Who and How To Target RB’s In Fantasy ( Waiver Wire/ Trades )

This is gonna be a buy low/sell high column with a twist. Normally you read fantasy articles and they all tell you the same things, buy low on L.T. or L.J. right now, gee thanks for that advice, problem is each article is written to be as broad as possible, which is great and all cause you know it includes everyone, but does it really help anyone ? Shouldn’t weather or not you wanna buy low or sell high depend on your record, how the other teams are built in your league and what you need help with the most ? Of course so how can one tell you, that you must go get RB a) and be willing to part with WR b), well first problem is what if you don’t have receiver B or anything close to him ? What if your set at RB’s and you wanna know which ones to trade for a receiver, what if your 3-0 your team is looking stacked no real weak points at first glance, but then you peep the schedule and notice some of your studs have very tough match-ups at the end of the season, hell some might just be starting a vicious stretch that could kill their value and possibly your team if you don’t trade them soon enough. Having what looks like the best team after week 3 doesn’t mean a damn thing, in fact it’s quite possible you could go undefeated all year with a stacked line-up and then you get crushed in the finals because you have Peyton Manning and Joesph Addai and they aren’t getting full PT cause they already clinched their playoff spot, or maybe your convinced Steven Jackson turns it around, ok say he does are you still gonna wanna play him those last 2 weeks of the fantasy season when he is matched up against Green Bay and Pittsburgh. So here I’m gonna tell you what RB’s to grab expecting them to outplay expectations and who to trade or avoid due to bad match-ups and people who will under perform their expectations. Also again since I’m speaking to an audience and not you indivually some of my suggestions might not work for you, so I suggest you look at your team and your schedule the rest of the way, examine your bye weeks, what weeks you have real bad match-up and don’t feel comfortable starting anyone you have, check those last 2 weeks schedule and start planning for the playoffs if you can afford to, check what weeks you need help the most and check who can help you the most those weeks and go after them. After each player I will list what weeks I have marked as big weeks for said RB, with playoff weeks in BOLD.

GET NOW BEFORE EVERYONE ELSE CATCHES ON

~ Willie Parker – Granted he shouldn’t be on this list, cause everyone should have him and no one should be thinking he is anything less than a top 5 back, but I say this cause honestly I think he is the best back to have the rest of the year, so if you have L.T. and can’t wait for him to turn around anymore ( I suggest waiting until after the Chiefs though, their schedule gets much easier ) so more realistically let’s say you have Larry Johnson or Steven Jackson and you can’t wait it out, see if you can convince the guy to trade you Parker, hell in fact if you have anyone besides L.T. I suggest you take a shot and see if you can get Willie Parker. If you have to give up one of them Rb’s and a decent receiver do it, take a look at Parkers’s schedule the rest of the way, this guy is on his way to a monster year 2,000 + yards. These Steelers still love to run the ball and no one except possibly L.T. will outperform him the rest of the way. As for those last 2 weeks of the fantasy season ( keep in mind thats weeks 15 and 16 in real football ) Parker is a great play both weeks as he has Jacksonville in week 15 and St. Louis in week 16, so if you have Parker feel good you most likely got this years best RB don’t trade him, but if you can pry him away from someone somehow just do it. ( weeks 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15 and 16 )

~ L.T. – I know I know again he shouldn’t be on here either, last one I promise. However I do know of some people who have L.T. and are 0-3 and there for are panicking. It’s understandable really, if you took L.T. you took him with the first pick leaving you most likely with not a great # 2 back, which was ok at the time because you got L.T. and he would make up the difference, problem is he hasn’t and your team has suffered, I get it but unless you got holes everywhere and someone is gonna give you an upgrade everywhere and one of these other RB’s on this list, relax and do not trade L.T. he has played against 3 of the best defenses in football so far, they are adjusting to a whole new coaching staff he will be fine and that turn around starts this week in Kansas City and should continue over the next 2 weeks with Denver and Oakland. Now again if you started out 0-3 you can’t afford to worry about the last 2 weeks right now, you have to try and get yourself there, but if you still can make it there without trading him do so, cause those last 2 weeks L.T. is lucky enough to play the Broncos and Lions, 2 teams no one would have trouble running through let alone L.T. ( weeks 4, 5, 6, 11, 13, 15 and 16 )

~ Edge – So this isn’t last year, people that drafted Edge are actually happy they drafted him as opposed to wishing him harm ( to put it nicely ) as everyone who drafted him last year felt. Unless your in a league with complete idiots mostly everyone realizes this ( if you are in one of those idiot leagues you probably got it won all ready so relax ) but I don’t think most people realize just how good he will be the rest of the way. Only problem is the Cardinals figure to be behind a lot so they will have to throw but at least they can run the ball and run it well this year. Lucky for Edge owners and future Edge owners he still has games against St. Louis, Detroit, Cinn. , San Fran, and Cleve, with New Orleans and Atlanta in the final 2 weeks, that means he has 7 games left against teams that combined allowed an avg. of 143 yards per game, which means there are plenty of fantasy points to be had by the Edge. ( weeks 5,10,11,12,13,14,15 and 16 )

~ Larry Johnson – Ok some of you probably are wondering why he is here, well for much the same reasons as L.T. if you have him I assume you took him high and he is probably killing your team. I hated LJ at the beginning of the year because of his horrible o-line, mess of a QB situation and overall just being on a bad team, and while all of this still holds true his schedule starts to get drastically easier after this week. However like I said these problems are still there so unless you can afford to sit him on the bench for the next couple weeks and hope for a turn around avoid him, but if you 3-0 and sitting pretty and stacked with RB’s take a shot, cause like I said after this week LJ has 7 weeks against teams that have been allowing at least 125 yards a game, one of them against Detroit in the final week. Keep in mind LJ missed almost all of training camp too and while that normally isn’t a big deal for RB’s be ready for him to turn his season around as soon the Chiefs start to play the Jacksonville’s and Cinn.’s. ( Weeks 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 14, 16 )

