Most Difficult to Rank

[Bandit]

So, what five guys are the toughest for you to figure out where to rank this year. Mine in no particular order are:

RB Zac Stacy - I have bounced him around from anywhere between 15 and 40. Can't decide if the Rams are convinced he's an every down back, which makes no sense because that's exactly what he was at the end of last season. He's currently sitting at 24 and he's the 14th ranked RB.

TE Rob Gronkowski - It's strictly injury issues that make him impossible to rank. Gronk is going in the 3rd and even sometimes 2nd round of drafts, and I have had him as high as low 30's in my rankings, but when it comes down to it, I just can't convince myself to put him in my top 40. He's currently at 45 andI don't plan on owning him.

QB Cam Newton - I have bounced him from the low 50's in rankings all the way to high 80's which takes him from the 5th round to the 8th round, a huge difference. I just can't decide how much having no wide receivers is going to effect him. It's not like Steve Smith and Brandon Lafell were world beaters last year and he did just fine. The running ability he has is such a huge equalizer. I settled on putting him somewhere in the middle. He's at 75 or the 9th ranked QB on my sheet.

RB Bishop Sankey - He has been anywhere from the 3rd round around 35th to the 7th round around 75th. The guy has all the opportunity to win the job, but when you make Shonn Greene look more impressive than you, there is seriously something wrong. Currently at 55th on my sheet, somewhere in RB3 land.

WR Cordarrelle Patterson - Everybody and I mean everybody is expecting this guy to have a huge breakout year. The last I checked, his quarterback was still going to suck so I just don't see him breaking the top 50 overall. He's been ranked as high as 45th, but I currently have him 70th and I will let somebody else draft him as a WR2.

 

[TKOSpikes]

Spiller - top five talent on a bad team with s good supporting cast

Welker - concussions getting in the way? Small guy, not as shifty as he used to be...

Andre Johnson - great talent, 33, Fitzcrapstick throwing the ball...but good division/schedule??

Tom Brady - splits with and w/o Gronk is too apparent

Josh Gordon - I can say with 99% certainty that I won't own him anywhere...but if he plays the second half...?

 

[leftypower]

All good answers and I'm with you. Another for me has been the QB position. Naturally we have the big three, but the order is really subjective. After that, well, there are 5-6 guys that can be in any order as well. .....

 

[wilwhite]

For Stacy - I had him pushed down for a while because I still think he's a placeholder (but a three-down placeholder). I didn't know if they had anybody to threaten any of those downs, but now I'm pretty sure he's still the best they got. So based on Joe's top two factors (opportunity and offense) I think he's going to be a very good fantasy RB this year; I have him barely cracking the top 10.

 

[Brees#1]

So, what five guys are the toughest for you to figure out where to rank this year. Mine in no particular order are:

RB Zac Stacy - I have bounced him around from anywhere between 15 and 40. Can't decide if the Rams are convinced he's an every down back, which makes no sense because that's exactly what he was at the end of last season. He's currently sitting at 24 and he's the 14th ranked RB.

TE Rob Gronkowski - It's strictly injury issues that make him impossible to rank. Gronk is going in the 3rd and even sometimes 2nd round of drafts, and I have had him as high as low 30's in my rankings, but when it comes down to it, I just can't convince myself to put him in my top 40. He's currently at 45 andI don't plan on owning him.

QB Cam Newton - I have bounced him from the low 50's in rankings all the way to high 80's which takes him from the 5th round to the 8th round, a huge difference. I just can't decide how much having no wide receivers is going to effect him. It's not like Steve Smith and Brandon Lafell were world beaters last year and he did just fine. The running ability he has is such a huge equalizer. I settled on putting him somewhere in the middle. He's at 75 or the 9th ranked QB on my sheet.

RB Bishop Sankey - He has been anywhere from the 3rd round around 35th to the 7th round around 75th. The guy has all the opportunity to win the job, but when you make Shonn Greene look more impressive than you, there is seriously something wrong. Currently at 55th on my sheet, somewhere in RB3 land.

WR Cordarrelle Patterson - Everybody and I mean everybody is expecting this guy to have a huge breakout year. The last I checked, his quarterback was still going to suck so I just don't see him breaking the top 50 overall. He's been ranked as high as 45th, but I currently have him 70th and I will let somebody else draft him as a WR2.

I guess I'm in the minority on Patterson. He looked good late last year with the same bad QB.

 

[TREFF]

This might not be the input your looking for, but when I have these issues, and this year, some of those guys are the same as mentioned here, but when I really can't put a strong value on, I put them in my do not touch list. If I can't decide one way or the other with some degree of confidence I'd rather not be the guy who takes the chance. That's how I handle those guys

 

[tlance]

All good answers and I'm with you. Another for me has been the QB position. Naturally we have the big three, but the order is really subjective. After that, well, there are 5-6 guys that can be in any order as well. .....

This is why I will not draft any of these QBs in rounds 3-7. They are all the same. I cannot see a reason to invest a 4th or 5th round pick on one of the top names in that tier.

 

[SmokingMonkey]

This is why I will not draft any of these QBs in rounds 3-7. They are all the same. I cannot see a reason to invest a 4th or 5th round pick on one of the top names in that tier.

only way I possibly could would be if Stafford or Luck slip down to the 5th/6th range, and I don't have a boner for any of the available guys, then I might take a chance. But even then, it would be hard.

Give me the Romo/BigBen combo all day long to pair up with a deeper RB/WR corps.

