This post isn’t really a prediction. I can’t foresee injuries, adds and drops. I have no clue who Bob will get to give-up his best player for an injured running back. I can’t say for certain which superstar I’ll sent to Colby for a bucket of peanuts and a signed head shot of Tucker. Instead, this is more of a preseason ranking.

I’ll be honest, I’m not easily impressed. However, I was certainly impressed with the balance in this draft. Looking over all the rosters, I can say without any doubt that no one drafted themselves out of a playoff spot. And that’s all that matters. Remember, the league motto: Just make the playoffs and win three games. Of course, all because all the teams had playoff quality drafts, that doesn’t mean one man alone doesn’t stand above the rest. That one, is Rich Calderon.

#1 THE DICK-TATERS (Rich Calderon)

KNEES & FEET, OH MY!  With a trio of stud keepers in his back pocket, Calderon decided to roll some dice with his first two picks, grabbing Todd Gurley and Antonio Brown. When healthy, Gurley is the best back in football, nearly giving Patrick Mahomes a run for his money when it came time to hand out the league MVP reward. Yet, that knee. He was so bad at the end of last year, he was a shell of a shell of himself. Calderon did manage to secure his handcuff and will hold onto him like it was gold, but the problem isn’t so much with Gurley missing games, but Gurley getting a reduced load. As for Brown, he’s been an All-Robio talent four straight seasons, but now seems to be on the verge of a Terrell Owens-style blow up. If he’s motivate to “fuck the Steelers” and doesn’t get to unhappy about the losing the Raiders will most certainly do, he still is capable of being a 1st-team All-Robio talent. Of course, speaking of talent, Brown might not even see the field much.

THE HANDS Oh, the hands. Thanks to keepers, Rich walks into the 2019 season with not one, not two, but three serious contenders for an All-Robio award at receiver. DeAndre Hopkins could be the best wideout in football, Thielen was the best for the first half of last year and then Brown is sitting there on the bench.

TIGHT ENDS, NOT SO TIGHT If Rich has a week spot, it’s gotta be at tight end and that could prove to be a stretch. Mark Andrews had a solid rookie campaign last year, but can he make that leap to sit among the top-six. At this point, I wonder if he might regret not passing on Antonio Brown (even though I think he’s going to be good this year) and not grabbing George Kittle in round two. With Kittle and a healthy Gurley, we could be talking about the greatest lineup ever produced.

THE BENCH Smartly, Rich got both handcuffs for both his starting backs. He got a solid top-10 quarterback (Russell Wilson), in case Aaron Rodgers goes down. Obviously, Antonio Brown could be the best player in the league sitting on the pine. However, my dark horse starter is Derrius Guice. Calderon should be excited about Nick Chubb. He’s going to put up top-5 numbers as the only option in Cleveland. However, once Kareem Hunt comes back and gets his sea legs under him, how is that going to work? Hunt was pretty damn good in Kansas City. By that time, Purple Jesus may be fading in Washington and Guice (a full year removed from an ACL tear), could be the starter in a run-heavy offense.

#2 KAMARA SUTRA (Don Vozzola) 

DAMN, THOSE KEEPERS While Calderon has three solid keepers, Don is the one who is walking in with two guys who will be favorite to earn first-team All-Robio awards. That’s a pleasant way to start a season. Tyreek may be the beater of women and the breaker of children’s arms, but the NFL says that’s okay, so once again, he should be the favorite target of the best quarterback playing in the most productive offense. Kamara will once again share the backfield, this time with Latavius Murray, but he’s definitely option one in a high-scoring offense that will continue to pound the ball more, as Drew Brees inches closer to 50.

KNOW YOUR VALUE Like I said in my first thoughts post-draft, Matt Ryan will have a solid season. I’m a little worried about that Atlanta line, but he’s got two amazing targets (Julio, Calvin), a decent tight end and a running back (Freeman), who can turn five-yard catches into 50-yard scores. Yet, second round? Matt Ryan, even now, is projected to be a six-round pick (5th quarterback off the board). You have to wait on quarterbacks (unless you’re taking Pat Mahomes). He would have easily been an available in round three, I believe he would have been around for Don in round 5. Instead, that pick should have been George Kittle or Amari Cooper/Brandin Cooks type receiver.