~ Marshawn Lynch – I wasn’t as high on this guy as a lot of people were at the beginning of the year. I thought he would get crushed coming from the soft Pac-10 to the NFL, but this boy has proved himself to be worthy. He hasn’t been amazing or unstoppable by any means but he is still being underrated by everyone I’ve talked to, don’t make the same mistake. See if you can get him cheap he will help you especially those last 2 weeks of the year against the Browns and the Giants. Besides that he still has 2 games against the Jets ( and trust me anyone can run on the Jets ask Ronnie Brown ) Cinn, 2 games against Miami and a game against Jacksonville, all teams that give up at least 120 rushing yards a game. If you started off great and are already thinking bout playoff like I am make a move for Lynch before someone else catches on. ( Weeks 4, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15 and 16 )

~ Deshaun Foster – This guy defines underrated right now. He is THE RB in Carolina, they aren’t sold on Williams and Foster has been running the ball well. True he has had an easy schedule but it’s gonna stay that way. Foster is criminally undervalued in most leagues right now and I’m sure he can be had cheap. He has 2 games against New Orleans, a game against the Falcons, Cardinals, 49ers, Seahawks and Jags all left and he should have big games against all of them, while only one of them ( Seattle ) is in the playoffs most of them are down the stretch run if your looking for help during those last weeks. ( Weeks 5, 6, 10, 12, 13, 14 )

~ Willis McGahee – I expected things to be going better for Willis here in B-more, I mean he seems built for the Ravens, problem is the rest of the offense is a mess. Good news is most McGahee owners are panicking and trying to pawn him off now, my suggestion of course is to take advantage of this. 2 games against Cleve. a game against St. Louis, Buffalo, Cinn,, Miami and Seattle all are still on the schedule and all are more than winnable games for the Ravens. In all of these games the Ravens D should shut down the other offense and allow McGahee plenty of carries to pick up plenty of yards and TD’s. Miami and Seattle are the playoff weeks and you shouldn’t have any problem playing him then. ( Weeks 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, 15 )

~ Rudi Johnson – This really depends on who has him, but I saw some people panic after last week, scared he would disappear and scared he would be hurt. If the injury scares you, theres not much I can say other than I doubt it will effect him for more than a week or 2 at most. So if your in a league where the Rudi owner is thinking like then steal him, as he still has games against the Chiefs, Jets, Bills, Rams, and in the playoff weeks the 49ers and Browns. The Bengals offense is a machine designed to score points and as long as Rudi stays healthy he will do the same and if you want help for those final weeks theres not too many with better playoff week match-ups ( Weeks 6, 7, 9, 11, 14, 15 and 16 )

~ Frank Gore – Like Rudi I know some Gore owners who are panicking, not so much cause they don’t believe in Gore but because the 49ers offense looks anemic, and while I can’t very well argue with that I can say the schedule does get easier with a six week stretch where they play the Giants, Saints, Falcons, Seahawks, Rams and Cardinals as well as a week 15 match-up with the Bengals, if people are looking to trade Gore it’s cause they haven’t looked at the schedule ( no Woody Paige ) and like I’ve been saying this whole column, TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT. ( Weeks 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15 )

~ Thomas Jones – He was very underrated last year, even more so before the season since he is no longer splitting carries, however the people that were down on him probably feel good about being down on him still and thats fine as long as your willing to realize he is about to turn it around. First 2 weeks they played against 2 of the best defenses in football and to be honest the Jets o-line is a mess but last week in the second half Jones put up 92 yards against the Dolphins, looking like he is finally comfortable in the offense and ready to be the Thomas Jones we all know from last year. I know your saying but that was against the Dolphins, point taken but whats this whole post about, TJ’s schedule is full of good match-ups, ,with 2 games against Buffalo, a game against Cinn, Giants, Miami and Cleveland TJ can definitely be an upgrade to your team on certain weeks. ( Weeks , 5, 7, 8, 13, 14 )

TRADE NOW WHY YOU CAN STILL GET THE BEST VALUE

~ Travis Henry – Ok so I just yesterday noticed this. I got Henry on 2 of my teams and as I was looking at my match-ups the rest of the way I noticed he only has 4 favorable match-ups the rest of the season. Now while normally I wouldn’t be so concerned with the Broncos rushing game but the fact that they can’t stop anyone from running and Jay Cutler just does not instill any confidence in me yet, I see them being behind in too many games and with Shannahan’s games he likes to play stealing TD’s from his starters clutches I think now is as good a time as ever to trade Travis Henry to someone who will give you great value while you can still get it. Right now he has 4 match-ups I like ( Detroit, week 9, K.c., week 10 and 14, and Oakland week 13 ) however he still has 2 games against the Chargers, 1 against the Colts, Packers Tenn. Chicago and Houston, everyone of those teams has held their opponents to under 100 yards rushing a game most under 90, trade Travis Henry before everyone else figures that out as well.

~ Lamont Jordan – I’m a big Lamont fan have been since he was backing up Curtis ( Chris Berman’s favorite ) Martin, Jordan has gotten off to a great year, it is no fluke the guy is for real, the Raiders however are not, and their schedule doesn’t get any easier, he has 4 match-ups I like and a bunch of games I expect the raiders to be out of by the start of the second quarter, meaning lots of passing not so much running, Ronald Curry will benefit greatly from this Lamont however will suffer. Good match-ups the rest of the way are Miami week 4, K.C. week 7 and 12 and Denver week 13 and week 16 against Jacksonville he is a decent play as well) However they also have San Diego, Tenn, Houston, Chicago, Minnesota, Green Bay and Indy on their schedule and I wouldn’t feel comfortable playing him any of those weeks, put him on the block now while he is still hot and get something good while you still can.

