Fantasy Football: Is Adrian Peterson Really #1?

LaDainian Tomlinson eased every fantasy player's heart. You got the sure thing, you didn't have to think, and it always paid off. LT was worthy of the respect he gained during his amazing run as the undisputed first pick in fantasy football. He graced fantasy magazine covers to the point that the publishers had to search for other players to enshrine out of boredom of the obvious.

That boredom is no more. The public though, wants a sure-fire can't-miss first-pick-over-all stud running back. Quarterbacks and Wide Recievers cannot be drafted number 1. In fact, there's a bit of an unwritten rule that non-running-backs can't be drafted in the first 6 picks. Tom Brady tried to break that rule last year, and look what happened. Bernard Pollard doesn't seem to like quarterbacks drafted in the first round of fantasy football.

So now the search has rested on Adrian Peterson. No one is questioning it, he's the new LT. It almost seems like the public was so desperate to find a new LT that they settled on the first one who came along. No doubt, Peterson had an amazing rookie season. He had a pretty stellar second season too. Problem is, he got hurt, and he was not the top scoring RB. Tomlinson has missed 1 game in his entire career. LT also scored 2 more total touchdowns than AP last year.

Now this is not an argument to put LT over AP or really, anyone over AP. What I'm trying to say here is to have an open mind. Go ahead and pick Peterson with the first pick this year, but make sure to re-analyze the position before next years draft. If he fails to top the league in RB scoring again, then he is still not on LT status yet.

Or just maybe, if you want to buck the trent and open your mind and take a large gamble, pick Tom Brady #1.

(disclaimer: I am not a Tom Brady or New England Patriots fan. I just have a feeling that we're going to see a little bit of 2007 all over again)

Fan's Decision - Top Fantasy Quarterbacks

Today I conducted a fan poll on a message board. I asked for top 5 quarterbacks, and got a good response. Here is what the fans thought today:

Player - Points (5pts for 1st place votes, 4pts for 2nd, ....... 1 pt for 5th)


Drew Brees: 72
Tom Brady: 63
Peyton Manning: 49
Philip Rivers: 21
Aaron Rodgers : 17
Kurt Warner: 10
Tony Romo : 3
Carson Palmer : 3
Matt Ryan: 1
Donovan McNabb: 1

Fantasy Football Leagues With Two Quarterbacks

No one really knows enough in the preseason. It's also probably one of fantasy football's alluring factors, being that it's such a game of luck. That's how the World Series of Poker (WSOP) caught on. For any of you that have ever heard of Chris Moneymaker, you know what I'm talking about.

So you can't really win $millions in fantasy football, but it does usually involve a lot of luck with a pinch of skill. For that same reason, you'll hear different opinions all across the fantasy world. One guy likes Matt Ryan, here's another who thinks it's Jay Cutler's year. Oh wait, this girl over here thinks Cutler won't be a fantasy hit because of Chicago's play style. Oh, what's that? Matt Stafford's the next Matt Ryan who is actually the next Matt Damon. Wait, what?

Exactly. I'm still waiting on Rounders 2, Mr. Ryan.

There is a solution to this problem. Allow a bit of determination, research and skill decide the fantasy football championship. Have the league Start TWO Quarterbacks! This way, Matt Schaub is actually worthwhile to have on a team. Matt Hasselbeck? Sure, at least as a backup somewhere. This style of play is catching on, and it gives a home to guys like Matt Leinart. Well maybe not until Kurt Warner's holy arm wears out.

Starting two signal-callers balances out the roster so that 1 or 2 players don't carry a team week in and week out. Ideally the league would also add a slash position or extra player elsewhere to even out the impact that both quarterbacks will make. Having this sort of roster setup tones down the gambling part of the game. Those rookies aren't going to be able to come in, make a couple of lucky picks, and dance their way to the title. This is how veteran leagues should be set up.

Think of the possible draft strategies. With the instant leap of quarterback importance, do you go QB-QB first two rounds? How would you like to have Tom Brady and Drew Brees leading your team this year? While that guy is taking the QBs, another could pop off and grab the great RBs, while yet another is stuffing his team with four solid wide receivers. This method of play seriously takes the game to a new exciting level.