RUNNING BACKS WIN FANTASY The NFL may be trying their hardest to make the star running back obsolete, but in remains true to this day, if you want a fantasy championship, the surest way there is a stud backfield. We already know what Kamara can do. Two seasons into his career and he already has two All-Robio awards (second & third team). He fits right into what the NFL running back is becoming. In fact, two seasons in, he has never carried the ball 200 times in a year. However, he has back-to-back 81-receptions. All he needs is a few more touchdowns to become the best. As for Mixon, despite missing two games last year, he still recorded nearly 1,200 rushing, thanks to averaging 4.9 yards per carry. He’s the only real option on an average Cincinnati offense, so look for his carries to peak at about 280 for the year.

BARE BENCH Don’s starting five of Ryan, Kamara, Mixon, Hill and Golladay are easily an elite group, hence, Don’s high ranking on this list. However, I’m not as impressed with that bench. Tom Brady is a solid backup and will probably get some spot starts based on matchups. James White has his moments, because he catches so many of Brady’s passes, but he’s tough to predict. Don went double rookie receiver with Samuel and Brown. Rookie receivers don’t typically do much in fantasy, which leaves Jarvis Landry as his best option at wideout coming off the line. No offense to Dede Westbrook…but being the best wide receiver in Jacksonville is like saying I’m the sexiest man on my block. If anything, that just says more about my block.

#3 FREAKS & ZEKE (ROBIO)

BEST BACKFIELD IN FOOTBALL? Obviously, with Zeke back I the fold, it’s a fair question to ask. Zeke has averaged 311 fantasy points per game since he joined the Cowboys. No one has more. James Conner, before he got hurt, made everyone forget about Le’Veon Bell. If the latter can stay healthy and keep Samuel on the bench, I should have two 1st-team All-Robio backs, week in and week out.

WHEN YOU GO BLACK, YOU DON’T GO BACK I penciled in Lamar Jackson as my starter months ago. He was the guy I wanted to get, especially that late in the draft. I love me some running quarterbacks. Obviously, injuries are always a concern, but with this guy’s legs, he can easily challenge Michael Vick for most yards rushing in a season by a quarterback. If Jackson approaches that, I’m gold.

NO SWING, BUT STILL MISSES In rounds two and three, I really wanted Amari Cooper and Brandin Cooks, but both were taken ahead of me. Thus, I settled for Woods and Edelman. The former had 1,200 yards last year and the latter would have if he played in more than nine games. They’re both consistent veterans. Still, for me to compete for a title, I need to hope I can package one of these guys and a running back for an elite wideout at some point this season.

LOADED BENCH I feel good about my bench. I got Aaron Jones, a potential RB1, sitting on the pin. If he performs well this season, he could be potential trade bait for that missing receiver. I got my most important handcuff in Pollard. I feel good with Trubisky as a backup and I think Larry Fitzgerald might have one more good year in him.

#4 BELLS PALSY (Matt Neatock)

FLY LIKE AN EAGLE Coming off a late season ACL, Carson Wentz didn’t start until week three and proved to be okay last year. He produced six 300-point games and had a TD-to-INT ratio of 3:1. That’s not bad. However, before getting hurt, he was the best quarterback in football (33 touchdowns to seven interceptions in 2017). Matt needs 2017 Wentz to return and I suspect he’ll certainly be a top-five quarterback this season, after throwing for 40 touchdowns.

WHO HAS MATT’S BACK? With Saquon Barkley, Matt has arguable the best back in fantasy. We know he’s going to get a ton of touches and he’ll do something with those touches. Leo Fournette also gets a lot of touches. He got over 300 touches as a rookie and had half that much last year in half the amount of games. The problem is, Fournette does so much less with it. After averaging 3.9 yards per carry in 2017, he dropped to 3.3 last year. With Nick Foles in the mix, perhaps they’ll be more space to roam, but is it me or does it seem like the Jaguars are desperate to unload this man?

