FTN's Week 1 Fantasy Football Rankings vs. ECR

It is that time of the year again. Lineups need to be set, and with that comes some tough decisions. Week 1 is always one of the hardest lineups to set.

One of the most popular tools here at FTN is our Fantasy Football rankings. Each week, we bring you non-PPR, PPR and half-PPR rankings to help you win your league.

Throughout the season, I will break down what players our FTN rankers prefer more (or less) than the Expert Consensus Rankings found at FantasyPros. For this article, I will be looking at the half-PPR format.

Quarterback

QBs the FTN rankers like more than ECR

Player	Team	ECR Rk.	FTN Rk.	Difference
Joe Burrow	CIN	9	8	1
Dak Prescott	DAL	11	10	1
Aaron Rodgers	GB	12	11	1

QBs the FTN rankers like less than ECR

Player	Team	ECR Rk.	FTN Rk.	Difference
Trey Lance	SF	10	12	-2
Matt Ryan	IND	17	18	-1
Tom Brady	TB	8	9	-1

When it comes to the quarterback position, both FTN and the ECR are mostly aligned. However, the largest disparity is with Trey Lance. We have Lance squeaking into the top 12 this week, as opposed to the consensus that has him as a top-10 option at the Bears.
FTN also has Joe Burrow over Tom Brady this week as opposed to the ECR, but both are well within the top 12 this week.

Running Back

RBs the FTN rankers like more than ECR

Player	Team	ECR Rk.	FTN Rk.	Difference
Rashaad Penny	SEA	25	20	5
Kenyan Drake	BAL	52	48	4
James Conner	ARI	14	11	3
J.D. McKissic	WAS	40	38	2
Mark Ingram	NO	47	45	2
Aaron Jones	GB	10	9	1
Ezekiel Elliott	DAL	17	16	1
Travis Etienne	JAX	19	18	1
Josh Jacobs	LV	20	19	1
Damien Harris	NE	27	26	1
Dameon Pierce	HOU	28	27	1
Rhamondre Stevenson	NE	31	30	1
Kareem Hunt	CLE	33	32	1

RBs the FTN rankers like less than ECR

Player	Team	ECR Rk.	FTN Rk.	Difference
Elijah Mitchell	SF	18	21	-3
Nick Chubb	CLE	12	14	-2
David Montgomery	CHI	21	23	-2
Clyde Edwards-Helaire	KC	26	28	-2
D’Andre Swift	DET	9	10	-1
Saquon Barkley	NYG	11	12	-1
Antonio Gibson	WAS	16	17	-1
Chase Edmonds	MIA	23	24	-1
Breece Hall	NYJ	30	31	-1
Cordarrelle Patterson	ATL	32	33	-1

Rashaad Penny is not a favorite among the ECR. However, FTN has him ranked as a top-20 running back this week compared to a flex play.
The ECR has James Conner as a middling RB2 this week, but our FTN crew has him finishing inside the top 12 in a high-octane matchup with the Chiefs.
Elijah Mitchell earned the right to be a solid RB2 moving forward, but this week the FTN crew has him ranked just outside the top 20.
This week, we see that FTN has Breece Hall and Rhamondre Stevenson flipped compared to the ECR, which favors Stevenson.

Wide Receiver

WRs the FTN rankers like more than ECR

Player	Team	ECR Rk.	FTN Rk.	Difference
Diontae Johnson	PIT	20	16	4
Allen Lazard	GB	38	34	4
Rashod Bateman	BAL	25	22	3
Michael Thomas	NO	28	25	3
Michael Pittman	IND	9	7	2
DJ Moore	CAR	16	14	2
Darnell Mooney	CHI	26	24	2
DK Metcalf	SEA	24	23	1

WRs the FTN rankers like less than ECR

Player	Team	ECR Rk.	FTN Rk.	Difference
Christian Kirk	JAX	33	36	-3
Hunter Renfrow	LV	35	38	-3
Mike Williams	LAC	15	17	-2
Terry McLaurin	WAS	18	20	-2
Mike Evans	TB	7	8	-1
Deebo Samuel	SF	8	9	-1
Courtland Sutton	DEN	14	15	-1
Marquise Brown	ARI	17	18	-1
Adam Thielen	MIN	32	33	-1

Both Allen Lazard and Diontae Johnson are heavily favored by the FTN crew. They have both the pair finishing as top 36 options this week, though both have injury concerns that fantasy managers need to monitor heading into the weekend.
Darnell Mooney is a player who the FTN group believes is a low-end WR2 this week, as opposed to the ECR which has him as a high-end flex play.
Hunter Renfrow is a player who the FTN crew has outside the top 36 this week, while the ECR has him just inside the WR3 ranks.
Although in a favorable matchup, Mike Williams is a player FTN has finishing outside the top 15, as opposed to the ECR, which has him just squeaking in at 15.

Tight End

TEs the FTN rankers like more than ECR

Player	Team	ECR Rk.	FTN Rk.	Difference
Dalton Schultz	DAL	5	4	1
George Kittle	SF	7	5	2
T.J. Hockenson	DET	8	7	1

TEs the FTN rankers like less than ECR

Player	Team	ECR Rk.	FTN Rk.	Difference
Darren Waller	LV	4	6	-2
Dallas Goedert	PHI	6	8	-2

When it comes to tight ends, both FTN and ECR are mainly aligned (like most), but the FTN crew is a bit higher on both Dalton Schultz and T.J. Hockenson.
George Kittle, although surrounded with some injury concern, is ranked inside the top 5 by the FTN crew, as opposed to the ECR. But this is at risk of changing if the injury worsens.
Darren Waller and Dallas Goedert both saw a new alpha wide receiver join the roster this offseason and find themselves two spots lower in FTN’s rankings than the ECR this week.