~ Steven Jackson – This is another one that depends on who has him, if you have him and can afford to wait it out do it go for it, problem is you won’t get full value for him now especially with him hurt, so theres a couple things you can do, depending on how bad you need help you can settle for your best offer now, if it’s someone I said try and get think about it strongly, probably take it, if not wait it out just a little longer. I wouldn’t play him the next 3 or 4 weeks based on match-ups and his injury but after that he has Cleveland, New Orleans, San Fran, Seattle, Atl. and Cinn. and assuming he is healthy by then he should be back to the Steven Jackson we knew from last year. His last 2 weeks are brutal match-ups no matter how much he looks like last year so maybe you wanna let him play Cleveland and the Saints work his value up and trade him for someone with better playoff match-ups.

Remember you can follow all the advice you want from where ever you want to gather it but whats good for you might not be good for everyone else, so you have to balance the needs and strengths of your team, assess where you need help the most and where you can afford to give up some talent ( if your stacked at WR and need Rb help trade one of your stud receivers or vice versa ) and always, always look at your match-ups and see what weeks you don’t like them and see what can be done about it.

NFC South Preview/Predictions

1) New Orleans Saints – I have 2 concerns about this team, first is their defense, it has to be better than last year if they want to make it to the super bowl. The defense doesn’t make a lot of plays and the secondary is weak and gives up lots of big plays. My second worry is that last year everything seemed to go too perfect, i don’t see it being so easy this year as they won’t be sneaking up on anyone. Brees has had some injury problems ( but for the sake of one of my fantasy teams please don’t get hurt Drew ) but assuming he stays healthy this offense should continue to be a machine. The young wide receiving core will struggle a bit but Brees will put the ball where they need it more often than not. Bush should continue to break out as a dangerous threat both as a RB and a receiver. Duece will also continue to run the ball well and help keep them both fresh at both the end of the games and the end of the season. The offense will make up for the short comings of the defense at least during the regular season if they plan to play much further past that, they need to fix that D.

Prediction – 11-5

2) Carolina Panthers – What happened to this team ? Just a couple years ago they came out and took over the NFC and with a new head coach and young team and seemed to be marking their territory, but ever since the super bowl loss they just haven’t been the same. Yeah they have had their injury problem but this team has no excuse to play the way they have the last couple of years and until they show me otherwise i can’t believe they will win too many games. Jake Delhomme has completely fallen off since the super bowl. He constantly makes horrible decisions with the ball and takes his team out of the game. If the Panthers smarten up and decide to give David Carr a shot they might be able to salvage the season and sneak into the playoffs but if they wait too long it will be too late even in the weak NFC.

Prediction 8-8

3) Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Where to even start with this team ? How many Qb’s can one team have ? Apparently not enough for Jon Gruden, but I don’t expect him to be here past this year so it should be fun to see how they handle the QB situation then. Yeah I know he won the super bowl not to long ago but lets be real people he won it with Tony Dungy’s team, they just had to shove him out the door first. Since Gruden has gotten control of the team he has tinkered with it to the point where they are devoid of talent. The o-line is a mess can’t open any holes for Cadillac and won’t be able to protect Garcia or his 4 back-ups. The defense is a shell of it’s former self with all their vets not being near as talented or fast as they were, and they don’t have Dungy’s defensive expertise to make up for what the lack talent wise.

Prediction – 6 – 10

4) Atlanta Falcons – This team was built around Mike Vick and they weren’t very good then, imagine how they are gonna do now. Joey Harrington will actually play pretty good I think but again this team is built for Vick not Harrington and it will show. Jerious Norwood should benefit the most from Vick’s abcense as he will be asked get the most carries by year’s end, but they will struggle in year 1 A.V. ( After Vick ) and the defense just isn’t good enough to make up for any problem they will have on offense.

Prediction – 5 – 11

Team Defenses

1) Chicago Bears – Bears or Ravens ? It seems to me more people ( or so called experts ) are taking the Ravens this year. They point to the big drop off in production the 2nd half of last year, I point out that they were conveniently missing Mike Brown and Tommie Harris. Yes Devin Hester will not be anywhere near as productive as last years ( other teams won’t let him….see Dante Hall a couple years ago ) but the reason why I like Bears D more than anyone else is because no other team is even close to as conditioned to create turnovers, specifically fumbles, as the bears. So it’s a safe bet to say they will be near the top in the league in turnovers yet again.

2) Baltimore Ravens – Just a notch below the Bears. I understand the case for them but they just don’t have quite the same taste for turnovers, and they get more interceptions which comes more from chance than from being overly aggressive like the Bears are with fumbles. Don’t be scared off by Adalius Thomas leaving, the Ravens won’t miss a beat.

3) New England Patriots – Now you can start paying attention to Thomas, cause the Pats will be greatly improved with him in the middle and last time I checked Bill Bellicheck is still the coach up there right ? * crosses fingers and prays he decided to retire for some unknown reason *

4) San Diego Chargers – Yeah they will miss Donnie Edwards, but their front 7 is still as good as anyones. The aren’t the best rushing defense but with their offense the other teams don’t have the time to concentrate on running the ball. More often than not these Chargers defenders will be playing with the lead and the other teams will be in catch up mode.

5) Jacksonville Jaguars – People stay forgetting about this team and their nasty defense. They might just have the best D-line in football and they have great ball hawking safeties, don’t give up lots of points or yards, needs to force more turnovers, but i do expect them to be better and more productive as the offense should help keep the D off the field at least more than they did last year.

6) Cowboys – The Cowboys only problem last year was their secondary let anyone and everyone go past them. You couldn’t run against them and safety Roy Williams but you could always pass right over the top, not anymore thanks to the arrival of Ken Hamlin. This will allow Roy Williams to be the LB he always has been and have Ken Hamlin be the safety. Wade Phillips is gonna make the defense even meaner and nastier and look for DeMarcus Ware to continue taking the league by storm.

