Wide receiver is a position that has seen its Fantasy value grow tremendously over the years as offenses around the league have turned to more pass-heavy attacks. Last year, Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill finished as the No. 1 receiver in non-PPR leagues after he put up career numbers. Hill finished with 87 receptions for 1,479 yards and 12 receiving touchdowns and has been a name to watch during 2019 Fantasy football draft prep. Elsewhere in the league, Raiders receiver Antonio Brown continues to make headlines for all the wrong reasons. Brown suffered frostbite on the bottom of his feet and has been battling the NFL regarding his helmet. Fans everywhere are trying to gauge whether Brown will be a distraction to his teammates throughout the season, making him a potential risk while you formulate your 2019 Fantasy football strategy. In order to figure out who you can trust, you need reliable 2019 Fantasy football tiers like the ones at SportsLine. With their help, you can determine which 2019 Fantasy football picks to make and which players to avoid like the plague.
SportsLine's model is powered by the same people who powered projections for all three major Fantasy companies. These cheat sheets and Fantasy football rankings, available for leagues on many major sites, are updated multiple times every day. Any time an injury occurs or there's a change on a depth chart, the team at SportsLine updates its cheat sheets. When news broke that Tyreek Hill wouldn't be suspended, he was immediately upgraded.
When it comes to ranking players, SportsLine's model beat human experts in Fantasy football in 2018 when there were big differences in ranking. And the model was closest-to-the-hole overall, meaning it best pinpointed where every player would finish each week. Over the course of a season, that could literally be the difference between winning your league or going home empty-handed.
Now, SportsLine has simulated the entire 2019 NFL season 10,000 times and released its latest 2019 Fantasy football tiers.
We can tell you that the model says you can find RB1 value as late as the third round. The model rates the Colts' Marlon Mack and the Lions' Kerryon Johnson just behind David Johnson in the third tier of Fantasy football running backs, and both players are being taken in the third round on average. Mack and Kerryon Johnson's most significant threats at their position are Nyheim Hines and C.J. Anderson, respectively. And while they are effective backups and change of pace players, Mack and Johnson should see a significant share of the workload and have proven to be extremely productive on a per touch basis.
Mack has 1,594 yards from scrimmage and 14 scores over 326 touches the last two years. If he can stay healthy enough to approach the 300-touch mark in 2019, similar productivity would make him a top-five back. Meanwhile, Johnson ranked sixth in the NFL in true yards per carry (5.0) and was 13th in percentage of carries for 15 or more yards (6.8). That's why SportsLine ranks both in its top 11 running backs despite a 2019 Fantasy football ADP of 33.49 for Mack and 27.05 for Johnson.
Another shocker: Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston, who finished outside the top 20 Fantasy quarterbacks last season, jumps into the second tier of signal callers, a group that ranks only behind reigning MVP Patrick Mahomes.
Winston has plenty to prove heading into 2019. He's entering the final year of his contract with the Buccaneers and this could be his last chance to cement himself as Tampa Bay's quarterback of the future.
Winston is expected to be one of the main beneficiaries of Tampa Bay hiring head coach Bruce Arians, who has a reputation for emphasizing downfield passing. With two potential Pro Bowl receivers in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, an emerging tight end in O.J. Howard, and a head coach who relishes taking big shots, Winston carries league-winning potential as a starting Fantasy quarterback. Plus, Tampa Bay had the most passing yards (5,125) in the league last season. That supporting cast puts Winston firmly into the mix as a rock-solid QB1 option in the non-Mahomes tier. SportsLine's Fantasy football tiers 2019 slot him ahead of proven quarterbacks like Philip Rivers and Russell Wilson.
The model has made the call on which tier every player belongs in and has a shocking take on when to take Rams running back Todd Gurley. You can only see each player's position at SportsLine.
So what are the Fantasy football tiers for every position in 2019? And how long should you wait to pick Gurley? Visit SportsLine right now to see a complete Fantasy football tier breakdown for 2019, all from a proven computer model that has crushed human experts.
