As nice as it is winning championships, money and basking in the "I told you so" glory of another fantasy football season a great big part of me is sad. I hate for all of this work to end so abruptly as we eliminate team after team en route to Super Bowl 50 in San Francisco. That is why every year I immeditaely put down on paper my feelings on the NFL, players, teams, coaches and anything else that I think will help us when we pick the torch back up next Summer. This year seems to be even more interest in what happens next year. I've already done three mock drafts for crying out loud and I absolutely hate doing mock drafts.
The 2015 NFL and fantasy football season was really one for the ages. The amount of injuries to star players was outrageous. Twenty-seven of the SiriusXM Red, White & Blue 102, a consensus ranking that the station does every July, missed most of the season due to an injury in 2015. Do you realize just how ridiculous that is? Compare it to just 13 who had their season ruined in 2014 and 16 back in 2013. It's no wonder that so many of us felt slighted this season. In addition to the 27 season ending injuries to the Red, White & Blue 102 there were another 19 that I counted as having a failed season. You got that right, 19 additional players who failed us because of performance on top of the 27 who we lost because of injury. In hindsight, Jeremy Hill and his 11 TD's was one of the more successful players taken in the first eight rounds last year.
So let's look ahead to better times, shall we? Just think of how glorious it will be next year to draft all of the players we have totally forgotten about at the end of 2015. All of a sudden the positional depth looks pretty good when you add back in the likes of Andrew Luck, Jamaal Charles, Arian Foster, Dez Bryant, Jorday Nelson and Kelvin Benjamin. I've even added my Top 24 overall to the early rankings this year for you guys to discuss and likely scream at me about.
Here are the Early 2016 Fantasy Football Rankings
QUARTERBACK
Rank | Name | Team |
1 | Andrew Luck | Colts |
2 | Cam Newton | Panthers |
3 | Ben Roethlisberger | Steelers |
4 | Drew Brees | Saints |
5 | Tom Brady | Patriots |
6 | Aaron Rodgers | Packers |
7 | Russell Wilson | Seahawks |
8 | Tony Romo | Cowboys |
9 | Carson Palmer | Cardinals |
10 | Blake Bortles | Jaguars |
11 | Ryan Fitzpatrick | Jets |
12 | Matt Ryan | Falcons |
13 | Ryan Tannehill | Dolphins |
14 | Philip Rivers | Chargers |
15 | Derek Carr | Raiders |
16 | Jay Cutler | Bears |
17 | Andy Dalton | Bengals |
18 | Tyrod Taylor | Bills |
19 | Matthew Stafford | Lions |
20 | Marcus Mariota | Titans |
21 | Eli Manning | Giants |
22 | Joe Flacco | Ravens |
23 | Jameis Winston | Buccaneers |
24 | Kirk Cousins | Redskins |
RUNNING BACK
Rank | Name | Team |
1 | Todd Gurley | Rams |
2 | Le'Veon Bell | Steelers |
3 | David Johnson | Cardinals |
4 | Devonta Freeman | Falcons |
5 | Jamaal Charles | Chiefs |
6 | Adrian Peterson | Vikings |
7 | LeSean McCoy | Bills |
8 | Mark Ingram | Saints |
9 | DeMarco Murray | Eagles |
10 | Doug Martin | Buccaneers |
11 | Marshawn Lynch | Seahawks |
12 | Darren McFadden | Cowboys |
13 | Matt Forte | Bears |
14 | Jonathan Stewart | Panthers |
15 | Matt Jones | Redskins |
16 | Lamar Miller | Dolphins |
17 | Eddie Lacy | Packers |
18 | Carlos Hyde | 49ers |
19 | C.J. Anderson | Broncos |
20 | Eziekiel Elliot | Ohio State |
