Rankings Update + Analysis and Explanation - Alex's Rankings = This Blog Post

I've been told I sleep too much. Maybe that's true, because this week I feel like I just came out of hibernation. I breathed in that fresh air that smells of the fast approaching autumn... and then walked back inside to turn on the tube and watch some football. Preseason! The NFL Regular Season's ugly stepsister! It's good for warming up players who are already in world class shape, showing franchises that, on the field, their rookie first round picks were redonkulously overapid, and helping teams decide between Shaun Hill and J. O'Sullivan. It's kind of pointless. It's kind of great. And it kind of gives me an excuse to continue to flip flop between Jerious Norwood and Chris Johnson and pass it off as updated, top notch, fantasy rankings and analysis. Alrighty! QB 1 Peyton Manning 2 Tom Brady 3 Tony Romo 4 Drew Brees 5 Carson Palmer 6 Ben Roethlisberger 7 Matt Hassleback 8 Donovan McNabb 9 Jay Cutler 10 Marc Bulger 11 Derek Anderson 12 David Garrard 13 Matt Schaub 14 Jason Campbell 15 Brett Favre 16 Jake Delhomme 17 Philip Rivers 18 Aaron Rodgers 19 Jon Kitna 20 Eli Manning 21 Matt Leinart 22 Tarvaris Jackson 23 JaMarcus Russell 24 Trent Edwards 25 Kurt Warner 26 Vince Young 27 Jeff Garcia 28 J. O'Sullivan 29 Kyle Orton 30 Sage Rosenfels 30 Matt Ryan 31 Troy Smith 32 Brodie Croyle 33 Kellen Clemens 34 Brady Quinn 35 Joe Flacco Tier 1: - Dropped Palmer from the top tier just because Chad Johnson proved this week that he still does not have any sanity in his being and a quarterback with an insane #1 wide receiver is not good - All four guys left in the tier have the ability to pass for 4000 yards and 30 touchdowns and are all justifiable third or even second round picks, but read: not first round Tier 2: - Some questions surround all three of these guys, so I'm not confident they can put up numbers that will carry your team, but all are solid starters Tier 3: - The last of the decent starting quarterbacks, pick and choose your two favorite and take 'em both in rounds 6-9 if you can, it's the Costco QB strategy, get quality and quantity at a cheaper price Tier 4: - You really don't want a backup quarterback that's not from this group unless you have Brady or Manning, the rest of the QB's are bunk Tiers 5 and 6: - I've seen different people find upside in some of these guys, the truth is that none of them are solid, a few of them don't suck and you can get by with them, but you don't want to look forward to drafting any of them RB 1 Ladainian Tomlinson 2 Brian Westbrook 3 Steven Jackson 4 Joseph Addai 5 Adrian Peterson 6 Clinton Portis 7 Frank Gore 8 Marshawn Lynch 9 Larry Johnson 10 Marion Barber 11 Willis McGahee 12 Ryan Grant 13 Jamal Lewis 14 Maurice Jones-Drew 15 Brandon Jacobs 16 Earnest Graham 17 Thomas Jones 18 Kevin Smith 19 Willie Parker 20 Jonathan Stewart 21 Lawrence Maroney 22 Edgerrin James 23 Ronnie Brown 24 Selvin Young 25 Reggie Bush 26 Matt Forte 27 Justin Fargas 28 LenDale White 29 Darren McFadden 30 Fred Taylor 31 Julius Jones 32 DeAngelo Williams 33 Rashard Mendenhall 34 Rudi Johnson 35 Jerious Norwood 36 Felix Jones 37 Duece McCalister 38 Ricky Williams 39 Chris Johnson 40 Chester Taylor 41 Maurice Morris 42 Ahmad Bradshaw 43 Chris Brown 44 Kenny Watson 45 Derrick Ward 46 Andre Hall 47 Sammy Morris 48 Ray Rice 49 Chris Perry 50 Ahman Green 51 Kolby Smith 52 Leon Washington 53 Brian Calhoun 54 Brandon Jackson 55 Jacob Hester 56 Jason Wright 57 Antonio Pittman 58 Kevin Faulk 59 Ladell Betts 60 Fred Jackson Tier 1: - Yes Adrian Peterson is at 5. I'm not going to use a top pick on an elite back that I don't trust to play a full season when I can use a top pick on an elite back who will actually play 16 games. Tier 2: - Moved Lynch up a few spots and set these three in their own tier just because there's some major questions and doubts about the top couple backs below them Tier 3: - If you're going to take a running back in the second round make sure it's someone in this group - Dropped McGahee a bit with the news that his injury is more troubling than originally expected and how Ray Rice is really impressing coaches in camp Tier 4: - Third round running backs - I like Kevin Smith more than a lot of people, most don't have him this high - Lawrence Maroney is not a third round draft pick, he's not in this tier Tier 5: - Some ok #2 running backs still in this group, but don't reach for any of them, some probably will drop even farther - Fargas is ahead of McFadden, the Oakland duo will be more along the lines of Duece/Bush this first year than Taylor/Peterson Tier 6: - The best of the complimentary, rbbc backs, take them as #3 guys Tier 7: - # 4 backs - As crazy as it is, Ricky Williams is a solid pick, Ronnie Brown is no different than any other back coming off an ACL injury, it'll take him more than a year to get back to 100% Tier 8: - Handcuffs, guys in timeshares, and late round fliers for the most part in this group WR's and TE's coming tomorrow This format was really retarded, It'll be different next week