Chris Sweet – Fantasy Sports Analyst
This will be the final part of our preliminary NFL Player Rankings for the preseason and we will be covering the last skill position of Tight End as well as the less glamorous positions of Kicker and Team Defense.
Tight End Rankings
We’ll start with the Tight Ends. This is a position that is a little more wide open than in the previous years. Gronk is still in his prime, but the injury risk is always there. He has averaged 11 games played per year over the past five years. This is why I’m giving Travis Kelce the #1 spot this year. Kelce finished as the best tight end last year, but Jeremy Maclin being cut is the biggest reason why he is my TE1 to start the year. He should see even more targets than last year. As in years past, if you don’t get an Elite TE in the first few rounds, you might as well just wait until the 10th round or later and grab one of many guys with upside like Austin Hooper, or one of the triumvirate of hyped rookies (Howard, Engram, Njoku) or give an old but reliable guy like Witten or Gates one more ride in the grass.
- Travis Kelce
- Rob Gronkowski
- Greg Olsen
- Jordan Reed
- Kyle Rudolph
- Tyler Eifert
- Delanie Walker
- Martellus Bennett
- Jimmy Graham
- Zach Ertz
- Austin Hooper
- Cameron Brate
- Hunter Henry
- Jason Witten
- Jack Doyle
- Eric Ebron
- Julius Thomas
- Antonio Gates
- Jesse James
- OJ Howard
- Evan Engram
- Jared Cook
- David Njoku
- CJ Fiedorowicz
- Coby Fleener
- Ben Watson
- Zach Miller
- Charles Clay
- Vernon Davis
- George Kittle
- Vance McDonald
- Tyler Higbee
- Jermaine Gresham
- Austin Sefarian Jenkins
- AJ Derby
Team Defense Rankings
Next up are Team Defense rankings. The usual suspects are up top but a few up and coming fantasy defenses are the Jaguars and Chargers who have improved their secondaries and pass rush in the past few drafts. While Team Defense is generally just above Kicker in importance you should check your leagues scoring as I play in a few leagues where you can get some serious points with team Defense. One league in particular gives a point for a 3 and out forced. I didn’t think much about it until I was in the semifinals last year and the opposing D dropped 30 on me. So please know your scoring…
- Broncos
- Seahawks
- Texans
- Jaguars
- Vikings
- Chiefs
- Bengals
- Chargers
- Giants
- Patriots
- Ravens
- Steelers
- Rams
- Titans
- Panthers
- Cardinals
- Eagles
- Packers
- Redskins
- Dolphins
Kicker Rankings
And last and definitely least are the Kicker rankings. You can study this list or throw a dart and pick who it lands on as in most years the Top K and 10th ranked kicker are only about a point a week difference. Last year Justin Tucker and Matt Bryant tied for the Fantasy lead and either one gave you about a 3 point a week advantage which isn’t insignificant but in most years the preseason K1 does not repeat. Just don’t be the person that gets cute and takes one in the first 10 rounds.
- Justin Tucker
- Stephen Gostkowski
- Matt Bryant
- Dan Bailey
- Matt Prater
- Adam Vinatieri
- Cairo Santos
- Dustin Hopkins
- Chris Boswell
- Mason Crosby
- Blair Walsh
- Sebastian Janikowski
- Caleb Sturgis
- Will Lutz
- Phil Dawson
- Nick Novak
- Jason Myers
- Graham Gano
- Josh Lambo
- Jake Elliott
