Below you will find our Top 200 Players for the 2012 fantasy football season; I have also provided some commentary on certain players that I see as overvalued, or undervalued.
These redraft rankings are based on a standard PPR scoring format with line-up requirements of: 1QB, 2RBs, 2WRs, 1Flex, 1TE, 1K and 1DST.
Also, be sure to view both our redraft and dynasty cheat sheets.
Updated: 8/3/2012 (View a more updated version released on 8/23/12 here)
Rankings created by: Smitty
- Arian Foster
- LeSean McCoy
- Ray Rice
- Tom Brady
- Aaron Rodgers
Redraft Analysis: Tom Brady has recently shot up on almost every ranking feature we have. He was always in our top 15, but it’s time to acknowledge that Brady might very well break handfuls of NFL and fantasy records this year. With Wes Welker, Brandon Lloyd, Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez and Stevan Ridley as weapons, Brady is going to win a grip of leagues for fantasy owners in 2012 (if he stays healthy) Read more on Brady here.
- Calvin Johnson
- Chris Johnson
- Darren McFadden
- Cam Newton
- Drew Brees
- Ryan Mathews
Redraft Analysis: Of this group above, every single one of those players, but maybe Ryan Mathews, has the capability of climbing into tier one. I’m not suggesting that Mathews will bust in 2012, but I think some are ranking him a bit too high, and I don’t yet trust him fully.
- A.J. Green
- Julio Jones
- Trent Richardson
- Matt Forte
- DeMarco Murray
- Dez Bryant
- Andre Johnson
- Larry Fitzgerald
- Wes Welker
- Maurice Jones-Drew
- Jimmy Graham
- Rob Gronkowski
- Matthew Stafford
Redraft Analysis: It’s no secret that A.J. Green, Julio Jones and Dez Bryant are inside my top five wide receivers heading into 2012. On a dynasty note, nothing changes there! Back to redraft… I think that Andre Johnson could still be a monster steal in 2012 fantasy football yearly-league drafts, but monitor his health as we head deeper into August… Don’t sleep on Matt Forte – He is a steal so far this August!
- Greg Jennings
- Brandon Marshall
- Roddy White
- Hakeem Nicks
- Mike Wallace
- Victor Cruz
- C.J. Spiller
- Jamaal Charles
- Marshawn Lynch
- Doug Martin
- Adrian Peterson
- Steve Johnson
- Kenny Britt
- Michael Vick
- Stevan Ridley
- Frank Gore
- Darren Sproles
- Steven Jackson
- Michael Turner
- Percy Harvin
- Jordy Nelson
- Miles Austin
- DeSean Jackson
- Steve Smith CAR
- Vincent Jackson
- Jeremy Maclin
- Marques Colston
- Philip Rivers
- Eli Manning
- Demaryius Thomas
- Antonio Brown
- Brandon Lloyd
- Jermichael Finley
- Aaron Hernandez
- Tony Romo
- Peyton Manning
Redraft Analysis: Greg Jennings is very underrated this season, and he is a fine fantasy WR1! If you want to wait to draft your fantasy WR1 as your third-drafted player, Jennings is your man… Stevie Johnson could produce excellent fantasy WR2 numbers this season, so scoop him up all day long at his awesome-trending ADP… Stevan Ridley is climbing all my rankings fast, and get ready for a breakout campaign in 2012… C.J. Spiller just needs touches, and while there is no guarantee he will get starter-type touches, he can certainly earn his current ADP value right now, which often falls into the 7th-round. And if Spiller turns into the fantasy stud I think he will turn into this season, watch out! He has top 5RB upside when getting those starter touches… Aaron Hernandez could be a top 2-4 fantasy TE in 2012, so act accordingly. Brandon Lloyd is set to have a strong 2012 campaign, so get ready!
