2011 Fantasy Football Rankings: Tight Ends (and Defenses and Kickers)

We've given you our 2011 fantasy football rankings for quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers, and if you haven't done so already, take a look at those before you proceed.

Go ahead, we'll wait.

OK, now that you've studied up on our previous rankings, your priorities are in order. We're of the opinion that you want to load up on the running backs and wide receivers throughout your draft, and that you should make sure to grab a top-tier quarterback and be done with that.

The latter is how we also feel about tight ends. Get a good one early, and don't even bother with a backup. The waiver wire will eventually offer plenty of pieces for you to plug in.

As for kickers and defenses, don't even bother worrying about either until the last two rounds. The big rallying cry from top fantasy football experts is to never draft a kicker before the last round, and we feel the same about defenses. We feel like the second-to-last-round is a perfect spot for your kicker. This way, you get one of your top-rated kickers before everybody else in the last round follows the advice of the so-called experts.

Defenses, meanwhile, are an equal crapshoot. Just pick one up in the last round and watch the waiver wire during the season, where a top 10 defense is sure to reside at some point early on.

The only rankings we'll provide here are our tight ends:

Tier 1

1. Antonio Gates

2. Jason Witten

3. Dallas Clark

4. Jermichael Finley

5. Vernon Davis

That's all we'll even bother to show you. Pick up one of these guys in the fourth or fifth round and be done with it. Kickers and defenses we'll trust you to figure out on your own.

Not a fan of fantasy football? (What's wrong with you?) Don't worry, we'll be back to betting on games as soon as they matter--starting with a pick in the Packers-Saints game season-opener on Sept. 8.

2011 Fantasy Football Rankings: Wide Receivers

The upcoming weekend is a big one in the world of fantasy football, coinciding with the third and most telling week of preseason action. We've knocked out our Quarterback and Running back rankings, and we're going to help you get ready for the weekend with our third installment of fantasy football position rankings, this time focusing on the wide receivers.



Tier 1

1. Andre Johnson

2. Roddy White

3. Calvin Johnson

4. Hakeem Nicks

5. Larry Fitzgerald

6. Greg Jennings

7. Reggie Wayne

8. Mike Wallace



Tier 2

9. Vincent Jackson

10. DeSean Jackson

11. Dwayne Bowe

12. Dez Bryant

13. Kenny Britt

14. Miles Austin

15. Santonio Holmes

16. Marques Colston

17. Brandon Marshall

18. Brandon Lloyd

19. Steve Johnson

Tier 3

20. Percy Harvin

21. Anquan Boldin

22. Wes Welker

23. Mike Williams (TB)

24. Jeremy Maclin

25. Mario Manningham

26. Chad Ochocinco

27. Sidney Rice

Tier 4

28. Santana Moss

29. Pierre Garcon

30. Austin Collie

31. Mike Sims-Walker

32. Mike Thomas

33. Steve Smith (CAR)

34. A.J. Green

35. Michael Crabtree

36. Robert Meachem

37. Julio Jones

38. Braylon Edwards

Tier 5

39. Malcolm Floyd

40. Roy Williams

41. Johnny Knox

42. Lee Evans

43. Jordy Nelson

44. James Jones

45. Jerome Simpson

46. Jacoby Ford

47. Plaxico Burress

48. Hines Ward

49. Davone Bess

50. Danny Amendola

51. Deion Branch

52. Derrick Mason

53. Donald Driver

54. Lance Moore

55. Steve Breaston

56. Emmanuel Sanders

57. Kevin Walter

58. Nate Burleson

59. Steve Smith (PHI)

60. Mike Williams (SEA)

61. Andre Roberts

62. Arrelious Benn

63. Jason Hill

64. Eddie Royal

For the wide receiver group, our tiers are expanded as there is only a slight difference between many of the players in the talent pool. The lesson here, as always, is get at least one guy in the top tier. If you are yourself with a top tier quarterback, running back, wide receiver, and tight end in the first four or five rounds, you'll be in good shape no matter how the rest of the draft shakes out.

2011 Fantasy Football Rankings: Running Backs

Ahhh running backs. The lifeblood of fantasy football. Or at least, they used to be, back when all 32 teams had a feature running back to take all the carries and rack up a ton of points. Not so anymore, which is where we come in to sort through them all and make sure you get the right ones.



Continuing our 2011 Fantasy Football series after unveiling our Quarterback Rankings last week, it's time to take a look at the top running backs in the the NFL--for fantasy purposes, anyway.



