Overall rankings for 2021 fantasy football

UPDATE 6/8

The biggest news since our last update was Julio Jones being traded to the Titans for draft picks. It wasn’t the best spot for Jones to land, as the Titans rather run than throw and A.J. Brown will compete for targets, but there is upside for touchdowns to buoy Jones’ fantasy numbers. Brown falls while Jones stays in a similar spot.

I already had Matt Ryan fairly low, so kept him in the same range. He still has Ridley, who I boosted into the first tier and Kyle Pitts. The Falcons throw enough for there to be some upside there, but not enough for me to be that interested in Ryan as a starter.

Ryan Tannehill gets a boost and now has much higher upside if the Titans defense can’t keep them close enough to run the ball as much as they’d like. He’ll likely need to throw in some rushing touchdowns to truly get to a spot where you can count on him, but that ability is there.

The NFL Draft is over and free agency signings are down to a trickle. We will continue to see impactful moves that will push the rankings around a bit, but for the most part we are set at the fantasy skill positions. That means it’s time to see where we are in the 2021 fantasy football rankings. Closer to the season, we’ll split this up into standard and PPR, but until then, let’s go with .5 point PPR scoring.

Rankings at this time of the year are still fluid, but it’s good to get an idea of value throughout the offseason, as it allows you to watch trends with some perspective and maybe not jump on bandwagons unless absolutely necessary.

Draft Fallout

Quarterbacks

We already knew where Zach Wilson and Trevor Lawrence were going, but the 49ers taking Trey Lance gave him an immediate boost in fantasy value. At this point the only thing holding back his ascension in the rankings is Jimmy Garoppolo. The 49ers could keep Garoppolo at the helm while Lance learns the offense and his timetable would be hard to gauge for fantasy. But, if Garoppolo is traded before the season starts, I’m all in on Lance with Kyle Shanahan guiding him.

Mac Jones landed in a good spot for his longterm development, but this season might still be a bit early to see him put up fantasy numbers. It’s not out of the question, but he remains down on my list. In the end, Lawrence and Lance are my favorites for production, while Justin Fields has upside if he can get on the field early in the season.

Running backs

Everyone thought Harris was going to be drafted by the Steelers and it happened. But that doesn’t make it less of a positive for Harris’ fantasy prospects. The Steelers are one of the few teams still willing to give a back three-down work and with the lack of depth at running back, the Steelers are almost forced to get Harris 20+ touches a game. He’s going to put up fantasy points.

Javonte Williams and Travis Etienne both landed in spots where they will need to compete for touches. Williams will have Melvin Gordon in his way in Denver while Etienne will need to fight for touches with UDFA phenom James Robinson.

Wide Receivers

None of the top receivers landed in a spot where they have a direct route to WR1 targets. Ja’Marr Chase has Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd to deal with while Devonta Smith has a green quarterback in Jalen Hurts and lot of question marks overall for the Eagles offense. But that does at least give him a shot at WR1 targets early on.

Elijah Moore has room to pick up work and targets early on, but it’s hard to love the offense out of the gates. but Moore is one of my favorite rookies and I could see him forcing himself in to the fantasy scene earlier than later. The same can be said for Rashod Bateman in Baltimore and Rondale Moore in Arizona, but I just don’t see their target share getting to the percentage it needs to be for consistency.

Tight Ends

Kyle Pitts is the only tight end we can count on to get playing time early in the season and with his draft stock I’d expect the Falcons to find a way to get him targets even if he doesn’t have his blocking assignments mastered.