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A man wished to purchase a donkey, and decided to give the animal a test before buying him. He took the donkey home and put him in the field with his other donkeys. The new donkey strayed from the others to join the one that was the laziest and the biggest eater of them all.

Seeing this, the man led him back to his owner. When the owner asked how he could have tested the donkey in such a short time, the man answered, "I didn't even need to see how he worked. I knew he would be just like the one he chose to be his friend."

What you read above is not a random farm story. It's one of Aesop's fables. The moral of this one is that you are judged by the company you keep. While we would all prefer to have judgement be completely merit-based, it can be (and often is) done on a much more superficial level.

The same can be said of player evaluation in fantasy football. If fantasy evaluation and production were purely talent-based, why would we be having David Johnson vs. Todd Gurley arguments when Gurley is the more talented, more pedigreed player?

Aside from talent, opportunity and situation are significant components to fantasy evaluation and to ultimate production. Great situations can often buoy lesser talents above blue-chip talents in fantasy football. That's why we're going to rank all 32 NFL offenses. From there, we'll identify the players that drive each team's ranking and also sleepers/value plays from each.

The Methodology

This is very similar to a two-part article I wrote last year called "Being a Fantasy Elitist." Part I dicussed why we should target players from elite offenses. In that article, we referred to Sigmund Bloom's Offensive Power Rankings to determine how the offenses would rank. Sigmund was gracious enough to allow me to take on the task of ranking the offenses this season. Using his same scoring system, I've separated the offenses into tiers. The quarterback slot is multipled by three due to the importance of that position, and the rest of the numbers are added together for the final score. For the offensive line values, I used my colleague Matt Bitonti's rankings.

The "Scripts" column refers to a combination of how the team is likely to fare and how quickly they should play this season. It can also factor in how their coaches tend to call plays. For instance, we've seen that New England doesn't necessarily stop calling pass plays or running no-huddle just because they have a lead. Run-heavy teams aren't likely to stay run-heavy if losing frequently; teams with bad defenses can put more pressure on the offense to play in "shootout" mode; on the pace side of things, San Francisco is likely to be a faster-paced team with Chip Kelly's arrival, while Philadelphia should be slower this season.

Cream of the Crop 

All of the elite players are being drafted where they are for a reason. These are also the offenses from which backups should be stashed. Players like DeAngelo Williams and Michael Thomas off mid-round upside. Others like Sammie Coates Jr have huge ceilings. Even late-round tight ends like Jared Cook and Jesse James could surprise. Anyone touching a football that is handed or thrown to them by one of the men quarterbacking these teams is worth consideration.

Tiny Imperfections 

The Giants haven't had a second receiver opposite Odell Beckham Jr yet because Rueben Randle (even with his experience) isn't nearly the player Sterling Shepard is. And if the Giants settle on a primary ball-carrier, the fantasy results will follow simply due to opportunity. Make it a mission to get Indianapolis pass-catcher on your team. They all vary in price, but all are underpriced. If you miss T.Y. Hilton, Donte Moncrief, and Dwayne Allen, go ahead and reach for Phillip Dorsett. A shot taken on Devin Funchess in the double-digit rounds is far from a wasted pick. 

You Know Who You Want

Rob Gronkowski, Tom Brady, and LeGarrette Blount from New England; Keenan Allen, Philip Rivers, and Antonio Gates from San Diego; Ezekiel Elliott, Dez Bryant, and Tony Romo in Dallas. Like the title of the tier says, you know who you want from these units. But while this tier may be limited in quantity of players, it's not limited in quality of offense. Don't forget about fringe players who could emerge into nice roles either, such as Martellus Bennett, Alfred Morris, or James White.

Spread it Around

Unlike the last tier that had skill players who are focal points of their offenses, this tier will spread production around. When that's the case, there aren't many high-end fantasy picks. But don't forget about potential difference-makers in the middle rounds such as Marvin Jones, Tyler Lockett, and DeSean Jackson.

Good Days and Bad

This tier has very capable offensive players and teams, but they may struggle to provide consistency. Stick with stalwarts like Mike Evans, Allen Robinson, and the Jets receiver duo here. Don't be allured by secondary options.

