For the past two years, I’ve created my own draft rankings prior to draft season. I discovered this system helps in multiple ways, such as knowing the names of and how I value every player, but more importantly using the rankings to choose between players in advance rather than in the one minute or so I’m on the clock.
While this task might seem intimidating, time-consuming and risky depending on your knowledge of the NFL, but as I start to build my rankings for this upcoming season, my three-step system simplifies this daunting task.
To build your own rankings and gain an advantage on your leaguemates, follow these steps.
Step 1: Make a Player Pool
The French term “mise en place” is used in cooking to describe the process of preparing all of your ingredients before the cooking begins. This step is the mise en place of building your fantasy rankings.
Go to the ‘Depth Charts’ section of ESPN’s NFL page, go through each team and copy down 1-2 quarterbacks and tight ends and 2-4 running backs and wide receivers into a separate document.
By doing this, you’ll now have a pool of about 35-40 quarterbacks and tight Eeds, and 60-80 running backs and wide receivers. That’s over 200 players. My one fear when creating rankings is forgetting a crucial player or missing a free agent transaction. With the player pool, you’ll be familiar with every roster, eliminating the fear of missing people.
Don’t be concerned about the high number of players either. Remember, you are making position rankings only, not full rankings (I’ll explain why later) and most drafts tend to only have 150-180 picks with 20-30 being defenses and kickers, so cap your rankings off whenever you feel comfortable.
Step 2: Place Players into Tiers
Now it’s time to rank. Well, sort of.
Now that you have a pool of players to choose from, you’re going to want to make a few tier lists. For reference, these are examples of some tiers I’m using this season:
QB/TE
Top Dogs
Mid-Tier Starters
Late Round Picks
Worthy of a Backup Pick
Undrafted
RB/WR
Studs
Low End No. 1-Top No. 2
Good No. 2
Upside Flex
Mid-Round Flex/Bench
Handcuffs/Take a chance
Deep Sleepers/Afterthoughts
Now that you’ve established your tiers, place each player into the one that corresponds with their outlook for this fantasy season.
How you do this is very important. Going player-by-player is an option, but gets messy since you might categorize players differently each time, which ends with having to change everything around in Step 3. I like to go tier-by-tier, so you can group players accordingly. It also helps catch mistakes, such as adding players to a tier if you missed out on them the first time around.
To make your rankings as expert-like as possible, take inspiration from expert rankings for this step. They’re a good basis on each player’s draft stock, helps eliminate personal bias and can help identify sleepers. If I see a player I’m unfamiliar with or think is way too high on an expert rank, I research why that is to help persuade my own rankings.
Step 3: Rank Each Tier
Once every player is sorted into their respective tiers, it’s time to rank. At the end of this step, combine each tier to format your rankings at each position.
Contrary to what might be expected, take as little time as necessary to decide between each player. Do as much research as needed, but the decision should come down to a simple question: “If I was drafting right now, which player would I take?”
I do this because it’s exactly what I would be doing on draft day, just without any pressure or time constraints. Of course, if you’re unfamiliar with players, do some research to help make your decision now instead of when you’re on the clock.
Helpful Hints
The time to start ranking is now. Like any good project, waiting until the last minute is never useful. This allows you time to edit and make changes to your list as the preseason goes on. For example, Joe Burrow was carted off the field yesterday at training camp, so edit your rankings accordingly when more information comes out about him potentially missing time.
I find ranking players regardless of position a useless and a waste of precious prep time. By the middle of the draft, you’ll find yourself drafting based on team need rather than best player available. There’s no need to have a positionless ranking in that scenario.
Instead, go into the draft with players in mind for the first three or four rounds. I suggest making a ranking of the top 15 running backs and wide receivers with a few others mixed in. Once you’ve got the core of your team, reassess your needs and use your rankings the rest of the way.
As for kickers and defenses, I tend to stay away from ranking them given the minimal value they have on your team. I like to identify five or six of each that can potentially stay on my roster throughout the season and look for players with good matchups in Week 1 if those are already taken. If all else fails, use expert rankings.
Check my website on August 15 for the release of my 2023 Fantasy Rankings.
“Fantasy Fridays” is a column by Michael Fiumefreddo about fantasy football draft prep that runs every Friday.