High Fives: A tale of two Benjamins

Top 5 running backs you’ll be reaching for in ’16 fantasy drafts

1. Ezekiel Elliott — A situation so good that even an on-his-last-legs Run-DMC became fantasy relevant again in it

1. David Johnson — The Chris Johnson talk is silly. I’m not a Zero RB guy and would be willing to use a top-five pick on DJ

1. Gio Bernard — I’m an agnotic, not a reacher, but I’ll tell you who I like; Bernard has different paths to ball and unlikely to be that TD-unlucky again

2. C.J. Anderson — I have a hard time quitting him – Averaged a NFL-high 6.4 YPC from Weeks 8-17 – should have a clearer lead role than in the past

2. Ezekiel Elliott — His hamstring injury is obviously worth monitoring, but the rookie could easily finish as the No. 1 fantasy back right away. He’s going to be a monster in that offense

2. Jeremy Hill — In a down season, still led league in TD rushes; came to camp with right attitude; yes, Bengals can support two good backs

3. Carlos Hyde — Has a monster opportunity if he can maintain health – Chip Kelly offenses have ranked top 8 in RB rush attempts each of past 3 seasons

3. C.J. Anderson — He’s clearly Denver’s most talented back. The team has a great defense and a shaky QB situation. Buy Anderson this year after he burnt owners last season

3. Mark Ingram — A pretty safe third-round pick; touchdown floor, improving receiver

4. Matt Jones —Going cheaply considering he’s in line for a huge workload – has nice versatility in that he’s capable of playing on all downs

4. Thomas Rawls — Ankle injury was severe, but he was terrific before it, and I fully expect him to emerge as Seattle’s clear lead back -has top-three upside

4. Bilal Powell — Contract isn’t that much different than Forte’s; both will play plenty

5. Mark Ingram — It’s a whole new world for Ingram’s fantasy value now that the Saints are using him in the passing game

5. Jeremy Hill — Value is down coming off a rough year, but he’s still just 23, and TE Eifert is banged up -could easily score 12-14 TDs this year

5. Charles Sims — Can hold flex value even if Doug Martin is fine; upside explodes if Martin gets hurt

Top 5 wide receivers you’ll be reaching for in ’16 fantasy drafts

1. Alshon Jeffery — A huge year will equal mega-bucks in free agency after the season, and I think his situation is ripe to deliver it

1. T.Y. Hilton — With Andrew Luck back, a shaky defense and a 33-year-old lead back in Indy, I fully expect Hilton to be a WR1 this season

1. A.J. Green — I’ll consider him as high as No. 4 overall; a ton of targets just left town

2. Devante Parker — Bet on talent, first and foremost, and Parker has that in spades – was top 20 level at WR over final six weeks of ’15

2. Doug Baldwin — The regression police are in full force here. Has a WR coming off a season in which he scored 14 touchdowns in his prime with a stud QB ever been less respected?

2. Doug Baldwin — Hey, Regression Police is my term; a perfect fourth-round pick; Russell Wilson is a king-maker

3. Sterling Shepard — It’s a pass happy system, and Shepard already has the quicks and route-running chops to make D’s pay for doubling up on ODB

3. Michael Floyd — Needs Carson Palmer to stay healthy, but Floyd should emerge as the most valuable of the three talented receivers in Arizona

3. Kamar Aiken — Steve Smith is old, Breshard Perriman basically a rookie do-over, Mike Wallace is Mike Wallace

4. Tyler Lockett — Lightning quicks that can hurt you in so many ways – bubble screens, deep ball, returns etc

4. Sterling Shepard — I’m buying the hype. It’s not hard to see the path for the rookie quickly becoming the No. 2 option on the Giants’ offense

4. Rishard Matthews — Their most polished wideout, not close; still at a name-your-price giveaway buy-in

5. Travis Benjamin — Gates is 36, Stevie Johnson is hurt – Benjamin is the main deep threat on a team that finished 2nd in pass attempts last season

5. Marvin Jones — Could quickly emerge as his new team’s top red-zone target now that Calvin Johnson has retired

5. Travis Benjamin — Was lovely in Cleveland, now gets a real quarterback

Top 5 running backs you’ll be avoiding in ’16 fantasy drafts

1. Jamaal Charles — Still costs a premium despite being 29 and coming off ACL surgery – I’m sure he’ll still look great when he returns, but I expect KC to curb his workload considerably

1. Adrian Peterson — He’s 31 years old approaching 2,500 career carries yet still costs a top pick. He’ll be on zero of my teams this year

1. Le’Veon Bell — Medical history is just as concerning as the suspension, and he’s one strike away from a permanent vacation; I’d consider him in Round 3, but I haven’t seen him there

2. DeMarco Murray — He keeps taking a step down in situation (Dallas to Philly to Tennessee), and now has rookie Derrick Henry breathing down his neck

2. Latavius Murray — He was all about volume last season

2. Jamaal Charles — I know he’s everybody’s tinker toy, but there have been two major blowouts and the backs in front of him will steal a fair amount of work, maybe even goal-line looks

3. Jeremy Langford — He’s a ho-hum runner, and wouldn’t be surprised if he’s mostly a passing-down back by season’s end

3. Jonathan Stewart — He’s injury prone, doesn’t catch passes and has a bunch of touchdowns stolen by his quarterback. No thanks