Just to warn any of you about-to-be commissioners looking for a way to spice up your league. I would advise you to put some restrictions on number of quarterbacks on roster. Allow teams to have quarterbacks from only 3 different teams, with a stipulation allowing more if there is an injury or multiple bye weeks. A 2 QB per roster rule would probably have to be instated with 12-team+ leagues. It takes some thinking, but hey, email me if you need help figuring it out. I've been on the rules committee for a 2-QB league for a few years now, involving 10 and 12 team leagues.

So, in summary, do you guys think I should change my kid's name to Matt and start building up his throwing arm?

Bloggers Fantasy Football League

Calling all fantasy football bloggers!

Think you have what it takes to compete in a league against bloggers from the same field? Bring it on. We're starting the FBL (Fantasy Bloggers League) this year and are searching for a few more team owners. The league will be free and played on a site determined by league votes (Yahoo, ESPN, other). The main incentives are fun and competition, but it will also surely be a fun source for blog content.

If you're interested, leave a comment here, or send me an email at derek@millercards.net.

Fantasy Football Tip: Don't Draft a Kicker

Blame Rob Bironas. Him and his seven damn field goals made everyone just a little more stupid last year, as it seemed to make fantasy owners reach just a little bit higher for kickers.

These wanna-be soccer players shouldn't even be drafted. Excuse my disliking for the sport of soccer and people who kick things just for a minute and let me explain.

Bironas lived up to his legend - somewhat. Besides the Titans' kicker, who ranked 4th in fantasy points for kickers (15 points off of the leader), the following kickers were reached for as early as the 9th round in some drafts. Their names are followed by the overall place in kickers' fantasy points, with the distance from the leader following that:

• Stephen Goskowski --- 1st --- (159 points)
• Rob Bironas --- 4th --- ( -15 points behind leader)
• Nate Kaeding --- 13th --- (-27 points)
• Neil Rackers --- 16th --- (-32 points)
• Nick Folk --- 20th --- (-43 points)
• Adam Vinatieri --- 24th --- (-48 points)
• Shayne Graham --- 28th --- (-72 points)

Poor Bengals.

So the facts show that if you did draft Gostkowski or Bironas, it may have payed off a little. However, on average, if you drafted a kicker before the last round, you probably deserved a failing grade in that round of the draft.

My questions to you are now:

1) Why reach for a kicker when no one seems to have any idea who the top 10 kickers are?

2) Why even draft a kicker when you can get a real player who may just make an impact on preseason games and increase his value?

Still not convinced? Take a look at this handful of players that were drafted after the first kicker was taken in one of my leagues last year: Ronnie Brown, LenDale White, Donald Driver, Matt Forte, Santana Moss, Jay Cutler, and Bernard Berrian. Who wouldn't like any of these players on their bench or even in their starting lineup?

My advice to fantasy players would be to either wait until the last round to draft a kicker, or to wait until the week of the first game to pick up a kicker in free agency. Ideally one would probably be best just picking up different kickers with good matchups every week.

Joining A Fantasy Football League

Welcome to the Fantasy Football Guide!

Readers can find tips, strategies, breakdowns, reviews, and other great info pertaining to Fantasy Football. For the new FFers out there, fantasy football is an on-paper game that has been around since the 1960s. A group of people (around 10 on average) form a league with each person taking the role of a "team owner". Each league has it's different settings and types of scoring, but all leagues are decided by compiling points based on how certain players and teams fared statistically in the real NFL.

The two major types of scoring are rotisserie and head-to-head. In a Rotisserie league, the standings basically reflect who has the most points. In head-to-head leagues, owners are matched up against each other from week to week in the season. Each owner plays out a schedule against all or most of the other teams in the league. Whichever team scores the most in a given week, wins that contest. The H2H (head to head) leagues' season usually ends around week 13 or 14, allowing for the final few weeks of the NFL regular season to be used for the playoffs.

