Fantasy Dynasty Rankings: The Top 300 Players For 2020

I released my initial 2020 dynasty rankings in January. Needless to say a lot has changed since then.

Checking my notes…

• A pandemic
• Free agency
• The NFL draft

So needless to say, those rankings were a little dusty.

In this updated version, I've added in the 2020 rookie class, made several major changes based on free agency and draft moves, and tweaked the rankings throughout to reflect my latest thoughts on players and their valuations.

[Go To Freedman's Up-To-The-Minute Player Projections]

These rankings are for PPR scoring, but format doesn’t have much impact on a player’s long-term value, so they're still useful for standard and half-point PPR leagues.

Let’s dig into my top 300 then highlight a few players I'm higher or lower on relative to other dynasty rankers.

2020 Fantasy Dynasty Rankings

Skip to read my methodology

Players I've Ranked Higher Than Other Dynasty Analysts

• Deshaun Watson, QB, Texans: Even though he'll be without All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins in 2020, Watson still has a strong supporting cast and the ability to produce. He doesn't turn 25 until September, and he's been a top-five fantasy quarterback each year of his career. I tend to devalue quarterbacks relative to other positions, so I might not seem to be all that high on Watson in my top 300, but he trails only Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson at the position.
• Josh Jacobs, RB, Raiders: He’s young, he had 101.2 scrimmage yards per game as a rookie, and he’s on a team that wants to get him the ball. He could be a top-five back over the next half decade.
• JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, Steelers: Needless to say, 2019 was not his year. But he’s still only 24 years old, and he was one of the league’s best receivers in 2018. There's only one wide receiver I'd rather have than JuJu in dynasty, and that's Michael Thomas.
• Mark Andrews, TE, Ravens: He was great in college, as a rookie and in his second season. In 2019, he was No. 1 at the position with 0.33 targets per route and No. 2 with 2.89 yards per route. This might be bold, but Andrews is my No. 2 tight end in dynasty, ranked below George Kittle but above Travis Kelce.

Players I've Ranked Lower Than Other Dynasty Analysts

• Jared Goff, QB, Rams: Despite playing for a brilliant play caller in head coach Sean McVay, Goff is yet to finish as a top-eight fantasy quarterback in any year. In dynasty, I want to invest in elite talent, and Goff strikes me as just a beneficiary of positive circumstances.
• Alvin Kamara, RB, Saints: Kamara is still an elite talent, but the league has enjoyed an influx of younger backs over the past couple of years, and Kamara is a 25-year-old supercharged satellite producer with an uncertain contract situation in an offense that might be without its Hall-of-Fame starting quarterback next year.
• D.K. Metcalf, WR, Seahawks: His upside is immense, but Metcalf right now is still a one-dimensional No. 2 wide receiver on a run-heavy team.
• Travis Kelce, TE, Chiefs: I don’t have him rated as a top-two tight end in dynasty. That might be heretical, but I had George Kittle ahead of him last year, and that was the right move then. It’s the right move now to continue to move him down the positional rankings as he ages and younger guys emerge.

My Fantasy Dynasty Rankings Methodology

Here are some general notes on my ranking process and perspective.

• Age: I place a premium on youth, which correlates with longevity and degree of future production. If a veteran doesn’t currently have starter-caliber value, I probably have him ranked lower than younger players, even if he has more current production: The younger players have more long-term upside.
• Production window: In creating the rankings, I’ve focused most on the production we can reasonably expect from players within the next three years. After that time frame, projections really start to lose value, although I still value the unknown long-tailed potential younger players possess.

• Positional scarcity: I tend to devalue players at positions of depth. As a result, quarterbacks are usually low in my rankings because there are so many viable options at the position.
• Longevity: Everything else equal, I usually rank wide receivers ahead of running backs and tight ends because receivers as a group last longer in the league and maintain value deeper into their careers.
• Other factors for specific players: I’ve relied on the following primary data points for ranking these three types of players.
  • Young players: Draft position, physical profile, college production, recent production and projected opportunity.
  • Prime veterans: Long-term production, positional decline curve, recent production and projected opportunity.
  • Aging veterans: Recent production, projected opportunity, positional decline curve and long-term production.

2020 FANTASY DYNASTY RANKINGS