The Houston Texans are the only NFL team with as many running backs as receivers on their roster, which foretells what their offensive strategy will be this year. They will be decidedly run-heavy with Deshaun Watson being a weekly inactive and a deep stable of running backs that includes Phillip Lindsay, Mark Ingram and David Johnson. Now that you know their philosophy, you need to know what order the backs fall in the 2021 Fantasy football rankings.
Lindsay and Ingram are both listed as starters on the depth chart, but is that enough to grab either in the later rounds with your 2021 Fantasy football picks? What about Johnson, who had more scrimmage yards than Lindsay and Ingram combined last year, but isn't even being considered in many Fantasy football rankings 2021? If you're looking for 2021 Fantasy football advice, be sure to check out the 2021 Fantasy football cheat sheets from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
Last year, the model accurately predicted that Bills quarterback Josh Allen was being drastically undervalued. His Fantasy football ADP was barely in the top 70, but the model pegged him as a top-five Fantasy quarterback, a QB1 who would finish well ahead of players like Kyler Murray, Tom Brady and Drew Brees. Allen ended up being the No. 2-scoring Fantasy QB, outscoring all three of those quarterbacks and even surpassing Patrick Mahomes. That's just one example of a league-winning pick that SportsLine's model has been high on.
It's called past Fantasy football sleepers like Derrick Henry in 2019,Christian McCaffrey and Alvin Kamara in 2018, and Davante Adams in 2017. Anybody who banked on players like those made a run at their league title.
The model is powered by the same people who generated projections for all three major Fantasy sites, and it beat human experts last season when there was a big difference in ranking. The projections update multiple times daily, so you're always getting the best Fantasy football advice and the latest Fantasy football tiers.
Now, SportsLine has simulated the entire NFL season 10,000 times and released its latest Fantasy football rankings 2021 and draft advice, along with its top Fantasy QB, WR, RB picks.Head to SportsLine now to see them.
Top 2021 Fantasy football QB rankings
Here's a look at SportsLine's top three 2021 Fantasy football QB picks:
1. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills: Allen is coming off a season in which he finished second in MVP voting and led his team to the AFC Championship. He improved in almost every statistical category and has the potential to break records during the 17-game schedule in 2021. Allen had a 37-to-10 touchdown-to-interception ratio while adding 421 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground. The Bills are Super Bowl contenders this year and committed to utilizing Allen's strengths throughout the season.
2. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs: Mahomes has taken a backseat to Allen at the top of drafts, but he is still a slam-dunk pick. He averaged 25 Fantasy points per game last season, scoring 40 in a win at Baltimore in Week 3. Mahomes has been stellar during the month of September throughout his career, so he is likely going to help his owners get off to a hot start.
3. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens: Jackson is never going to have the same passing volume as Allen and Mahomes, but he is the best running quarterback in the NFL. He rushed for 1,005 yards and seven touchdowns in 2020 while also completing 64.4 percent of his passes. Jackson caught fire down the stretch, averaging 27.7 Fantasy points over the final five games of the season.
Top 2021 Fantasy football RB rankings
Here's a look at SportsLine's top three 2021 Fantasy football RB picks:
1. Christian McCaffrey, Carolina Panthers: McCaffrey was third in the Fantasy football RB rankings in 2018 before topping all players in his magical 2019 season. Injuries hamstrung his 2020 season, but you should look at the whole of McCaffrey's career rather than one fluky year. His workload this year should be on par with 2018-19, as the Panthers didn't make McCaffrey the league's highest-paid running back to have him alternate series with other backs.
2. Dalvin Cook, Minnesota Vikings: After two injury-plagued seasons to begin his career, Cook has developed into one of the most consistent backs in the league since 2019. He's played in 14 games in back-to-back years and always seems to find the end zone or post a big yardage game. Over his last 28 games, Cook has either scored a touchdown or posted over 100 yards from scrimmage in 25 of those contests.
3. Derrick Henry, Tennessee Titans: While most backs wear down as the season goes on, Henry is an anomaly, as he's at his best later in the year. Since 2019, he's had 1,424 rushing yards through Games 1-8 compared to 2,143 yards in Games 9-16. That means he's strongest when it matters the most, the Fantasy playoffs.
Top 2021 Fantasy football WR rankings
Here's a look at SportsLine's top three 2021 Fantasy football WR picks:
1. Davante Adams, Green Bay Packers: Adams piled up 115 catches for 1,374 yards and 18 touchdowns last season despite missing two games. When you consider target quality (87.8 percent of his 2020 targets were catchable) and quantity of targets in high-value areas (27 red zone targets in 2020), it's easy to see why he's No. 1 in the 2021 Fantasy football wide receiver rankings.
2. Tyreek Hill, Kansas City Chiefs: The speedster continues to evolve from prototypical slot receiver into one of the NFL's premier deep-ball threats. Kansas City's ability to move him around makes him much more difficult to account for. Hill played 41.1 percent of his snaps in the slot last season, but he still was second in the NFL in deep targets (32) and third in targeted air yards (1,746).
3. Stefon Diggs, Buffalo Bills: There's a lot of underlying data you should consider when making wide receiver decisions, but sheer volume of targets is a strong indicator that a player will produce solid baseline stats. Diggs led the NFL with 166 targets last season and correspondingly led the league in receptions (127) and receiving yards (1,535).
How to find proven 2021 Fantasy football football rankings, advice
Now that you know who the top three at each position are, you'll want to see the full Fantasy football rankings 2021 and cheat sheets from SportsLine. The model has identified a stunner in the top five at quarterback, and knowing who it is can give you a huge edge in your league. Head to SportsLine now to get Fantasy football cheat sheets.
So who should you target in your 2021 Fantasy football rankings? And which QB shocks the NFL with a top-five performance? Visit SportsLine now to get 2021 Fantasy Football cheat sheets for every single position, all from the model that has a history of making league-winning calls, and find out.
