2014 Fantasy Football: 15 Players To Avoid In 1st Round

Although he just had the year of his life, Peyton Manning is a player to be avoided. The Super Bowl defeat will be tough to overcome, and the 5,000-plus yards and 40-plus touchdowns will be almost impossible to top. Of 10 players to reach 40-plus touchdowns in a year, only Drew Brees has done it the next year.

Aaron Rodgers is one of, if not the best QB in the league, but for fantasy managers, the QB position is too deep to waste on your first-round pick on. Do not be tempted by his credentials -- he will be available in later rounds. The earliest you should take Rodgers is the third.

Yes, he is the only QB to have two consecutive 40-plus touchdown seasons. Yes, he is the only QB to have two consecutive 5,000-plus yard seasons. However, it needs to be said again that you shouldn't waste your first-round pick on a QB.

After an injury-plagued season last year, you can expect a monster recovery year from the New England TE. He will be massively hyped up during the offseason, but avoid the temptation to draft him first round.

A TE should never be your first-round pick with the exception of Jimmy Graham, and that is only because he is barely a TE and is more of a WR.

No, I'm not crazy. Jamaal Charles will be a first-round pick, but avoid him in possible. No No. 1 Fantasy RB has finished first the next year since 2006. He will probably still be top-five, but try and draft the other four.

"Beast Mode" is a first-rounder, but Super Bowl-winning RBs numbers very often drop the next year. Also, after a good Rookie year for his backup Robert Turbin, Marshawn Lynch could potentially take fewer handoffs from Russell WIlson this year.

A very talented WR, but he is second in the Denver Broncos' depth chart and should be drafted among the second of your WRs. In PPR leagues, he should be avoided altogether. Also, with the potential of Manning's numbers dropping, it means the Broncos WR's numbers might take a hit too.

It may seem obvious with his probable suspension, but when you look at his numbers from seasons past, it may become easy to forget about his off-field issues. Beware.

We all fell in love with this guy during the offseason, but rookie wide receivers always have trouble adapting to the NFL. In the last four years, 154 WRs have joined the NFL and only six ended in the top-20 in fantasy points.

Most of us fell in love with Watkins, but some fell for the likes of Mike Evans, Kelvin Benjamin and some even Marqise Lee because they will "adapt better to the NFL". However, it's too big a risk, and any rookie WR should be your third or even fourth WR.

Alfred Morris had a decent season last year, but not enough to justify him as a first-round pick. Also with the predicted rebirth of Washington Redskins QB Robert Griffin lll, along with strengthening of their WR core, Morris is likely to see a smaller percentage of plays.

After finishing fifth in the RB fantasy rankings last year in Denver, Knowshon Moreno may seem like an attractive prospect as your No. 1 pick. However, he seems less enticing after a recent procedure on his knee, and the possibility that he might not start with the Miami Dolphins after the team brought in Lamar Miller.

Zac Stacy had a good second half of the season last year, but it could go downhill in the 2015 season. Sam Bradford is back, and the passing game will be more prominent this coming year for the St. Louis Rams. Also, you may see second-stringer Tre Mason become a touchdown vulture.

Even before his injury last season, Doug Martin was still only on course for 500 yards less than his rookie year. We once again see a running back drafted into a team with a struggling first-stringer, with Charles SIms joining Tampa Bay Buccaneers.