Eric Karabell is a senior writer for fantasy baseball, football and basketball at ESPN. Eric is a charter member of FSWA Hall of Fame and author of "The Best Philadelphia Sports Arguments".
Well, we have two weeks down and the big question for so many fantasy managers is about how great Ryan Fitzpatrick is playing and how equally great he looks in the postgame presser. Here are the updated rest-of-season rankings and we try not to overrate what we have seen through two weeks, but in some cases, it is simply unavoidable. Like with Fitzpatrick! Some would say I am nuts to move him into the top 20 of quarterbacks, since we have seen enough of the journeyman over the years to know this cannot remotely continue. Others cannot figure out why the actual leading scorer in PPR formats entering Week 3 failed to crack my top five! I am serious.
Regardless, performance and injury -- and not fashion -- plays a role and we have interesting movement in these rankings, for both good and not so good. Remember, we will keep ranking players and defenses into December for purposes of comparison for the rest of the fantasy season, well after the trade deadline in your league.
Quarterbacks
The incredible performances by Kansas City Chiefs sophomore Patrick Mahomes and Buccaneers surprise Fitzpatrick warrant our attention, of course, but neither push their way into the top five. Mahomes came close. What he is doing is also not sustainable, as he cannot average five touchdown passes per game, but still, he looks legit. Fitzpatrick just pushing past the likes of Matt Ryan and Jimmy Garoppolo hardly feels good to me, but stranger things than a late-career resurrection have occurred, I suppose. Blake Bortles has been a top-10 fantasy quarterback a few seasons in his career. Hey, the least we could do was elevate him into our top 20.
Running backs
It is hardly panic time for Arizona Cardinals star David Johnson, but certainly if redrafting today he would fall from the top tier, ever so slightly. The Cardinals are a mess, somewhat like the Buffalo Bills. LeSean McCoy is hurt, though he should not miss much time. Do not give up on him. These fellows, plus Le'Veon Bell, Royce Freeman, Alfred Morris, Duke Johnson Jr., and others slid in the rankings, either because of lack of performance or lack of just showing up. C'mon, Le'Veon, enough is enough.
On the positive side, Los Angeles Chargers star Melvin Gordon leapfrogged a few of the top-10 options as he continues to pile on the receptions, while later on we like Phillip Lindsay, Aaron Jones, Corey Clement, Austin Ekeler and T.J. Yeldon a bit more than we did a week prior. Lindsay is at least in an even time-share with fellow rookie Freeman. Jones returns from his suspension and could matter right away. Clement and Yeldon have taken advantage of the starter getting hurt. Ekeler could be a Tarik Cohen type we must consider for flex purposes in deeper formats.
Wide receivers
Movement at this position generally needs more than a few games for the sample size to shake out, but New Orleans Saints star Michael Thomas is off to a great and historic start, and that deserves recognition. Later on, some potential flex choices like Keelan Cole, Will Fuller V, DeSean Jackson, Quincy Enunwa and Kenny Golladay are more intriguing than they were a month ago. As for former Cleveland Brown Josh Gordon, now a New England Patriot -- and of course he is -- his overall fantasy value altered just slightly. Yes, he gets to play with Tom Brady and that is so intriguing, but do not forget the overall picture, too. Gordon's statistical upside is immense, especially now, but that might make him the perfect sell-high candidate, too. He has played in 11 games since 2013 and there are issues at play other than running routes.
Tight ends
Unlike the first week, when Delanie Walker and Greg Olsen were injured and fantasy managers moved on, Week 2 was a bit quieter. Phew. Chicago Bears starter Trey Burton might still be a star, but his Monday touchdown aside, he is off to a slow start. Intriguing Tampa Bay sophomore O.J. Howard moves into the top 12 at his position, pushing Cameron Brate to the side. Keep an eye on Pittsburgh, where Jesse James had a big Week 2, but Vance McDonald remains.