WIDEOUTS: HELP WANTED If you believe CBS, Matt has the worst pair of receivers in the league this year. T.Y. Hilton, without Luck, is ranked 38th, while D.J. Moore is two spots higher. The latter had a solid rookie campaign with 788 yards receiving and actually started in fantasy towards the end of the season, but he’s going to need to make a significant jump to be a weekly fantasy starter. As for Hilton, we all know what he can do when healthy. Last year he produced six 200+ games, including two 400-point games, but that was with Andrew Luck. The year Luck missed, Hilton finished just 17th.

X-FACTOR LeSean McCoy getting cut by the Bills was the best thing to happen to Neatock, as the former Eagle landed with his former head coach in Kansas City. For now, McCoy is just a glorified backup, but if Damien Williams falters, McCoy could find himself in the perfect situation.

#5 Baker’s Dozen (Richard Burrier) 

CARRY ON, CARSON Over the last seven weeks of last season, Chris Carson was one of the best backs in football and during our postseason, no one was better, as he scored over 300 in his final three contests. Despite the presence of both Penny and Davis and despite missing two games due to injury, Carson got 247 carries and averaged 4.7 yards per carry, producing 1,151 yards. This year, Mike Davis is gone and I expect the Seahawks to once again jam it down the throats of opponents with a ton of Carson.

BAKER’S 300  The Browns are everyone’s favorite team this year. They’re expected to return to the playoffs for the first time in forever and some are even whispering Super Bowl. Why? Because of Baker Mayfield. The second year quarterback is expected to avoid the sophomore slump and make that leap forward, thanks to the addition of Beckham and eventually Kareem Hunt. With the way we do scoring, an elite quarterback can take teams a long way.

WHICH #2 CAN BE A #1?  Both Phillip Lindsay (RB) and Mike Williams (WR) are low-end twos at their respected position. Not great if you’re looking to make a run at the mug. For Lindsay, he was a surprise star last season, but word is, the Broncos backfield will be a timeshare with Freeman. Mike Williams was a touchdown machine last year, scoring ten times on just 43 catches. With Tyrell Williams gone, as is Melvin Gordon and Antonio Gates, there are more balls to get and there are only so many times Keenan Allen can be thrown at. Look for Williams to become another Plaxico Burress and to make a leap to high-end WR2 by adding 25 more receptions, 300 more yards and keep his touchdown total in the low double-digits.

A BENCH WITH POTENTIAL Burrier snagged a bunch of handcuffs at running back, led by Justin Jackson, as well as Penny, Samuels and Damien Harris. The reality is, only Jackson is going to get significant playing time. Penny would be okay in a flex PPR league, but mostly, these guys need injuries from others to become starters in fantasy. The guy I like though is Curtis Samuel. There will be plenty of times this season he will be the best receiver in Carolina.

#6 DUDELOVE (MICHAEL)

BEST OF THE REST When you don’t get to walk into a season with the league’s best keepers, it’s important you get good everywhere you can…and that everywhere includes both defense and kicker. Michael was wise enough to be the first man to grab a defense and the first man to grab a kicker. Both the Bears DST and the Bears DST will battle for the top spot and those extra points at those positions can decide the tight games.

SUPER BOWL HANGOVER History has taught us that the other team not named the Patriots usually suffers through a Super Bowl hangover. The Eagles last year (although they did make the playoffs). The Falcons the year before. And so on. The Rams have all their pieces and we’re told a healthy Gurley, so there is no reason why Jared Goff can’t be an elite quarterback. He’s got every weapon by a dominate tight end and should be able to repeat his 4,500+ yards and 30+ scores….of course, this is the same guy who through just seven touchdowns and eight interceptions in his final eight games (including post).

