Week 1 Fantasy Football rankings for QB, RB, WR, and TE, plus Flex top-150 overall

Welcome to Week 1!

I know plenty of you have drafts remaining — I’ve got two Wednesday night, and if you still have yours coming up, our Draft Day Cheat Sheet has everything you need! — but for most Fantasy players, drafts are done and it’s time to stop fretting about your big board and start fretting about your lineup. We’ve got all week to do that, and we’ll learn about injuries and role changes throughout the week in practice leading up first to Thursday’s NFL opening between the Buccaneers and Cowboys and then into Sunday of Week 1, but today’s your first chance to check out our Week 1 rankings.

Head here to see rankings from Jamey Eisenberg, Dave Richard, and Heath Cummings, and make sure you tune into Fantasy Football Today on CBS Sports HQ at noon ET every day this week as they discuss and debate their rankings all the way through Sunday’s games — we’ll also be live on HQ Sunday morning from 11 a.m. to kickoff to help you set your lineups. 

And the FFT team has a whole lot more than that going on now that the season is starting, too. On Thursday at 2 p.m., I’ll be live on the FFT YouTube channel with Adam Aizer to take your start/sit questions and again Sunday at 11:30 through kickoff to do the same. That’s all at YouTube.com/FantasyFootballToday, so make sure to head there and subscribe to get notified every time we go live. 

It’s all about helping you set the best lineup every week all the way through your championship. Through the rest of the week, we’ll be blending in a bit of season preview content, including Fantasy MVP picks, Bold Predictions from the staff and everything else you need for last-minute draft prep. 

For now, here’s a first look at my Week 1 PPR rankings, and if you’ve got any lineup or trade questions, send them my way at Chris.Towers@CBSi.com! I’ll be doing a trade mailbag every Wednesday morning right here, with lineup questions all week long, so send those emails in with the subject line #AskFFT! 

Week 1 Rankings

This newsletter will be the only place you can find my rankings this season, and I’ll be including them every Tuesday morning to kick off the new Fantasy week moving forward. Along with my rankings — which will be updated throughout the week, obviously, so make sure you check back in before locking in your lineups! — I’ll include notes on some of the most interesting players with each update, beginning with today’s initial in-season rankings. My goal is to have commented on the majority of the players that matter each week. This newsletter will work in conjunction with my game previews which will be published every Friday.

Here are my initial rankings for Week 1!

Quarterbacks

Just like with the season-long rankings, I think there’s a gap between Mahomes and even the rest of the elite options at the position. The two biggest risers from the preseason rankings to Week 1 are Tom Brady and Matt Ryan, who both benefit from projected high-scoring games in offenses that figure to throw the ball a ton early on. Neither is widely available, so if you’re looking for a streamer, your best option is probably Ryan Fitzpatrick against the Chargers or Baker Mayfield against the Chiefs in a game he may be chasing points in. Among players you may have drafted with the intention of starting, I’m most concerned about Ben Roethlisberger and Jameis Winston. I want to see what both look like in their respective offenses before I trust them.

1. Patrick Mahomes
2. Josh Allen
3. Tom Brady
4. Kyler Murray
5. Lamar Jackson
6. Russell Wilson
7. Aaron Rodgers
8. Dak Prescott — I’m starting Prescott, but after he missed much of training camp coming off ankle surgery and a shoulder injury, I’m at least a little concerned about his first game, especially against a tough matchup and potentially playing without two starters on the line. 
9. Matthew Stafford
10. Matt Ryan
11. Jalen Hurts
12. Ryan Tannehill
13. Justin Herbert
14. Trevor Lawrence
15. Ryan Fitzpatrick
16. Joe Burrow — Burrow is another one I’m not quite sure what to expect from coming back from a serious injury. The Vikings defense wasn’t great last season, so hopefully this is a fairly soft landing, but I would hope you have a better option for Week 1. 
17. Jimmy Garoppolo — One of the most interesting things to keep an eye on in Week 1 will be how the 49ers use their quarterbacks. In the final preseason game, Garoppolo and Trey Lance were swapping off regularly as the 49ers worked on different looks, but that’s not an approach you ever really see in the NFL. Will Kyle Shanahan be willing to do it when the games count — and if so, how much might that limit the passing production?
18. Carson Wentz
19. Tyrod Taylor
20. Baker Mayfield
21. Kirk Cousins
22. Tua Tagovailoa — I’m high on Tagovailoa for the season, but he’s got a pretty tough slate to open the season, so I’ll want to see what he looks like before I trust him, especially with Will Fuller not playing in Week 1. 
23. Mac Jones
24. Derek Carr
25. Teddy Bridgewater
26. Andy Dalton
27. Sam Darnold
28. Ben Roethlisberger
29. Jameis Winston
30. Jared Goff
31. Zach Wilson
32. Daniel Jones 

Running backs

There’s not much change from the top of the preseason rankings to Week 1, but I’m putting my money where my mouth is with Mixon, and Clyde Edwards-Helaire and James Robinson rank a little higher than they did thanks to situations that should set up pretty well for them. My notes will focus on situations I want to really keep a close eye on in Week 1. 