Tier 1

1. Adrian Peterson

2. Chris Johnson

3. Jamaal Charles

4. Arian Foster

5. Ray Rice



Tier 2

6. LeSean McCoy

7. Maurice Jones-Drew

8. Rashard Mendenhall

9. Darren McFadden

10. Frank Gore



Tier 3

11. Matt Forte

12. Steven Jackson

13. Michael Turner

14. Ahmad Bradshaw

15. Peyton Hillis



Tier 4

16. LeGarrette Blount

17. Knowshon Moreno

18. Jahvid Best

19. Shonn Greene



Tier 5

20. Mark Ingram

21. Daniel Thomas

22. Ryan Mathews

23. Felix Jones

24. DeAngelo Williams

25. Cedric Benson

26. Ryan Grant

27. Marshawn Lynch

28. Fred Jackson

29. BenJarvus Green-Ellis



Tier 6

30. Jonathan Stewart

31. Tim Hightower

32. Beanie Wells

33. Ryan Williams

34. Mike Tolbert

35. Michael Bush

36. Pierre Thomas

37. Joseph Addai

39. C.J. Spiller

40. James Starks



Tier 7

41. Brandon Jacobs

42. Reggie Bush

43. Danny Woodhead

44. Ryan Torain

45. Roy Helu

46. Darren Sproles

47. Rashad Jennings



Tier 8

48. LaDainian Tomlinson

49. Ronnie Brown

50. Willis McGahee

51. Thomas Jones

52. Ricky Williams



Tier 9

53. Montario Hardesty

54. Jerome Harrison

55. Javon Ringer

56. Bernard Scott

58. DeMarco Murray

59. Jason Snelling

60. Ben Tate

61. Marion Barber

62. Brandon Jackson

63. Delone Carter

64. Shane Vereen

65. Justin Forsett

66. Donald Brown

67. Toby Gerhart

68. Anthony Dixon

69. Cadillac Williams



The Running Back position, as you can see, has turned into one big clusterfudge in the fantasy football world. Just as we advised that you pick up a Tier 1 quarterback, that would be ideal with running backs as well, but definitely have at least one of the top 15 guys or you really don't know what you're getting.



The shortage of quality backs means, quite simply, just pick as many of them as you can. That 20-40 group can almost be flipped around without anybody putting up too much of a fight, which is quite the predicament for fantasy players looking to get a stud No. 2 back. So our advice is to stockpile the position and hope that your Tim Hightowers separate from your Ryan Torains.



At the top, there are more enticing options than Adrian Peterson, but old reliable gets our No. 1 nod for his consistency. Chris Johnson's holdout is a little fearful, as is Arian Foster without bruising fullback Vonta Leach, so we'd stick with Peterson as the first overall pick.



With QBs and RBs behind us, it's time to take a look at another seemingly convoluted position--wide receivers. Check back later this week for our WR rankings.

2011 Fantasy Football Rankings: Quarterbacks

We are finally back to football after last night's NFL action (albeit preseason) and we are celebrating by rolling out the first installment of our 2011 Fantasy Football rankings. In our first position ratings, we are naturally taking a look at quarterbacks.



While the position is often referred to as the most important position in football, it may just be the most important in fantasy football as well. Running backs and wide receivers will still rule the early rounds, but it's important to get a good QB early (we recommend making sure to get a guy in the first tier).



Without further ado, our 2011 Fantasy Football Quarterback Rankings:



Tier 1

1. Michael Vick

2. Aaron Rodgers

3. Drew Brees

4. Phillip Rivers

5. Tom Brady

6. Peyton Manning

7. Tony Romo



Tier 2

8. Matt Schaub

9. Matt Ryan

10. Ben Roethlisberger

11. Eli Manning

12. Joe Flacco



Tier 3

13. Matt Stafford

14. Josh Freeman

15. Sam Bradford

16. Jay Cutler

17. Kevin Kolb

18. Kyle Orton

19. Ryan Fitzpatrick

20. Donovan McNabb

21. Mark Sanchez

22. Matt Cassell



Tier 4

23. Colt McCoy

24. Cam Newton



As you see, we've broken the quarterbacks into convenient tiers. As we mentioned above, if you see some of the top quarterbacks flying off the board early, make sure to get one of the top seven (Romo is a controversial pick for the top tier that some might not feel comfortable with, so in that case, grab one of the top six).



Fantasy Football players are just starting to truly realize the importance of a consistent, reliable quarterback. Get one early and don't worry about it for the rest of the year.



After that, Tier 2 is mostly dependable starters who we feel will maintain their current production with no dropoff. There is a little more potential in Tier 3, along with a few players who we do, in fact, think have a dropoff coming (Josh Freeman, namely).



Finally, our last tier is just two deep: McCoy and Newton. If you're drafting a quarterback this late into the talent pool, go for the boom or bust guys who could break out rather than the consistently mediocre options such as Matt Hasselbeck or David Garrard.



Now that you have your signal-caller picked out, we'll continue with our series of 2011 Fantasy Football Rankings to help you fill out the rest of your fictional squad. Next up: Running backs.