 

[averagejoe]

This might not be the input your looking for, but when I have these issues, and this year, some of those guys are the same as mentioned here, but when I really can't put a strong value on, I put them in my do not touch list. If I can't decide one way or the other with some degree of confidence I'd rather not be the guy who takes the chance. That's how I handle those guys

I would tend to agree when it comes to a player like Gronk who has injury problems - and he's already questionable for week 1 (3 weeks away)? He's off my rankings unless he's still on the board in the 10th round.

But I have trouble passing up a guy like Stacey even if others pass on him. He's a starting RB who plays for a guy who's rushing offenses have been in the top half of the NFL in rushing in 15 of Fisher's 22 years as OC or HC. 68%

 

[SmokingMonkey]

Patterson:
can't believe that I'm siding with crazy man Brees here, but I don't even consider who is throwing him the ball when gauging his value.
I believe he is a supreme athlete that is still learning football. Didn't play the game until college (2yrs JUCO, only 1 at TENN), and he's in the NFL? That's rare, pure talent there, and he's working on getting the technique down.

Also don't forget MIN invested multiple picks to draft him at the end of the 1st rd. Made an impact his rookie year, so you know that Norv will be force feeding this guy the ball as his WR1.
He's been pretty good at that throughout his NFL coaching career, if my memory serves.

 

[Bandit]

Patterson:
can't believe that I'm siding with crazy man Brees here, but I don't even consider who is throwing him the ball when gauging his value.
I believe he is a supreme athlete that is still learning football. Didn't play the game until college (2yrs JUCO, only 1 at TENN), and he's in the NFL? That's rare, pure talent there, and he's working on getting the technique down.

Also don't forget MIN invested multiple picks to draft him at the end of the 1st rd. Made an impact his rookie year, so you know that Norv will be force feeding this guy the ball as his WR1.
He's been pretty good at that throughout his NFL coaching career, if my memory serves.

Here's my issue with Patterson. There is a reason there are multiple websites and articles dedicated to third year wide receivers, because it usually takes them that long to get it. I'm just not buying this year. Next year I think I'll be more on board regardless of what happens this year, but I'm just not willing to gamble a 5th round pick on him being one of the guys that disproves the rule.

 

[averagejoe]

Bandit, I can buy into Patterson because of Norv. But I still view him as a risk since his career is not much to base mega-stardom on.

 

[The Foot]

Patterson:
can't believe that I'm siding with crazy man Brees here, but I don't even consider who is throwing him the ball when gauging his value.
I believe he is a supreme athlete that is still learning football. Didn't play the game until college (2yrs JUCO, only 1 at TENN), and he's in the NFL? That's rare, pure talent there, and he's working on getting the technique down.

Also don't forget MIN invested multiple picks to draft him at the end of the 1st rd. Made an impact his rookie year, so you know that Norv will be force feeding this guy the ball as his WR1.
He's been pretty good at that throughout his NFL coaching career, if my memory serves.

I agree with Monkey and crazy man brees too. His teammate said it best. "One day I will tell me grand kids I played with the great Cordarrell Patterson." Rare cutting ability for a bigger wr. Wait 1 in 1,047,485,374,845 rare cutting ability. And if he don't make you miss he can run by you! Talent like that can trump and bad QB and before this gets away from I will tone it down and say,"Yea, I kind of like him"

 

[Barilko]

Bandit great thread again...

Andre Johnson - great talent, 33, Fitzcrapstick throwing the ball...but good division/schedule??

yes sir TKO this one kills me --not knowing where the Man will fall Fitzy had a few nice gun slinging days with Stevie Johnson at the other end and Andre certainly has way more talent.yet i really can`t count on Fitz not to mention he hasnt even won the job yet--Andre is my fave player in the league and that is what drives a nail through my heart.

Houston may well be chasing the game and airing it out .Yes a solid D however too many 3 and outs will tire out that D and thus a second half potential airshow ergo: i really have no clue

While we are on Houston what about Foster,does he recover and excel again with 1 less year of ware and tear or maybe he never does recover and bounce back (Jeesh if he would just eat a steak i might bump him up to top 5


as for Cordarrelle ill support 2 pro comments

1-I agree with Monkey raw talent and hey Jimmy G didnt play football until very late in his youth either and he certainly shines daily

2-Foot loves Cordarrelle so....

 

[TREFF]

Patterson:
can't believe that I'm siding with crazy man Brees here, but I don't even consider who is throwing him the ball when gauging his value.
I believe he is a supreme athlete that is still learning football. Didn't play the game until college (2yrs JUCO, only 1 at TENN), and he's in the NFL? That's rare, pure talent there, and he's working on getting the technique down.

Also don't forget MIN invested multiple picks to draft him at the end of the 1st rd. Made an impact his rookie year, so you know that Norv will be force feeding this guy the ball as his WR1.
He's been pretty good at that throughout his NFL coaching career, if my memory serves.

Actually, outside of Michael Irvin, he's really never shown much of a tendency to favor the #1, and often times a TE or RB leads the team in receptions. Even last year with Gordon going apeshit, Jordan Cameron was only 7 receptions behind him. Just a quick peruse through his history from the mid 90's Cowboys, the redskins, Chargers, Phins, Raiders, Niners, Chargers (again), and the Browns, outside of the Irvin years, I didn't see a single year where the leading receiver had any more than 20 more catches than the second guy..except the year Larry Centers led the Skins by a wide margin. But, that doesn't mean anything bad for Patterson in and of itself, hopefully making sure Jennings and Rudolph are heavily involved will create some space for the guy to do what he does.

 

[TKOSpikes]

Jordan Matthews agrees with his Allen comparison!