7) Minnesota Vikings – This is one of those rare times when a defense is so good it actually hurts its fantasy value. Ok I’m sure some of you are really confused now but let me explain this. No one could run on the Vikings at all last year, so they stopped trying. This means lots of passing attempts which means lots of completions and yards no matter how good the secondary is ( if you look at the #’s they look awful in reality they are among the best ) So because teams have to throw the ball 60 times against them, even when the Vikings D plays great it doesn’t help so much in fantasy.

8) Philadelphia Eagles – They don’t seem concerned they cut Trotter, I am. They are still an elite fantasy D though as long as Brian Dawkins and Lito Sheppard are still there.

9) Denver Broncos – Rookie Jarvis Moss and Dre Bly are the big player additions to the Broncos D. Bly paired with Champ Bailey at corner will work wonders for the Broncos cause teams won’t be able to shy away from Bly and not nearly as much with Champ either. Add the fact that Jim Bates is their new D coordinator and they should cause lots of problems for teams this year ( also keep in mind the get to play the Raiders and Chiefs twice )

10) Carolina Panthers – Talent wise they should be higher, but this offense isn’t even decent anymore so you can’t count on them to keep the D off the field, and ever since their Super Bowl appearance they just haven’t been able to play up to their level even semi consistently.

TE’s

1) Antonio Gates – This isn’t even close, Gates puts up lower top tier, upper second tier receiver #’s as a TE. Nobody else is even close to matching his skill or production taking him in the 3rd or 4th round is not a reach at all, but even though after Gates there is a big drop-off, TE is as deep as it has been in years, so don’t feel like you have to get him.

2) Vernon Davis – Ok i might be reaching here but part of why I have him # 2 is because of how much later you can get him after Gates and other TE’s that have already come off the board. He is a much better value pick than Tony Gonzalez, who typically gets picked way too early. Last year injuries were the only thing holding Davis back he has been healthy all off season and has been dominating in training camp, look for him to become Alex Smith’s best friend.

3) Chris Cooley – There is no doubt Jason Campbell is gonna feel more comfortable looking to Cooley than anyone else. Cooley was the 5th highest scoring TE last year and Mark Brunell was his QB for a large chunk of it, Campbell should utilize him even more this year.

4) Alge Crumpler – If Vick was still playing Crumpler would be the # 2. Even when defenses knew he was the only passing threat, they still had to worry about Vick’s speed so much that it made it hard to focus on anyone but Vick, now defenses will have to start worrying about Joey Harrington and something tells me he won’t be keeping defensive coordinators up late at night like Vick did, but Crumpler is still his only real target and will be a solid pick up as his stock is falling even though it really shouldn’t.

5) Todd Heap – You sensing a theme yet ? Yes most of the best TE’s are on teams where they are the main receivers, if a team has a lot of great receivers the TE will often be an after thought. This is no different. Heap is the Ravens best receiver and Mcnair loves to use his TE, only problem last year they were way too predictable with it, and Mcnair doesn’t have Vick’s speed to keep D’s off balance nor does Heap possess Gates like talent to be able fight off double teams.

6) Kellen Winslow – Big talent….bigger mouth, if he can shut up stay off a motorcycle and stop comparing himself to a soldier he should be a very effective weapon for either Charlie Frye or Brady Quinn, my biggest question is how long is Cleveland’s D gonna be on the field…..I’m guessing @ 65 – 70 % of the games.

7) Tony Gonzalez – I’m really trying my hardest not to have any Chiefs on my roster and while he is still a top TE he is clearly on his way down and that Chiefs offense is gonna get knocked down a few notches as a whole this year.

8 Jeremy Shockey – If he learns to play in control he could be what the Giants drafted him to be, but the reckless way he plays doesn’t help him or Eli. Instead of lowering his shoulder for a 3 yard pick-up, step out of bounds maybe he could make it through the season healthy, run crisp clean routes and find the soft spot in defenses, but no he has to be running wild out there. Of course his biggest problem is still who his QB is, as long as Eli is the QB I don’t like any Giant weapons as big time producers this year.

9) Randy McMichael – People have been expecting him to break out for so long that they have given up on him, not me. This year he finally has a real QB and he will fit right into the St. Louis offense and be a big contributor right away.

10) L.J. Smith – Mcnabb is back and will utilize him more than Garcia did. Expect big #’s this year, like i keep saying the Eagles love to throw the ball and Smith definitely reaps the benefits.

11) Owen Daniels – Great sleeper,I’m keep seeing him go undrafted, he will be a top 10 TE this year.

12) Greg Olsen – Another great sleeper, all you heard all off season is how much Grosman will love him and utilize him and he could sure use all the help he can get.

13) Jason Witten – Touchdown’s dropped a bit last year, but mostly because they were looking for it, expect him to regroup and bounce back this year.

14) Heath Miller – If the Steelers are gonna open up the offense, they are gonna need this guy to step up and be Ben’s security blanket, I’m not so sure he can carry that weight though.

15) Chris Baker – You might this this is a homer pick, and maybe it is a little but Baker is always forgotten about but he shouldn’t be. The Jets have always had him block more but his receiving skills can’t be denied. Expect the Jets to look to him more as Defenses start to focus on both Coles and Cothcery this year.

16) Ben Watson – If the Patriots didn’t sign 73 different receivers I’d put him much higher, but they did so I won’t.

17) Dallas Clark – Peyton Manning is his QB….that is all.

Wide Receivers

TOO MANY TO TALK ABOUT THEM ALL, SO I’M JUST GONNA LIST THEM AND BRIEFLY SPEAK ON A COUPLE.

1) MARVIN HARRISON – He has been the most consistent and best receiver in football for years, with Peyton still at the top of his game and the Colts offense still a machine there is no reason to take anyone else first. Wide receivers are your most inconsistent contributors, ( check out ESPN’s fantasy guru’s fantasy tip # 4 http://tinyurl.com/2tv6rn, also check out # 5, you’ll see why soon enough ) so why not do everything you can to get the most consistent of the inconsistent.

