By this point in your draft, you'll have your first two players locked in, so the path you took earlier will play a significant role on how you approach this range of the top 100 rankings.
For instance, if you want RB-RB in the first two rounds, you probably don't need to look at the likes of Melvin Gordon or Todd Gurley, even if you buy into their bounce back potential. Of course, the fact that two perennial first rounders might have fallen to this point in your draft might be incentive to target pass catchers in the first two rounds. This is why it's important to know how your draft may go before entering the room.
As you get ready for the 2020 Fantasy season, the best place to start is by getting to know the player pool, and the best way to do that is to dive into Heath Cummings' breakdown of our top-100 players for 2020. He'll make the case for and against each player, so that when you get ready to pick, you can make up your own mind.
Read about No. 31 through 40 below, and find the rest of the top 100 here:
- No. 1-10 - Christian McCaffrey through Miles Sanders
- No. 11-20 - Travis Kelce through D.J. Moore
- No. 21-30 - Cooper Kupp through Aaron Jones
- No. 41-50 - Lamar Jackson through Courtland Sutton
- No. 51-60 - Stefon Diggs through Cam Akers
- No. 61-70 - Devin Singletary through Hunter Henry
- No. 71-80 - Michael Gallup through Tarik Cohen
- No. 81-90 - Deebo Samuel through Jordan Howard
- No. 91-100 - CeeDee Lamb through Tevin Coleman
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The Case For: Over the past 16 games Melvin Gordon has put together nearly 1,600 total yards and 14 touchdowns. His abilities in both short yardage and the passing game mean he has every-down upside and his new contract with the Broncos means we won't have to worry about him holding out again.
The Case Against: Gordon's skill set may give him that upside, but the presence of Phillip Lindsay says otherwise. Expect a full-blown committee in Denver, with Gordon earning somewhere close to 200 carries and 50 receptions. That doesn't give him top-12 upside unless he has a remarkable touchdown rate. Also, that's a 16-game projection and Gordon has only held up to a 16-game season once in his career.
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The Case For: As bad as Mitchell Trubisky was in 2019, Allen Robinson still found a way to finish as a top-10 PPR receiver. This was the third time in Robinson's career that he's played 16 games, and in two of those he's delivered elite Fantasy production. The addition of Nick Foles helps Robinson's floor, as the Bears now have a good fallback option if Trubisky is as bad as he was in 2019. That said, if Trubisky can be as good as he was in 2018, Robinson has top-five upside.
The Case Against: Robinson just isn't a difference maker. He needed 154 targets to produce 1,147 yards. And his 7.4 yards per target in 2020 was very close to his career mark of 7.5 yards. That's about as mediocre as it gets. If the Bears defense bounces back and they don't throw as much, Robinson will struggle to produce top-12 numbers.
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The Case For: It's amazing how we talk about a 25-year-old Todd Gurley as if he's totally washed up. He's never finished worse than No. 20 at running back, he was a top-12 back last year, and he's just a year removed from back-to-back No. 1 seasons. Oh yeah, and he signed with a Falcons team that just gave Devonta Freeman 70 targets in 14 games. Expect a big increase in targets for Gurley and a top-12 season if he plays 16 games.
The Case Against: The reason the Falcons let Freeman go was presumably his injuries and inefficiency. It's confusing that they would think any differently of Gurley. Last year Gurley averaged just 3.8 yards per carry and a paltry 4.2 yards per target. That type of inefficiency doesn't come around often. Even less often is a back good after posting that type of efficiency.
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The Case For: All we do is doubt Chris Carson and all he does is produce. He's the feature back on one of the most run-heavy offenses in the NFL and he's coming off back-to-back seasons of at least 1,300 total yards and nine touchdowns. The addition of Carlos Hyde and Pete Carroll's offseason tone tells us Rashaad Penny may not be ready for the start of the season and Penny is much more of a threat to Carson's role than Hyde. Carson can give you 95% of Joe Mixon's production at a two-round discount.
The Case Against: Carson fractured his hip at the end of last offseason, so we can't even be sure he's 100% until we see him at camp. His fumbling problems (7 in 2019) had him splitting 50-50 with Penny before Penny tore his ACL. While Hyde isn't a great talent, he is someone who could steal touchdowns from Carson. Carson is a No. 2 running back with injury and fumble risk … and not enough upside to make up for it.
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The Case For: Patrick Mahomes dislocated his knee cap, played on a bum ankle, and played half of the year with Tyreek Hill banged up in one way or another, and still threw for 4,856 yards and 35 touchdowns, while rushing for another 351 yards and four scores in 16 games, including the playoffs. While that's not as good as 2018, it's a pretty spectacular season. Mahomes should be the first quarterback drafted in standard CBS leagues as early as the third round.