Stock Lemon's 2011 Fantasy Football Rankings Coming Soon

Thankfully, it's football season yet again, where all your fantasies become realities.

For those of you who have been fantasizing about our 2011 Fantasy Football Rankings, wipe that drool from your lip and check back soon for our position-by-position ranks of the best of the NFL.

And since there will likely be very few Raiders in our rankings, fantasize about the picture above for as long as you can.

Check back soon for our rankings!

2010 Fantasy Football Rankings: Tight Ends

Alright, we were originally only going to roll out our 2010 Fantasy Football analysis for QBs, RBs and WRs. Due to more than a few requests, we will also post our TE analysis. However, we won't cover kickers and defense because, frankly, we don't want to encourage anyone to draft them before the final two rounds of their draft.

On that note, while it's become trendy for people who have no idea how to play fantasy football to say that you should ALWAYS draft a kicker in the final round, consider that all of your dopey league mates are thinking along those lines. We suggest taking a kicker in the second-to-last round and taking your defense last. Both positions aren't all that much different from top to bottom (unless you get one of the top two defenses--but they aren't always the same two as the previous year). This way, you can get one of your preferred kickers while also getting likely the same defense as you would in the second-to-last round (defenses tend to go waaaaay too early). Anyway, we digress. On to our top 20 TEs:

1. Antonio Gates SD 1

2. Jermichael Finley GB 1

3. Dallas Clark IND 1

4. Jason Witten DAL 1

5. Vernon Davis SF 1

6. Brent Celek PHI 1

7. Tony Gonzalez ATL 2

8. Zach Miller OAK 2

9. Owen Daniels HOU 2

10. Chris Cooley WAS 2

11. John Carlson SEA 3

12. Visanthe Shianco MIN 3

13. Greg Olsen CHI 3

14. Kellen Winslow, Jr. TB 4

15. Tony Scheffler DET 4

16. Heath Miller PHI 4

17. Dustin Keller NYJ 4

18. Kevin Boss NYG 4

19. Bo Scaife TEN 4

20. Jeremy Shockey NO 4

And with that, we conclude our 2010 Fantasy Football rankings--for real this time. Now that our fantasy content is finished, we can focus on the reality. The real deal is just weeks away, and just like last year, we will be the place to be for Free NFL Picks throughout the season (61% all-time).

Stay tuned!

2010 Fantasy Football Rankings: Wide Receivers

In our last installment of 2010 Fantasy Football Rankings, we're going to cover the wide receivers, listed in order of the least coverable wide receivers. Once again, we've used a tier system to determine value, which is the mystery number to the right of each player's team. Enjoy!

1 Andre Johnson HOU 1
2 Randy Moss NE 2
3 Calvin Johnson DET 2
4 Larry Fitzgerald ARI 2
5 Reggie Wayne IND 2
6 Greg Jennings GB 2
7 Roddy White ATL 2
8 Miles Austin DAL 2
9 Brandon Marshall MIA 2
10 DeSean Jackson PHI 2
11 Anquan Boldin BAL 3
12 Marques Colston NO 3
13 Steve Smith CAR 3
14 Michael Crabtree SF 3
15 Chad Ochocinco CIN 3
16 Mike Sims-Walker JAC 4
17 Robert Meachum NO 4
18 Hakeem Nicks NYG 4
19 Mike Wallace PIT 4
20 Hines Ward PIT 4
21 Sidney Rice MIN 4
22 Steve Smith NYG 4
23 Dwayne Bowe KC 4
24 Vincent Jackson SD 4
25 Kenny Britt TEN 4
26 Wes Welker NE 4
27 Percy Harvin MIN 4
28 Donald Driver GB 4
29 Santana Moss WAS 4
30 Terrell Owens CIN 4
31 Pierre Garcon IND 5
32 Dez Bryant DAL 5
33 Malcolm Floyd SD 5
34 Jeremy Maclin PHI 5
35 Devin Aromashodu CHI 5
36 Derrick Mason BAL 5
37 Lee Evans BUF 5
38 T.J. Houshmandzadeh SEA 5
39 Braylon Edwards NYJ 5
40 Steve Breaston ARI 6
41 Mohammad Massaquoi CLE 6
42 Devin Hester CHI 6
43 Chaz Shilens OAK 6
44 Demaryius Thomas DEN 6
45 Santonio Holmes NYJ 6
46 Jacoby Jones HOU
47 Mike Williams TB
48 Donnie Avery STL
49 Johnny Knox CHI
50 Mario Manningham NYG
51 Devin Thomas WAS
52 Golden Tate SEA
53 Laurent Robinson STL
54 Arrelious Benn TB
55 Chris Chambers KC
56 Nate Burleson DET
57 Eddie Royal DEN
58 Julian Edelman NE
59 Jabar Gaffney DEN
60 Davone Bess MIA
61 Josh Morgan SF
62 Austin Collie IND
63 Jerricho Cotchery NYJ
64 Roy Williams DAL
65 Bernard Berrian MIN
66 Devery Henderson NO
67 Kevin Walter HOU
68 Antonio Bryant CIN
69 Dexter McCluster KC
70 Earl Bennett CHi

2010 Fantasy Football Rankings: Running Backs

We know it's a busy fantasy football draft weekend, so we're going to go right ahead and hammer out our running back rankings. Much like the Quarterbacks, we've listed tiers after each player's team so as to help divide them into groups when picking between positions. Say a tier 2 RB is available and there are still 4 tier 2 WR's. Simply follow the tier and you'll have a good year.