2) Chad Johnson – If Torry Holt’s knee was 100 % he might be here, but you can’t go wrong with Chad, I expect a huge year from Chad and Carson….after all Chad did say he has his sexy back ( meaning his game if you, like Tony Korenheiser, didn’t know what Chad was talking bout ) and who am I to doubt him ?

3) Torry Holt – Check out status on knee, but only Marvin Harrison is more consistent.

4) Reggie Wayne – Too much to worry bout in Indy, double Marvin, watch for Addai whose gonna cover Reggie ?

5) Donald Driver – Go back to the last link, In the last 3 years only Holt and Chad Johnson have more yards than this guy, he has Brett Farve as his QB thats should be enough for anyone in fantasy.

6) Lee Evans – One more time, go back the last link, last year Evans had more total yards and only 2 less touchdowns than Torry Holt, Evans is a young and improving receiver expect his numbers to show it.

7) Roy Williams

8 Larry Fitzgerald

9) Steve Smith

10) Javon Walker

11) T.O. – Ok so this guy was the 2nd highest scoring receiver in fantasy last year, honestly his #’s should only go up but I depise everything about this man with every ounce of my being, he actually takes all the fun out of watching football I can’t stomach rooting for this guy so I’d rather lose.

* THIS IS WHERE I STRONGLY START TO CONSIDER GATES BEFORE ANY OTHER RECEIVERS, YEAH HOUSHMANZADEH OR COLSTON MIGHT OUT SCORE GATES, BUT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GATES AND THE # 2 TE WILL BE BIGGER THAN THE RECEIVER GAP OVER THE NEXT COUPLE ROUNDS *

12) T.J. Houshmanzadeh

13) Marques Colston

14) Andre Johnson – Matt Schaub should really help Johnson, assuming the o-line can keep Schaub on his feet.

15) Anquan Boldin

16) Darrell Jackson – He was the 13th highest scoring receiver last year with a crowded receiving core in Seattle, now he is the go to guy in San Fran.

17) Plexico Burress

18) Laveranus Coles – Look he deserves to be higher, but I just don’t have all that much hope for the Jets passing game right now, not with how they have been playing in the pre season but this guys is criminally slept on, and I expect the Jets to figure this mess out and Coles to be a real solid pick, especially considering how late he usually goes.

19) Joey Galloway – 15th highest scoring last year, Garcia should only help him.

20) Calvin Johnson – If your in keeper league take him right after around where you should take Gates, if not he is still a great value pick here, rookie receivers generally don’t make big moves in their first year but this guy is like none we have ever seen before, no receiver still available has the potential this year as this kid, so take a chance on him and have fun watching him.

21) Heins Ward

22) Jerricho Cotchery – See Laveranus Coles

23) Chris Chambers – People have been waiting years for this kid to break out, he finally has a decent QB, albeit one who is 38 and coming off a multiple concussion season.

24) Reggie Brown – Mcnabb is still there, Stallworth is not.

25) Dieon Branch – He should get a bunch of Darrell Jacksons touches.

26) Braylon Edwards – Serious talent trapped on a hopeless team.

27) Santana Moss – Defines inconsistent, and misses way too many games cause of a pulled hammy.

28) Vincent Jackson – I actually think he will out perform people ahead of him but you can draft him late. besides Gates, he will be Rivers first target when passing and really started to catch on late last year.

29) Santiono Holmes

30) Drew Bennett – The move to St. Louis will of course only help, and I don’t care what anyone tells to you, he is the #2 option there, Bulger will find him more than Issac Bruce.

31) D.J. Hackett – Touches should go up alot this year with Jackson gone and D.J. is a perfect receiver for the red zone, which means lots of touchdowns.

32) Devery Henderson – If only he was more consistent last year

33) Anthony Gonzalez – New Brandon Stokley ? I don’t see why not, in fact he should be better.

34) Brandon Marshall – Denver’s # 2

35) Wes Welker – Yes i realize i don’t have Randy Moss or even Stallworth on here, most of it has to do with injury ( with Stallworth at least ) some has to do with the fact that why yes Brady will pass alot he spreads it around too much for his receivers to be THAT valuable. Besides the fact i don’t think Moss is that good anymore and I think he can only do the Pats more harm than good ( honestly I think they were set at receiver before they got him ), it’s really more about knowing Tom Brady. Brady’s favorite receiver, is who ever is lined up in the slot, and 9 out of 10 passes who is gonna be lined up in the slot ? Yes the man built to be a slot receiver for Tom Brady Wes Welker, don’t be even the least bit surprised once you start seeing him put up #’s just remember who told you before hand.

QB’s ( The Rest…Worth Drafting )

7) Jon Kitna – This is whats is so great about fantasy football ( and clearly how it got it’s name ) Jon Kitna is the 7th ranked QB and there is no argument against it. My only problem is he will quite often kill you with throwing interceptions but that just means they will be losing and he will be forced to air it out so he can rack up lots of meaningless yards and touchdowns well after the game has been decided. With Roy Williams and Calvin ” I don’t care how many receivers they drafted this guys a problem ” Johnson and year # 2 running Mike Martz’s offense I see him putting up big #’s each week, I also see the lions still being the lions.

8 – Phillip Rivers – Surprised ? I’m sure some of you are but those same people probably don’t realize that he was the 7th highest scoring QB last year and he should only get better. More trust in him from the coaches, look for Vincent Jackson to play a bigger role all season and give Rivers another option besides Gates or L.T. Norv Turner might not do them any better than Marty did when playoffs come but he should amazingly so, only improve this offense, especially Rivers.