21 | Jeremy Langford | Bears |
22 | Arian Foster | Texans |
23 | Dion Lewis | Patriots |
24 | Latavius Murray | Raiders |
WIDE RECEIVER
Rank | Name | Team |
1 | Antonio Brown | Steelers |
2 | Julio Jones | Falcons |
3 | Odell Beckham Jr. | Giants |
4 | DeAndre Hopkins | Texans |
5 | A.J. Green | Bengals |
6 | Dez Bryant | Cowboys |
7 | Demaryius Thomas | Broncos |
8 | Allen Robinson | Jaguars |
9 | Brandon Marshall | Jets |
10 | Keenan Allen | Chargers |
11 | Julian Edelman | Patriots |
12 | Alshon Jeffery | Bears |
13 | Brandin Cooks | Saints |
14 | Jordy Nelson | Packers |
15 | Calvin Johnson | Lions |
16 | Sammy Watkins | Bills |
17 | Mike Evans | Buccaneers |
18 | Jarvis Landry | Dolphins |
19 | Kelvin Benjamin | Panthers |
20 | Larry Fitzgerald | Cardinals |
21 | Amari Cooper | Raiders |
22 | Emmanuel Sanders | Broncos |
23 | Jordan Matthews | Eagles |
24 | Randall Cobb | Packers |
25 | Martavis Bryant | Steelers |
26 | Jeremy Maclin | Chiefs |
27 | DeVante Parker | Dolphins |
28 | Eric Decker | Jets |
29 | Donte Moncrief | Colts |
30 | Michael Floyd | Cardinals |
31 | Doug Baldwin | Seahawks |
32 | T.Y. Hilton | Colts |
33 | Kevin White | Bears |
34 | Golden Tate | Lions |
35 | Laquon Treadwell | Ole Miss |
36 | Breshad Perriman | Ravens |
TIGHT END
Rank | Name | Team |
1 | Rob Gronkowski | Patriots |
2 | Greg Olsen | Panthers |
3 | Jordan Reed | Redskins |
4 | Delanie Walker | Titans |
5 | Travis Kelce | Chiefs |
6 | Tyler Eifert | Bengals |
7 | Jimmy Graham | Seahawks |
8 | Julius Thomas | Jaguars |
9 | Kyle Rudolph | Vikings |
10 | Martellus Bennett | Bears |
11 | Jason Witten | Cowboys |
12 | Austin Seferian-Jenkins | Buccaneers |
13 | Gary Barnidge | Browns |
14 | Antonio Gates | Chargers |
15 | Zach Ertz | Eagles |
16 | Charles Clay | Bills |
17 | Maxx Williams | Ravens |
18 | Richard Rodgers | Packers |
19 | Dwayne Allen | Colts |
20 | Eric Ebron | Lions |
21 | Benjamin Watson | Saints |
22 | Jordan Cameron | Dolphins |
23 | Heath Miller | Steelers |
24 | Clive Walford | Raiders |
OVERALL
Rank | Name | Team |
1 | Antonio Brown | Steelers |
2 | Julio Jones | Falcons |
3 | Odell Beckham | Giants |
4 | Todd Gurley | Rams |
5 | Le'Veon Bell | Steelers |
6 | DeAndre Hopkins | Texans |
7 | A.J. Green | Bengals |
8 | Dez Bryant | Cowboys |
9 | Rob Gronkowski | Patriots |
10 | Demaryius Thomas | Broncos |
11 | Allen Robinson | Jaguars |
12 | David Johnson | Cardinals |
13 | Devonta Freeman | Falcons |
14 | Brandon Marshall | Jets |
15 | Keenan Allen | Chargers |
16 | Jamaal Charles | Chiefs |
17 | Julian Edelman | Patriots |
18 | Adrian Peterson | Vikings |
19 | Alshon Jeffery | Bears |
20 | Brandin Cooks | Saints |
21 | Jordy Nelson | Packers |
22 | LeSean McCoy | Bills |
23 | Greg Olsen | Panthers |
24 | Sammy Watkins | Bills |
So there you go folks my 2016 super early fantasy football rankings. What do you think? Just because I am always right doesn't mean that I am not wrong. Are there players that I left out? Who do you think I should have higher or lower? Any potential rookies that you think should be on my radar already? Let me know all of your thoughts either here in the comments section or hit me up on Twitter @Jeff_Mans.
Keep in mind that I will update these here and there this offseason and eventually will completely redo them around NFL Draft time. So if you see any player out of place just let me know and be patient.