With the 2014 regular season in the rearview, there's no better time to look forward to next season. For those in dynasty leagues, it's likely you'll get a crack at the waiver wire in the coming weeks. The following rankings should help you out as you polish your roster up for 2015.
Keep in mind that a lot will change between now and September, so I purposely went shallow with only 50 players at each position. I'll do a deeper update after free agency in March, and then again after the NFL Draft.
Consider these players dynasty priorities because they are either a) elite fantasy options, b) players in good situations entering next season, or c) young players who haven't materialized yet but offer high fantasy ceilings.
*Rankings are based on the PFF Fantasy IDP Scoring System
Defensive Linemen | Linebackers | Defensive Backs | |||||||||||
Rk | Player | Tm | Age | Rk | Player | Tm | Age | Rk | Player | Tm | Age | ||
1 | J.J. Watt | HST | 25.8 | 1 | Lavonte David | TB | 24.9 | 1 | Harrison Smith | MIN | 25.9 | ||
2 | Robert Quinn | SL | 24.6 | 2 | Luke Kuechly | CAR | 23.7 | 2 | Johnathan Cyprien | JAX | 24.4 | ||
3 | Chandler Jones | NE | 24.8 | 3 | CJ Mosley | BLT | 22.5 | 3 | Morgan Burnett | GB | 25.9 | ||
4 | Jason Pierre-Paul | NYG | 25.8 | 4 | Bobby Wagner | SEA | 24.5 | 4 | Reshad Jones | MIA | 26.8 | ||
5 | Ezekiel Ansah | DET | 25.6 | 5 | Navorro Bowman | SF | 26.6 | 5 | Eric Weddle | SD | 30.0 | ||
6 | Greg Hardy | CAR | 26.4 | 6 | Mychal Kendricks | PHI | 24.2 | 6 | T.J. McDonald | SL | 23.9 | ||
7 | Muhammad Wilkerson | NYJ | 25.2 | 7 | Vontaze Burfict | CIN | 24.2 | 7 | Tyvon Branch | OAK | 28.0 | ||
8 | Carlos Dunlap | CIN | 25.8 | 8 | DeAndre Levy | DET | 27.7 | 8 | Kam Chancellor | SEA | 26.7 | ||
9 | Calais Campbell | ARZ | 28.3 | 9 | Daryl Washington | ARZ | 28.2 | 9 | Ha Ha Clinton-Dix | GB | 22.0 | ||
10 | Everson Griffen | MIN | 27.0 | 10 | Alec Ogletree | SL | 23.2 | 10 | Kenny Vaccaro | NO | 23.8 | ||
11 | Sheldon Richardson | NYJ | 24.0 | 11 | Kiko Alonso | BUF | 24.3 | 11 | Barry Church | DAL | 26.8 | ||
12 | Mario Williams | BUF | 29.9 | 12 | Ryan Shazier | PIT | 22.3 | 12 | Earl Thomas | SEA | 25.6 | ||
13 | Olivier Vernon | MIA | 24.2 | 13 | Paul Worrilow | ATL | 24.6 | 13 | T.J. Ward | DEN | 28.0 | ||
14 | Cameron Jordan | NO | 24.9 | 14 | Chris Borland | SF | 23.8 | 14 | Deone Bucannon | ARZ | 22.3 | ||
15 | Fletcher Cox | PHI | 24.0 | 15 | Sean Lee | DAL | 28.5 | 15 | Donte Whitner | CLV | 29.4 | ||
16 | Rob Ninkovich | NE | 30.9 | 16 | Jamie Collins | NE | 24.6 | 16 | Tyrann Mathieu | ARZ | 22.6 | ||
17 | Cameron Wake | MIA | 32.9 | 17 | Curtis Lofton | NO | 28.5 | 17 | Bernard Pollard | TEN | 30.0 | ||
18 | Jerry Hughes | BUF | 26.4 | 18 | Keenan Robinson | WSH | 25.5 | 18 | Eric Berry | KC | 26.0 | ||
19 | DeMarcus Ware | DEN | 32.4 | 19 | Jerod Mayo | NE | 28.5 | 19 | Mark Barron | TB | 25.1 | ||
20 | Charles Johnson | CAR | 28.4 | 20 | Sio Moore | OAK | 24.6 | 20 | Antoine Bethea | SF | 30.4 | ||
21 | Jurrell Casey | TEN | 25.0 | 21 | Von Miller | DEN | 25.7 | 21 | Michael Griffin | TEN | 30.0 | ||