9) Tony Romo – I’m a little torn on Romo. He single handedly saved my season last year, he also turned around and destroyed it in the final 2 weeks. Another Case where year 2 should mean consistent improvement. I think Jay Cutler is probably a bit more talented than Romo but Romo has more dangerous weapons and plays in a much weaker defensive division and conference. The Boys have T.O. Terry Glenn Crayton and Witten at the tight end spot all viable options for Romo to work with, also remember Parcells is gone so look for them to take the training wheels off air it out a little more this year.

10) Jay Cutler – Travis Henry will definitely help this second year QB. The last 4 games of the year he really started to come on strong and look comfortable running the offense. With Javon Walker and Brandon Marshall catching his passes, he should have plenty of games that make me curse out the Jets GM for not drafting him.

11) Matt Hasselbeck – A very underrated QB in both reality and fantasy, he will get his numbers and is the model of consistency when healthy ( which he usually is last year was a fluke injury ) if you missed out on one of the elite QB’s Hasselbeck is a good person to snag or an even better # 2 QB

12) Matt Leinart – People seem to be more torn on how this kid will do than they were last year, but I was impressed with what i saw from him last year. With a god awful o-line and zero running game Leinart did a remarkable job of maintaining and taking what was given to him. Look for the new Coach Wisenhunt to really open things up for him and put him in a position to make plays. With his 2 receivers and a revamped o-line and revitalized Edge as well as one of the leagues easiest schedules Leinart should start to stake his claim as a solid starting fantasy QB.

13) Vince Young – He had a great end to last year no doubt about it, but the Titans are awful this year….yes worse than last year. I expect defenses to figure out how to keep Young bottled up more, so he won’t get near the rushing yards he did last year, and they have no one for him to throw the ball to, or run the ball and take the defenses mind off of Vince. Look for Vince to struggle as this year the Madden curse is just simply that they jumped the gun, on anointing him ready, cause even if he is , his team clearly is not.

The rest of the Top 20 ( i sure hope you got 2 of these guys )

14) Ben Roesthlisburger

15) Eli Manning

16) Alex Smith

17) J.P. Losman

18) Matt Shaub

19) Brett Farve

20) Chad Pennington

QB’s ( The Big Six )

1) Peyton Manning – What you didn’t expect Vick did you ? I honestly think Peyton’s #’s will dip a little and Palmer’s could go up but Peyton is still the # 1 pick. Now I say that I think his #’s will drop not cause I’m a Peyton hater, ( which i am, more on that throughout the season ) but because i expect the Colts to continue what they started last year and slow down the offense and run the ball more this year to mask the weakness on D. Now there still is the chance that the D turns out to be so bad that they have to go the other way and air it out as much as possible because the D keeps giving up points, either way you can’t go wrong with Peyton.

2) Carson Palmer –  The knee is 100 % healthy this year and his confidence will be evident and it will definitely help this offense pick up where it left off last year, no slow start for them this year with Palmer, and his 2 star receivers they should be set to take off from the beginning.

3) Tom Brady – I thought about Brees here but I think Brady will be more consistent, I expect more up and downs from Brees and less from Brady. Brady put up huge #’s last year with Reche Caldwell as their best receiver, forget Moss ( I did he can only hurt the Pats ), Stallworth and Wes Welker will be what helps Brady take over the #3 spot and be ready for lots of touchdowns to that little slot receiver Wes Welker.

4) Drew Brees – The other reason I had Brady ahead of him…. didn’t last season seem waaay too perfect and storybook like ? These still are the Saints right ? Look I’m not trying to jinx the guy but it just seems like it’s only a matter of time before something goes wrong and the regress into , well the Saints. Of course he has weapons all over the place ( Bush, Colston, Henderson, Copper ) so if he can stay healthy and avoid any curse of the Saints he will put up gi-normous #’s.

5) Marc Bulger – The always underrated Marc Bulger, he stays putting up #’s ( last year he was the 3rd highest rated QB ) year after year and year after year people sleep on him when it comes to draft time. This year he has a couple more weapons at his disposle ( Randy McMichael and Drew Bennett ) and the D is still a mess so be ready for lots of shoot-outs and new ways for them to get Steven Jackson even more involved in the passing game.

6) Donovan Mcnabb – If this guy didn’t stay getting hurt or puking on the field he would be higher on the list. Last year he had 200 fantasy points ( 10th most not including Vick ) in only 10 games. ( which means he would of slightly outscored Peyton at that pace ) This year he has something to prove and if he stays healthy Eagles fans will quickly forget all about Garcia, and the Eagles will go back to passing the ball almost near 80% of the game. If your convinced he will make it through the year than have you should have no issues taking him top 3, but if you do draft him make sure you take a back-up a couple rounds earlier than normal just in case he does get hurt.

The Rest Of The Running Backs

21) Clinton Portis – Should Clinton be higher up on the list ? Sure probably, but realistically speaking of course it’s only a matter of time until he gets hurt, somehow someway he will hurt something. Even if he does stay healthy though he just isn’t THAT great a of a running back. He excelled in Denver but honestly who doesn’t ? Even Ron Dayne avg. 5 yards a carry, granted for only like 50 carries but still we are talking about Ron ” NO Gain ” Dayne. Before he got hurt last year he was having trouble running the ball effectively, once he got hurt Ladell Betts had no problems running the ball effectively, so yeah i have Portis ranked here, but he is on my DON’T DRAFT list, however I’m definitely plotting out my attack on what round i should try and grab Betts

22) Brandon Jacobs – People question if he can be an every down back, I don’t. Yeah he won’t kill you with his speed and quickness and bounce to the outside like Tiki but put whoever in his way and watch him bowl them over. His problem is more Eli, avg. o-line and a leaky faucet of a secondary that will keep the Giants playing from behind, but don’t worry about Rueben Droughns stealing carries, cause he is no Brandon Jacobs

23) Marshawn Lynch – Rookie RB, behind an improved ( how could it not be ) o-line. Last year the Bills line was a mess this year it got some help, they will miss McGahee though. Lynch does not have anywhere near the toughness and power Willis does ( can’t say I’m not worried about an adjustment from soft Pac-10 finesse football team to the AFC EAST) but he is fast and elusive and he will get the lions share of the carries which makes him a solid pick this late.

