Fantasy football rankings: Rankings and projections for AAF Week 3

Two weeks are in the books for the AAF and we’re starting to get a lay of the land. Each week, we’ll have AAF fantasy football rankings and projections to help you set your season-long lineups and build your DFS lineups. So here are our Week 3 fantasy football rankings and projections for the Alliance.

(Click here to see the Week 3 AAF WR/CB matchup chart.)

Quarterback

Rk	Player	Tm	Pts	Att	Com	Yds	TD	INT	Att	RuYds	RuTD
1	John Wolford	ARI	23.6	27.9	17.3	234.1	2.0	1.1	7.6	20.4	0.2
2	Garrett Gilbert	ORL	19.3	30.3	18.8	249.8	1.5	0.9	2.8	8.3	0.1
3	Luis Perez	BIR	15.3	34.9	22.3	227.7	1.1	0.9	3.9	8.3	0.0
4	Logan Woodside	SA	14.7	33.2	18.6	211.5	0.9	1.3	3.4	13.4	0.1
5	Philip Nelson	SD	13.9	34.1	19.2	196.4	0.9	1.4	3.8	15.6	0.2
6	Josh Woodrum	SL	12.1	28.6	15.5	168.6	1.0	1.4	1.1	5.2	0.1
7	Matt Simms	ATL	9.1	26.1	15.0	146.5	0.6	1.6	3.7	8.5	0.1
8	Christian Hackenberg	MEM	7.8	22.1	11.1	112.4	0.4	1.2	3.7	13.7	0.1
9	Austin Allen	SL	1.4	3.2	1.7	18.7	0.1	0.2	0.3	1.0	0.0
10	Marquise Williams	SA	1.3	0.3	0.2	2.0	0.0	0.0	1.2	7.1	0.1
11	Aaron Murray	ATL	0.9	2.9	1.6	16.3	0.1	0.2	0.3	0.6	0.0
12	Brandon Silvers	MEM	0.7	2.5	1.3	13.0	0.1	0.2	0.3	0.7	0.0

While Garrett Gilbert was the big play last week with the first 300-yard passing performance in AAF history, we actually prefer John Wolford as the top fantasy option. Wolford gets to face a Salt Lake defense that he absolutely torched in Week 1. Gilbert should continue to be productive, though, and he remains squarely in the elite fantasy conversation. From there, things get messy. Perez has yet to throw a touchdown pass, but he’s going up against an Atlanta defense that currently grades out as the league’s worst in coverage. Likewise, Logan Woodside should benefit from going up against the leagues lowest-graded overall unit in the Fleet.

Running back

Rk	Player	Tm	Pts	Att	RuYds	RuTD	Rec	ReYds	ReTD
1	Trent Richardson	BIR	20.8	22.3	69.0	0.7	4.5	39.2	0.2
2	Ja'Quan Gardner	SD	12.9	13.4	66.4	0.6	1.5	10.9	0.1
3	Kenneth Farrow II	SA	11.4	12.5	54.1	0.4	1.6	14.2	0.1
4	Zac Stacy	MEM	10.6	14.1	67.6	0.4	0.6	4.7	0.0
5	Branden Oliver	SL	9.9	12.6	50.4	0.2	1.6	14.7	0.1
6	Akeem Hunt	ORL	9.9	10.7	48.0	0.2	1.6	15.3	0.1
7	Jhurell Pressley	ARI	8.7	12.6	45.3	0.3	1.0	8.5	0.1
8	Akrum Wadley	ATL	8.3	3.4	13.9	0.1	3.0	25.9	0.1
9	Joel Bouagnon	SL	8.0	10.4	38.5	0.3	0.9	8.9	0.1
10	Tarean Folston	ATL	7.9	9.7	39.7	0.3	1.2	9.4	0.0
11	Terrell Watson	SD	7.5	12.1	47.9	0.3	0.6	4.7	0.0
12	Tim Cook	ARI	7.3	10.8	38.8	0.3	0.8	6.8	0.1
13	Terrence Magee	MEM	6.4	5.2	19.4	0.1	2.1	15.3	0.1
14	De'Veon Smith	ORL	6.1	4.8	16.8	0.2	1.5	11.2	0.1
15	Ladarius Perkins	BIR	5.7	2.7	8.4	0.0	2.4	17.3	0.1
16	D'Ernest Johnson	ORL	5.0	6.4	28.6	0.1	0.6	5.7	0.0
17	Lawrence Pittman	ATL	5.0	7.6	31.1	0.2	0.4	2.7	0.0
18	Aaron Green	SA	4.3	5.5	23.8	0.1	0.6	5.0	0.0
19	David Cobb	SA	4.2	7.0	24.4	0.1	0.6	3.9	0.0
20	Justin Stockton	ARI	3.0	5.0	18.1	0.1	0.2	1.7	0.0
21	Anthony Manzo-Lewis	MEM	2.0	4.3	16.0	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0
22	Terrell Newby	SL	1.4	1.4	4.8	0.0	0.4	2.6	0.0
23	Rajion Neal	MEM	1.3	1.8	6.8	0.0	0.3	1.9	0.0
24	Ty Isaac	BIR	1.1	0.6	1.9	0.0	0.5	3.3	0.0
25	Paul James	SD	1.0	1.6	6.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
26	Ben Johnson	SD	0.8	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.4	3.1	0.0
27	Matt Asiata	SL	0.6	1.7	4.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Nothing changes at the top, as Trent Richardson remains firmly entrenched as the top fantasy running back. Richardson is averaging under 2.5 yards per carry, but he’s found the end zone three times and saw heavy using in the passing game last week with six catches on six targets.

