The fantasy football world got big news on Thursday morning. Judge Richard M. Berman ruled in favor of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, and overturned the four-game suspension Brady received for his alleged role in Deflategate. The judge ruled against the NFL process, vacating the entire award handed out by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
The decision came down 24 hours after SB Nation posted its most recent fantasy football quarterback rankings. Brady had been dropped in most drafts due to the potential suspension, and it was reflected accordingly in our rankings. The decision to overturn the suspension means he will skyrocket up draft boards in the coming days. It also means Jimmy Garoppolo holds virtually zero fantasy value outside of dynasty leagues.
It is important to note that while Brady's value improves, his potential in 2015 still needs to be somewhat measured. He is getting older, and at some point he will run into some kind of production wall. He is still a valuable fantasy commodity, but do not over-draft him in light of this news. Let other people's exuberance push him too far up draft boards, and benefit when other strong options slip behind Brady. For now, our consensus rankings have bumped Brady from No. 14 to No. 8.
(DK: Daniel Kelley; DC: Dan Ciarrocchi; AW: Alex Welch; JD: John Daigle; KA: Kenneth Arthur; SK: Scott Kaliska; MG: Michael Gallagher).
| Rk | Consensus | Tm | DK | DC | AM | JD | SK |
| 1 | Andrew Luck | IND | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Aaron Rodgers | GB | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Peyton Manning | DEN | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | Russell Wilson | SEA | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| 5 | Drew Brees | NO | 9 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 |
| 6 | Matt Ryan | ATL | 8 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| 7 | Tony Romo | DAL | 6 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 9 |
| 8 | Tom Brady | NE | 7 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 8 |
| 9 | Ben Roethlisberger | PIT | 12 | 6 | 8 | 11 | 6 |
| 10 | Ryan Tannehill | MIS | 11 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 10 |
| 11 | Eli Manning | NYG | 4 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 |
| 12 | Matthew Stafford | DET | 15 | 9 | 10 | 13 | 12 |
| 13 | Cam Newton | CAR | 10 | 15 | 16 | 8 | 13 |
| 14 | Philip Rivers | SD | 14 | 13 | 12 | 15 | 14 |
| 15 | Teddy Bridgewater | MIN | 13 | 17 | 14 | 16 | 16 |
| 16 | Sam Bradford | PHI | 18 | 12 | 15 | 19 | 15 |
| 17 | Carson Palmer | ARI | 17 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 19 |
| 18 | Colin Kaepernick | SF | 20 | 18 | 21 | 14 | 17 |
| 19 | Jay Cutler | CHI | 16 | 21 | 20 | 17 | 20 |
| 20 | Joe Flacco | BAL | 23 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 18 |
| 21 | Andy Dalton | CIN | 24 | 19 | 22 | 27 | 21 |
| 23 | Marcus Mariota | TEN | 26 | 24 | 24 | 22 | 23 |
| 22 | Jameis Winston | TB | 21 | 25 | 26 | 24 | 24 |
| 24 | Alex Smith | KC | 22 | 27 | 27 | 23 | 22 |
| 25 | Derek Carr | OAK | 25 | 26 | 23 | 26 | 25 |
| 26 | Blake Bortles | JAC | 28 | 30 | 17 | 28 | 26 |
| 27 | Ryan Fitzpatrick | NYJ | 19 | 28 | 29 | 25 | 30 |
| 28 | Kirk Cousins | WAS | -- | 23 | 25 | 21 | 29 |
| 29 | Tyrod Taylor | BUF | 27 | 22 | 28 | 29 | 28 |
| 30 | Nick Foles | STL | 29 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 27 |
| 31 | Brian Hoyer | HOU | 30 | 31 | 32 | 32 | 32 |
| 32 | Josh McCown | CLE | 31 | 32 | 31 | -- | 31 |
| -- | Johnny Manziel | CLE | 32 | -- | -- | 30 | -- |
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