17)
36. Brandin Cooks (WR15)
Fourth-Round Picks
37. Jonathan Stewart (RB18)
38. Alfred Morris (RB19)
39. Carlos Hyde (RB20)
40. Andre Johnson (WR16)
41. Brandon Marshall (WR17)
42. Kelvin Benjamin (WR18)
43. Keenan Allen (WR19)
44. Emmanuel Sanders (WR20)
45. Golden Tate (WR21)
46. T.J. Yeldon (RB21)
47. Ameer Abdullah (RB22)
48. Todd Gurley (RB23)
Fifth-Round Picks
49. DeSean Jackson (WR22)
50. Allen Robinson (WR23)
51. Travis Kelce (TE3)
52. Andre Ellington (RB24)
53. Russell Wilson (QB3)
54. Latavius Murray (RB25)
55. Jeremy Maclin (WR24)
56. Sammy Watkins (WR25)
57. Martavis Bryant (WR26)
58. Julian Edelman (WR27)
59. Rashad Jennings (RB26)
60. Tevin Coleman (RB27)
Sixth-Round Picks
61. LeGarrette Blount (RB28)
62. Joseph Randle (RB29)
63. Amari Cooper (WR28)
64. Jarvis Landry (WR29)
65. Vincent Jackson (WR30)
66. Greg Olsen (TE4)
67. Breshad Perriman (WR31)
68. Peyton Manning (QB4)
69. Nelson Agholor (WR32)
70. Martellus Bennett (TE5)
71. Chris Ivory (RB30)
72. Joique Bell (RB31)
Seventh-Round Picks
73. Shane Vereen (RB32)
74. Doug Martin (RB33)
75. Giovani Bernard (RB34)
76. Ben Roethlisberger (QB5)
77. Jordan Cameron (TE6)
78. Anquan Boldin (WR33)
79. Larry Fitzgerald (WR34)
80. Roddy White (WR35)
81. Torrey Smith (WR36)
82. Steve Smith Sr. (WR37)
83. Brandon LaFell (WR38)
84. Mike Wallace (WR39)
Eighth-Round Picks
85. Drew Brees (QB6)
86. Eric Decker (WR40)
87. Charles Johnson (WR41)
88. John Brown (WR42)
89. Michael Floyd (WR43)
90. Duke Johnson (RB35)
91. Kendall Wright (WR44)
92. Eli Manning (QB7)
93. Isaiah Crowell (RB36)
94. Ryan Mathews (RB37)
95. Tre Mason (RB38)
96. Cam Newton (QB8)
Ninth-Round Picks
97. Pierre Garcon (WR45)
98. Davante Adams (WR46)
99. Kevin White (WR47)
100. Matt Ryan (QB9)
101. Ryan Tannehill (QB10)
102. Philip Rivers (QB11)
103. Tony Romo (QB12)
104. Tom Brady (QB13)
105. David Johnson (RB39)
106. Reggie Bush (RB40)
107. Bishop Sankey (RB41)
108. Zach Ertz (TE7)
Tenth-Round Picks
109. Devonta Freeman (RB42)
110. Stevie Johnson (WR48)
111. Delanie Walker (TE8)
112. Jason Witten (TE9)
113. Julius Thomas (TE10)
114. Matthew Stafford (QB14)
115. Roy Helu (RB43)
116. Danny Woodhead (RB44)
117. Knile Davis (RB45)
118. Darren McFadden (RB46)
119. Brian Quick (WR49)
120. DeVante Parker (WR50)
Eleventh-Round Picks
121. Marques Colston (WR51)
122. Terrance Williams (WR52)
123. Rueben Randle (WR53)
124. Marvin Jones (WR54)
125. Jay Cutler (QB15)
126. Joe Flacco (QB16)
127. Colin Kaepernick (QB17)
128. Dwayne Allen (TE11)
129. Kenny Stills (WR55)
130. Dwayne Bowe (WR56)
131. Doug Baldwin (WR57)
132. Eddie Royal (WR58)
Twelfth-Round Picks
133. Malcom Floyd (WR59)
134. Antonio Gates (TE12)
135. Tyler Eifert (TE13)
136. Kyle Rudolph (TE14)
137. Heath Miller (TE15)
138. Charles Clay (TE16)
139. Andy Dalton (QB18)
140. Carson Palmer (QB19)
141. Teddy Bridgewater (QB20)
142. Owen Daniels (TE17)
143. Austin Seferian-Jenkins (TE18)
144. Larry Donnell (TE19)
Thirteenth-Round Picks
145. Sam Bradford (QB21)
146. Alex Smith (QB22)
147. Jameis Winston (QB23)
148. Charles Sims (RB47)
149. Jerick McKinnon (RB48)
150. Vernon Davis (TE20)
151. Montee Ball (RB49)
152. Buck Allen (RB50)
153. Darren Sproles (RB51)
154. DeAngelo Williams (RB52)
155. Kenny Britt (WR60)
156. Devin Funchess (WR61)
Fourteenth-Round Picks
157. Percy Harvin (WR62)
158. David Cobb (RB53)
159. Donte Moncrief (WR63)
160. Phillip Dorsett (WR64)
161. Dorial Green-Beckham (WR65)
162. Eric Ebron (TE21)
163. Robert Griffin III (QB24)
164. Marcus Mariota (QB25)
165. Coby Fleener (TE22)
166. Lance Dunbar (RB54)
167. Josh Hill (TE23)
168. Jace Amaro (TE24)
Fifteenth-Round Picks
169. Jared Cook (TE25)
170. Ladarius Green (TE26)
171. Maxx Williams (TE27)
172. Jordan Reed (TE28)
173. Khiry Robinson (RB55)
174. Dan Herron (RB56)
175. Terrance West (RB57)
176. Jay Ajayi (RB58)
177. Michael Crabtree (WR66)
178. Nick Toon (WR67)
179. Victor Cruz (WR68)
180. Marqise Lee (WR69)
Sixteenth-Round Picks
181. Markus Wheaton (WR70)
182. Cecil Shorts (WR71)
183. Cole Beasley (WR72)
184. Greg Jennings (WR73)
185. Stedman Bailey (WR74)
186. Blake Bortles (QB26)
187. Derek Carr (QB27)
188. Nick Foles (QB28)
189. Geno Smith (QB29)
190. Andrew Hawkins (WR75)
191. Allen Hurns (WR76)
192. Jacob Tamme (TE29)
Rounding Out the Top 200
193. Mychal Rivera (TE30)
194. Virgil Green (TE31)
195. Niles Paul (TE32)
196. Richard Rodgers (TE33)
197. Rob Housler (TE34)
198. Bilal Powell (RB59)
199. Fred Jackson (RB60)
200. Theo Riddick (RB61)
Also Considered: Ryan Fitzpatrick, Brian Hoyer; Andre Williams, Denard Robinson, Stevan Ridley, James Starks, Matt Jones, Cameron Artis-Payne, Christine Michael; Robert Woods, Brian Hartline, Justin Hunter, Tavon Austin, Albert Wilson, Rod Streater, Cody Latimer, Danny Amendola, Taylor Gabriel, Jerricho Cotchery; Scott Chandler, Luke Willson
