FANTASY FOOTBALL

Fantasy football PPR rankings

Fantasy football PPR rankings
Photo via:NYGiants/Facebook

Below are my preseason PPR fantasy football rankings. I'll continue to update them as the preseason progresses, and I will also release them each week when the regular season begins. If you have any questions, feel free to hit me up on Twitter or listen to my radio show with Jerry Bo Sundays from 10-noon on ESPN 97.5 FM. We talk all things fantasy football and NFL gambling getting you ready for kickoff every Sunday.

@JoshJordan975@Moneyline975

QB

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes

Photo by Jim Berry, Chiefs.com

1 P. Mahomes KC
2 A. Rodgers GB
3 D. Watson HOU
4 M. Ryan ATL
5 C. Wentz PHI
6 B. Mayfield CLE
7 A. Luck IND (Retired)
8 C. Newton CAR
9 J. Goff LAR
10 D. Brees NO
11 B. Roethlisberger PIT
12 L. Jackson BAL
13 T. Brady NE
14 K. Murray ARI
15 D. Prescott DAL
16 R. Wilson SEA
17 J. Winston TB
18 P. Rivers LAC
19 M. Trubisky CHI
20 J. Allen BUF
21 K. Cousins MIN
22 S. Darnold NYJ
23 J. Garoppolo SF
24 D. Carr OAK
25 M. Stafford DET

RB

Rams RB Todd Gurley

Photo via Rams/Facebook

1 S. Barkley NYG
2 A. Kamara NO
3 C. McCaffrey CAR
4 E. Elliott DAL
5 L. Bell NYJ
6 N. Chubb CLE
7 J. Conner PIT
8 D. Johnson ARI
9 J. Mixon CIN
10 D. Cook MIN
11 D. Williams KC
12 K. Johnson DET
13 T. Gurley LAR
14 L. Fournette JAX
15 D. Freeman ATL
16 C. Carson SEA
17 M. Ingram BAL
18 J. Jacobs OAK
19 T. Coleman SF
20 A. Jones GB
21 D. Montgomery CHI
22 M. Mack IND
23 D. Henry TEN
24 S. Michel NE
25 A. Ekeler LAC
26 J. White NE
27 T. Cohen CHI
28 P. Lindsay DEN
29 D. Johnson HOU
30 M. Sanders PHI
31 R. Penny SEA
32 M. Gordon LAC
33 K. Drake MIA
34 L. Murray NO
35 K. Ballage MIA
36 D. Guice WAS
37 J. Howard PHI
38 J. Jackson LAC
39 L. McCoy BUF
40 J. Samuels PIT
41 D. Thompson KC
42 R. Freeman DEN
43 P. Barber TB
44 N. Hines IND
45 D. Henderson LAR
46 D. Lewis TEN
47 M. Breida SF
48 T. Pollard DAL
49 A. Peterson WAS
50 D. Harris NE
51 D. Singletary BUF
52 R. Jones TB
53 A. Mattison MIN
54 G. Bernard CIN
55 I. Smith ATL
56 C. Anderson DET
57 J. Hill BAL
58 M.Brown LAR
59 C. Thompson WAS
60 K. Hunt CLE

WR

Saints WR Michael Thomas

Photo by New Orleans Saints/Facebook

1 D. Hopkins HOU
2 D. Adams GB
3 J. Jones ATL
4 M. Thomas NO
5 J. Smith-Schuster PIT
6 T. Hill KC
7 O. Beckham CLE
8 M. Evans TB
9 K. Allen LAC
10 A. Thielen MIN
11 B. Cooks LAR
12 S. Diggs MIN
13 R. Woods LAR
14 A. Brown OAK
15 J. Edelman NE
16 T. Lockett SEA
17 A. Cooper DAL
18 C. Kupp LAR
19 C. Godwin TB
20 D. Moore CAR
21 K. Golladay DET
22 C. Ridley ATL
23 R. Anderson NYJ
24 T. Hilton IND
25 M. Williams LAC
26 J. Gordon NE
27 A. Robinson CHI
28 C. Samuel CAR
29 T. Boyd CIN
30 A. Green CIN
31 W. Fuller HOU
32 A. Jeffery PHI
33 J. Landry CLE
34 S. Shepard NYG
35 E. Sanders DEN
36 C. Kirk ARI
37 S. Watkins KC
38 C. Davis TEN
39 D. Westbrook JAX
40 M. Jones DET
41 D. Jackson PHI
42 M. Valdes-Scantling GB
43 L. Fitzgerald ARI
44 D. Moncrief PIT
45 J. Brown BUF
46 T. Williams OAK
47 G. Allison GB
48 M. Gallup DAL
49 D. Hamilton DEN
50 J. Washington PIT
51 K. Coutee HOU
52 C. Sutton DEN
53 J. Crowder NYJ
54 D. Funchess IND
55 K. Stills MIA
56 A. Miller CH
57 G. Tate NYG
58 N. Harry NE
59 Q. Enunwa NYJ
60 M. Goodwin SF

