USA TODAY's 2006 RANKINGS (1 Viewer)

[David Yudkin]

I've seen several requests for 2006 rankings, and it will be several months before ours are released. So here's USA TODAY'S early rankings for next year (full article with player comments).

QB

1. Peyton Manning

2. Donovan McNabb

3. Carson Palmer

4. Tom Brady

5. Marc Bulger

6. Eli Manning

7. Matt Hasselbeck

8. Brett Favre

9. Trent Green

10. Drew Brees

11. Kurt Warner

12. Jake Delhomme

13. Drew Bledsoe

14. Jake Plummer

15. Michael Vick

16. Daunte Culpepper

17. Ben Roethlisberger

18. Mark Brunell

19. Byron Leftwich

20. David Carr

21. Chris Simms

22. Steve McNair

23. Chad Pennington

24. Rex Grossman

25. Kyle Boller

26. Kelly Holcomb

27. Gus Frerotte

28. Matt Leinart

29. Charlie Frye

30. Alex Smith

RB

1. Larry Johnson

2. Shaun Alexander

3. LaDainian Tomlinson

4. Edgerrin James

5. Tiki Barber

6. LaMont Jordan

7. Clinton Portis

8. Rudi Johnson

9. Steven Jackson

10. Thomas Jones

11. Willis McGahee

12. Cadillac Williams

13. Mike Anderson

14. Reggie Bush

15. Corey Dillon

16. Brian Westbrook

17. DeShaun Foster

18. Warrick Dunn

19. Deuce McAllister

20. DeAngelo Williams

21. Willie Parker

22. Reuben Droughns

23. Julius Jones

24. Tatum Bell

25. Kevin Jones

26. Domanick Davis

27. Ronnie Brown

28. Chris Brown

29. Jamal Lewis

30. Curtis Martin

31. Ricky Williams

32. Ahman Green

33. LenDale White

34. Fred Taylor

35. Frank Gore

36. Laurence Maroney

37. Mewelde Moore

38. Marion Barber

39. T.J. Duckett

40. Chester Taylor

WR

1. Torry Holt

2. Steve Smith

3. Chad Johnson

4. Larry Fitzgerald

5. Anquan Boldin

6. Marvin Harrison

7. Terrell Owens

8. Randy Moss

9. Hines Ward

10. Santana Moss

11. Joey Galloway

12. Chris Chambers

13. Plaxico Burress

14. Reggie Wayne

15. Darrell Jackson

16. T.J. Houshmandzadeh

17. Donald Driver

18. Roy Williams

19. Andre Johnson

20. Brandon Lloyd

21. Eddie Kennison

22. Reggie Brown

23. Javon Walker

24. Terry Glenn

25. Rod Smith

26. Laveranues Coles

27. Keenan McCardell

28. Drew Bennett

29. Donte Stallworth

30. Joe Horn

31. Deion Branch

32. Jimmy Smith

33. Eric Moulds

34. Isaac Bruce

35. Drew Bennett

36. Antonio Bryant

37. Jerry Porter

38. Derrick Mason

39. Lee Evans

38. Kevin Curtis

39. Mark Clayton

40. Samie Parker

41. Nate Burleson

42. Koren Robinson

43. Muhsin Muhhamad

44. Joe Jurevicius

45. Ernest Wilford

46. Keyshawn Johnson

47. Amani Toomer

48. David Givens

49. Ashley Lelie

50. Chris Henry

TE

1. Antonio Gates

2. Jeremy Shockey

3. Tony Gonzalez

4. Todd Heap

5. Jason Witten

6. Alge Crumpler

7. Chris Cooley

8. L.J. Smith

9. Randy McMichael

10. Ben Watson

11. Heath Miller

12. Ben Troupe

13. Jerramy Stevens

14. Dallas Clark

15. Marcus Pollard

16. Jeb Putzier

17. Erron Kinney

18. Zach Hilton

19. Alex Smith

20. Vernon Davis

 

[Slinger]

Thomas Jones #10

 

[-OZ-]

Obviously this is just one guy's opinion, but I have to disagree on a coupleQB2. Donovan McNabb17. Ben RoethlisbergerRB10. Thomas Jones27. Ronnie Brown WR39. Lee Evans Not bad if all I disagree with are 5, but McNabb needs to be bumped down until they get another WR, Ben moves up to top 12 IMO. TJ might be #10, but I sure wouldn't draft him there, and Brown and Evans are very much underranked here.

38. Derrick Mason39. Lee Evans38. Kevin Curtis39. Mark Clayton

WTF?

 

[Sea Bass]

Drew Bennett is the #28 wr and #35 wr. Because of his up and down play I tend to agree with both rankings.

