Early Consensus Rankings Disagreements

I got the chance to contribute to a great article over on fantasypros.com where we were asked to take a look at the early consensus rankings by experts and give our opinions on whose rankings we disagree with most. Check out the full article here. You can also see my answers below.

Half PPR RB

The half-ppr consensus ranking I disagree most with is Travis Etienne Jr at RB8. Yes, he is coming off a season where he finished RB7. However, I cannot rank or draft Etienne at RB8 this season. Much of Etienne's production came at the start of the season and reliant on touchdowns. From week 10 onward, you got two RB1 finishes while getting 5 games outside the top 20, three of which were outside the top 30. The Jags seem to want to lighten his load every year and his inconsistency throughout the season makes it so I could not draft or rank him as an RB1.

Half PPR WR

Diontae Johnson, currently being ranked as the consensus WR41, is the ranking I disagree with the most. Johnson is being valued too low because his new situation on paper seems to be a downgrade for fantasy. However, last year, we saw how Carolina could provide fantasy value when Adam Thielen was producing as a WR1 early in the season before falling off with coordinator changes and his age perhaps catching up to him. Now Diontae can come in and be the new WR1 option for Bryce Young where he will be peppered with targets due to his ability to get open through elite route running. Beyond that, Dave Canales, as the new head coach, has shown a great ability to scheme guys open, as seen with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin last year. Despite all the worries around Bryce Young, I believe Diontae will still produce for fantasy and should be closer to a WR2 than a WR4 as he is currently ranked.