24) Ladell Betts – ( see Clinton Portis ) The biggest reason I am so low on Portis is cause I am really high on Betts. ( no distorted view of reality ) Betts looked better in that offense than Portis did when he was healthy, yeah Portis will get first crack and might stay healthy but I’d much rather take a flyer on Betts @ rounds 10 or later than draft Portis in the first 2 rounds. Also the redskins didn’t pay Betts big money in the off season just for a back-up even if Portis stays healthy look for Betts to get @ 40 % of the carries.

25) Marion Barber III – Him and Julius Jones will probably share carries, but Barber will be getting the touchdowns and with that offense there should be a lot of them.

26) Jerious Norwood – So no Vick this year, not sure if all of you aware of this or not but Vick has been suspended indefinitely by the NFL I’m not sure what for though no one seems to be talking about it. ( broken sarcasm button ) Ok so no Vick mean Joey Harington, ouch, which means the Falcons only real chance will be if they can run the ball and run it well, they have been the best in the league with Vick but now we shall see, Warrick Dunn will be the back-up this year as Norwood is their future.

27) Brandon Jackson – Forget Verand Morency he is the back-up, the rookie Jackson will be the starter. Green Bay had a decent year last year almost snuck in the playoffs. The o-line should be better along with their D ( which was great last year ) and Farve will still launch it but someone has to run it to keep the D’s off balance and that someone is Jackson.

28) Ahman Green – So Houston could of had Reggie Bush but decided they already had Dominck Davis so they passed on Bush, think they would like a re do ? especially since Davis is nowhere to be found thanks to a year ending knee injury last year, the Texans now have Ahman Green. Give credit to any Texans fans willing to stick it out cause this franchise is a mess.

29 ) DeAngelo Williams – John Fox is playing Mike Shannahan this year, you have no clue who is gonna start when, Williams is the more talented back plain and simple so my guess is he would get the ball slightly more but I’m sure Fox wants to keep it fairly even.

30) Cadillac Williams – Hopefully he moves up this list, by mid season, but if he does it will be by getting more involved in the passing game ( maybe he can be Garcia’s Westbrook ) Talent wise he should be much higher on this list but the Bucs are bad and their o-line is worse, Garcia should help some but he isn’t built for the offense like he was in Philly.

31) Fred Taylor – A great sleeper/steal/value pick. Yeah Taylor always gets hurt and I’m expecting it this year ( although he could surprise me and be one of those injury guys who make it through, theres always a couple, think Westbrook and Pennington last year ) If he can stay healthy he will be a solid back up to keep on the roster, and if Drew gets hurt watch out, Taylor could have a huge year.

32) Chester Taylor – Poor guy would of been top 10 RB if the vikings didn’t draft Petersen, they did so you should too.

33) Julius Jones – See Marion Barber

34) Lamont Jordan – Another guy who talent wise should be way up there ( bets he wishes he stayed with the jets for one more year ) but he plays in Oakland, that pretty much says it all.

35) Jamal Lewis – Just not the same runner he was a couple years ago, and now on the Browns, NEXT.

36) Deshaun Foster – See DeAngelo Williams

37) Leon Washington – You really should only be drafting him if your in a really deep league, and he is your 5th RB, but if Jones gets hurt he could have some huge games, and if you just try and guess a couple times I’m sure you will get lucky cause I guarantee he will break a couple 70+ yard plays for touchdowns through out the year, guessing when will be the tough part.

If they aren’t mentioned they aren’t worth drafting, unless extreme injury situations come up, which is what the waiver wire is all about.
Next up QB’s

Running Backs ( 11 – 20 )

11) Willis McGahee – I can still vividly picture McGahee’s knee being destroyed in that championship game vs. Ohio St. and thinking he would be lucky to walk again, I laughed as the enemy Bills drafted him in the late first round, I would now strongly recommend the famous Dr. James Andrews to put anything back together. Willis hated everything about the city of Buffalo and managed to work his way out and I expect it to help him in every way shape and form. The Ravens got their power RB to slow down the game and move the chains. Yeah the D lost Adalius Thomas but they are still one of the top Defenses in the league which will translate into lots of carries/yards and touchdowns for Willis.

12) Laurence Maroney – Only reason he isn’t higher on the list is the patriots love to pass the ball in goal line situations, which of course will help Brady and Wes Welker ( get ready to hear that a lot this year ) but it will probably hurt Maroney. Also his shoulder is still a little bit of an issue, mainly cause of how he has been babied and treated with extra care and this guy is just a 2nd year back, he shouldn’t be skating through training camp in New England like a vet. Still he will make a solid # 1 RB and a great # 2.

13) Reggie Bush – Like i said with Westbrook, if your in a PPR league take him higher, he will get you at least an extra 5 – 7 points each week, also if your in a keeper league definitely bump him up this list cause after this year he will be a top 5 pick for the better half of a decade. However he is still the # 2 Rb in New Orleans and yes he will get more carries he will still be more dangerous in the passing game. Duece still gets most of the goal line carries but expect Bush to pick up where he left off last year and build on it this year.