3. Adrian Peterson — I’d rather be a year early than a year late, and there are too many second-round receivers I want

4. Matt Forte —I have a feeling Bilal Powell is going to be a curse word for all Forte owners this season

4. DeMarco Murray — I’d give it at least a 50/50 chance his much cheaper teammate Derrick Henry is the Titans preferred back to own over the second half of the season

4. Melvin Gordon — There’s a reasonable case for him, but I still don’t trust that OL, and Gordon’s awful debut might carry signature significance

5. Jacksonville RBs — You are taking, perhaps, the worst piece of fantasy backfield real estate over the past four years and making it a platoon situation

5. Melvin Gordon — San Diego can’t run block, and Gordon was a total bum last year, and that was before he underwent microfracture knee surgery

5. Jeremy Langford — Tool set is nothing special; rookie year was sneaky-bad; this reeks of a three-back committee

Top 5 wide receivers you’ll be avoiding in ’16 fantasy drafts

1. Keenan Allen — Always costs a lot – never trust that the stars will stay aligned (be it health, red zone opps, etc) for this guy

1. Alshon Jeffery — He’s getting drafted as if his extensive injury history doesn’t exist for some reason

1. Jordy Nelson — The heart wants to be wrong, but the head says avoid a major risk-reward player this early; others carry same ceiling with much better floors

2. Julian Edelman — He’s 30 years old and plays a role that puts him in the line of fire constantly – he couldn’t stay healthy in his prime years, so no reason to think it happens now

2. Amari Cooper — A big sophomore leap is possible, but Derek Carr got 6.3 YPA over the second half last season, Michael Crabtree is still in Oakland, and Cooper struggles with drops

2. Demaryius Thomas — Wants to atone for last year’s mess, but how much can you do with Mark Sanchez?

3. Michael Floyd — Going at backend WR2 price on draft day despite never catching more than 66 passes or 6 TDs in any of his 4 seasons

3. Jordy Nelson — He’s obviously terrific when healthy, but at this point, I’ll let someone else take on the risk

3. Larry Fitzgerald — The kids are taking over the Arizona offense; Fitzgerald was a bit player down the stretch

4. Emmanuel Sanders — DEN QB situation looks horrific, and I think a towering, post-up target like Demaryius Thomas will have a much better shot at success than the much smaller Sanders

4. Kelvin Benjamin — He’s getting drafted around WR15 despite coming off major knee surgery and playing for an extreme run heavy team with more competition for targets than during his (inefficient) rookie year

4. Kelvin Benjamin — Rookie year was partially a GTP sham; for all of Cam’s gifts, he’s not likely to elevate Benjamin; comeback from major injury, but ADP still expectant

5. Kelvin Benjamin — Scored 6 of 9 TDs as a rookie in 4th quarter, when team was behind – CAR no longer generating much garbage time, and then there’s also the ACL to consider

5. Jarvis Landry — There’s little upside with the small and not fast WR, who scored just four TDs last year despite seeing 14 targets inside the 10 (second most in NFL)

5. Josh Gordon — Dinged up, can’t help you right away, last relevant season was three years ago; RG3 is a bug, not a feature

Top 5 players you are most intrigued by who are going outside the top 150 (FantasyPros ADP)

1. Phillip Dorsett — He’s a downfield burner, and INdy set to roll often with 3-WR sets

1. Sammie Coates — I’d be surprised if he doesn’t easily pass Markus Wheaton on the depth chart on a team that projects to pass frequently

1. Bilal Powell — Follow the money, follow the versatility

2. Josh Ferguson — Gore is 33 years old and Indy is likely to air it out often, which means Ferguson, a PPR dynamo, could factor heavily

2. Michael Thomas — Should have no problem surpassing Willie Snead and emerging as New Orleans’ No. 2 WR, which is a great situation to be in

2. Phillip Dorsett — Has pedigree and a star QB; this is a very skinny usage tree

3. Sammie Coates — He’s been a positive buzz magnet this summer, and you can’t help but be enticed by his physical makeup

3. Phillip Dorsett — A terrific setup, and it’s unclear if Donte Moncrief is any good. Dorsett is the type of flier who could win leagues for you

3. DeAndre Washington — Latavius Murray is another back I don’t have confidence in, but I like Oakland’s line (and defense); could be a cushy setup for someone

4.Spencer Ware — He’s a must handcuff for Charles owners, and he has RB1 upside if JC were to get hurt again

4. Jerick McKinnon — If the aging Adrian Peterson goes down, McKinnon has the talent to be a top-10 fantasy back

4. Kamar Aiken — It’s mostly because I don’t trust everyone else here, plus he showed us something in second half of 2015

5. Mike Wallace — Gets the Mr. Yuck face from a lot of people, but you shouldn’t ignore the match of his speed with Flacco’s big arm

5. Paul Perkins – Rashad Jennings is getting talked up, but he’s 31 years old, and last season was the first in which he ever played 16 games. Perkins could easily end up being a difference maker

5. Ryan Fitzpatrick — A nice target for the Superflex, 2-QB, or historical-recreation crowd; throwing to four capable pass-catchers