1. Christian McCaffrey
2. Alvin Kamara
3. Dalvin Cook
4. Joe Mixon
5. Austin Ekeler
6. Derrick Henry
7. Aaron Jones
8. Najee Harris
9. Ezekiel Elliott 
10. James Robinson
11. Jonathan Taylor
12. David Montgomery
13. Antonio Gibson — Gibson hardly played on third down as a rookie, and that continued in the preseason. If he’s just a two-down back, it could be tough for him to live up to expectations, so if this one turns into a shootout, we want to see Gibson out there in passing situations. 
14. Nick Chubb
15. Clyde Edwards-Helaire — The Chiefs are expected to roll in this one, with the highest implied total of any team in Week 1. We’ll want to see Edwards-Helaire get whatever goal-line work is there, or else he could really tumble down the ranks. 
16. Chris Carson
17. Saquon Barkley — The expectation is Barkley won’t have his full role in Week 1, but I’ve still got him projected for 15-plus touches, including four receptions. If he’s well below that, then this will probably be an even slower start to the season than expected. 
18. Myles Gaskin
19. D’Andre Swift
20. Mike Davis
21. Darrell Henderson — I’m still projecting Henderson to be the lead back on early downs and in passing situations, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Sony Michel cut into either role right away. 
22. Miles Sanders
23. Josh Jacobs
24. Kareem Hunt
25. Gus Edwards — The Ravens rarely give any one back a huge workload — there have been just 17 games where a running back has 15-plus carries since Lamar Jackson became the starter. However, five of them came from Edwards in Jackson’s first seven starts. Does he get that kind of usage again? If so, this is too low. 
26. Chase Edmonds
27. Melvin Gordon — All preseason, Gordon has ended up higher in my projections than I ever feel comfortable actually ranking him. If he’s the lead back for the Broncos to start the season, however, he’s going to be a solid starter, whether we like it or not. 
28. Raheem Mostert
29. Javonte Williams
30. Damien Harris
31. Kenyan Drake
32. David Johnson — If the Texans are going to be chasing points, we could see quite a bit of Johnson even in his diminished role. They are severely depleted at wide receiver, so don’t be surprised if we see Johnson split out wide regularly. 
33. Jamaal Williams
34. J.D. McKissic
35. Devin Singletary
36. James Conner
37. James White
38. Tevin Coleman
39. Leonard Fournette — If Bernard’s ankle injury does keep him out Thursday, I would expect Fournette to be the beneficiary in the passing game, and he could be worth starting if that’s the case. Don’t overlook him when waivers run. 
40. Sony Michel
41. Michael Carter
42. Ronald Jones
43. AJ Dillon
44. Trey Sermon
45. Nyheim Hines
46. Benny Snell
47. Zack Moss
48. Malcolm Brown
49. Phillip Lindsay
50. Giovani Bernard
51. Ty’Son Williams
52. Wayne Gallman
53. Chris Evans
54. Jeremy McNichols
55. Tony Pollard
56. Darrel Williams
57. Devontae Booker
58. Kenneth Gainwell — I’ll be watching the passing downs very closely for the Eagles, because I could see Gainwell taking on a significant role right from the beginning and growing from there. If you’re going to look for a late-round RB to stash, a guy with a locked-in passing role would be the right place to start. 
59. Latavius Murray
60. Joshua Kelley

Wide receivers

Similarly, there isn’t much change at the top of the rankings from the preseason, but beyond that, there’s been quite a bit of movement. Mostly because there are so many talented rookies in the WR class this season who we have high hopes for this season but who we know may not have the roles we expect from Week 1. 