From there, things don’t quite look like they did last week. With two weeks of data, we’re started to get a better sense of how teams are using their backfields. Ja’Quan Gardner was the No. 3 overall fantasy scorer in Week 2 thanks to 104 yards and two scores on the ground. Though there’s still a committee in the Fleet backfield with Terrell Watson seeing 14 carries last week, Garner’s upside makes him one of the top options at the position.

Speaking of upside, Kenneth Farrow also flashed playmaking ability in Week 2 both as a runner and as a receiver. Likewise, Zac Stacy is coming off a strong performance with what is currently the most single-game rushing yards by a player in AAF history with 106.

The Salt Lake backfield looks like it’s going to be a tricky one to navigate going forward. Joel Bouagnon was the top fantasy scorer last week, but Branden Oliver actually out-touched Bouagnon 16-12. When in doubt, err toward the volume in fantasy. That being said, Bouagnon should see enough touches to be considered a fringe RB1 play.

Similarly, the Atlanta backfield lacks clarity from a fantasy standpoint. With Denard Robinson inactive last week, it looked like we were going to see a ton of Tarean Folston. Well, we didn’t. Folston had just six rushing attempts, which was two fewer than Lawrence Pittman. And Akrum Wadley came in and racked up eight catches, which led all receivers for the week. So the numbers love Wadley this week, but that’s only if his role continues. Be sure to pay close attention to the very limited information out there on the AAF beat.

Wide receivers

Rk	Player	Tm	Pts	Tar	Rec	ReYds	ReTD
1	Charles Johnson	ORL	16.5	8.5	5.2	86.9	0.4
2	Rashad Ross	ARI	15.7	7.0	4.3	75.8	0.6
3	Mekale McKay	SA	12.7	9.1	4.4	66.0	0.3
4	Quinton Patton	BIR	11.7	7.7	3.9	61.4	0.3
5	Jalin Marshall	ORL	11.0	5.2	3.2	52.7	0.4
6	De'Marcus Ayers	SA	10.2	6.7	3.9	50.3	0.2
7	Brian Brown	SD	9.6	6.5	3.7	41.4	0.2
8	Kenny Bell	SL	9.2	6.0	3.2	44.8	0.3
9	Josh Huff	ARI	9.0	4.7	2.7	41.4	0.4
10	Seantavius Jones	ATL	8.6	7.0	3.6	40.6	0.2
11	Richard Mullaney	ARI	8.5	5.3	3.0	36.0	0.3
12	Dontez Ford	SD	7.1	5.1	2.7	35.0	0.1
13	Alton Howard	MEM	7.0	6.1	2.9	26.8	0.1
14	De'Mornay Pierson-El	SL	6.6	5.4	2.6	27.2	0.2
15	Greg Ward Jr.	SA	6.2	4.7	2.5	24.1	0.1
16	Malachi Jones	ATL	6.1	4.6	2.4	30.3	0.1
17	Reece Horn	MEM	5.6	4.4	2.1	28.9	0.1
18	Francis Owusu	SD	5.4	4.1	2.2	26.1	0.1
19	L'Damian Washington	BIR	5.4	3.8	2.4	23.8	0.1
20	Rannell Hall	ORL	5.3	3.9	2.2	20.5	0.1
21	Chris Thompson	ORL	5.1	2.7	1.7	26.0	0.1
22	Kameron Kelly	SD	4.8	4.1	2.2	21.2	0.1
23	Adonis Jennings	SL	4.8	3.8	2.0	21.0	0.1
24	Nelson Spruce	SD	4.6	3.7	2.0	21.2	0.1
25	Justin Thomas	ATL	4.1	2.6	1.4	12.5	0.0
26	Alonzo Moore	SA	4.1	2.7	1.5	20.1	0.1
27	Ervin Philips	ATL	3.6	3.5	1.8	14.8	0.1
28	Fabian Guerra	MEM	3.6	3.2	1.5	17.0	0.1
29	Amba Etta-Tawo	BIR	3.5	2.8	1.5	16.1	0.1
30	Jordan Leslie	SL	3.3	2.5	1.3	14.7	0.1
31	Tobias Palmer	BIR	3.1	2.8	1.5	13.2	0.1
32	Kayaune Ross	MEM	2.7	2.5	1.1	13.1	0.0
33	Freddie Martino	ARI	2.6	1.4	0.8	12.2	0.1
34	Ishmael Hyman	ORL	2.5	1.5	0.9	13.3	0.1
35	DeVozea Felton	BIR	2.0	1.0	0.6	8.1	0.0
36	Dontez Byrd	MEM	1.6	1.5	0.7	7.9	0.0
37	Marquis Bundy	ARI	1.6	0.8	0.5	7.3	0.1
38	Josh Stewart	SA	1.5	1.3	0.7	6.2	0.0
39	Quan Bray	BIR	1.5	1.0	0.5	7.4	0.0
40	Sam Mobley	SL	1.4	1.0	0.5	7.1	0.0
41	Montay Crockett	ATL	1.1	0.9	0.5	5.5	0.0
42	Donteea Dye Jr.	ORL	0.7	0.6	0.3	3.2	0.0

