INDIANAPOLIS --- Welcome to the new fantasy football capital of the world: Indianapolis, Indiana. Eat your heart out, fake footballers: Andrew Luck, Frank Gore, T.Y. Hilton, Andre Johnson, Dwayne Allen, Coby Fleener, Donte Moncrief, Boom Herron, and Duron Carter.
With studs, veterans, and sleepers, no team had a bigger fantasy football impact in free agency than the Colts by adding Gore and Johnson to an offense that was already 3rd in total offense and first in passing offense in 2014.
Where will Gore and Johnson rank overall in fantasy football for 2015? We'll debate that closer to fantasy draft time. What it locks in for me is Luck as the #1 fantasy QB in 2015 over Aaron Rodgers, as I unveil my post-free agency top-25 rankings (previous rank after 2014 season in parentheses).
2015 Fantasy Football Top-25
RB Le'Veon Bell (1)
RB Eddie Lacy (2)
RB Jamaal Charles (3)
RB Matt Forte (4)
RB Marshawn Lynch (5)
RB Adrian Peterson (12)
WR Antonio Brown (6)
WR Dez Bryant (16)
QB Andrew Luck (10)
RB C.J. Anderson (21)
RB DeMarco Murray (5)
RB LeSean McCoy (11)
WR Demaryius Thomas (7)
WR Odell Beckham Jr. (15)
WR Calvin Johnson (9)
WR Jordy Nelson (14)
WR Julio Jones (17)
WR (19)
RB Arian Foster (8)
QB Aaron Rodgers (18)
WR A.J. Green (20)
TE Rob Gronkowski (24)
RB Jeremy Hill (22)
WR Alshon Jeffery (unranked)
RB Joique Bell (unranked)
Dropped Out: WR Jeremy Maclin (23), RB Andre Ellington (25)
BIGGEST RISER: RB C.J. Anderson (21st to 10th) - Gary Kubiak as the new head coach in Denver and the return of Peyton Manning only makes Anderson even more attractive as a RB1 in 2015. He averaged 19.75 points per week over the final 8 weeks of the season. That's more than DeMarco Murray averaged as the top fantasy RB in 2014. He's a safer pick to me than Murray in Philadelphia, who is coming off a huge workload historically and has Ryan Mathews and Darren Sproles in the mix. He's also safer to me than LeSean McCoy, as Denver should again give Anderson more chances to get in the endzone. Anderson is my 7th ranked RB right now.
BIGGEST FALLERS: WR Jeremy Maclin and RB Andre Ellington - Maclin goes from the Eagles spread attack to Kansas City's more conservative offense. He's replaced by Alshon Jeffery in the rankings, who now doesn't have to compete for targets with Brandon Marshall (traded to Jets). I was going to put Mark Ingram at 25, but the signing of C.J. Spiller pushed him out of consideration. Joique Bell takes his spot as the featured running back in Detroit's solid offense, with Reggie Bushno longer a Lion. Bell was the 15th best RB in 2014, despite missing a game and very productive down the stretch of the fantasy season. Arian Foster fell the most within the rankings 11 spots to 19th. I'd just feel safer taking one of the stud WRs ranked above him, with the Texans losing Andre Johnson, Foster missing three games, and Houston saying at the Combine they will try to manage his workload in 2015.
LUCK A 1ST ROUNDER: Previously, I had Luck already as a first round pick and the additions of Gore and Johnson only solidify that. He's the safest pick you can make in the first round. You can't win your league in round one, but you can lose it. Once the top-5 RBs of Bell, Lacy, Forte, Charles, and Lynch plus the top-2 WRs of Antonio Brown (the most consistent RB/WR in this weekly game) and Dez Bryant are off the board, I wouldn't judge somebody for taking Luck this year, even though I generally wait on a QB. Everybody else carries some risk at that point, including Adrian Peterson, who I do currently have ranked ahead of Luck because of his top-3 upside. Take Luck at that point, and you know you'll have a chance even if a couple other picks flame out. The debate among fantasy experts is whether Luck or Rodgers should be the top QB. To me, it's obvious. Luck finished just 6 points behind Rodgers in standard scoring last season, despite 22 turnovers. Luck is only getting better and now has even more weapons.
DROP-OFF AT RB/SAFE WRs IN ROUND 2: To me there's going to be a huge drop-off at RB after the top-9 rushers go off the board. It ends with LeSean McCoy for me. If you're staring at the prospect of drafting Foster, Hill, etc., wouldn't you feel much better about your team if you took a stud WR instead? Thus, the grouping of 6 straight WRs after McCoy at 12.
We'll update the top-25 again after the NFL Draft. I anticipate a rookie RB potentially cracking the top-25 if he lands in the right city.
