While roughly 40 percent of fantasy footballers sweat this weekend’s results to see if they advance to their finals, fantasy-football-logo1many of the rest of us are left to ponder what might have been – and what might happen next year.

It’s obviously early. There are still a couple months of the 2015 season left, counting playoffs. Then free agency and the draft will dominate the headlines.

But it’s never too early to start looking ahead. We convened a roundtable of Fantasy Editor Anthony Maggio, Senior Contributor John Vomhof Jr., site Co-Founder Tony and Editorial Director Andy to see if there was any consensus on who the top three picks would be if drafts for 2016 were held right now.

And consensus there was not. See below:

Anthony, fantasy editor

Rob Gronkowski TE Patriots
Adrian Peterson RB Vikings
Odell Beckham WR Giants

If I had to draft for next season right now, today, I would take the three listed in this order. I can make an argument for any of the three as the No. 1, but specifically have them listed in this order based on a couple of factors.

First, Gronk is the biggest differentiator at any position. While there is value to be found at TE, so long as he’s healthy he’s a never-bench, set-and-forget option who basically allows you to play a WR1 in your TE position. I’d go this route because RB is so fraught with landmines that I’d rather screw them up in the fourth and fifth round than sabotage my team with a first-round bust.

That said, only one running back in recent memory has completely avoided the bust label for either performance or injury reasons. Yes, Adrian missed all but one game in 2014 due to the fallout of his child abuse case, and yes, I despise child abusers. But I’m not making a social or political statement here. This is simply about statistics. And despite Adrian’s advancing age, he’s still proving to be an elite performer, and I think he’s got at least one more year in him.

While Todd Gurley, Chris Ivory, LeSean McCoy or a host of others could match or even outpace Peterson in 2016, none have the high floor Peterson brings to the table to go with top-tier upside.

And that leaves me at Odell Beckham Jr., who isn’t higher only because of the cluster of top-end WRs that would be next on this list if I were to continue. Julio Jones, Antonio Brown and DeAndre Hopkins would very likely round out my top six before I got back to the running back position. But I digress. I want elite talent that is assured to be at least solid throughout the season with my No. 1 selection. I’ve seen high-end running backs bust more than enough to make the “safe” play with my early first-round picks and avoid the non-Adrian ones until the elite talent at WR and TE leaves the board.

 

Andy, editorial director

Le’Veon Bell RB Steelers
Odell Beckham WR Giants
Todd Gurley RB Rams

While I’m a huge believer in value drafting and, as Paul Charchian describes it, doing the opposite, there are a select few running backs I would still take at the top of the draft. At the top of that list is Le’Veon Bell in Pittsburgh.

The Steelers have a stalwart offense with many weapons – Antonio Brown is an early-to-mid first round pick too, in my eyes. But that offense is at another level with Bell, who had more than 100 total yards in four of the five games he started and finished this season before his injury. He scored in three.

But what sets him apart is his usage in the passing game. In four of the five games he finished, Bell had at least four receptions. He had seven catches in two of those contests. And he was targeted 24 times in the full games he played. He averaged 15 points in those games in standard scoring leagues. In PPR he might be worth more than the first pick overall.

Odell Beckham Jr. is currently my second pick, but I’m fast becoming convinced he may also be worth the top overall selection. He’s been held to single-digits in standard scoring leagues in just three of 13 match-ups thus far. And he’s gotten better as the season progressed. In standard leagues, he’s averaging 21 points per game through the last four. In PPR leagues, a ridiculous 23. I’d have no problem building the rest of my team around that kind of production.

Nearly as good has been Todd Gurley, who has put up nine TDs in his last nine games. He eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing last night despite missing most of the first three games while recovering from an ACL injury. The only separators in my eyes between Gurley and Bell, in my eyes, are that Bell is in a more prolific offense and is more active in the pass game.

Tony, co-founder and web guru

Adrian Peterson RB Vikings
Todd Gurley RB Rams
Odell Beckham WR Giants

In alternative formats, I can see looking at some other guys. In a PPR league, a WR like Odell Beckham, DeAndre Hopkins, A.J. Green or Julio Jones could warrant consideration, or maybe even Rob Gronkowski, although I think this year proved that there is plenty of top end TE value that can be picked up two to three rounds after Gronk. And in a QB heavy format, like one I play in, there could be some logic to looking at a guy like Cam Newton, especially getting weapons like Kelvin Benjamin back in 2016.

But at the end of the day, until proven otherwise, I still think you have to go for the top player at what is now the hardest position to find reliable guys at — running back. Jamaal Charles and Le’Veon Bell are coming off injuries. Arian Foster and Matt Forte are shells of what they were. LeSean McCoy will be fighting Karlos Williams. Marshawn Lynch will be fighting Thomas Rawls if he’s even in Seattle (or the league). Eddie Lacy was more interested in lining up at McDonald’s than he was behind Aaron Rodgers. Devonta Freeman, Doug Martin, Lamar Miller and Chris Ivory had nice seasons, but you can’t trust them number one overall, and all have other backs on the team that may eat into their carries. But Adrian Peterson? Unless the Vikings somehow get rid of him, the offense still flows through him, not Teddy Bridgewater. Matt Asiata and Jerick McKinnon aren’t serious threats to his full season totals. And even at his “advanced RB” age, AP flirted with a pace that had him heading north of 2,000 yards mid-season.

In fact, there’s only one guy right now that I would seriously consider alongside AP — Todd Gurley.

John, senior contributing writer

Le’Veon Bell RB Steelers
Adrian Peterson RB Vikings
Jamaal Charles RB Chiefs

I think Bell is an absolute slam dunk at No. 1 overall, head and shoulders above the competition. After that it gets really, really tough. I prefer to go with RBs earlier, so I’m going with a pair of oldies-but-goodies in Peterson and Charles. AP is this year’s RB2 and a pretty safe but to keep defying the odds with another year of elite production. Charles will be coming off another ACL tear, so his outlook relies entirely upon his prognosis, but I wouldn’t bet against him. He’s as good as it gets when healthy. (Other possibilities include Odell Beckham, Antonio Brown, Todd Gurley and Rob Gronkowski.)