INGRAM THE X-FACTOR With two stud receivers and a Dalvin Cook, who I expect to make a big leap forward this year, the only real mystery is Mark Ingram. He seemingly joined a perfect situation. The Ravens love to run the ball, turning Gus Edwards into a fantasy star last year. From what I can tell, the backfield belongs to Ingram. Yet, one of the more popular sleepers out there all offseason has been Justice Hill. If that rookie sneaks carries away from Ingram, Mike will have some struggles, as he has nothing worthy on his bench.

#7 FLORIDA MAN…& NY WOMAN (Mr & Mrs. Coomer)

BABY GOT (HIM) BACK Griff and David Johnson, like two former lovers, are back again, hoping to rekindle a wonderful success story. Last year. Johnson was used for one purpose; run up the middle into a wall of defenders for three yards. He proved to be a bust for Don, who based on Barkley…was the kind of decision that might have cost him a title, so don’t tell me these top picks don’t matter.

Kliff Kingsbury is here to fix all that. If the new ball coach can get Johnson into open space, we could be seeing 2015 Johnson all over again (100 receptions possibly?). Of course, we all remember 2015 Johnson, the one who dominated the second half of the season and led Griff to his second career Robioland title.

WANTED: STARTING BACK AT RB2 Last year, Kareem Hunt kicked a woman at a hotel, which would have been fine for the NFL, but it was caught on camera. Thus, he was suspended and little known Damien Williams stepped in and filled the kind of void I had after Game of Thrones went off the air.

The question is, is he a William Green/Jerome Harrison flash in the pan? A three-game wonder that led teams to titles one season, only to be benched the following year? You see, the Chiefs drafted Darwin Thompson rather early in the NFL draft and he has looked good enough to take over the handcuff roll from Carlos Hyde. Worse yet, they went and picked up the LeSean McCoy, who is not getting paid $3-million to watch. Yes, Williams will be the week one starter in Kansas City, but will he be the one leading a team to a title?

Fun fact: Before you say, there is no way for a guy to win a championship with two guys who did not produce 1,000 yards rushing last year, nine out of the last ten running backs to start for a title winner, did not rush for 1,000 yards the previous season. Yippie, facts.

BRUCE ALMIGHTY Ever since Brice Arians was named head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, everyone and their mother has lost their shit, declaring every Buc offensive player the next great fantasy sleeper. Hell, even Ronald “1.9 yards per carry” is getting love and that’s probably a step too far. Six Buccaneers were drafted in our draft, including the quarterback.

When he’s not busy raping and stealing crab legs, Winston is typically throwing for a ton of yards and a whole lot of turnovers. He has 76 turnovers in only 56 career starts. All those -30’s add up in fantasy. To be a game-changing arm in this league, Griff needs to hometown hero to be a legit 4,000 yards, 30 TDs, 10 TO guy.

BACK-LESS BENCH Looking for a potential savior on Griff’s bench, but I’m not finding one. He’s got a handful of big name wideouts, but none are more superior than Tyler Boyd and Brandin Cooks. Kirk Cousins could certainly earn a start or two, especially since he led Neatock to the title last year. The biggest issue with Griff are his lack of backup running backs. Chase Edmonds is a handcuff and that’s fine, but nothing about Jordan Howard says: play me. As for Ronald Jones. I’ll say it again…1.9 yards per carry. This is not good news for Griff, a guy who has watched many seasons turn south when a star back went bye-bye.

#8 CABLE NEWS PUNDITS (COLBY HALL)

THE DOUBLE D’S  I know Colby likes to use the Fantasy Pros site as a resource, so I know he has to feel disappointed in his team, since that site has projected Colby to have the worst starting lineup. Yet, I don’t think it’s that bad. The key will be the running game. Both Devonta Freeman (thanks to the departure of Coleman) and Duke Johnson (thanks to the injury to Lamar) are both featured backs in an offense that will give them an opportunity to be three-down backs with goal line. Both are proven pass catchers, who can, even with less than spectacular per yard average, add up the stats by volume alone. That’s all you want in a fantasy backfield.

