On May 1, I had a pretty good sense of where to place around 50% of the guys on my Top 300 rankings. On the eve of releasing the first preseason rankings to everyone in mid-July, around 80%. Today I'm about 90% comfortable, in that most of the names are placed where I think they belong.
Most of the question marks are players in the top 250-300. I'm waiting for preseason position battles and team cuts to help make better sense of guys like Mike Glennon and Wendell Smallwood and Laquon Treadwell.
But one fairly high-profile guy is all over my mental draft board: Marcus Mariota. Up until a few days ago, he was around my 20th ranked QB, and that bothered me. With a QB-9 ADP and a widely held view that he's a breakout candidate, what was I missing?
For starters, as I've said before, this year's fantasy QBs are a competitive group; about 24 could be top 10 guys when the season wraps up. The Titans run the ball very well. Their defense improved this offseason. In 2016 the team threw the league's fifth fewest passes per game. How could I bank on Mariota to break out with a seemingly capped upside?
But Mariota is objectively one of the NFL's best young QBs. The additions of Corey Davis and Eric Decker should force us to throw 2016 out the window. And by the way, he was the 13th highest scoring fantasy QB in 2016 despite missing a game. So a top 10 finish should be reasonably expected.
I'm reserving the right to continue going back and forth on Mariota. For now he's #17 on my draft board. Smart people believe I'm overvaluing Ryan Tannehill (#16), Blake Bortles (#12), and even Ben Roethlisberger (#7). Mariota has all the tools to produce a 4,000/30 season, pushing him into the top 6. But the unknown quantity of Davis, the starting-the-downside-of-his-career Delanie Walker, and the run-focused offense are keeping me off the bandwagon.
I've talked a lot about Titans this past week, and I plan to talk about one more before the month's over. For now, interested in your thoughts on Mariota: Will he bust out, will he bust, or will he be the back-end QB1 we witnessed last year?
---
Tonight the Cowboys and Cardinals kick off the NFL's preseason schedule. There are many things to watch for in each of these games, but the two biggest are: is anyone getting a leg up in a depth chart battle, and is anyone getting seriously hurt.
We're entering the domino effect of the fantasy season, which will continue for the next five months. Every winner produces a loser. Every injury produces a replacement. The quicker we can react, the more effectively we can manage our team. Boost Post
Most of the question marks are players in the top 250-300. I'm waiting for preseason position battles and team cuts to help make better sense of guys like Mike Glennon and Wendell Smallwood and Laquon Treadwell.
But one fairly high-profile guy is all over my mental draft board: Marcus Mariota. Up until a few days ago, he was around my 20th ranked QB, and that bothered me. With a QB-9 ADP and a widely held view that he's a breakout candidate, what was I missing?
For starters, as I've said before, this year's fantasy QBs are a competitive group; about 24 could be top 10 guys when the season wraps up. The Titans run the ball very well. Their defense improved this offseason. In 2016 the team threw the league's fifth fewest passes per game. How could I bank on Mariota to break out with a seemingly capped upside?
But Mariota is objectively one of the NFL's best young QBs. The additions of Corey Davis and Eric Decker should force us to throw 2016 out the window. And by the way, he was the 13th highest scoring fantasy QB in 2016 despite missing a game. So a top 10 finish should be reasonably expected.
I'm reserving the right to continue going back and forth on Mariota. For now he's #17 on my draft board. Smart people believe I'm overvaluing Ryan Tannehill (#16), Blake Bortles (#12), and even Ben Roethlisberger (#7). Mariota has all the tools to produce a 4,000/30 season, pushing him into the top 6. But the unknown quantity of Davis, the starting-the-downside-of-his-career Delanie Walker, and the run-focused offense are keeping me off the bandwagon.
I've talked a lot about Titans this past week, and I plan to talk about one more before the month's over. For now, interested in your thoughts on Mariota: Will he bust out, will he bust, or will he be the back-end QB1 we witnessed last year?
---
Tonight the Cowboys and Cardinals kick off the NFL's preseason schedule. There are many things to watch for in each of these games, but the two biggest are: is anyone getting a leg up in a depth chart battle, and is anyone getting seriously hurt.
We're entering the domino effect of the fantasy season, which will continue for the next five months. Every winner produces a loser. Every injury produces a replacement. The quicker we can react, the more effectively we can manage our team. Boost Post