 

[MLBrandow]

#16? Never did I understand how people even liked Brian Westbrook on their fantasy teams.... but jeez.

2003: 945, 11TDs <--- splitting time

2004: 1515, 13TDs <--12games

2005: 1233, 7TDs <-- 12games

I guess you'd say his knock is that he can't stay healthy. But he's certainly better than a 3rd round RB.

And how the hell is Edge #4? Correct me if I'm wrong, but this guy is soft. He's been benefitting from 6 and 7 man fronts since his post-surgically-repaired-knee days. These guys really believe he's going to duplicate anything near those numbers on a bad team (where he'll be going)?

 

[David Yudkin]

#16? Never did I understand how people even liked Brian Westbrook on their fantasy teams.... but jeez.

2003: 945, 11TDs <--- splitting time

2004: 1515, 13TDs <--12games

2005: 1233, 7TDs <-- 12games

I guess you'd say his knock is that he can't stay healthy. But he's certainly better than a 3rd round RB.

And how the hell is Edge #4? Correct me if I'm wrong, but this guy is soft. He's been benefitting from 6 and 7 man fronts since his post-surgically-repaired-knee days. These guys really believe he's going to duplicate anything near those numbers on a bad team (where he'll be going)?

If you check out the article, it does explain that they assume Edge somehow stays with the Colts.

 

[H.K.]

QB's not even in the top 30: Kerry Collins, Aaron Brooks, Harrington/Garcia, Losman....what a difference a year makes...

 

[Koya]

How Steve Smith is not the #1 WR I can't understand - unless TO goes to the right team and behaves for a year.

 

[Bears_Man2]

I like Brandon Lloyd, but I can't see him at #20 with Smith at QB. I don't think it's a given yet Lloyd will even be back with SF in 2006.

 

[jdoggydogg]

And how the hell is Edge #4? Correct me if I'm wrong, but this guy is soft. He's been benefitting from 6 and 7 man fronts since his post-surgically-repaired-knee days. These guys really believe he's going to duplicate anything near those numbers on a bad team (where he'll be going)?

If you think think Edge isn't as quick or elusive as he once was, then that's a subjective opinion that I won't attempt to dissuade you of. But soft? I think a starting NFL RB who receives the majority of his teams carries takes a pounding you or I would not withstand.

 

[Biabreakable]

How Steve Smith is not the #1 WR I can't understand - unless TO goes to the right team and behaves for a year.

Because Holt has been much more consistently a top 5 WR over a longer period of time. Steve Smith could fall out of the top 5. He probobly won't but he also probobly will not do as well in 06 as he did in 05 either.

 

[slayer666]

How Steve Smith is not the #1 WR I can't understand - unless TO goes to the right team and behaves for a year.

Because Holt has been much more consistently a top 5 WR over a longer period of time. Steve Smith could fall out of the top 5. He probobly won't but he also probobly will not do as well in 06 as he did in 05 either.

I would take Torry Holt everyday of the week over Steve Smith. ___________________________________________________________

Normally, when a major media outlet attempts to rank players for fantasy purposes I get a big laugh. However, in this case Nate Ravitz did a pretty decent job, especially for this early in the game.

 

[BigTex]

Best ranking I've seen so far.

 

[BGP]

That seems fairly solid considering a few things are up in the air.

 

[Koya]

How Steve Smith is not the #1 WR I can't understand - unless TO goes to the right team and behaves for a year.

Because Holt has been much more consistently a top 5 WR over a longer period of time. Steve Smith could fall out of the top 5. He probobly won't but he also probobly will not do as well in 06 as he did in 05 either.

Sometimes people get so focused on the trends and the math and the numbers, they seem to miss an utterly dominating season by a dominating player who has skills on a level that is considerably more than even Holt has ever shown. A football player THAT good, with that much skill and ability, will do well baring injury or complete team implosion.

BTW - Holt's consistency and all doesnt impress me - I would take the stability of Carolina coupled with Smiths unbelievable talennt over Holts career at this point.

 

[Texasmouth]

I like Brandon Lloyd, but I can't see him at #20 with Smith at QB. I don't think it's a given yet Lloyd will even be back with SF in 2006.

Dont be shocked when Alex Smith makes major strides this year. Norv Turner is great with QB and RB when he isn't the head coach. Lloyd has some major upside this season. I think he will be one of the sleepers of the year next season.

 

[Tiger Fan]

Guess Carson will be healed by next year

 

[BusMan]

Guess I'll keep Mike Anderson instead of Donald Driver. MA with Brady, Tiki, and SJax should set me up rather well next year.

Thanks Yudkin.

 

[LHUCKS]

garbage