Fantasy Football Rankings 2017, Top 101 PPR Players: No. 29-27
By Dan Thomas
Today’s list of fantasy football’s top 101 PPR players of 2017 features our No.1 ranked tight end. Is he too low on the list?
If you’ve been keeping up with my articles you know by now I’m not a guy who puts a lot of stock in the tight end position on draft day. It’s a position where I believe owners can find great value in the later rounds or even on the waiver-wire.
That’s part of the reason why I have our No. 1 fantasy football tight end fairly low on the list but it’s also not the whole story.
To be clear, the top 101 PPR players are for re-draft leagues only. Here’s a look at players ranked No. 29-27:
29. Joe Mixon, RB – Cincinnati Bengals
Bengals rookie running back Joe Mixon checks in as my RB12 for 2017 despite the fact he’s never played a down in the NFL. The reason I have him ranked so high is due to both his talent and situation.
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Mixon was drafted in the second-round of the 2017 NFL Draft even with his major off-the-field issues. It’s safe to say if Mixon never had those issues, he would have been selected somewhere in the first-round. He’s a true three-down running back whose abilities resemble that of Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell. With the way the Bengals backfield is looking, Mixon should be able to show what he’s capable of right away.
Giovani Bernard has been with the Bengals for the last four seasons. In that time he’s averaged 14 touches per game. However, Bernard tore his ACL in Week 11 last season and according to Bengals writer Geoff Hobson, he could miss the first couple games of the regular season. The Bengals other running back, Jeremy Hill, has had back-to-back below-average seasons. Since 2015 he’s only averaged 3.7 yards per carry. He also failed to reach 850 rushing yards in either of those two seasons.
With Bernard rehabbing and Hill underwhelming, Mixon should begin the season as the starter. If/when that happens, I highly doubt he relinquishes the job. The rookie should see around 250 touches in 2017.
28. Rob Gronkowski, TE – New England Patriots
Last season Rob Gronkowski had career lows in receptions (25), receiving yards (540) and touchdowns (3). The obvious reason for his down-year in 2016 was due to injuries. Gronk first couldn’t get on the field due to a hamstring injury and then his season ended prematurely due to a back injury. If you’ve been tracking Gronk’s career, you know he’s dealt with back injuries since his time at Arizona University. It’s a big reason why he fell to the second round in the 2010 NFL Draft.
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There’s no denying Gronk is the best tight end in the NFL when he’s healthy. The problem is, he hasn’t been healthy. In four out of the last five seasons he’s missed at least one game due to injury. In that time he’s averaged nearly five missed games per season because of injuries. With these injuries piling up and Gronk getting older, it’s hard to make the argument he’s in the prime of his career, even though he’s only 28 years old.
Would it be a surprise if Gronk played in all 16 games in 2017 and finished as the No. 1 fantasy tight end like he was in 2014 and 2015? Not really, but at the same time, I’m not going to hold my breath. Unlike the past, Gronk is nowhere close to a first-round pick in fantasy. For me, the earliest I’d take him is at the end of the second round of a 12-team league. And that’s only if I had a handful of running backs and/or wide receivers still on the board that I liked and knew one of them would be available with my next pick after the turn.
27. DeAndre Hopkins, WR – Houston Texans
In 2015, Texans wideout DeAndre Hopkins finished as the fourth-best PPR wide receiver in fantasy. A year later, he finished as the 26th PPR wide receiver. What exactly happened to him? Brock Osweiler walked into his life. That’s what happened. Across 15 games last season Osweiler threw 15 touchdowns, 16 interceptions and fell short of 3,000 yards passing. Just awful.
Despite signing Osweiler to a massive contract in 2016, the Texans traded him to the Cleveland Browns along with a second-round pick just so they wouldn’t have to see his face again. Although Michael Scott may disagree with the notion, I believe this move is clearly addition by subtraction. Yet, Hopkins isn’t out of the woods just yet.
Hopkins will either be catching passes from Tom Savage or rookie Deshaun Watson. Across five career games since 2015, Savage hasn’t looked good. He has yet to score a NFL touchdown while turning the ball over three times. As much as I like Watson and am rooting for him, he’s a rookie at the hardest position in the NFL and arguably in all of sports. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he begins the season as the backup and when he does play, gets off to a slow start.
Next: Fantasy Football Rankings, Top 101 PPR Players: No. 32-30
Although the questions at the quarterback position are obvious, I have faith in Hopkins because he’s one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. He will lead the team in targets and the receptions for the third-straight season and should have 75+ receptions also for the third-straight season.