1. Davante Adams
2. DeAndre Hopkins — We didn’t see Hopkins in the preseason and he barely practiced as the Cardinals have been managing an ongoing ankle issue, and that probably won’t change once the season starts. However, he’s been playing through that issue for a few years and it hasn’t limited him yet, so I’m not expecting it to be an issue here. 
3. Stefon Diggs
4. Tyreek Hill
5. Calvin Ridley
6. A.J. Brown
7. Justin Jefferson
8. Tyler Lockett — Lockett over Metcalf? Yeah, sure! Metcalf over Lockett? Okay! You can flip flop these guys in my mind. I know Metcalf was drafted well ahead of Lockett, but I’ve had them pretty close all along, and expect both to be awesome.
9. D.K. Metcalf
10. Robert Woods
11. Terry McLaurin
12. Allen Robinson — Robinson’s got a tough matchup opening the season against Jalen Ramsey, and maybe that might scare you off a bit. That’s not unreasonable, but there’s no way I’m sitting Robinson in Week 1. You don’t draft a WR this early to play matchups. 
13. Julio Jones — I’m going to move forward with Jones as I have often in recent years: If he’s playing, I’m going to start him as if he’s healthy. The vague leg injury he’s dealt with throughout training camp is a bit of a concern for the 32-year-old, but he’s been moving in the right direction. 
14. Keenan Allen
15. Cooper Kupp
16. Amari Cooper
17. CeeDee Lamb — The Cowboys open the season with a tough matchup, but Cooper and Lamb are both solid No. 2 Fantasy WR for me. Hopefully, this one turns into the kind of shootout that made both of them so useful early on last season. 
18. Mike Evans — Evans could benefit from a larger target share if Chris Godwin’s quad injury limits or keeps him out for the opener, so we’ll be looking for details on that. 
19. D.J. Moore
20. Adam Thielen
21. Tee Higgins
22. Diontae Johnson
23. Jarvis Landry — With the Browns likely chasing points and Odell Beckham expected to be limited, Landry could be surprisingly productive in this one. 
24. Corey Davis
25. Tyler Boyd
26. Jerry Jeudy
27. Robby Anderson
28. Marquez Callaway — This is a pretty aggressive ranking for a guy who basically has one great half of football with Jameis Winston on his side, but I’m willing to be aggressive here since this range of WR doesn’t necessarily thrill me. 
29. Chris Godwin — We may not know much about Godwin’s status for Thursday night until pre-game warmups, so he’s a risky start as of now. I would lean toward sitting him if I have other reliable options, but that could all change come Thursday afternoon. 
30. Antonio Brown
31. Sterling Shepard
32. Brandin Cooks
33. Courtland Sutton
34. Kenny Golladay — It’s hard to know what to expect from Golladay after changing teams and missing most of training camp with a hamstring injury. His big-play skills make him a high-upside play every week, but it’s impossible to argue he’s not a risk right now. 
35. JuJu Smith-Schuster
36. Brandon Aiyuk
37. Deebo Samuel — Samuel and Aiyuk both draw a big ¯_(ツ)_/¯ from me this week. I love the potential for both to be breakout players based on their skill sets — Aiyuk as a more traditional alpha No. 1 WR while Samuel’s playmaking with the ball in his hands makes him a weapon all over the field for a clever offensive playcaller like Kyle Shanahan. However, George Kittle has been the unquestioned No. 1 whenever he’s been on the field, so I worry Aiyuk and Samuel will be fighting for a smaller pieces of a small-ish pie than we’d prefer. 
38. Chase Claypool
39. Michael Pittman — Is he ready to take on the No. 1 role without T.Y. Hilton? Is this offense going to be ready to roll after Carson Wentz missed so much of training camp — including most of the last week on the COVID list. Pittman is a high-upside season-long play, but a risk for Week 1. 
40. Emmanuel Sanders
41. Jaylen Waddle — We’ll see what the Dolphins offense looks like at full strength in Week 2, but I expect Waddle to be Tagovailoa’s top target in the opener, and his big-play ability makes him an intriguing flex play right away. 
42. Laviska Shenault
43. Jakobi Meyers — This feels too low for Meyers, admittedly, especially in PPR. My expectation is he’ll be either the 1a or 1b in this passing game alongside Jonnu Smith, but I also don’t think Hunter Henry will be far behind either, and James White will have his role, too. Add in what should be a pretty run-heavy approach, and I’m a little pessimistic about Meyers. But he’s a fine Flex play or a No. 3 if you’re desperate. 
44. Rondale Moore — This one is a bet that Moore will have a sizable role from Week 1, but it’s no sure thing. I prefer him as a high-upside dice roll for DFS than someone I want to start in seasonable leagues, because he may end up starting off as the No. 4 WR for the Cardinals. I’ll want to keep an eye on that one early on. 
45. Mecole Hardman
46. DJ Chark
47. Devante Parker
48. Ja’Marr Chase — This represents a drop of about 20 spots for Chase from the preseason, which might be too aggressive — and I would still be willing to start him in my flex if it came to that. I think there’s a world of upside, but after his poor preseason and training camp, I wonder if there might be training wheels on Chase early on. The Bengals have the depth to work him in slowly if they choose. 
49. Marvin Jones
50. Mike Williams
51. DeVonta Smith
52. Marquise Brown
53. Elijah Moore — If we get word Crowder has been ruled out, I could see moving Moore into the WR3 range. Remember, he was the talk of camp before a quad injury limited him in the second half of camp. 
54. Bryan Edwards
55. Parris Campbell — Campbell has a nice opportunity with T.Y. Hilton sidelined, and the Colts still seem to like him despite an NFL career marred by injuries through two seasons. We need to see him have a big role before trusting him, but he could be next week’s big waiver add. 
56. Henry Ruggs
57. Odell Beckham — My preference would be to avoid Beckham in Week 1, because it sounds like his snaps may be limited this week. If you’re looking for a DFS play or deeper-league stash, Donovan Peoples-Jones has earned rave reviews in camp and could get off to a nice start. 
58. Darnell Mooney
59. Jalen Reagor
60. Dyami Brown — With Curtis Samuel aggravating his groin injury in practice Wednesday, it looks like Brown could play a pretty big role in his NFL debut. He was overlooked throughout draft season, but Brown was a productive player in college who tested well athletically and could fill the deep-threat role I was envisioning for Samuel in the passing game. Ron Rivera called him, “a big play waiting to happen,” Wednesday. 
    