Fantasy Football can be played with friends, co-workers, family, or strangers. There are many sites out there that offer free fantasy leagues for people to join, or even to create their own league for others to join. Two main free fantasy football sites are ESPN and Yahoo. I've used both of these and recommend either.

In subsequent entries, I'll be explaining the process of playing a fantasy football league season.

Joining A League

As stated previously, there are many free sites for joining a fantasy league. For the beginner, the best advice would be to join a free public league. This will place you in a league with 9-11 other strangers. When joining a league, you'll be able to choose options such as team name, draft type, draft time, roster type, and others.

Team names are taken seriously among some fantasy players. Some leagues have strict rules on what your team name can be, and some leagues have no rules on team name. A team name can be anything (within rules if any) the owner wants it to be. A lot of fantasy players go for humor, and many owners keep the same name from year to year. Some examples of team names are: Mississippi Mud, John's Jocks, Butterfly Catchers, Pooprod Fartroids, etc.

A fantasy league roster consists of any of the positions in the NFL. Each owner sets their roster each week, putting in the players they think will perform the best. Each team has a starting roster (players that will earn points that count towards the standings) and a bench (players on the bench are to be used as substitutes on bye weeks or when other players are injured or underperforming). Most leagues have some or all of the following roster spots:

• Quarterbacks (usually 1 starter per team)
• Running Backs (usually 2 starters)
• Wide Receivers (usually 2-3 starters)
• Slash Positions (WR/RB or WR/TE) these positions can be filled by any position associated with the spot
• Tight Ends (usually 1 starter)
• Kicker (usually 1 starter)
• Defensive Teams (usually 1 starter - this spot consists of the entire team's defense with points accrued by allowing few points, sacks, interceptions, fumble recoveries, defensive touchdowns, etc.)
• Defensive Starters (most leagues don't use individual defensive players)

For draft types, the following options may be available. Explanations for each follow the type:

• Live Online Draft - The draft is held at a scheduled time in a specific place on the internet. When joining, you should be given a link to the exact place to go. Some sites will let you test your system to see if it can support the live draft, and you should do this. During a live draft, each owner drafts a player according to their draft order. Similar to the NFL draft, each team gets an allotted amount of time (usually around 90 seconds) to make their selection. After each round, the draft order USUALLY reverses, giving the first pick of the draft overall the last pick in the 2nd round for fairness. This style of draft is commonly known as a "Serpentine" draft. The draft continues with or without all the participants until all roster positions have been filled. Live drafts are fun, and I recommend that anybody try it at least once.
• Offline Drafts - These drafts are entered in manually be the commissioner of the league. Make sure you understand what you're getting into before you join a league with this draft setting. There are many ways this draft can be conducted. Message board drafts are done through the message board of the league or a specified forum elsewhere. Each player posts which player they wants when it's their turn. Another option for this type of draft is meeting together with a group of people in person. The draft would then be conducted in real time with the results being entered into the league during or after the draft. There are also Free Agency drafts that are somewhat silly. At a certain time, all players are made available to the entire league. When the time comes, all mayhem lets loose and everyone can start picking up the players they want. The person with the fastest internet connection, mouse fingers, and strategy will put together the best team. There are some other options for this kind of draft, but I won't go into any more detail here. Do feel free to ask about them if you have any questions.
• Auto-Pick Draft - These drafts are truly for beginners. The site hosting the league usually puts together a list of best to worst fantasy football players. Each owner can manually change their list to reflect their opinion. When the league is set to draft, a computer selects each players team by going through each owner's player list.
• Auction Draft - These drafts are for the more advanced fantasy player. Each owner is given the same amount of fake (usually) money to bid on players. When the draft begins, NFL players are nominated for bidding automatically or by owners. All owners can bid on the current player being auctioned, with the high bidder getting the player on their roster. Money management and strategy play key roles here as you must have enough money to go around for all the desired positions. The more money you spend on a player, the less you'll have to fill other roster spots.

There are definately other ways to draft a fantasy team, but the above are the most common.

This all may have been redundant to those veteran fantasy football players out there, but I hope it helps out some rookies in getting started. For all of the bored readers out there, be patient, the fun will come.

Next Topic: Draft Strategies!