The 1970s Stealers Wheel song “Stuck in the Middle with You” starts out like this:
“Well, I don’t know why I came here tonight
I’ve got the feeling that something ain’t right
I’m so scared in case I fall off my chair
And I’m wondering how I’ll get down the stairs
Clowns to the left of me
Jokers to the right
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you“
At times, when I’m analyzing where to draft certain players, and I look at rankings on various sites, those lyrics pretty much sum up how I feel. Make no mistake, I love rankings, but there are times when I get the feeling that something ain’t right.
Now, I’m not falling off any chairs or going up and down any stairs, but there are times when I wonder if clowns or jokers wanted a particular player put in a certain spot in those rankings rather than the rankings being truly thoughtful and objective.
This all goes to say that there are lots of rankings out there to peruse and study. Some of them are great. Some of them, not so much. So sometimes rankings seem stuck in the middle and simply not very helpful.
I tend to like overall rankings better than positional rankings, but they both have value. Positional rankings allow you to compare multiple players at the same position quickly whereas overall rankings allow you to compare the value of say a running back versus a wide receiver. The worst positional rankings give just the top 10 at each position. What good is that? By position, quarterback or tight end rankings need to list at least 20 – 30 is even better. The running back list needs to be at last 30 deep to be useful – 50 to 60 is much better. The wide receiver list needs to be at least 50 deep, and 80 to 90 is substantially better.
Bottom line, rankings need to go deep. Anyone can rank 150 players overall and do a decent job. The best rankings go well beyond 150 to at least 250. Ranking 300 players is even better. I love those deep rankings. Maybe that’s because I love deep leagues. To me, 12 is the perfect number of teams for a fantasy league, and 18 to 22 is the perfect number of roster spots. Ranking 150 players gets you through just 12 rounds of a draft. That’s weak. Rank 300 players, and that gets you what you need for 18 to 22 roster spots.
I spend way too much time comparing rankings. Here’s a smattering of free rankings available online that I take advantage of:
Matthew Hill does DataForce’s house rankings. He updates his rankings pretty much every week.
FantasyPros
FantasyPros offers composite rankings from a plethora of what the site calls “experts.” Some folks don’t like FantasyPros at all, and I think some of that feeling comes from an episode that happened years ago that is now water way beyond the dam, as far as I’m concerned. I lean on FantasyPros rankings a lot. I like all the options available. Those rankings and the various options certainly aren’t the authority, but they sure can help you make up your mind when you’re sitting on the fence about multiple players. If you weren’t aware, Matthew Hill’s rankings are among the many that go into the magic machine that cranks out FantasyPros’ composite rankings.
Sports Illustrated (SI)
Sports Illustrated, SI for short, ranks about 200 players, with those rankings done by highly respected and highly opinionated fantasy analyst Michael Fabiano. He can be heard from time to time on XM Radio’s Channel 87/Fantasy Sports Radio. If you don’t listen to that channel, you should check it out. There’s often great information available on that channel. That’s another topic for another day.
DraftSharks
DraftSharks generally ranks 250 players, and this is another solid site with tons of information and many ranking options. DraftSharks touts itself as the most accurate of all fantasy football ranking services.
ESPN
ESPN has all sorts of rankings, but I’ve never found them to be very useful. ESPN tends to come out with its overall rankings too late for those who stay locked into fantasy football year-round.
CBS Sports
CBS generally ranks 200 players by its longtime analysts: Jamey Eisenberg, Dave Richard, and Heath Cummings. There’s usually not tremendous disagreement between them.
Underdog
Underdog ranks 200-plus players, with an emphasis on best ball. Those rankings often provide good food for thought, even if, like me, you’re not a big best ball fan.
Roto Street Journal
Roto Street Journal ranks 200-plus players, and this site often provides some very interesting insights and observations.
Yahoo
Yahoo’s rankings include 300-plus players, so that’s a big plus for those who play in deeper leagues.
RotoBaller
RotoBaller also ranks 300 or so players in a pretty straightforward way, so it’s user-friendly information for comparison purposes.
There are lots more rankings you can pay for, and, no doubt, they’re great. But I prefer to spend my money on DataForce dynasty and season-long teams rather than pay information services. That’s just me, though. If there’s a ranking service you really like and are willing to pay for, I say go for it. There are a couple of those XM Radio guys I trust tremendously, and I must say, I’ve been tempted to whip out a credit card, so I have immediate access to their rankings. Again, that’s another topic for another day.