14) Maurice Jones-Drew – I wanted to put him higher but Fred Taylor is healthy ( sleeper ) and while i don’t expect him to stay healthy, Greg Jones is also back and healthy and if he stays that way look for him to take a lot of those goal line carries away from Drew this year. However when they don’t use him to run they will probably try to use him more in the passing game and this is his second year so hopefully you can get some improvement on his impressive numbers from last year. ( 8th ranked RB last year )

15) Adrian Petersen – By all means don’t draft him with the # 15 pick or even the # 20 pick., but he is my 15th rated RB on the board and I wouldn’t be shocked at all if he ended the season in the top 10. In most drafts he is going somewhere between 4th – 6th round, but I’m telling you he will be outscoring a whole lot of people who are drafted before him. By the time in draft where you would start to think about A.D. you will probably notice most the owners already have 2 RBs and are now concentrating on either their WR’s or QB’s, which means you can too for another round maybe 2 before you grab Petersen, but do it especially if your in a keeper league then you should have no worries about reaching for him. The Vikings have a great o-line, among the best in the game, and yeah Chester Taylor is still there and a real good quality back but by week 4 Petersen’s talent should of just taken over the job and lead to big numbers down the stretch.

16) Thomas Jones – Another sleeper and a great value pick. I also might of had him higher but I wonder how much of that is the Jet fan in me. ( pause ) Anyway the Jets had a solid passing game last year with ZERO running game. Thomas Jones will change that and open up the offense to become the best in the league ( my bad, delusional Jet daydreaming again ) …but it will open up and improve on last year, and yes Leon Washington is a dangerous weapon but it won’t hurt Jones workload. Jones will get more touches than he did last year thats for sure.

* EDIT * I did my rankings last week, before the Jets traded Pete Kendall to start a rookie with no experience on the o-line, so if they don’t sign a good solid vet from another team within 2 weeks, they Jets are in for a long year with that swiss cheese excuse of a o-line.

17) Edgerrin James – He let a lot of people down last year ( thank god i knew to stay away ) but this year look for him to surprise those very same people by having a strong bounce back year. New coach and coordinator who was an o-line coach, their big new draft pick for that o-line, year 2 for Leinart and his 2 top receivers and a very easy schedule all should mean big numbers for Edge, who will be a great value pick this late.

18) Ronnie Brown – Wasn’t this guy just the # 2 pick in the NFL draft ? Theres some people ( obviously delusional Dolphin fans ) who have been saying they think Cam Cameron could turn him into L.T. Jr. and to these people i ask what kind of talent transplant procedure took place during the off season that would allow for this to even be a legitimate question.

19) Cedric Benson – Listen his teammates, coaches and fans don’t like the guy, so why should I ? He should put up good numbers considering the position he is in and the talent he has, and maybe he belongs higher on this list, but this guy is known to have no heart at all and i don’t want anyone like that on my team, fantasy or not.

20) Duece McAllister – Yes he is sharing carries with Bush, even more so than last year, yes the Saints like to throw the ball, but he was still right around the 10th ranked RB last year and that was coming off off-season knee surgery, this year he is healthy and I expect the Saints to perfect a rotation for them both to put up huge numbers and wear defenses down, and like i said when talking about Bush look for Duece to get the majority of the goal line carries and that offense is capable of getting lots of them.

Running Backs ( # 6 – 10 )

6) Travis Henry – Finally Denver has a solid clear cut # 1 back, who is really a perfect fit for Denver’s zone blocking schemes. Denver has always had a great running game but it has had platoons ever since they traded away Clinton Portis for Champ Bailey ( sidenote : a great trade for the broncos ) Henry’s only real question is injuries ( already had a scare in pre-season but he looks to be fine for the season opener ) With Denver’s D and Cutler improving and creating lanes for Henry, if he can stay healthy I expect 2,000 + yards easy.

7) Willie Parker – I admit I wasn’t that high on him this year at all until I did some digging and found out he was the 5th highest scoring RB last year. The Steelers were a mess for most of last year, Big Ben is healthy and should look to spread the ball around a lot more. Parker might lose some touches in a couple games but like Steven Jackson i think he will make it up with his production.

8 ) Brian Westbrook – Just one problem and you know what it is. Yeah ok he played 14 games for the first time in his career last year, but the problem was atleast half of those games he was listed as questionable up until kickoff….leaving you to wonder is he gonna start, play at all ? Will he be effective if he does play ? how hurt is he and god damnit why can’t i ever get a straight answer from anyone ? So you struggle with should I bench him and start a back-up or start him and hope for my 20 + points ( after all that is why i drafted him right ? ) Exactly why I always say you want consistency from your top pick, if you have to think about not playing him each and every week, no matter the reason, you don’t want him as your first pick. Also if Mcnabb stays healthy expect the Eagles to go back to old form and pass the ball about 70 – 80 % of the time, Mcnabb’s #’s will be huge but most of Westbrook’s point will come through the air, of course if your in a PPR ( points per receptions ) league than Westbrook, Bush and Maurice Jones-Drew jump way up this list.

9) Shaun Alexander – Alexander is another one I’m not high on. For the record people laughed at me last year when i said that, sure maybe i didn’t predict the foot injury but i did realize they would desperately miss guard Steve Hutchinson and I was right. ( of course he really helped turn the Viking’s o-line to among the best in the NFC, so if your thinking of drafting Adrian Petersen later remember that ) Supposedly his foot is healed but I’m always a little nervous when someone turns to prayer instead of surgery to fix broken bones, but hey thats just me, maybe I’m bugging out maybe I’m on a spaceship (c) Joe Budden. Now i still have him at # 9 so he must have something going for him right ? Yeah he does the play in the NFC in a weak division and they should be a playoff team winning @ 10 games with Alexander paving the way so why I don’t think he will come close to his production 2 years ago he should be back to top 10 form.

10) Rudi Johnson – So Rudi has been the model of consistency over the last 3 years. In his past 3 seasons he has had at least 1,4000 yards and 12 TD’s each year. Of course I owned him on my team early last year in his really only downtime but whatever whatever whatever. (c) ghostface He is on a high powered machine of an offense and i don’t see any slow starts this year . With Palmer’s knee healthy, D’s having to respect Housh and Chad there will be plenty of room for Rudi to run and theres no reason he can’t match those #’s for the 4th straight year.