TE

49ers TE George Kittle

Photo via:49ers/Facebook

1 T. Kelce KC
2 Z. Ertz PHI
3 G. Kittle SF
4 E. Engram NYG
5 O. Howard TB
6 H. Henry LAC
7 J. Cook NO
8 A. Hooper ATL
9 D. Walker TEN
10 V. McDonald PIT
11 T. Burton CHI
12 D. Njoku CLE
13 E. Ebron IND
14 J. Reed WAS
15 J. Graham GB
16 G. Olsen CAR
17 M. Andrews BAL
18 C. Herndon NYJ
19 T. Hockenson DET
20 K. Rudolph MIN
21 D. Waller OAK
22 N. Fant DEN
23 J. Doyle IND
24 D. Goedert PHI

Defense

Texans J.J. Watt

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

1 Bears
2 Jaguars
3 Rams
4 Vikings
5 Browns
6 Chargers
7 Ravens
8 Bills
9 Eagles
10 Saints
11 Cowboys
12 Texans
13 Patriots
14 Steelers
15 Broncos
16 Colts
17 Packers
18 Lions
19 Chiefs
20 Jets

Kicker

Texans kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn (left)

Texas official Twitter account

1 J. Tucker BAL
2 G. Zuerlein LAR
3 H. Butker KC
4 S. Gostkowski NE
5 K. Fairbairn HOU
6 W. Lutz NO
7 R. Gould SF
8 J. Elliott PHI
9 A. Vinatieri IND
10 B. Maher DAL
11 M. Badgley LAC
12 M. Crosby GB
13 D. Bailey MIN
14 J. Myers SEA
15 M. Prater DET
16 C. Boswell PIT

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Lance McCullers needed peace of mind — and got it. Composite Getty Image.

Soon after Lance McCullers Jr.’s family received online death threats following a tough start by the Houston Astros’ pitcher, his 5-year-old daughter, Ava, overheard wife Kara talking on the phone about it.

What followed was a painful conversation between McCullers and his little girl.

“She asked me when I came home: ‘Daddy like what is threats? Who wants to hurt us? Who wants to hurt me?’” McCullers told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “So, those conversations are tough to deal with.”

McCullers is one of two MLB pitchers whose families have received online death threats this month as internet abuse of players and their families is on the rise. Boston reliever Liam Hendriks took to social media soon after the incident with McCullers to call out people who were threatening his wife’s life and directing “vile” comments at him.

The Astros contacted MLB security and the Houston Police Department following the threats to McCullers. An police spokesperson said Thursday that it remains an ongoing investigation.

McCullers, who has two young daughters, took immediate action after the threats and reached out to the team to inquire about what could be done to protect his family. Astros owner Jim Crane stepped in and hired 24-hour security for them.

It was a move McCullers felt was necessary after what happened.

“You have to at that point,” he said.

Abuse increasing with rise in sports gambling

Players from around the league agree that online abuse has gotten progressively worse in recent years. Milwaukee’s Christian Yelich, a 13-year MLB veteran and the 2018 NL MVP, said receiving online abuse is “a nightly thing” for most players.

“I think over the last few years it’s definitely increased,” he said. “It’s increased to the point that you’re just: ‘All right, here we go.’ It doesn’t even really register on your radar anymore. I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing. You’re just so used to that on a day-to-day, night-to-night basis. It’s not just me. It’s everybody in here, based on performance.”

And many players believe it’s directly linked to the rise in legalized sports betting.

