Fantasy Football Top 150 For 2014

A very early ranking of players with many, many more to come obviously...


Berry's Top 150 for 2014

By Matthew Berry | ESPN.com

Don't get too attached. If rankings were a relationship, this is a casual quick drink after work with someone your buddy is setting you up with, not a six-month girlfriend or boyfriend, ya dig? Much, much will change between now and the time you sit down to draft your first team, but because it's never too early to think about next season, here's my first stab at a top 150 for 2014.
The rankings are done in present time, which is to say, until further notice, I am ranking as the league is today. Knowshon Moreno is still on the Denver Broncos. Sammy Watkins hasn't been drafted. David Wilson is still expected to play in 2014. And so on. As news develops, players change teams, coordinators get hired and rookies get drafted, these rankings will change, update and ultimately be expanded to at least a top 200.

The rankings are based on ESPN standard league, which is to say 10-team, no point-per-reception, and you start one quarterback, two each of running backs and wide receivers, a tight end, a flex (RB/WR/TE) and a team defense. You also play a kicker but I didn't rank kickers because, let's face it, if you're the type of player who drafts a kicker before the last round, you're not reading fantasy football rankings in February. I did, however, rank more than you'd need at any certain position for a 10-team league since I know many play in larger-size leagues or leagues with different position requirements.


The wide receiver and quarterback positions are very deep and running back has more names than usual, but many are question marks. So, the scarcity (or depth) of positions was taken into account when doing these rankings. I surprised myself in that I actually ranked a few defenses; usually I subscribe to the wait-on-defense theory, but this year there are a few (at least before free agency) that I feel are worth drafting before the second-to-last round.

In general, when I have players of the same position right next to each other, it means I value them the same and they are just in order of personal preference, but it's close. That's a good rule of thumb for rankings overall, these and any others. Use them as a general guideline, but your ultimate decision should be greatly influenced by team needs and how the draft is progressing. I may have C.J. Spiller ahead of DeSean Jackson, but if you went running back-running back in your first two rounds, and you want D-Jax over another running back, then that's what you should do.
Now, when do mock drafts start?
Matthew Berry's Top 200 for 2014

Matthew Berry's rankings are always way too conservative? You want to know why? Because he's afraid of the media and the social backlash that could follow his claims. Before his rise to stardom, he was able to rank players as a highly skilled and opinionated individual with supporting stats. Not anymore. Matthew Berry only ranks players by how much they scored per game average and sorts it. Honestly, how does Rashard Mendenhall get ranked ahead of Kenny Stills? Mendenhall probably won't be in the league next year.