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The XFL released the 52-man rosters for every team on Jan. 27th. Using that information — combined with a player’s draft capital and camp notes — I’ve come up with my fantasy rankings for the inaugural re-boot of the XFL season. Some things to note when comparing these rankings to traditional fantasy rankings is that there are only eight teams in the XFL, meaning there are only eight starting quarterbacks, eight defenses and eight kickers. If you plan to have a league larger than eight teams, you will have to get creative.

In the two leagues I’m running, both 12-man leagues, I removed the kicker and the defenses. Also, instead of a traditional QB slot, I made it a Super-Flex slot so you’re not forced to start a QB. I then made all the other spots a traditional flex spot (WR, RB, TE) so owners have flexibility in their roster construction — evening the playing field somewhat since only eight of the 12 teams will have a starting quarterback. My team rosters look like this:

• SuperFlex
• Flex
• Flex
• Flex
• Flex
• Flex
• 4 Bench spots

To further even the playing field, instead of the traditional one point for every 25 passing yards, I made it one point for every 50 passing yards and interceptions count as a negative three instead of the traditional negative one or negative two.

Whatever you decide to do with your league format, the most important thing is to know who to draft. Here are my early rankings:

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Quarterbacks

Notes:

• Landry Jones would be much higher but he’s expected to miss time due to an injury suffered in the offseason. Philip Nelson will begin the season as a starter making Jones an interesting ninth quarterback that you can draft and have him for the second half of the season.
• Luis Perez was one of the “assigned” QBs in the original draft, but he was traded from the LA Wildcats to the NY Guardians and will backup Matt McGloin.
• Everyone expected QB Taylor Heinicke to win the starting job in St. Louis, but Jordan Ta’amu was named the starter, however, I ranked Heinicke still because Ta’amu might be on a short leash.
• I ranked Tyree Jackson and BJ Daniels as draftable players based on their athletic ability. There is a chance these players are used in certain packages that could have fantasy value. Think Taysom Hill of the Saints. The XFL also allows for two forward passes as long as both players are still behind the line of scrimmage, which could lead to some interesting two-quarterback play-calls.
• Jordan Ta’amu’s offensive coordinator is an “Air Raid” coach and that could benefit his fantasy upside.

Running Backs

Notes:

• Depending on where you look, DC Defenders running backs Jhurell Pressley and Donnel Pumphrey are both listed as starters. I saw more hype around Pressley as the AAF’s leading rusher while reading camp notes, so I ranked him higher. The DC Defenders have one of the better rosters on paper and both running backs will have value.
• Christine Michael seems to be the consensus No. 1 running back carrying over from his much-hyped short-lived NFL career. Michael was always an NFL preseason stud, so against lesser competition in the XFL, maybe he finally shines.
• Seattle’s Kenneth Farrow and Ja’Quan Gardner are another pair of running backs that have both been listed as starters on various sites. I went with Farrow because he was third in rushing in the AAF, while Gardner was eighth.
• Cameron Artis-Payne and Lance Dunbar have extensive NFL experience and compliment each other’s skillset and should give the Dallas Renegades a great one-two punch, thus making them both viable fantasy options.

Wide Receivers

Notes:

• Former Washington Redskins WR Rashad Ross is a consensus top 5 pick at wide receiver. He is the big play threat for the DC Defenders.
• Former fourth-round pick for the Browns, Antonio Callaway, had the potential to lead the league in receiving yards, but unfortunately, he was carted off the field during practice. I left him ranked in the event that he is able to return to the field, but it doesn’t look promising.
• Seantavius Jones is the biggest benefactor to the Callaway injury and is now in my top-eight wide receivers.
• The Battlehawks’ Keith Mumphery and De’Mornay Pierson-El are very interesting as they both beat out former Dallas Cowboy receiver Terrance Williams, whom many had as a top-five wide receiver previous to the 52-man rosters being released. Willaims was outright waived, leaving Marcus Lucas and L’Damian Washington also in the mix in this receiving corps that will play in an Air Raid style offense.
• Two former Pittsburgh Steelers, Sammie Coates, and Eli Rogers, both made their respective XFL rosters and both have a good opportunity to shine. Coates can outright fly, it was his hands that betrayed him at the NFL level. Rogers is a great compliment in the slot with two former Redskins on the outside in Rashad Ross and  Simmie Cobbs with DeAndre Thompkins as the red zone threat.
• The 6-foot-3 Mekale McKay tied for the league-lead in red-zone targets in the AAF and finished third in TD receptions. Guardians quarterback Matt McGloin will use him in that same role in the XFL.
• Dallas Renegades’ Jeff Badet and Jazz Ferguson are a very interesting tandem as Badet is the burner who ran a 4.3-40 in his pro day with Ferguson a 6-foot-5 230-pound beast that runs a 4.4 40.
• Tre McBride is an interesting option as he was traded from the DC Defenders straight up for my No. 1 WR Rashad Ross. It’s an intriguing trade as rarely do you see a one-for-one trade of two players at the same position. The consensus thinking is that McBride was a better fit scheme-wise for the LA Wildcats then was Ross.

Tight Ends

Notes:

• Tight ends are a terrible position in the NFL version of fantasy football and it’s even worse in the XFL. Brandon Barnes and Nick Truesdell are the only two TEs I would consider drafting in the league format I’ve set up for my leagues where tight ends aren’t a necessary position.
• Evan Rodriguez had three TDs in the AAF, so he at least has some pedigree as a fantasy option.

Check out betting guides for the upcoming XFL season at BettingPros