“You get a lot of DMs or stuff like that about you ruining someone’s bet or something ridiculous like that,” veteran Red Sox reliever Justin Wilson said. “I guess they should make better bets.”

Hendriks has had enough

Hendriks, a 36-year-old reliever who previously battled non-Hodgkin lymphoma, said on Instagram that he and his wife received death threats after a loss to the Mets. He added that people left comments saying that they wished he would have died from cancer among other abusive comments.

He later discussed the issue and his decision to speak out about it.

“Enough is enough,” he said. “Like at some point, everyone just like sucking up and dealing with it isn’t accomplishing anything. And we pass along to security. We pass along to whoever we need to, but nothing ends up happening. And it happens again the next night. And so, at some point, someone has to make a stand. And it’s one of those things where the more eyes we get on it, the more voices we get talking about it. Hopefully it can push it in the right direction."

What teams are doing

Both the Astros and the Red Sox are working with MLB security to take action against social media users who direct threats toward players and their families. Red Sox spokesperson Abby Murphy added that they’ve taken steps in recent years to make sure player' families are safe during games. That includes security staff and Boston police stationed in the family section at home and dedicated security in the traveling party to monitor the family section on the road.

Murphy said identifying those who make anonymous threats online is difficult, but: “both the Red Sox and MLB have cyber programs and analysts dedicated to identifying and removing these accounts.”

The Astros have uniformed police officers stationed in the family section, a practice that was implemented well before the threats to McCullers and his family.

Abandoning social media

For some players, online abuse has gotten so bad that they’ve abandoned social media. Detroit All-Star outfielder Riley Greene is one of them, saying he got off because he received so many messages from people blaming him for failed bets.

“I deleted it,” he said of Instagram. “I’m off it. It sucks, but it’s the world we live in, and we can’t do anything about it. People would DM me and say nasty things, tell me how bad of a player I am, and say nasty stuff that we don’t want to hear.”

Criticism is part of the game, threats are not

The 31-year-old McCullers, who returned this year after missing two full seasons with injuries, said dealing with this has been the worst thing that’s happened in his career. He understands the passion of fans and knows that being criticized for a poor performance is part of the game. But he believes there’s a “moral line” that fans shouldn’t cross.

“People should want us to succeed,” he said. “We want to succeed, but it shouldn’t come at a cost to our families, the kids in our life, having to feel like they’re not safe where they live or where they sit at games.”

Houston manager Joe Espada was livid when he learned about the threats to McCullers and his family and was visibly upset when he addressed what happened with reporters.

Espada added that the team has mental health professionals available to the players to talk about the toll such abuse takes on them and any other issues they may be dealing with.

“We are aware that when we step on the field, fans expect and we expect the best out of ourselves,” Espada said this week. “But when we are trying to do our best and things don’t go our way while we’re trying to give you everything we got and now you’re threatening our families and kids — now I do have a big issue with that, right? I just did not like it.”

Kansas City’s Salvador Perez, a 14-year MLB veteran, hasn’t experienced online abuse but was appalled by what happened to McCullers. If something like that happened to him he said it would change the way he interacts with fans.

“Now some fans, real fans, they’re gonna pay for that, too,” he said. "Because if I was him, I wouldn’t take a picture or sign anything for noboby because of that one day.”

McCullers wouldn’t go that far but admitted it has changed his mindset.

“It does make you kind of shell up a little bit,” he said. “It does make you kind of not want to go places. I guess that’s just probably the human reaction to it.”

Finding a solution

While most players have dealt with some level of online abuse in their careers, no one has a good idea of how to stop it.

“I’m thankful I’m not in a position where I have to find a solution to this,” Tigers’ pitcher Tyler Holton said. “But as a person who is involved in this, I wish this wasn’t a topic of conversation.”

White Sox outfielder Mike Tauchman is disheartened at how bad player abuse has gotten. While it’s mostly online, he added that he’s had teammates that have had racist and homophobic things yelled at them during games.

“Outside of just simply not having social media I really don’t see that getting better before it just continues to get worse,” he said. “I mean, I think it’s kind of the way things are now. Like, people just feel like they have the right to say whatever they want to whoever they want and it’s behind a keyboard and there’s really no repercussions, right?”

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