Sorting players by position is an important part of fantasy football preparation, but grouping them into tiers is crucial to identifying the value you might be leaving in the recruiting room. If you’re on the clock and looking at multiple quarterbacks on the same level, it might make sense to wait for a round – someone just as good will likely be available with your next pick.
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Levels can also help group players with similar expectations, whether that means grouping trustworthy veterans or risky young players with perks. Either way, we don’t want to pay more than the next editor for a similar player.
LEVEL 1 – RB1: TESTED TALENT AND ELITE USE
Christian McCaffrey, Carolina Panthers
Saquon Barkley, New York Giants
Ezequiel Elliott, Dallas Cowboys
Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints
Dalvin Cook, Minnesota Vikings
These five runners rank in the top five of the consensus in the PFF rankings and should be among the top six picks on the board in fantasy drafts.
Each one is young, talented and in a premium usage situation. Unless there is an injury, expect everyone except Alvin Kamara to approach 65% of their respective teams’ career attempts and 65% of carries within the 5-yard line. Everyone is likely to run a route on over 65% of their team’s pass attempts and get a target share of 10% or more.
This group barely leaves the field, isolating their weekly floors against the bad game scripts.
Kamara makes up for a carry discrepancy with her integral role in the Saints’ passing game. Last year, he averaged 19% target participation in games played and saw 53% of career attempts within the 5-yard line despite missing two weeks.
Saquon Barkley draws the toughest schedule for runners in the first 12 games based on the PFF Schedule Strength metric. Christian McCaffrey, Ezekiel Elliott, and Kamara aren’t doing too badly, but their schedules are projected worse than average.
Dalvin Cook has the eighth most manageable schedule, but he is in potential resistance and has a complicated history of injury. If you’re risk averse, Cook is the type to pass for Michael Thomas if the opportunity presents itself.
LEVEL 2 – RB1: ROAD TO THE USE OF ELITE BUT WITHOUT PROOF
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