
These are my very early ranks, so keep in mind I post these on Thursday. Make sure you check the injury report on Sunday for players that have missed practice. If it doesn't look like a player will play this week, I typically won't rank him. Keep in mind, these are PPR rankings, and don't forget to set your lineup for Thursday Night Football.
If you have any questions, feel free to hit me up on Twitter. Be sure to check out my show MoneyLine with Jerry Bo on ESPN 97.5FM. We're on every Sunday morning from 10-noon, and we'll talk a lot of fantasy football and NFL gambling getting you ready for kickoff every Sunday.
QB
1Lamar Jackson
2Matt Ryan
3Russell Wilson
4Drew Brees
5Aaron Rodgers
6Deshaun Watson
7Baker Mayfield
8Jacoby Brissett
9Dak Prescott
10Josh Allen
11Jimmy Garoppolo
12Tom Brady
13Sam Darnold
14Derek Carr
15Nick Foles
RB
1Christian McCaffrey
2Alvin Kamara
3Saquon Barkley
4Derrick Henry
5Aaron Jones
6Ezekiel Elliott
7Josh Jacobs
8Nick Chubb
9Phillip Lindsay
10Leonard Fournette
11Jaylen Samuels
12Le'Veon Bell
13Mark Ingram
14Chris Carson
15James White
16Tevin Coleman
17Devin Singletary
18Todd Gurley
19Joe Mixon
20Kareem Hunt
21Miles Sanders
22David Montgomery
23Ronald Jones
24Sony Michel
25Derrius Guice
26Duke Johnson
27Tarik Cohen
28Carlos Hyde
29Bo Scarbrough
30Jamaal Williams
WR
1Michael Thomas
2Julio Jones
3Odell Beckham Jr
4Mike Evans
5DeAndre Hopkins
6Davante Adams
7D.J. Chark
8Julian Edelman
9T.Y. Hilton *Make sure he's active for TNF.
10D.J. Moore
11Chris Godwin
12Calvin Ridley
13Allen Robinson
14Tyler Lockett
15Tyrell Williams
16Jarvis Landry
17Jamison Crowder
18Kenny Golladay
19Courtland Sutton
20John Brown
21Devante Parker
22Amari Cooper
23Cooper Kupp
24Michael Gallup
25D.K. Metcalf
26Deebo Samuel
27 Will Fuller
28Marvin Jones
29Golden Tate
30Robert Woods
31Emmanuel Sanders
32Curtis Samuel
33Terry McLaurin
34Nelson Agholor
35Marquise Brown
36Tyler Boyd
TE
1George Kittle *Make sure he's playing on Sunday night
2Zach Ertz
3Mark Andrews
4Darren Waller
5Jared Cook
6Greg Olsen
7Eric Ebron
8 Noah Fant
9Ryan Griffin
10Jacob Hollister
11Gerald Everett
12Jason Witten
DEF
1 Steelers
2 Saints
3 Ravens
4 Patriots
5 Bears
6 Bills
7 Lions
8 Browns
9 Raiders
10 Titans
11Falcons
12 Packers
Kicker
1 Justin Tucker
2 Wil Lutz
3 Greg Zuerlein
4 Younghoe Koo
5 Matt Prater
6 Mason Crosby
7 Ka'imi Fairbairn
8 Jason Myers
9 Steven Hauschka
10 Nick Folk
11 Joey Slye
12 Austin Seibert
- It’s the first place Houston Astros against the first place Los Angeles Dodgers as they open their latest head-to-head series. This is not a recording. The two most dominant powers in the sport over the last decade gather at Dodger Stadium this Independence Day weekend. The Astros have a sizable lead in pursuit of their eighth American League West championship in the last nine years. The Dodgers have an even more sizable lead as they chase their fourth straight National League West crown, which would be their 12th in 13 years. Each franchise has won two World Series in that time frame, each has lost two. All Astro and Dodger parties would sign off immediately on a 2025 World Series matchup. This three-game set carries no big picture significance, but every game counts, and it’s just fun seeing these two get after it. It would be more fun if the Astros had Yordan Alvarez available. Then again, the Dodgers won’t have Josh Fields.
Both continue to roll along despite rashes of injuries. When the Astros awoke May 24 their record sat at 26-25. Since then they have gone 26-10. That is a dominant stretch despite this clearly not being a dominant team. The still Alvarez-less offense is mediocre. So is the starting pitching apart from the one-two awesome punch that Hunter Brown and Framber Valdez have been. When Brown or Valdez has been the Astros’ starting pitcher this season, the team record is 25-9. With anyone else making the start, 27-26. They have been every bit as dynamic a duo so far in 2025 that Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole were for the Astros in 2019 when Verlander edged out Cole to win his third Cy Young Award. Brown is a lock to be named to his first American League All-Star team this Sunday. Valdez is worthy of a third consecutive selection but could get caught in a numbers squeeze. Eight or nine starting pitchers are picked for each league.
The Dodgers won’t face Brown this weekend, but will have to deal with Valdez on Saturday night. His mound counterpart will be Shohei Ohtani. Oooooooh! Framber didn’t give up a run in 13 innings over his last two starts, and over his last 10 outings has a super-spiffy 1.72 earned run average. The amazing Ohtani is easing back into pitching after his second Tommy John surgery. Ohtani has started three games, totaling just four innings. He has yet to throw 30 pitches in an outing. Saturday he probably will be allowed 30 to 40.
Arms race
While Friday’s outing isn’t remotely a make or break start for Lance McCullers, it does speak to a significant question the Astros hope to find a pleasing answer to over the remainder of the regular season. Who is their third starting pitcher in a playoff series? After Brown and Valdez there is simply no one who inspires confidence at this point. McCullers has been awful his last two times out, jacking up his ERA to 6.61 eight starts into his season. 20 walks issued in 32 2 /3 innings pitched is glaringly bad. McCullers is still reasonably in ramp up mode, but given his injury history along with performance concerns, the third starter spot can’t be considered his to lose. Spencer Arrighetti’s resume is thin but his return at the level he pitched at after the All-Star break last season would be massive. Colt Gordon and Brandon Walter have both done some nice fill-in work, but no one plausibly wants them starting what would be a do or die game if the Astros wind up in a game three of a best-of-three Wild Card series.
Historic achievement
Not as if it’s subplot or anything this weekend, but let’s call it notable that the two active career hits leaders in Major League Baseball share the field this weekend. Jose Altuve this week vaulted past Jeff Bagwell for second in Astros’ history behind Craig Biggio. Altuve enters the weekend 743 hits behind Biggio. He is no lock to catch him before Altuve’s five-year contract expires at the end of the 2029 season. Altuve will be 39 then. Biggio was 41 when he rapped his 3000th hit, then added 60 more before beginning the waiting game for election to the Hall of Fame.
Like Biggio got and presumably someday Altuve will get, Dodger first baseman Freddie Freeman will get the call from Cooperstown some day. Like Altuve, Freeman is 35 years old, has won a Most Valuable Player Award, one Gold Glove, and with his selection this week been named an All-Star nine times. Aaron Judge may change this in the next couple of years, but among active players only Mike Trout (by a long shot) has compiled more Baseball-Reference offensive Wins Above Replacement than Freeman (second) and Altuve (third).
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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