Fantasy football rankings - Eric Karabell's wide receiver tiers - ESPN

Many of us evaluating the running back and wide receiver rankings for fantasy football this season — and who are we kidding, for every season — often see groups of players who appear relatively indistinguishable statistically. This might seem normal, but it is often misunderstood by fantasy newcomers.

Rankings tell us only so much. They lack bigger-picture context. A tiered ranking system adds key context that we all need when forced to make significant decisions in a matter of seconds on draft day.

For example, is this No. 5 RB from the rankings markedly better than the next fellow on the list? If not, perhaps go with another position. Where is the drop-off in expected production in the WR2 range? If all options look/feel the same, then why am I picking any of them?! These are important questions that regular rankings do not address because, in most cases, the answers are abstract. We use our gut to make decisions. Ranking in tiers, in advance, at least solves part of the problem.

After all, value is the key for any fantasy football draft, and we are dealing with perceived supply and demand here. All of this is projectable and hardly exact, but we can reasonably decide which players we like a lot more than others, because talent level and opportunity is different. Enter an ESPN draft and everyone sees the rankings, but they are not your rankings, and they do not tell us enough. Crave more clarity. Tier it up, baby, add that context, make things clearer.

Here are one analyst's tiered PPR rankings (ESPN standard) for wide receivers (click here for running backs!), which are sure to change as August news develops. First advice to any fantasy football manager: Do not rely on anyone's rankings but your own. Make your own