After last week’s monster performance, Charles Johnson is now locked in as the top fantasy wideout, but Rashad Ross is right on his heels. Wide receivers have caught eight touchdowns so far in the AAF. Ross has three of them. Mekale McKay struggled last week with tough coverage coming from Keith Reaser in the Atlanta secondary. He’s a good bet to bounce back with a much more favorable matchup on tap against San Diego. It’s also worth noting that McKay’s teammate De’Marcus Ayers made his AAF debut last week and caught 5-of-8 targets for 80 yards. Ayers is very much in play as a high-volume fantasy option.

Tight end

Rk	Player	Tm	Pts	Tar	Rec	ReYds	ReTD
1	Gerald Christian	ARI	6.8	3.6	2.4	29.3	0.2
2	Anthony Denham	SL	5.9	4.5	2.3	26.9	0.2
3	Gavin Escobar	SD	5.1	3.7	2.3	22.7	0.1
4	Connor Davis	BIR	5.1	3.8	2.6	20.8	0.1
5	Busta Anderson	BIR	3.7	2.8	1.9	15.1	0.1
6	Evan Rodriguez	SA	3.6	3.0	1.7	14.3	0.1
7	Keith Towbridge	ATL	3.4	2.6	1.6	14.5	0.1
8	Nick Truesdell	SL	3.2	2.5	1.6	12.2	0.1
9	Marcus Baugh	SD	2.9	2.7	1.7	10.2	0.0
10	Thomas Duarte	ARI	2.8	1.7	1.1	11.4	0.1
11	Cam Clear	SA	1.9	1.7	1.0	7.9	0.0
12	Scott Orndoff	ORL	1.8	1.2	0.8	7.5	0.0
13	Austin Traylor	SL	1.8	1.3	0.8	7.3	0.0
14	Sean Price	ORL	1.4	0.9	0.6	5.6	0.0
15	Adrien Robinson	MEM	1.2	1.2	0.6	5.1	0.0
16	Charles Standberry Jr.	ATL	1.1	0.9	0.5	4.8	0.0
17	Brandon Barnes	MEM	1.1	1.0	0.5	4.7	0.0
18	Connor Hamlett	ARI	0.9	0.6	0.4	3.8	0.0
19	Weslye Saunders	BIR	0.5	0.3	0.2	1.9	0.0
20	Matt Weiser	ORL	0.5	0.3	0.2	1.9	0.0
21	Bug Howard	ATL	0.4	0.3	0.2	1.6	0.0
22	Cole Hunt	SA	0.3	0.3	0.2	1.3	0.0

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but tight end, yeah, it’s brutal. Last week, we didn’t see a single tight end top double-digit fantasy points, and just one player had more than four fantasy points in PPR scoring. So the moral of the story is don’t expect much from the position. Start your top option and pray for a touchdown.