- Fred Jackson
- Ahmad Bradshaw
- Antonio Gates
- Vernon Davis
- Reggie Bush
- Matt Ryan
- Ben Roethlisberger
- Chris Wells
- James Starks
- Dwayne Bowe
- Eric Decker
- Denarius Moore
- Benjarvus Green-Ellis
- Isaac Redman
- Willis McGahee
- Shonn Greene
- Fred Davis
- Santonio Holmes
- Santana Moss
- Robert Meachem
- Timothy Hightower
- Ben Tate
- Jonathan Stewart
- DeAngelo Williams
- Donald Brown
- Jason Witten
- Brandon Pettigrew
- Mark Ingram
- Roy Helu
- Kevin Smith
- Jahvid Best
- Andy Dalton
- Matt Schaub
- Doug Baldwin
- Vincent Brown
- Darrius Heyward-Bey
- Pierre Garcon
- Titus Young
- Reggie Wayne
- Randall Cobb
- Jermaine Gresham
- Brent Celek
- Jared Cook
- Jacob Tamme
- Sam Bradford
- Jay Cutler
- Josh Freeman
- Matt Flynn
- Ryan Fitzpatrick
- Robert Griffin III
- Robert Turbin
- Isaiah Pead
- Michael Bush
- Rashard Mendenhall
- LeGarrette Blount
- Toby Gerhart
- Dustin Keller
- Ed Dickson
- Greg Little
- Randy Moss
- Torrey Smith
- David Wilson
- Jacquizz Rodgers
- Ryan Williams
- Peyton Hillis
- Daniel Thomas
- Mikel LeShoure
- Sidney Rice
- James Jones
- Malcom Floyd
- Brian Quick
- Dallas Clark
- Marcedes Lewis
- Tony Gonzalez
- Nick Toon
- Armon Binns
- Justin Blackmon
- Anquan Boldin
- Michael Crabtree
- Lance Moore
- Laurent Robinson
- Danny Amendola
- Jabar Gaffney
- Jacoby Ford
- Austin Collie
- Mike Williams
- Michael Floyd
- Kendall Wright
- Kevin Kolb
- Joe Flacco
- Carson Palmer
- Martellus Bennett
- Heath Miller
- Lance Kendricks
- Kyle Rudolph
- Alshon Jeffery
- Josh Gordon
- Lestar Jean
- Stephen Hill
- Ronnie Brown
- Shane Vereen
- Ronnie Hillman
- LaMichael James
- Javon Ringer
- Bernard Scott
- Bilal Powell
- Dion Lewis
- Rashad Jennings
- Alex Green
- Matt Hasselbeck
- Alex Smith
- Andre Roberts
- Golden Tate
- Emmanuel Sanders
- Jon Baldwin
- A.J. Jenkins
- Taiwan Jones
- Lamar Miller
- Brandon Jacobs
- Felix Jones
- Kendall Hunter
- Delone Carter
- Pierre Thomas
- Knowshon Moreno
- Danny Woodhead
- Bernard Pierce
- Owen Daniels
- Rueben Randle
- Leonard Hankerson
- Brandon LaFell
- David Nelson
- Nate Washington
- Nate Burleson
- Cedric Benson
- Montario Hardesty
- Michael Tolbert
- Scott Chandler
- Coby Fleener
- Greg Olsen
- Mike Goodson
= Smitty calling this player out as a player that is going to tremendously outperform his draft position (trade value) in 2012
2012 NFL Bye Weeks
Week 4: Colts, Steelers
Week 5: Cowboys, Lions, Raiders, Buccaneers
Week 6: Panthers, Bears, Jaguars, Saints
Week 7: Falcons, Broncos, Chiefs, Dolphins, Eagles, Chargers
Week 8: Ravens, Bills, Bengals, Texans
Week 9: Patriots, Jets, 49ers, Rams
Week 10: Cardinals, Browns, Packers, Redskins
Week 11: Vikings, Giants, Seahawks, Titans
Looking for the 2012 NFL Schedule?