22 | Michael Johnson | TB | 27.9 | 22 | Danny Trevathan | DEN | 24.7 | 22 | Antrel Rolle | NYG | 32.0 | ||
23 | Gerald McCoy | TB | 26.8 | 23 | Lawrence Timmons | PIT | 28.6 | 23 | Jason McCourty | TEN | 27.3 | ||
24 | Geno Atkins | CIN | 26.7 | 24 | Paul Posluszny | JAX | 30.2 | 24 | William Moore | ATL | 29.6 | ||
25 | Marcell Dareus | BUF | 25.1 | 25 | Patrick Willis | SF | 29.9 | 25 | James Ihedigbo | DET | 31.0 | ||
26 | Ndamukong Suh | DET | 27.9 | 26 | Jelani Jenkins | MIA | 22.8 | 26 | Calvin Pryor | NYJ | 22.5 | ||
27 | Chris Long | SL | 29.7 | 27 | James Laurinaitis | SL | 28.0 | 27 | Tashaun Gipson | CLV | 24.4 | ||
28 | Michael Bennett | SEA | 29.1 | 28 | Jon Bostic | CHI | 23.6 | 28 | D.J. Swearinger | HST | 23.3 | ||
29 | Cameron Heyward | PIT | 25.6 | 29 | Anthony Barr | MIN | 22.8 | 29 | Prince Amukamara | NYG | 25.5 | ||
30 | Corey Liuget | SD | 24.7 | 30 | Khalil Mack | OAK | 23.8 | 30 | Jairus Byrd | NO | 28.2 | ||
31 | Jared Allen | CHI | 32.7 | 31 | D'Qwell Jackson | IND | 31.2 | 31 | Robert Blanton | MIN | 25.3 | ||
32 | Willie Young | CHI | 29.2 | 32 | Jerrell Freeman | IND | 28.6 | 32 | Aaron Williams | BUF | 24.6 | ||
33 | Adrian Clayborn | TB | 26.4 | 33 | Telvin Smith | JAX | 23.7 | 33 | Kyle Fuller | CHI | 22.8 | ||
34 | Damontre Moore | NYG | 22.3 | 34 | Karlos Dansby | CLV | 33.1 | 34 | Jason Verrett | SD | 23.6 | ||
35 | Aaron Donald | SL | 23.6 | 35 | Brandon Marshall | DEN | 25.3 | 35 | Ron Parker | KC | 27.4 | ||
36 | Justin Tuck | OAK | 31.7 | 36 | Justin Houston | KC | 25.9 | 36 | Rashad Johnson | ARZ | 29.0 | ||
37 | Lamarr Houston | CHI | 27.5 | 37 | Avery Williamson | TEN | 22.8 | 37 | Malcolm Jenkins | PHI | 27.0 | ||
38 | Cliff Avril | SEA | 28.7 | 38 | Brian Cushing | HST | 27.9 | 38 | Alterraun Verner | TB | 26.0 | ||
39 | Kroy Biermann | ATL | 29.0 | 39 | Perry Riley | WAS | 26.6 | 39 | Eric Reid | SF | 23.0 | ||
40 | Kyle Williams | BUF | 30.7 | 40 | Derrick Johnson | KC | 32.1 | 40 | Ryan Mundy | CHI | 29.9 | ||
41 | Wallace Gilberry | CIN | 30.1 | 41 | Christian Jones | CHI | 23.9 | 41 | Charles Woodson | OAK | 38.2 | ||
42 | Mike Daniels | GB | 25.6 | 42 | Preston Brown | BUF | 22.2 | 42 | Tony Jefferson | ARZ | 22.9 | ||
43 | Andre Branch | JAX | 25.4 | 43 | Stephen Tulloch | DET | 30.0 | 43 | Kemal Ishmael | ATL | 23.7 | ||
44 | Demarcus Lawrence | DAL | 22.8 | 44 | Demario Davis | NYJ | 25.9 | 44 | Brock Vereen | CHI | 22.3 | ||
45 | Dion Jordan | MIA | 24.8 | 45 | Chad Greenway | MIN | 31.9 | 45 | Dawan Landry | NYJ | 32.0 | ||
46 | Sharrif Floyd | MIN | 22.6 | 46 | Thomas Davis | CAR | 31.7 | 46 | Matt Elam | BLT | 23.5 | ||
47 | Robert Ayers | NYG | 29.3 | 47 | Daryl Smith | BLT | 32.8 | 47 | Stevie Brown | NYG | 27.4 | ||
48 | Cedric Thornton | PHI | 26.5 | 48 | Anthony Hitchens | DAL | 22.6 | 48 | LaRon Landry | IND | 30.2 | ||
49 | Malik Jackson | DEN | 24.9 | 49 | Christian Kirksey | CLV | 22.3 | 49 | Roman Harper | CAR | 32.0 | ||
50 | Scott Crichton | MIN | 23.1 | 50 | Rolando McClain | DAL | 26.5 | 50 | Michael Mitchell | PIT | 27.5 |
Jeff Ratcliffe is the Assistant Managing Editor and resident IDP maven of PFF Fantasy.