REPEAT MVP? Patrick Mahomes produced one of the greatest fantasy seasons by a quarterback in this league’s history. He scored 25% of Colby’s recording breaking point total from last season. Can he do it again? I don’t see why not. All the major players are still there, plus he got a veteran back and another speedy receiver to join the group. Will defensive coordinators figure him out? Does it matter if they do? Right now, I have him as the preseason favorite to win the MVP award. The last player to earn MVP in back-to-back seasons was Priest Holmes, who did it in both 2002 and 2003, but he did it with two different teams.

A POSSIBLE HOLE IN NEED OF FILING Robby Anderson was taken in the sixth round and is Colby’s week one starter. He’s there, because A.J. Green is still out with an injury. All Anderson has done is deliver three sub-1,000 seasons and delivered one hot month at the end of the 2017 seasons. Not sure he can fill A.J.’s shoes for to long. Of course, because of injuries, can Green even fill his own old shoes even once he’s healthy?

#9 Hi HUNGRY, I’M DAD (Bob Castrone)

ME LO’VING LE’VEON Because of the year off and probably because he’s now playing for the laughingstock that are the Jets, Bell did not get a ton of love this year. I’m not buying it. Yes, every player is a product of the system they were in, but before sitting out, Bell produced 1,800 total yards in three of the previous four seasons. He did all that, despite only playing a full 16-game season once. He’s the real deal and if the Jets want to have any chance to win, they’re going to have to Le’feed the ball to Le’Veon

NO GORDON, NO MUG Someone had to roll the dice on Gordon, but I thought it would be a team that had secured a decent keeper running back later in the draft and could gamble a little (Jeff, Don). Instead, it was Bob, who now has to go three-wide. Listen, if Gordon finds a home and is the feature back, then you can bump Bob way up near the top where he belongs. But until then…

THREE-WIDE Rarely do teams enter a season three-wide, but Bob has no choice. Of the three wide receivers Bob has starting for him, only one, a single time, has produced a 1,000-yard season. Is it asking too much for all three to do it this year? Obviously, Davante Adams is a lock. In fact, 1,500 yards is not out of the question for him. Tyler Lockett is the lead pair of hands in Seattle, but this team is not going to toss it around. The most he’s ever been targeted is 71 times. Chris Godwin is everyone’s favorite sleeper this season, thanks to the arrival of a new coach and the exit of DeSean Jackson. He got 95 targets last year and I expect that to rise, but he’ll need to catch better than 62% of the balls that come his way.

ANY SLEEPERS READY TO WAKE? Until the Chiefs signed LeSean McCoy, Darwin Thompson was my favorite sleeper entering the season, but now I don’t see how he gets onto the field, barring injuries.  I think Kyler Murray is going to have a solid rookie campaign, because of his legs and the play calling, but Bob is smart to redshirt him for the year. This leaves Justice Hill. He’s another popular sleeper, but I’m having a hard time seeing it. Mark Ingram is a good back. Is he really going to get benched for Hill?

#10 KEEP CALM AND KERRYON (Eric Vozzola)

FIRST ONE TO 1,000 WINS  Fun fact: 18 of the 23 starting running backs on opening day this weekend have never rushed for 1,200 yards in a season. For Eric, he’s got two starting backs who have never rushed for 1,000 and have combined for 118 career carries. Of course, all 118 carries were Kerryon, since Josh Jacobs is a rookie. In reality, this backfield could end up surprising a lot of people. Take Johnson’s totals from the ten games he played last year and spread them over a full 16 and he would produce over 1,300 total yards. Honestly, unless CJ Anderson becomes a problem, I think he’ll sniff 1,500 total yards. As for Jacobs, he’s going to be a two-down back for sure. The question is goal line. Will Gruden trust the rookie, allowing him to be the next Caddy Williams?

ONE UP, ONE DOWN Here is the deal. I think Calvin Ridley is rated too low (26th according to CBS). I suspect his targets to end up on the right side of 100 and he will just break 1,000 yards receiving. However, I don’t think there is any chance Stefon Diggs will match his 149 targets from last year. Remember, as good as Diggs was, he needed 102 catches just to produce 1,021 yards. Two 1,000 yard receivers are good, but championship teams need at least one elite receiver or running back and I don’t see elite on this team at RB/WR.

