Football is coming.
To be honest, football is always coming. Even if you ignore free agency, the month of March, just to name a month, and saw two of the league's absolute biggest fantasy names -- Jimmy Graham and LeSean McCoy -- change teams, there are enough other moves around those to keep depth-chart trackers in business for weeks. And that's a month that is just about as far from actual games being played as it gets.
With that in mind, it makes sense to make fantasy rankings close to a year-round process as possible. So, below is a top 200 for 2015 fantasy. It'll be updated every two weeks or so -- hey, I'm not a machine -- with any changes as dictated by new information around the league.
Everything below is "rankings as of the moment." Before the draft, no rookies will be in the rankings, because I don't know where they'll end up for certain, and players I expect to eventually lose their jobs to new draftees still have them. Possible suspensions are still only possible, so players are ranked as though that isn't a concern. Guys who are still free agents as of an update don't get ranked. Any, I don't know, star Minnesota running backs who might switch teams but haven't done so as of the ranking update will still be ranked on their team. (Also, no defenses or kickers, because blech.)
Because the rankings themselves will change fairly regularly over the offseason, I'm not going to give any specific thoughts on why I have guys where I have them here. But direct any questions to the comments, and I'll be sure to respond to all of them. My rationale might not be perfect, but it will exist, dammit.
It might be too early to do this with any real, firm confidence. But at the least, it's good to be thinking ahead. Because the league certainly is.
LATEST UPDATE: June 29, and it was a tear-down-and-start-over ranking. I started from scratch here, to see where things ended up:
Rank | Player | Team | Position |
1 | Eddie Lacy | GB | RB1 |
2 | Jamaal Charles | KC | RB2 |
3 | Le'Veon Bell | PIT | RB3 |
4 | Aaron Rodgers | GB | QB1 |
5 | Rob Gronkowski | NE | TE1 |
6 | Arian Foster | HOU | RB4 |
7 | Andrew Luck | IND | QB2 |
8 | Dez Bryant | DAL | WR1 |
9 | C.J. Anderson | DEN | RB5 |
10 | Antonio Brown | PIT | WR2 |
11 | Jordy Nelson | GB | WR3 |
12 | Matt Forte | CHI | RB6 |
13 | Demaryius Thomas | DEN | WR4 |
14 | Jeremy Hill | CIN | RB7 |
15 | Julio Jones | ATL | WR5 |
16 | Marshawn Lynch | SEA | RB8 |
17 | DeMarco Murray | DAL | RB9 |
18 | Odell Beckham Jr. | NYG | WR6 |
19 | Calvin Johnson | DET | WR7 |
20 | Adrian Peterson | MIN | RB10 |
21 | Alshon Jeffery | CHI | WR8 |
22 | Carlos Hyde | SF | RB11 |
23 | LeSean McCoy | BUF | RB12 |
24 | A.J. Green | CIN | WR9 |
25 | T.Y. Hilton | IND | WR10 |
26 | Justin Forsett | BAL | RB13 |
27 | Jeremy Maclin | KC | WR11 |
28 | Mark Ingram | NO | RB14 |
29 | Randall Cobb | GB | WR12 |
30 | Russell Wilson | SEA | QB3 |