Hey Smitty,
Absolutely love reading your analysis with your rankings. Just wondering…will you ever do a redraft, non-ppr ranking list?
Thanks for all your hard work!
Thanks. I’ll see about making the next one non-PPR for you. I figure we will do a couple in August.
Wow… No Luck in the top 200?
I don’t think he will have a great year but Cedric Benson doesn’t even have a team & he is in there…
Great job as always Smitty, nice new site you’ve got here…
Hey Mike,
Thanks for stopping by. Well, Benson barely cracked the top 200, and that list of names is mix and match right there. I do think Benson could drop to 250 or worse, or sign on with a team as a chance to get No. 2 touches… we shall see.
I like Luck, but I think he is going to have an extremely-rough rookie season. I could be wrong, but the supporting cast just isn’t good enough for him to be fantasy starter worthy in 2012 IMO.
Agreed about the end of the list being a crap shoot but with all the “garbage time” Luck should see this year I would be kinda shocked to see him out of the top 15 QBs of 2012…
Their D is B-A-D & they should be giving up 25-30+ in half their games (Texans (2x), KC, Det, Buf, NE, GB & Chi) so he is going to be forced to throw & while the O-line isn’t good you could do worse than (an aging) Wayne, Collie, Avery, Brown & your college TE (Miami comes to mind) so it isn’t like the cupboard is totally bare…
Just my $0.02 & keep up the good work…
And you definitely have an argument, no question. Top 200s and rankings are like that, players stand out all over the place to others. It’s fun to hear all the stances, though, and you may be right, Luck deserves to sneak in that 198-200 range
And Benson, honestly, doesn’t feel top 200 worthy, so he would likely move out next update. I think he signs at some point, but with each top 200 release, those guys fall out slowly as their situations don’t improve (or in Benson’s situation, he doesn’t have a situation at all).
How times change the top 200… now Benson signs with GB and he replaces James Starks and moves probably up another 10 or so spots because he is a better back than Starks.
Smitty… really great stuff here. Love reading it. Are you the one that produces the rankings by position here? Just checking because it seems since the beginning of August, Brady has dropped in your opinion so just checking to see why if you are the one that has been updating those rankings as well. Again, really appreciate your insight.
JRoss, yep, that’s kinda why I have had Benson lingering… now he vaults way, way up to the upper half. Yes, I do the rankings, and Brady is No. 1 on the redraft and the top QB above. He is also on the Upside Board for having some of the most upside of the upcoming fantasy season, even with the first-round ADP! Give that a read. I am higher on no other QB this year.
I can’t believe you rank Trent Richardson over Forte. Are you for reals? I am not even sure if Richardson is worth a third round pick.
First, welcome Daniel, keep on coming back! Second, you will notice the date, which is prior to Richardson’s knee surgery, and yes before his surgery, we were boldly predicting him to outscore Forte this year. That is no longer the case with T-Rich looking to be slowed to start the season. Another Top 200 Update should be up shortly. As for that being bold (prior to the knee surgery news breaking), we are quite bold here at DC, Daniel, but we have a proven track record which can be viewed here.
Welcome again, buddy!
I only have one request of you Smitty
I been following you for years
I would like the above list updated after the 3rd preseason game
Is that possible?
Thanks
I’ll do my best.. Remind me a few days prior if you could ( just comment here)!
Smitty thank you very much for getting back to me
I will remind you Saturday august 18
Thanks much
Smitty… got a draft coming up August 30th. Curious if you are going to update August prior to that or if the next update will be September. I appreciate all the work you are doing here!
Yep, hopefully this weekend, and at least one more top 200 article before Sept!
Hello.
Hello Smitty,
Thank you for all your fantasy football advice. Won my league last year with your calls on Megatron, Jimmy Graham and Victor Cruz. Wishing for an updated top 200 before this Saturday night when I have my draft so I can win it again!
Great Site!
Thanks, buddy. I hope to have an update by FRI night for ya! Maybe sooner!