Let’s wrap up this rankings talk by offering opinions on some prominent players in Matthew Hill’s recent rankings:
Cowboys WR George Pickens (#14)
Matthew ranks him 14th overall. I think that’s a little high. Here’s why: He has fellow Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb ranked sixth overall. So that’s two Dallas WRs in the top 14. Can they both put up big numbers? Sure. Can two WRs on the same team put up the kinds of numbers that will get them both in the top 14 overall? I don’t think so. Matthew’s rankings essentially put Lamb at WR4 and Pickens at WR9. I just can’t buy two WRs from the same team finishing in the top 10. When I do my personal rankings, I never put two WRs from the same team in my top 12. Maybe that’s stupid, but that’s my personal rule.
Buccaneers WR Emeka Egbuka (#18)
Matthew ranks him 18th overall, considerably higher than many other fantasy analysts. I don’t know if I agree or disagree with Matthew on this one, but I sure do like it. I have Egbuka on several of my dynasty teams, and I just hope Matthew is right about this one.
Broncos WR Jaylen Waddle (#26)
Matthew ranks him 26th overall, and I would say that’s a little high. I just don’t know if any Denver WR can get the volume of targets to merit being ranked that high. Courtland Sutton is still around. The mile-high WR room is pretty crowded. Sean Payton likes Bo Nix to throw to the RBs, too. I like Waddle, but 26th overall. I don’t think so.
Patriots QB Drake Maye (#27)
Matthew ranks him 27th overall and as QB2 behind Josh Allen. That’s right in line with many other fantasy analysts. I’m not buying any of that. I look for Maye to take a significant step back. It won’t surprise me if he finishes outside the top 12 QBs in fantasy points. I guess that’s my hot take for 2026.
Chiefs WR Rashee Rice (#29)
Matthew ranks him 29th overall, which is right in line with most other analysts, and I suspect Rice will begin to descend in everyone’s rankings after his latest rocket scientist move. I’ve been out on Rice since his first transgression. Traded him everywhere I had him. Gotta believe Andy Reid has had about enough of Rice’s shenanigans regardless of the talent.
Saints WRs Jordyn Tyson (#36) & Chris Olave (#38)
Matthew has Tyson 36th and Olave 38th. What’s up with that? Olave is a solid, now-veteran WR who turns 26 in June. Last season, he had 100 receptions for 1,163 yards and nine touchdowns. Tyson was the eighth pick in the first round of the recent NFL draft. He might be really good. But I don’t understand ranking him higher than Olave.
Chiefs RB Kenneth Walker (#39)
Matthew has him ranked 39th, and I applaud him for this ranking, which is lower than a fair number of analysts have him. Walker’s performance in the playoffs and his move from the Seahawks to the high-and-mighty Chiefs seemed to make those analysts go goo-goo-gah-gah over him. By and large, for fantasy, Walker was a disappointment during the 2025 regular season. Will he be playoff Walker for the Chiefs or regular-season Walker? Who knows? But jacking him way up in the rankings like some analysts have done seems foolhardy.
Packers WR Christian Watson (#94)
Matthew has him ranked 94th, a good bit lower than almost any ranking you will find. And that’s awesome. I have never understood why so many analysts have such a high opinion of Watson. Has he made some highlight-reel plays? Yes. Is he out with injury more than he plays? Yes. Has he ever really done anything that merits him being ranked any higher than 94th? No.
Jaguars RB Chris Rodriguez (#251)
Matthew ranks him 251st and hats off to him for that. Most sites have Rodriguez at least 100 spots better than that. This is a guy who had trouble getting on the field for three years in Washington, of all places. Now he’s going to be a priority fantasy RB just cause he’s now in Jacksonville, which let Travis Etienne get away to New Orleans? C’mon. Get real. Matthew has this one right. All those other sites are merely throwing up a prayer based on supposed goal-line work.
The overall point is that rankings are great. Opinions are great. Rankings are extremely valuable and extremely useful. Use them as a tool, but don’t take them as gospel. Digest as much information as you can and make your own decisions.
Fantasy football is no different than life itself in that the more information you have, the odds of making a good decision increase. I would caution against relying on a single set of rankings. Now, if you’re paying for a site’s rankings, you better lean on those over anything else. Otherwise, why are you paying for those rankings?
Me, I’ll continue to study rankings from here and there and draw my own conclusions, with my own biases thrown in. I’ll continue to attempt to determine who are the clowns and jokers in the rankings lollapalooza. The goal is always to not wind up stuck in the middle but rather to make informed, definitive choices and decisions.
Which fantasy football ranking source do you trust the most heading into draft season?
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Fantasy Granddaddy
Fantasy Sports Writer
Love the article and I especially love the cultural references!