31 | DeAndre Hopkins | HOU | WR13 |
32 | Mike Evans | TB | WR14 |
33 | Joique Bell | DET | RB15 |
34 | Lamar Miller | MIA | RB16 |
35 | DeSean Jackson | WAS | WR15 |
36 | Emmanuel Sanders | DEN | WR16 |
37 | Kelvin Benjamin | CAR | WR17 |
38 | Eric Decker | NYJ | WR18 |
39 | Jordan Matthews | PHI | WR19 |
40 | Jimmy Graham | SEA | TE2 |
41 | Brandon Marshall | NYJ | WR20 |
42 | Allen Robinson | JAC | WR21 |
43 | Eli Manning | NYG | QB4 |
44 | Alfred Morris | WAS | RB17 |
45 | Rashad Jennings | NYG | RB18 |
46 | Melvin Gordon | SD | RB19 |
47 | Jonathan Stewart | CAR | RB20 |
48 | Joseph Randle | DAL | RB21 |
49 | Latavius Murray | OAK | RB22 |
50 | Julian Edelman | NE | WR22 |
51 | Peyton Manning | DEN | QB5 |
52 | Brandin Cooks | NO | WR23 |
53 | Kenny Stills | MIA | WR24 |
54 | Victor Cruz | NYG | WR25 |
55 | LeGarrette Blount | NE | RB23 |
56 | Greg Olsen | CAR | TE3 |
57 | Travis Kelce | KC | TE4 |
58 | Todd Gurley | STL | RB24 |
59 | Frank Gore | IND | RB25 |
60 | Andre Ellington | ARI | RB26 |
61 | Roddy White | ATL | WR26 |
62 | Keenan Allen | SD | WR27 |
63 | Steve Smith Sr. | BAL | WR28 |
64 | Amari Cooper | OAK | WR29 |
65 | Isaiah Crowell | CLE | RB27 |
66 | Stevan Ridley | NYJ | RB28 |
67 | T.J. Yeldon | JAC | RB29 |
68 | Golden Tate | DET | WR30 |
69 | Brandon LaFell | NE | WR31 |
70 | Vincent Jackson | TB | WR32 |
71 | Marvin Jones | CIN | WR33 |
72 | Andre Johnson | IND | WR34 |
73 | Kevin White | CHI | WR35 |
74 | Jarvis Landry | MIA | WR36 |
75 | Tre Mason | STL | RB30 |
76 | David Cobb | TEN | RB31 |
77 | Delanie Walker | TEN | TE5 |
78 | Cam Newton | CAR | QB6 |
79 | Shane Vereen | NYG | RB32 |
80 | Fred Jackson | BUF | RB33 |
81 | Sammy Watkins | BUF | WR37 |
82 | Anquan Boldin | SF | WR38 |
83 | Michael Floyd | ARI | WR39 |
84 | Nelson Agholor | PHI | WR40 |
85 | Giovani Bernard | CIN | RB34 |
86 | Jerick McKinnon | MIN | RB35 |
87 | Tevin Coleman | ATL | RB36 |
88 | Matt Ryan | ATL | QB7 |
89 | Ryan Tannehill | MIA | QB8 |
90 | Tom Brady | NE | QB9 |
91 | Tony Romo | DAL | QB10 |
92 | Jason Witten | DAL | TE6 |
93 | Owen Daniels | DEN | TE7 |
94 | Martellus Bennett | CHI | TE8 |
95 | Martavis Bryant | PIT | WR41 |
96 | Antonio Gates | SD | TE9 |
97 | Jordan Cameron | MIA | TE10 |
98 | Ben Roethlisberger | PIT | QB11 |
99 | Drew Brees | NO | QB12 |
100 | Danny Woodhead | SD | RB37 |
101 | Ameer Abdullah | DET | RB38 |
102 | Ryan Mathews | PHI | RB39 |
103 | Darren McFadden | DAL | RB40 |
104 | Coby Fleener | IND | TE11 |
105 | Julius Thomas | JAC | TE12 |
106 | Larry Donnell | NYG | TE13 |
107 | Dwayne Allen | IND | TE14 |
108 | Brian Quick | STL | WR42 |
109 | Devante Parker | MIA | WR43 |
110 | Breshad Perriman | BAL | WR44 |
111 | Charles Johnson | MIN | WR45 |
112 | Charles Sims | TB | RB41 |
113 | Jay Cutler | CHI | QB13 |
114 | Josh Hill | NO | TE15 |
115 | Percy Harvin | BUF | WR46 |
116 | Doug Baldwin | SEA | WR47 |