    

Tight ends

It’s the Big Three and everyone else here, too. Except even more so on a weekly basis, because you get reminded of how many tight ends are ultimately in that “TD or bust” group. It’s probably everyone outside of the top 10, to be honest. 

1. Travis Kelce
2. Darren Waller 
3. George Kittle — It seems like Kittle ended up a bit behind the other elite tight ends in most drafts toward the end, so it’ll be interesting to see just how the 49ers put their offense to use. We know the questions about quarterback, but there’s also the question of whether Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel will be able to cut into Kittle’s usage. So far, that hasn’t been the case, but we’ve seen very little of the three of them on the field together, so until the games matter, we won’t truly know. Still, he’s close to Waller than the rest of the field. 
4. Mark Andrews
5. Logan Thomas — Samuel’s re-injury also moved Thomas up a bit in my rankings, as he was No. 7 before. Thomas figures to be the clear No. 2 option in the passing game as long as Samuel is out, and this game has the potential to turn into a shootout despite two very good defenses going up against one another. Volume is king as tight end, and Thomas is one of the best bets for it this week. 
6. T.J. Hockenson
7. Kyle Pitts — We didn’t get to see enough of Pitts in the preseason to know how he’s going to be used, but the expectation remains that he’ll be more of a wide receiver than a tight end. Whether that means he’ll be able to avoid the growing pains that go along with learning to play tight end remains to be seen, but the upside is sky high. If he’s out there playing primarily out of the slot and split wide, Pitts is going to crush his ADP. 
8. Jonnu Smith
9. Mike Gesicki — Gesicki didn’t typically rank this high in the preseason, but with Will Fuller out for Week 1, he should be higher in the passing game hierarchy, and his downfield skills make him a viable starter most weeks, even if he’ll be frustrating. 
10. Noah Fant — Fant is expected to play in Week 1, but the fact that he’s already dealing with a leg injury is already frustrating. Fant has elite upside, but nagging injuries were an issue last season. Hopefully, they don’t continue to limit him. 
11. Tyler Higbee — Higbee burned a lot of people last year who were expecting a breakout, so the hype has been much more muted around him despite the upgrade from Jared Goff to Matthew Stafford. But, with Gerald Everett out of the picture, the breakout could very well come this season instead. 
12. Dallas Goedert
13. Hunter Henry
14. Austin Hooper
15. Zach Ertz — Over the summer, it seemed like a foregone conclusion Ertz would be traded. Now, it looks like he’s going to play a significant role. That puts both him and Goedert in “touchdown-or-bust” territory for me. 
16. Tyler Kroft
17. Robert Tonyan — I worry I’m too low on Tonyan, who earned a lot of praise in camp and very well could be the No. 3 target again. He played somewhat limited snaps last season and was touchdown-dependent, but if he’s got a bigger role, he could very well be a top-12 TE again. 
18. Jared Cook
19. Blake Jarwin — I don’t really know what to make of Dallas’ tight end situation, because there didn’t seem to be much separation between Jarwin and Dalton Schultz in camp. I’ll bet on Darwin being the top option there given that he was that before his injury in Week 1 last season, but it’s tough to view him as a starting option until we see that. 
20. Cole Kmet
21. Gerald Everett
22. Anthony Firkser
23. Rob Gronkowski
24. Eric Ebron