TRAVIS KELCE Tying Rob Gronkowski as the highest drafted tight end in league history, Kelce needs to produce. If he did what he did last year, that might be good enough (103-1336-10). However, I suspect he’ll surpass all three of those totals, meaning Eric will not be regretting this decision.

#11 COCKED & LOADED (Jeff Greenblatt) 

OLD ASS ARMS There was a time when having two 37-year-old quarterbacks on your roster would be a bad thing, but that’s not really the case anymore. While Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger have not stacked up the shelves with All-Robio awards, they have always been top-8. However, both are going to have to do it without important pieces from past seasons’ success. Big Ben is now without both Bell and Antonio Brown, while Rivers loses his security blanket, a running game that kept the safeties thinking run.

HANDSOME PAIR OF HANDS With Odell Beckham and Mike Evans, Jeff could easily have the best pair of hands in the league. Both are clear WR1s, who will be in pass-happy offensives. For Beckham, it’s about stay healthy. He has missed 16 games over the last two seasons. For Evans, he’s coming off a 1,500-yard season, but he could really make that leap into greatness if he got his targets and receptions up. In a era when the elite wideouts catch 100 balls minimum, Evans scored just 86 catches last season.

RB1s WANTED It’s become clear the Chargers have no interest in paying Melvin Gordon. It seems very likely he won’t be coming back. This has opened the door for Austin Ekeler. Or does it? The issue is Justin Jackson, who was actually the led back last year when Ekeler got hurt. He’s more of a traditional back and I can easily see these two cancelling each other out. As for Michel, last year he had five fantastic games, scoring over 280 fantasy points or more in each. He also failed to get 150 in eight other contests, including four times where he didn’t even reach 100. In each of those games, the crowded Patriots backfield shined, as players like James White and Burkhead stole too many carries. While Michel is skilled, it might just be impossible to be a feature back in New England.

#12 TWO HEADED RUSHIN’ ATTACK (ROB M)

RETURN OF THE MACK Marlon Mack was a pleasant surprise last year after producing back-to-back 400-point games. From that point on, he appeared to be the lead back in the Colts backfield. With Luck being the focus of any defensive coordinator, Mack found room to run and averaged 4.7 yards per carry. However, Luck is gone. If I’m Rob, I’m now worried about a stacked front seven lined up to stop the run, as I’m still worried that head coach Frank Reich will commit to a committee approach if Mack shows any signs of stumbling.

A WALKING ACL WAITING TO HAPPEN With both Christian McCaffrey and Amari Cooper, Rob’s got a pair of one’s sitting in his starting lineup, but more is needed for him to keep his playoff streak rolling. Will Fuller is a popular sleeper, especially since he has done well with Watson tossing him the ball. Yet, at best, I saw him as a bench warmer who could earn a starting spot. Yet, Rob needs him to start day one. Obviously for Fuller, it’s about staying healthy. In three seasons, he’s averaged just 10 games per season and has never sniffed 700 yards in any one year.

DREW IN DECLINE Drew Brees was on a ton of “don’t draft” lists this offseason, which is a bit odd since he finished third among all quarterbacks last season in this league. He did that because he still has a good habit of throwing a lot more touchdowns (32) than interceptions (5). Still, last season was the first time since 2004 he didn’t throw the ball 500 times and the first time since 2005 he failed to throw for 4,000 yards, which is why people believe the 40-year-old, while still producing, is not going to put up the elite numbers we’re use to seeing.

YOUNG, DUMB AND FULL OF RUNS While there are concerns about Mack in Rob’s starting lineup, he does have a pair of potential future stars in this league when he nailed down both David Montgomery and Miles Sanders. Both will be sharing carries early in the season, but both could be legit starters by mid-season. At the very least, Rob could trade one down the road to fill any future roll, since he can’t keep both next season.