Potential to Surprise

In A.J. Green, DeAndre Hopkins, and Lamar Miller, this tier has three first-round fantasy picks. But ultimate, the offensive playcallers and skill players don't have quality quarterbacks to guide them to fantasy consistency. The aforementioned "big three" of this tier are likely to be solid performers, but there isn't a lot of gold to be mined here unless an offense as a whole surprises us (a la Jacksonville last season).

Cleveland would be my choice of a team to emerge from this tier and surprise. Watch out for Joe Flacco to outperform ADP as well.

Mixed Bag

There are 4s and 5s throughout this tier, yet all teams score low due to erratic quarterback play. There's a player or two to be had here (Alshon Jeffery and Jeremy Maclin to name a couple), but these units are likely to have their down games, which can drag down even the most attractive and skilled fantasy option.

Buffalo is the only team here where I see multiple fantasy options being attractive at current ADP -- LeSean McCoy and Tyrod Taylor.

No Thanks

I could have named this the "Adrian Peterson Only" tier. If one of the Tennessee backs had the backfield alone, they might be worth starting, but playing from behind is not usually conducive to fantasy success for rushers.

Take a shot on Tajae Sharpe late or Ryan Mathews if you employ a "Zero RB" approach, but the rest is rather uninspiring.

Too Much to Overcome

Sure, Todd Gurley, Demaryius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders, and C.J. Anderson are here, but do you really want to stick your neck out for those guys when similar options from high-octane offenses won't need as big a piece of a very small pie to accrue similar statistics? Hearkening back to the article-opening fable, these players might be good, but we've seen who they're hanging out with. Do we want to risk the bad apples bringing these guys down?

Putting Concept Into Practice

Simply saying "draft players on good offenses" isn't enough. Let's look at some examples of players on better offenses being drafted after players on middling-to-bad offenses. While ADP is listed, it's worth noting that in each of these examples, I like the players listed first to outproduce those listed second, irrespective of price.

Quarterbacks

• Take Eli Manning (81) instead of Blake Bortles (84)
• Fringe QB1: Take Kirk Cousins (119) at Jameis Winston's ADP (111)

Running Backs

• Round 6 Decision: Take Jonathan Stewart (68) or Melvin Gordon (70) over Ryan Mathews (64)
• Round 10 Commitee Back Flier: Bilal Powell (122) over Derrick Henry (104)
• Late Round Handcuff Choice: Tim Hightower (214) over Devontae Booker (146)

Both require injury to reach potential. Mark Ingram has injury history and could be more likely to break down than C.J. Anderson. Even if both go down, the Indianapolis offense is more fruitful for fantasy success. If you don't like Hightower, Chris Johnson (169) and James Starks (141) both play in better offenses than Booker does.

Wide Receivers

• Middle Round Options: Take Sterling Shepard (90) instead of Kevin White (86)
• Round 9: Willie Snead (105) should go before Stefon Diggs (100)
• Round 11: Michael Thomas (123) should be more reliable week-to-week than Torrey Smith (108)
• Round 12: Phillip Dorsett (152) has standalone value in three-wide sets and a high ceiling if injury strikes in front of him; he's much more appealing than Vincent Jackson (134)
• Round 13: Devin Funchess (137) over Steve Smith (136) shouldn't be a "bold" call. 
• Round 16: Anquan Boldin (187) vs. Terrance Williams (184) is a mismatch of skill and experience that shouldn't be overlooked.

Tight Ends

• Low-end TE1: Antonio Gates (103) and Martellus Bennett (106) make the thought of Zach Ertz (98) a tough pill to swallow
• Late-round lottery: Jared Cook (169) instead of Zach Miller (143) is an upside play

This strategy applies more to mid-to-late round running backs and wide receivers than "onesie" position types like quarterbacks and tight ends, but at the very least, it's something to consider when breaking ties early in the draft or deciding between two quarterbacks and trying to determine who has more upside. Keep the offensive power rankings in mind when comparing two or three players against each other. Best of luck in your drafts. And remember, you are the company you keep!

Questions, comments, suggestions, and other feedback on this piece are always welcome via e-mail hester@footballguys.com

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