The Case Against: The only case against Mahomes is the case against taking any quarterback before Round 3. Every year we see late-round quarterbacks deliver elite results. Mahomes did it in 2018; Lamar Jackson did it last year; Ryan Tannehill did it off and the waiver wire. No quarterback, including Mahomes, should be drafted in the first two rounds of your one-quarterback league.
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The Case For: Counting the playoffs, Amari Cooper has now played 27 games with Dak Prescott as his quarterback. His 16-game pace for those games is 86 catches, 1,235 yards, and nine touchdowns. He is a bona fide No. 1 receiver on one of the best offenses in football. The presence of Ezekiel Elliott, Michael Gallup, and CeeDee Lamb ensure no defense can prioritize stopping Cooper.
The Case Against: Cooper will probably finish the season as a top-12 receiver if he plays 16 games, but he won't feel like it half the time. He had five games last year with fewer than five PPR Fantasy points and he failed to crack 50 yards in seven of 16 contests. Gallup was actually more efficient than Cooper last year, and Lamb is a future No. 1 in the making. What if this ends up a pretty even split
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The Case For: You won't find too many receivers in Round 5 or later that can match Woods' 269 targets over the past two seasons. And that was before the team moved on from Todd Gurley and Brandin Cooks. Barring injury, Woods looks like a sure thing for 85 catches and 1,100 yards. The only reason he isn't being drafted higher is because he scored just two touchdowns on 139 targets last year. Regression will be your friend if you draft Woods.
The Case Against: There's little doubt Woods' touchdown total will regress, but just how much is a fair question. He's never scored more than six in a season and his career touchdown rate is a paltry 3.6%. That rate would put Woods at five touchdowns if he matches last year's target total. That seriously hampers his upside.
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The Case For: Do you know how hard it is to touch the ball 311 times and be as uninspiring for Fantasy as Bell was last year? His yards per carry (3.2) and rushing touchdown rate (1.2%) were both at career lows. His yards per reception (7.0) and receiving touchdown rate (1.3%) were both well below his career average, too. The Jets offensive line won't be as bad as they were in 2019 and Bell won't be as unlucky when it comes to scores. He's a top-12 PPR back if he plays even 15 games.
The Case Against: It's not great when the best argument for a player is, "He can't be that bad again". The Jets drafted LaMical Perine and signed Frank Gore in the offseason. Maybe most importantly, they still have Adam Gase as their head coach. Remember when Gase gave Gore more carries than current consensus top-12 back Kenyan Drake with the Dolphins? Bell's role inside the 10-yard line isn't guaranteed and neither is massive improvement on his 2019 numbers.
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The Case For: Each of the last three seasons Keenan Allen has caught at least 97 passes for 1,196 yards. He's scored exactly six touchdowns all three seasons. And somehow, he's often available in the fourth round. Allen is the clear No. 1 pass catcher in Los Angeles and replacing Philip Rivers shouldn't be that hard; he wasn't very good last year. If Tyrod Taylor can't do it, Justin Herbert should be able to.
The Case Against: The Chargers have the making of an elite defense, which could keep Taylor in the starting role for most of the season. This should be a more run-heavy attack, and Taylor will scramble far more often than Rivers did. This may not be a big drop off for Hunter Henry or Austin Ekeler, but it could be absolutely disastrous for the wide receivers. Unfortunately, Allen doesn't have the ceiling to make his unknown floor palatable.
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The Case For: There's no denying 2019 was an unmitigated disaster for James Conner and the Steelers, but that shouldn't make you forget that Conner was a top-six back in 2018. Mike Tomlin has said this offseason that Conner can be a workhorse back when he's healthy and the Steelers have historically used their backs in that way. While there are a lot of other running backs in Pittsburgh, none of them are a threat to a healthy Conner.
The Case Against: Conner is one of those guys who should make you very uncomfortable projecting for 16 games. Mostly, because hasn't done it once in three season. Between Anthony MacFarland, Jaylen Samuels and Benny Snell, there is a serious risk that someone takes passing or short yardage work away from Conner as they attempt to keep him fresh throughout the season. If he loses one or both he loses his top-12 upside.
Which players are poised for breakouts, which sleepers do you need to jump on, and which busts should you avoid at all costs in your Fantasy football league? Visit SportsLine now to get early rankings, plus see which WR is going to come out of nowhere to crack the top 10, all from the model that out-performed experts big time last season.