1 Chris Johnson TEN 1
2 Adrian Peterson MIN 1
3 Maurice Jones-Drew JAC 2
4 Ray Rice BAL 2
5 Frank Gore SF 2
6 Michael Turner ATL 3
7 Steven Jackson STL 3
8 Rashard Mendenhall PIT 4
9 Jamaal Charles KC 4
10 Ryan Matthews SD 4
11 Pierre Thomas NO 5
12 DeAngelo Williams CAR 5
13 Ryan Grant GB 5
14 Cedric Benson CIN 5
15 Knowshon Moreno DEN 5
16 Beanie Wells ARI 5
17 Shonn Greene NYJ 5
18 LeSean McCoy PHI 5
19 Jonathan Stewart CAR 5
20 Felix Jones DAL 5
21 Matt Forte CHI 5
22 Jahvid Best DET 6
23 Ben Tate HOU 6
24 Montario Hardesty CLE 6
25 Fred Jackson BUF 6
26 Justin Forsett SEA 6
27 Michael Bush OAK 6
28 Brandon Jacobs NYG 7
29 Ronnie Brown MIA 7
30 Joseph Addai IND 7
31 Jerome Harrison CLE 7
32 Darren McFadden OAK 7
33 C.J. Spiller BUF 7
34 Ahmad Bradshaw NYG 7
35 Ricky Williams MIA 7
36 Tim Hightower ARI 7
37 Marion Barber DAL 7
38 Clinton Portis WAS 7
39 Cadillac Williams TB 7
40 Reggie Bush NO 7
41 Darren Sproles SD 7
42 Arian Foster HOU 8
43 Donald Brown IND 8
44 Thomas Jones KC 8
45 Chester Taylor CHI 8
46 Laurence Maroney NE 8
47 LaDanian Tomlinson NYJ
48 Steve Slaton HOU
49 Willis McGahee BAL
50 Marshawn Lynch BUF
51 Jason Snelling ATL
52 Tashard Choice DAL
53 Derrick Ward TB
54 Bernard Scott CIN
55 Javon Ringer TEN
56 Leon Washington SEA
57 Correll Buckhalter DEN
58 Mike Bell PHI
59 Julius Jones SEA
60 Kevin Smith DET

2010 Fantasy Football Rankings: Quarterbacks

We've been teasing you for weeks, but finally we are ready to unveil or 2010 Fantasy Football Rankings. Naturally, we'll start with quarterbacks. As you'll see, we've ranked them into tiers, which are listed after their team name.


1. Aaron Rodgers GB 1
2. Drew Brees NO 1
3. Peyton Manning IND 1
4. Tony Romo DAL 1
5. Philip Rivers SD 2
6. Tom Brady NE 2
7. Matt Schaub HOU 2
8. Jay Cutler CHI 3
9. Brett Favre MIN 3
10. Eli Manning NYG 3
11. Carson Palmer CIN 4
12. Joe Flacco BAL 4
13. Matt Ryan ATL 4
14. Donovan McNabb WAS 4
15. Kevin Kolb PHI 4
16. Vince Young TEN 5
17. Alex Smith SF 5
18. Matt Stafford DET 5
19. Matt Cassell KC 5

20. Ben Roethlisberger PIT 6
21. Chad Henne MIA 6
22. David Garrard JAC 6
23. Kyle Orton DEN 6
24. Mark Sanchez NYJ 6
25. Matt Leinart ARI 6

Stay tuned for more rankings to come!

Let's Begin Our Fantasy...

We promise our Fantasy Football predictions are on the way, but allow us to buy some more time by posting a picture of a different football fantasy.

Today, we are all Cowboys fans.

Fantasy Football Fever is Here!

Finally, fantasy football is coming to Stock Lemon. And no, not the kind of football fantasies depicted above.

With the usual downtime for our picks in July and August, fantasy football will provide a perfect source of entertainment and content for you to enjoy.

We will have rankings for every position (QB, RB, WR, TE, K, D) and give our sleepers and our busts (or lemons).

Make Stock Lemon your home for 2010 Fantasy Football Rankings and Analysis as we begin our extensive NFL coverage a little early this year.

Stay tuned, this is all coming soon!