Flex Top 150

1. Christian McCaffrey
2. Alvin Kamara
3. Davante Adams
4. Dalvin Cook
5. DeAndre Hopkins
6. Stefon Diggs
7. Joe Mixon
8. Tyreek Hill
9. Austin Ekeler
10. Derrick Henry
11. Calvin Ridley
12. Aaron Jones
13. Najee Harris
14. Ezekiel Elliott
15. A.J. Brown
16. Allen Robinson
17. Justin Jefferson
18. James Robinson
19. Tyler Lockett
20. D.K. Metcalf
21. Jonathan Taylor
22. David Montgomery
23. Robert Woods
24. Nick Chubb
25. Antonio Gibson
26. Clyde Edwards-Helaire
27. Chris Carson
28. Julio Jones
29. Saquon Barkley
30. Amari Cooper
31. Myles Gaskin
32. Terry McLaurin
33. Keenan Allen
34. Cooper Kupp
35. CeeDee Lamb
36. D’Andre Swift
37. Mike Davis
38. Chris Godwin
39. Mike Evans
40. D.J. Moore
41. Darrell Henderson
42. Miles Sanders
43. Adam Thielen
44. Tee Higgins
45. Diontae Johnson
46. Jarvis Landry
47. Josh Jacobs
48. Corey Davis
49. Kareem Hunt
50. Tyler Boyd
51. Jerry Jeudy
52. Gus Edwards
53. Robby Anderson
54. Marquez Callaway
55. Chase Edmonds
56. Melvin Gordon
57. Antonio Brown
58. Deebo Samuel
59. Sterling Shepard
60. Raheem Mostert
61. Brandin Cooks
62. Brandon Aiyuk
63. Kenny Golladay
64. JuJu Smith-Schuster
65. Courtland Sutton
66. Chase Claypool
67. Michael Pittman
68. Emmanuel Sanders
69. Curtis Samuel
70. Jaylen Waddle
71. Laviska Shenault
72. Jakobi Meyers
73. Rondale Moore
74. Mecole Hardman
75. DJ Chark
76. Devante Parker
77. Kenyan Drake
78. Ja’Marr Chase
79. Javonte Williams
80. Marvin Jones
81. Mike Williams
82. David Johnson
83. DeVonta Smith
84. Marquise Brown
85. Jamaal Williams
86. Elijah Moore
87. Devin Singletary
88. Bryan Edwards
89. Damien Harris
90. Michael Pittman
91. James Conner
92. Henry Ruggs
93. Odell Beckham
94. James White
95. Darnell Mooney
96. Jalen Reagor
97. Tevin Coleman
98. Sammy Watkins
99. Marquez Valdes-Scantling
100. Michael Gallup
101. Leonard Fournette
102. Michael Carter
103. Ronald Jones
104. AJ Dillon
105. Trey Sermon
106. Nyheim Hines
107. Russell Gage
108. Donovan Peoples-Jones
109. Nelson Agholor
110. Benny Snell
111. J.D. McKissic
112. AJ Green
113. Parris Campbell
114. Zack Moss
115. Terrace Marshall
116. Malcolm Brown
117. Gabriel Davis
118. Josh Reynolds
119. Tyrell Williams
120. Allen Lazard
121. Amon-Ra St. Brown
122. Phillip Lindsay
123. Quintez Cephus
124. Giovani Bernard
125. Ty’Son Williams
126. Tre’Quan Smith
127. KJ Hamler
128. Demarcus Robinson
129. Wayne Gallman
130. Chris Evans
131. Christian Kirk
132. Jeremy McNichols
133. D’Wayne Eskridge
134. Tony Pollard
135. Olamide Zaccheaus
136. Darrel Williams
137. Devontae Booker
138. Hunter Renfrow
139. Sammy Watkins
140. Kenneth Gainwell
141. Latavius Murray
142. Joshua Kelley
143. Chris Conley
144. Kendrick Bourne
145. Tony Jones
146. Rashaad Penny
147. Denzel Mims
148. Carlos Hyde
149. Richie James
150. Rhamondre Stevenson