117 | Torrey Smith | SF | WR48 |
118 | Marques Colston | NO | WR49 |
119 | Dan Herron | IND | RB42 |
120 | Lorenzo Taliaferro | BAL | RB43 |
121 | Denard Robinson | JAC | RB44 |
122 | Marqise Lee | JAC | WR50 |
123 | Kendall Wright | TEN | WR51 |
124 | Larry Fitzgerald | ARI | WR52 |
125 | Andrew Hawkins | CLE | WR53 |
126 | Duke Johnson | CLE | RB45 |
127 | C.J. Spiller | NO | RB46 |
128 | Terrance West | CLE | RB47 |
129 | Roy Helu Jr. | OAK | RB48 |
130 | DeAngelo Williams | PIT | RB49 |
131 | Lance Dunbar | DAL | RB50 |
132 | Teddy Bridgewater | MIN | QB14 |
133 | Philip Rivers | SD | QB15 |
134 | Matthew Stafford | DET | QB16 |
135 | Tyler Eifert | CIN | TE16 |
136 | Zach Ertz | PHI | TE17 |
137 | Charles Clay | BUF | TE18 |
138 | Cecil Shorts III | HOU | WR54 |
139 | Malcom Floyd | SD | WR55 |
140 | Michael Crabtree | OAK | WR56 |
141 | Eddie Royal | CHI | WR57 |
142 | Cody Latimer | DEN | WR58 |
143 | Pierre Garcon | WAS | WR59 |
144 | Alfred Blue | HOU | RB51 |
145 | Reggie Bush | SF | RB52 |
146 | Darren Sproles | PHI | RB53 |
147 | Devonta Freeman | ATL | RB54 |
148 | Khiry Robinson | NO | RB55 |
149 | Chris Ivory | NYJ | RB56 |
150 | Colin Kaepernick | SF | QB17 |
151 | Carson Palmer | ARI | QB18 |
152 | Kyle Rudolph | MIN | TE19 |
153 | Vernon Davis | SF | TE20 |
154 | Dorial Green-Beckham | TEN | WR60 |
155 | Mike Wallace | MIN | WR61 |
156 | Dwayne Bowe | CLE | WR62 |
157 | Mohamed Sanu | CIN | WR63 |
158 | Doug Martin | TB | RB57 |
159 | Travaris Cadet | NE | RB58 |
160 | Knile Davis | KC | RB59 |
161 | Jordan Reed | WAS | TE19 |
162 | Robert Griffin III | WAS | QB19 |
163 | Sam Bradford | PHI | QB20 |
164 | Rueben Randle | NYG | WR64 |
165 | Allen Hurns | JAC | WR65 |
166 | Jaelen Strong | HOU | WR66 |
167 | Theo Riddick | DET | RB60 |
168 | Matt Asiata | MIN | RB61 |
169 | Jameis Winston | TB | QB21 |
170 | Andy Dalton | CIN | QB22 |
171 | Scott Chandler | NE | TE20 |
172 | Maxx Williams | BAL | TE21 |
173 | John Brown | ARI | WR67 |
174 | Stedman Bailey | STL | WR68 |
175 | Greg Jennings | MIA | WR69 |
176 | Toby Gerhart | JAC | RB62 |
177 | James Starks | GB | RB63 |
178 | Branden Oliver | SD | RB64 |
179 | Alex Smith | KC | QB23 |
180 | Ryan Fitzpatrick | NYJ | QB24 |
181 | Heath Miller | PIT | TE22 |
182 | Eric Ebron | DET | TE23 |
183 | Jacob Tamme | ATL | TE24 |
184 | Cordarrelle Patterson | MIN | WR70 |
185 | Vick Ballard | IND | RB65 |
186 | Bishop Sankey | TEN | RB66 |
187 | Joe Flacco | BAL | QB25 |
188 | Donte Moncrief | IND | WR71 |
189 | Terrance Williams | DAL | WR72 |
190 | Zac Stacy | NYJ | RB67 |
191 | Montee Ball | DEN | RB68 |
192 | Ronnie Hillman | DEN | RB69 |
193 | Bobby Rainey | TB | RB70 |
194 | Marcus Mariota | TEN | QB25 |
195 | Jared Cook | STL | TE25 |
196 | Austin Seferian-Jenkins | TB | TE26 |
197 | Blake Bortles | JAC | QB26 |
198 | Brian Hoyer | HOU | QB27 |
199 | Andre Williams | NYG | RB71 |
200 | Dri Archer | PIT | RB72 |