Time to check back in with our Filthy 40 — the top 40 fantasy players for the balance of the seasons. We are through one week of byes and the players who have already sat get a slight boost in the ranks.
It continues to be a fluid situation at the top with Demarco Murray taking over the cat-bird seat. Murray leads the most valuable position on the fantasy gridiron in scoring and is running hard behind one of the leagues top-young offensive lines. The ‘Boys have also been a top-5 rushing team in terms of run-pass balance and will continue to feed Murray the rock.
Have in issue with our breakdown of the fantasy elites? Let us know in the comments.
| Rank | Player | Team | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DeMarco Murray | DAL | Murray leads the most valuable position on the fantasy gridiron in scoring and is running hard behind one of the leagues top, young offensive lines. The 'Boys have also been a top-5 rushing team in terms of run-pass balance and will continue to feed Demarco the rock. |
| 2 | Matt Forte | CHI | Now that's the Matt Forte we drafted. The Bears' workhorse tuned 28 touches into 151 total yard -- now it's time to get into the end zone. |
| 3 | Marshawn Lynch | SEA | Beast Mode has done it all for fantasy owners so far this season, even chipping in a little something in the receiving game (8-81-2). He's past his bye so rises up a few spots. |
| 4 | LeVeon Bell | PIT | Bell continues to avoid the sophomore slump while piling up yards in bunches. |
| 5 | Jamaal Charles | KC | Exploded with a 92-yard three-touchdown effort druing his Week 4 retun.. the only problem is, Knile Davis isn't going anywhere. |
| 6 | LeSean McCoy | PHI | Offensive line woes have certainly played a role in Shady's struggles. Expect the innovative Chip Kelly to find a way to manufacture open space for his most dangerous weapon. |
| 7 | Peyton Manning | DEN | The consistency king. Manning has posted 22 or more standard fantasy points in each of his last 8 regular season games. |
| 8 | Jordy Nelson | GB | Leading the NFL with 49 targets, Nelson earns the top spot among wide receivers. |
| 9 | Calvin Johnson | DET | Used as merely a decoy Sunday, owners got burned by Calvin's bum ankle. It's impossible to doubt his talent, but this guy just can't seem to stay at 100%. |
| 10 | Dez Bryant | DAL | A late TD saved his Week 4 and Dez has put up rock solid numbers as a WR1 at the quarter pole (23-279-3). |
| 11 | Aaron Rodgers | GB | Rodgers bounced back with a four TD performance Sunday and will look to break his up-and-down season with another strong effort against Minnesota in Week 5. |
| 12 | Demaryius Thomas | DEN | Despite a dissapointing start to the season, Demaryius remains a top-5 option at the position, averaging nine targets per game over his first three contests. |
| 13 | Antonio Brown | PIT | The league's top wideout so far, Brown has developed into a fantasy stud while also hogging 42.9% of his team's red zone targets. |
| 14 | A.J. Green | CIN | The bye week and return of Marvin Jones should be a nice boost to the Bengals' offense and A.J. numbers. |
| 15 | Giovani Bernard | CIN | Gio has hit pay-dirt three times and comiled 333 yards over his first three games, fire him up against the Pats as a RB1. |
| 16 | Alshon Jeffery | CHI | Alshon is looking healthier by the week and should emerge as the Bears' top option with B-Marsh hobbled. |
| 17 | Jimmy Graham | NO | Even with the Saints' offense struggling, Graham is leading the position with 32 catches and 340 yards to go along with three scores. |
| 18 | Andrew Luck | IND | There is no longer reason to deny Luck a spot in the top-3 at his position. The little something he can give you in the running game moves him ahead of Brees. |
| 19 | Drew Brees | NO | His road sturggles are notable, but this is still a player who is completing 71% of his passes while averaging 301 yards and 2 touchdoewns per game. He remains a top-20 play. |
| 20 | Eddie Lacy | GB | Lacy got into the end zone in Week 4 but his stock continues to fade as he's struggled to get going. |
| 21 | Julius Thomas | DEN | JT is a red zone beast. That is all. |
| 22 | Julio Jones | ATL | Julio flashed his ability to dominate in Week 3 against the Bucs, but his QB's inconsistency on the road could supress his ceiling. |
| 23 | Andre Ellington | ARI | Already averaging 4.5 yards per carry, it will be fun to see what Andre can do as his foot starts feeling better. |
| 24 | Randall Cobb | GB | With five scores in four games, Cobb has developed into A-Rod's go to man in the red zone. |
| 25 | Brandon Marshall | CHI | B-Marsh is getting into the end zone, but his hobbled ankle is sapping his explosiveness. |
| 26 | Rob Gronkowski | NE | Gronk isn't quite Gronk yet and still has a score in 3-of-4 games so far. |
| 27 | Alfred Morris | WAS | Al-Mo's steady production is bankable even with his team's erratic play. |
| 28 | Arian Foster | HOU | Foster's health remains a concern but there are not many running backs with more opportunity in Today's NFL. |
| 29 | Rashad Jennings | NYG | His 81 carries are second only to Murray and he's been productive in an improving Giant's offense. |
| 30 | Emmanuel Sanders | DEN | Sanders has given you a little bit of everything so far, 25 grabs, three scores and three 40+ yard receptions. |
| 31 | Jeremy Maclin | PHI | Maclin has turned 46 targets into a solid 20-353-3 line so far and looked plenty quick coming off knee surgery. |
| 32 | Montee Ball | DEN | Ball has dissapointed with a meager 3.4 yards per carry and yet, we know that Peyton's running backs can score in bunches. |
| 33 | Victor Cruz | NYG | Cruz is finally showing some signs of life after a disappointing 2013 with back-to-back 100-yard efforts. |
| 34 | Roddy White | ATL | Nothing flashy, but this is vintage Roddy -- 14-187-2 over three games played. |
| 35 | Zac Stacy | STL | A steady workload will go a long way to keeping Stacy as an every week start. |
| 36 | C.J. Spiller | BUF | We're gonna need to see some of that explosiveness for him to stay on this list. |
| 37 | Matthew Stafford | DET | Stafford continues to provide strong numbers in a high-volume passing offense. |
| 38 | DeAndre Hopkins | HOU | Hopkins has broken out with 18-291-3 line through his first four games while displacing Andre Johnson as the Texans' receiver to own. |
| 39 | Michael Floyd | ARI | Just 11 catches on the year, but Floyd has big play ability in a pass-first offense. |
| 40 | Pierre Garcon | WAS | After a frustrating Week 4, we are still keeping the faith in Pierre as a trade target. |
Dropped out: Shane Vereen, Reggie Wayne, Joique Bell, Cordarell Petterson, Percy Harvin, Doug Martin
Just missed (in no particular order): Eric Decker, Kelvin Benjamin, Brandin Cooks, Keenan Allen, Darren Sproles, Steve Smith, Chis Ivory, Reggie Bush, Stevan Ridley, Matt Ryan, Ahmad Bradshaw, Michael Crabtree
Whew, Lacy is all the way down to 20th. I know he’s absolutely killing me. Solid rankings, although I’d argue that Antonio Brown should be even higher.