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MJD's 2016 top 10 fantasy football players by position

Published: Aug 23, 2016 at 05:49 AM

Maurice Jones-Drew

NFL.com Analyst

In case you didn't know, NFL Media's Maurice Jones-Drew isn't just a former fantasy football stud -- he was the third-highest scoring running back in 2009 and 2011 -- but he's also a diehard fantasy football player, just like you. Below are his positional top-10 lists for the 2016 fantasy season. Disagree? Want to hear more explanations? Hit him up on Twitter @JonesDrew32.

Quarterbacks

Cam Newton is a dual-threat guy coming off a monster 2015 performance. It would be crazy not to take him as No. 1 quarterback. Jordy Nelson back on the field and a healthier Eddie Lacy will only help Aaron Rodgers in the passing game. Big Ben has a crazy offense with or without Martavis Bryant and Le'Veon Bell. He should put up big numbers this year. Russell Wilson is another dual-threat quarterback, which is big because he can score so many different ways. The only reason Wilson is at No. 4 on my list is because he doesn't have the weapons that some of the top guys have.

Andrew Luck is down on the list because the Colts have said they want to run the ball more, so I don't think he'll be throwing the rock 35 to 40 times per game. Blake Bortles had huge fantasy numbers last year because the Jaguars played from behind quite often. That's not going to be the case this year. His numbers will decrease this year but he's still going to be valuable in fantasy. Drew Brees still has weapons at his disposal and should be able to emulate what he's done the last couple of years.

Derek Carr is a young quarterback who is improving. He's only going to get better in his third NFL season. Eli Manning has the best receiving group in the league with Odell Beckham Jr., Victor Cruz, and Sterling Shepard. Those guys are great for that system. Tyrod Taylor is another dual-threat player and will be able to do a lot with his legs in the Bills' offense. I expect him to do better than last year.

Running backs

With or without his four-game suspension, Le'Veon Bell is the best back in the league because of his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. When he's on the field, they force-feed him the ball. Todd Gurley and Adrian Peterson are in offenses that revolve around them. They will have a high number of carries each week. Martin might be down in the numbers from last season, but Dirk Koetter still wants to run the ball. Coming off his second ACL injury, Jamaal Charles is still one of the best running backs in the league. I expect him to come back strong for the Chiefs this season.

Thomas Rawls was dominant when he was on the field last year. He helped a lot of fantasy players in big ways in his rookie season. Ezekiel Elliott is a little banged up in training camp, but once he gets going, he should produce behind a good offensive line. He is a rookie, however, so it's likely that he'll plateau at some point in the season. Devonta Freeman was a spark for the Falcons offense last year. The whole offense suffered when he went down with a concussion late in the year. This guy is an every-week starter for me. LeSean McCoy is rising up this list with the release of Karlos Williams. I expect Shady's workload to get even heavier. Latavius Murray is part of a good triplet group with Derek Carr and Amari Cooper. He had 1,000 yards last season, and I think he'll do that again.

Wide receivers

Antonio Brown is simply the best receiver in the game, putting up a huge number of receptions and yards. Julio Jones is Matt Ryan's go-to receiver and makes big plays every week no matter who he's up against. OBJ is arguably the most talented receiver in the league and is able to make plays after the catch. Dez Bryant will have a tremendous year and the Cowboys are looking to him to bring them back to the top of the NFC East. A.J. Green is the only veteran receiver now with the Bengals, so Andy Dalton will look his way more often than not.

DeAndre Hopkins has played with different quarterbacks and still produced in the past. Now, he has a consistent quarterback in Brock Osweiler, so I think he's going to be a big playmaker. Not to mention, he wants his new contract. Allen Robinson is a beast, and I think he's going to take the next step this season. He had a big year in 2015, tying for the league-lead in touchdown receptions, and he'll build off that in 2016. Jarvis Landry is all about receptions. He's going to get around 100 catches and is a consistent player for the Dolphins. Now that Andrew Luck is back, T.Y. Hilton is going to get a lot of looks. He can play in the slot or outside and has big-play ability. If Mike Evans can just catch the ball when thrown to him, I think he'll have around 150 receptions. He dropped a ton of balls last year, but the word around training camp is he's looking ready to go.

Tight ends

Need I say anything more that hasn't already been said about Gronk? In Washington, Kirk Cousins is going to rely on Jordan Reed quite a bit this season. Greg Olsen was Cam Newton's top receiver last year and should see good production again this season. Travis Kelce is a great all-around player for the Chiefs' offense. He's a good blocker and an even better receiver. Delanie Walker is my sleeper pick. We saw what he did with Marcus Mariota last season, and he's going to get a ton of catches and make plays. Going into the final years of his career, Gates is still making a big impact. I think Philip Rivers will look his way a lot in the red zone.

Tyler Eifert is low on the list because he's always banged up. He may score a lot of touchdowns, but we don't know if he's going to play every game in 2016. Jason Witten is Mr. Reliable in Dallas. He should get 90 catches and move the chains this year for Tony Romo's offense. He's a secure pick. Martellus Bennett is going to get his fair share of catches and touchdowns in New England, even with Gronk being the star. In Chicago, Jay Cutler has an obvious rapport with Zach Miller to where he's comfortable looking Miller's way often. Miller will get a lot of balls thrown his way in 2016.

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