2020 Fantasy Football Rankings Following the NFL Draft
Christian Petersen/Getty Images. Pictured: Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Justin Jefferson
Rookies have home teams. Most of the free agency dust has settled. And NFL rosters are beginning to take shape.
With the 2020 NFL Draft in the books, our experts have updated their fantasy football rankings to reflect how the seven rounds shifted the landscape. Which rookies made our experts' top 150 overall players? Which veterans saw their fantasy stock drop?
Let's dig into the rankings, then take a look at some of the biggest fantasy winners and losers of the draft.
2020 Fantasy Football Rankings
You'll find our experts' consensus top 150 players based on half-point PPR scoring in the table below, but you can also sort the rankings by each of their initials.
- SK: Sean Koerner is The Action Network's Director of Predictive Analytics and has been the No. 1 in-season FantasyPros ranker for three of the past five seasons.
- CR: Chris Raybon is a co-host of The Action Network's Sirius XM Fantasy Sports Radio show and was the fourth-most accurate FantasyPros ranker in 2019. He's watched every NFL snap since 2010.
- MF: Matthew Freedman is the Editor-in-Chief of FantasyLabs (part of The Action Network) and co-host of The Action Network’s Sirius XM Fantasy Sports Radio show.
Fantasy Winners of the Draft
Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
Koerner: What a great landing spot for Edwards-Helaire! He joins the most explosive offense in football that also needs a running back.
This elevates him into high- to mid-range RB2 for me.
Raybon: Edwards-Helaire was my favorite RB in the draft, but even I didn’t have him going as early as Round 1.
Historically speaking, sneaking into the first round bodes well for the LSU product: Over the past decade, 12 of the 16 RBs drafted in the first round have amassed 180 or more touches in their rookie season, with just fewer than half netting 250 or more. And three of the four RBs to go in the 30-32 range over that span have posted 980 or more scrimmage yards and six or more touchdowns in their rookie years: Doug Martin (1,926/12), Jahvid Best (1,042/6), and Sony Michel (981/6).
Edwards-Helaire is a Damien Williams injury away from massive Kareem Hunt-like upside, and head coach Andy Reid has shown the desire to preserve Williams at times during the regular season. Edwards-Helaire now gives him that luxury.
It knocks Williams down into shaky middle-round territory and probably puts and end to the Darwin Thompson sleeper hype, though.
Justin Jefferson, WR, Minnesota Vikings
Raybon: Even tough Minnesota is a low-volume pass offense, the Vikings have a gigantic hole to fill after trading Stefon Diggs, who went 64/1,120/6 on 94 targets last season.
Only replacement-level talents such as Bisi Johnson and Tajae Sharpe populate the depth chart behind Adam Thielen at WR, and though second-year tight end Irv Smith could take a step forward, his per-route numbers — 15.4% target percentage and 1.02 yards per route run, 38th of 44 qualifiers, according to Pro Football Focus — are predictive indicators working against him.
Jefferson has the chance to be the most productive rookie WR of 2020.
Fantasy Losers of the Draft
Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers
Koerner: The Packers passed on taking a wide receiver in a loaded 2020 class and instead selected a quarterback in Jordan Love. They then took a bruising running back in Round 2, all but indicating they intend to be a smash-mouth, run-heavy team. In Round 3, they add a tight end in Josiah Deguara, who isn't going to help Rodgers this year.
![aaaron-rodgers-betting-picks-props-nfc-championship-raybon-2020](https://images.actionnetwork.com/blog/2020/01/aaaron-rodgers-betting-picks-props-nfc-championship-raybon-2020-e1631312118827.jpg)
Ideally, the Packers will be in the trade market for an Evan Engram, O.J. Howard or David Njoku to give Rodgers another weapon. Otherwise, it looks like Allen Lazard will begin the season as Rodgers' No. 2 target.
Jalen Reagor, WR, Philadelphia Eagles
Raybon: I’m bearish on this move. For one, the Eagles may have passed on a better player in Justin Jefferson, and they don’t exactly have the greatest track record with WRs after the JJ Arcega-Whiteside disaster last year — and he’s still there, by the way.
If Alshon Jeffery is traded, the Reagor gets an upgrade. But in the immediate future, Reagor would be behind Jeffery, DeSean Jackson, Zach Ertz, Dallas Goedert and Miles Sanders for targets.
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