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These are my early ranks and I will update them later in the week. Make sure you check the injury report on Sunday for players that have missed practice. 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 from 10-noon, and we'll talk a lot of fantasy football and NFL gambling getting you ready for kickoff every Sunday.
QB
1 Patrick Mahomes
2 Lamar Jackson
3 Deshaun Watson
4 Russell Wilson
5 Carson Wentz
6 Matt Ryan
7 Tom Brady
8 Jared Goff
9 Dak Prescott
10 Baker Mayfield
11 Kyler Murray
12 Aaron Rodgers
13 Jameis Winston
14 Philip Rivers
15 Jacoby Brissett
16 Andy Dalton
17 Jimmy Garoppolo
18 Daniel Jones
19 Kirk Cousins
20 Kyle Allen
RB
1 Christian McCaffrey
2 Alvin Kamara
3 Ezekiel Elliott
4 Dalvin Cook
5 David Johnson
6 Nick Chubb
7 Le'Veon Bell
8 James Conner
9 Mark Ingram
10 Leonard Fournette
11 Derrick Henry
12 Austin Ekeler
13 Joe Mixon
14 Devonta Freeman
15 Todd Gurley
16 Chris Carson
17 LeSean McCoy
18 Aaron Jones
19 Melvin Gordon
20 David Montgomery
21 Wayne Gallman
22 Josh Jacobs
23 James White
24 Phillip Lindsay
25 Darrel Williams
26 Jordan Howard
27 Chris Thompson
28 Jaylen Samuels
29 Royce Freeman
30 Matt Breida
31 Sony Michel
32 Carlos Hyde
33 Tarik Cohen
34 Raheem Mostert
35 Miles Sanders
36 Tarik Cohen
1 Julio Jones
2 Keenan Allen
3 Cooper Kupp
4 DeAndre Hopkins
5 Michael Thomas
6 Chris Godwin
7 Odell Beckham
8 Mike Evans
9 Robert Woods
10 Adam Thielen
11 Larry Fitzgerald
12 Tyler Lockett
13 Julian Edelman
14 Brandin Cooks
15 Tyler Boyd
16 Josh Gordon
17 Sammy Watkins
18 Amari Cooper
19 Allen Robinson
20 Emmanuel Sanders
21 Stefon Diggs
22 JuJu Smith-Schuster
23 Marquise Brown
24 Alshon Jeffery
25 Sterling Shepard
26 Calvin Ridley
27 Courtland Sutton
28 D.J. Chark
29 Will Fuller
30 Demarcus Robinson
31 John Brown
32 Auden Tate
33 D.J. Moore
34 Phillip Dorsett
35 Marquez Valdes-Scantling
36 Jarvis Landry
37 Mecole Hardman
38 Curtis Samuel
39 Robbie Anderson
40 Tyrell Williams
TE
1 Travis Kelce
2 George Kittle
3 Zach Ertz
4 Evan Engram
5 Austin Hooper
6 Mark Andrews
7 Darren Waller
8 Will Dissly
9 Delanie Walker
10 Greg Olsen
11 Jimmy Graham
12 Tyler Eifert
13 Jason Witten
14 Eric Ebron
15 O.J. Howard
Defense
1 Patriots
2 Bears
3 Eagles
4 Titans
5 Vikings
6 Bills
7 Panthers
8 Chargers
9 Saints
10 49ers
11 Steelers
12 Texans
13 Jaguars
14 Chiefs
15 Bengals
Kicker
1 Justin Tucker
2 Greg Zuerlein
3 Will Lutz
4 Harrison Butker
5 Joey Slye
6 Robbie Gould
7 Jake Elliott
8 Ka'imi Fairbairn
9 Zane Gonzalez
10 Brett Maher
11 Jason Myers
12 Mason Crosby
13 Adam Vinatieri
14 Matt Bryant
15 Josh Lambo
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Houston and Gonzaga met in a second-round NCAA Tournament matchup last weekend in Wichita, Kansas, that could as easily have been played in the Final Four, the way Kelvin Sampson's and Mark Few's teams had played throughout the season.
The Cougars were No. 1 in scoring defense, more than a half-point better than the next-best team. The Bulldogs were No. 2 in scoring offense, trailing only Alabama in putting up nearly 87 points per game.
Yet one of the biggest reasons that Houston was able to advance to the Sweet 16 with an 81-76 victory over the Bulldogs was its ability to play any style of basketball. Sure, the Cougars managed to hold Gonzaga nearly 10 points below its season average, but they also ramped up their own scoring, proving that they are more than just a bunch of defensive stoppers.
“Just win and advance,” Sampson said afterward. “Do what it takes. That's all that matters.”
Throughout the 68-team field, those that were able to survive the first weekend were often those that were willing to change things up if the moment dictated it. The defensive dynamo was able to get into transition and pile up points, or the team that loves to score buckled down at the other end of the floor, making life difficult for its unsuspecting opponent.
That has been the case with Mississippi so far in the tournament.
The Rebels rolled into the postseason in the top 50 nationally in scoring, but their defense was middling at best: 175th out of the 364 teams in men's Division I basketball. Yet the same bunch who scored 98 points against Kentucky and 100 against Oral Roberts in the regular season stifled North Carolina in a 71-64 first-round win, then held Iowa State below its season scoring average in a 91-78 victory that pushed Ole Miss into the regional semifinals.
“Their defensive versatility is terrific,” Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger marveled afterward. “Their switch ability — guards on bigs, bigs on guards. They do a great job. Their defense really tries to frustrate you by not allowing the ball to get in the paint, and trying to keep it on one side of the floor. And when they're at their best, they're doing that really well.”
It will take Ole Miss doing it at their best with Michigan State up next; the Spartans are among the most versatile of any team left. They are top 50 in both scoring and defense, and they showed it off last weekend, putting up 87 points against Bryant and holding New Mexico to 63 in a pair of wins.
“We're just a team that can play multiple ways,” the Spartans' Jaden Akins said.
So is Duke, which was fourth nationally in scoring and sixth in scoring defense. And when you have that combination, the results in the opening weekend were not surprising: 93-49 over Mount St. Mary's and 89-66 over Baylor.
Kentucky was sixth nationally in scoring this season, but coach Mark Pope's bunch — 315th in scoring defense — played a more patient game with plenty of success in a 76-57 first-round win over Wofford. It wasn't a surprise that Arizona averaged 90 points in wins over Akron and Oregon, but it may have been that the Wildcats held the Zips to just 65 in the first round.
Then there's Alabama, which looked every bit like the nation's highest-scoring team in a tougher-than-expected first-round win over Robert Morris and a second-round blitz of Saint Mary's. But the Crimson Tide also looked a lot like, say, Houston the way it defended the Gaels, holding them to just 66 points in advancing to the Sweet 16.
That's where the Crimson Tide will face BYU, a team that plays much more like itself.
“I don’t know that I want to say it’s refreshing to go against somebody that plays like us,” Tide coach Nate Oats said, "because I think we’re really tough to guard, and we’ve led the country in scoring the last two years. I don’t think anybody is saying it’s refreshing to play Alabama, whoever is running the defense for the other team. I mean, maybe it’s not such a smash-mouth game like playing football out there like some of these teams, but they’re not easy to cover.
“We’re going to have to really lock in and coaches are going to have to really do a good job getting our guys ready and then our guys are going to have to execute what the plan is, whatever we decide to put in.”