Fantasy football projections are a bit different than fantasy rankings. Rankings will just give you a numbered list from the number one player to whatever number they decide to go up to. Projections are actual statistics that someone projects a player to have by the end of the year.

Sometimes new players (or even older experts) mix up the terms which is then more confusing to people trying to learn how to play fantasy football. They two concepts are very similar, but they have different uses when your planning your roster or cheatsheets.

A sample fantasy football ranking list:

1.RB Chris Johnson /Tennessee Titans 2.RB Adrian Peterson/Minnesota Vikings 3.RB Maurice Jones-Drew/Jacksonville Jaguars And so on...

A sample of fantasy football projections

1.RB Chris Johnson/Titans -1735 Rushing Yards, 503 receiving yards, 12 TD

2.RB Adrian Peterson/Vikings-1650 Rushing Yards, 333 receiving yards, 13 TD

3.RB Maurice Jones-DrewJaguars-1291 Rushing Yards, 447 receiving yards, 10 TD

4.WR Randy Moss/Patriots 89 receptions, 1300 receiving yards, 12 TD 5.QB Drew Brees/Saints 4447 passing yards, 26 TD, 10 Interceptions

You can see that projections usually include the ranking system as well. While this probably wouldn't be an actual top 5, these are just to give you an idea of what would be projected for each position.

As you can see, projections are much more specific. Fantasy football projections are a prediction of points you are estimating that a player could earn in the future. Projections help you build out your rankings.

I did my own projections a few seasons ago and found that it's pretty much the same as ranking your players anyway, so to me it just seemed like a little extra effort that wasn't really needed. As long as you have a solid ranking system, I think projections may just be a little over-rated. However, if you do prefer using a website that uses projections, here is a strategy that may be able to help you.

Simply compare how the fantasy football website posted rankings compares to where you think the player should be ranked. You can then move them up and down depending on if you think they will do better or worse than what has been projected.

However, remember that each website may have very different projections for players. Projections are based upon points. The point system varies from league to league.

This can give you a good feel on developing your own rankings, and by using this method in conjunction with all of the other sources you choose to use, it could help you develop a winning team.