FanHouse ClintonPortis

Late last season, as the Redskins were slipping in the standings, frustrations began to mount. After a 6-2 start, Washington lost five of six, and first-year head coach Jim Zorn was not only the target of criticism, there was speculation that his job might be in trouble.

The latter proved to be just a rumor, but running back Clinton Portis was partly responsible for the former. During a Dec. 2008 appearance on the John Thompson show, he told the former Georgetown coach that, "We got a genius for a head coach, I don't know, I'm sure he on top of things. He's got everything figured out. Hey, that's up to him. All I can do is when he calls a play is go out and try to execute to the best of my ability."

FanHouse's crack squad of savvy fantasy football personnel put our five heads together and amassed consensus rankings for non-keeper, standard scoring leagues. We'll update as the season gets closer, but this is our "incredibly early yet still fun" version.

In an otherwise jumbled mess, there is one thing we know about the running backs when it comes to fantasy football drafts: Adrian Peterson is easily the class of the position. After that, there appears to be a large clump of running backs who have a good chance to excel this season. If you think the old school fantasy football "running back-running back" draft strategy (drafting a running back in each of the first two rounds) is truly antiquated, ask yourself the difference between a Frank Gore and Marion Barber tandem in your backfield as opposed to Ronnie Brown and Jamal Lewis. Is it worth taking a wide receiver, then, before a Barber type?

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Thomas Jones believes in the New York Jets. Wants to play for them. But he doesn't trust them.

Make sense?

Jones told people close to him he wants a new contract from the Jets because he might get cut in 2010, the final year of the deal.

Jones' concerns also have to do with two running backs, Leon Washington, who emerged last year as a quality backup with 448 yards rushing and six touchdowns, and third-round pick Shonn Greene from Iowa.

I guess it's only fitting that a doctor -- even if just a dentist -- would weigh in on the swine flu epidemic. Yesterday, Dr. Do Itch Big took a break from his other job -- running back for the Washington Redskins -- to talk to the media about the recent outbreak.

"With the swine flu going around, this water could have some swine flu in it, then all of us gonna be dead," [Clinton] Portis said during a group interview session with reporters on the field as it rained. "You should cancel minicamp, especially in bad weather. Right now in Mexico, they canceled all sporting events. They need to do that in the U.S. ... This is a scary, dangerous situation."

Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.

When I anointed Brian Orakpo as the ideal pick for the Washington Redskins in the first round of the draft, I sort of assumed they'd do something about the offensive line later in the draft. You see, heading into the offseason, the Redskins really had one glaring issue: The sack ratio. They allowed 38 -- in a division full of pass-rushing fiends -- and only accrued 24 themselves. I'm aware that Greg Blache's defensive scheme doesn't chase the passer, but pressuring him with a front four means that's less time the coverage has to do their job. Orakpo helps take care of that with his outside push.

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As the Washington Redskins opened their offseason conditioning program Monday, one player said he couldn't fit it into his schedule.

Running back Clinton Portis told coach Jim Zorn that he wouldn't be showing up, but Zorn doesn't sound concerned about the absence of his top running back. From Jason Reid of the Washington Post:

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

The Redskins stormed out of the gate in Jim Zorn's first season as head coach, running their record to 6-2 at the halfway point. The second half of the season, unfortunately, was perfectly symmetrical -- they went 2-6 to finish 8-8.

They could have won three of those games in best-case scenarios, but the best teams come through instead of talking about what could have been. The reality is that the Redskins only played a half-season in '08.

As opposed to quarterbacks, I'm definitely in favor of keeping running backs. In fact, I highly recommend keeping two runners instead of a quarterback, if you have two of my top 20. Running backs are the life-blood of your fantasy team, much like the oil in your car. Two consistent runners on your fantasy team make life so much easier, which is why it's your starting point.

As I said, I'm recommending you keep two from the list, which is why I'm ranking more than I did for quarterbacks or wide receivers.

Ladies and Gents, your top 20 keeper running backs ...

It was no secret over the second half of the season that Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis wasn't happy with his role on the team.

But while Portis more or less confirmed that he didn't like the way the latter portion of the season went in an interview on John Thompson's radio show, he also said he'd be more than happy to do anything at all the team asks of him -- including punt:

"You know, I mean, you want to have hope, but is it really hope? You're telling me in seven games I couldn't get 500 yards after I was 300 yards above all competition in Week 9? So who knows, man? I can't do nothing but go ahead and just do what they ask me to do. If they ask me to come in and start punting, I'm gonna get my leg ready and learn how to be a punter."

That comes from Dan Steinberg of the DC Sports Bog, who also reports that Thompson twice told Portis during the interview, "Boy, you're crazy."

It's hard to know how to take anything Portis says, because he always seems like he's half serious and half kidding. With most people I'd want him to just tell us exactly what he thinks, but Portis makes things so entertaining that I'll take him just the way he is. And I half expect him to punt a few balls at the first minicamp of 2009.

You know this job ain't easy. It's sure a lot of fun to toss around opinions, eat, sleep and breathe fantasy football, but when the day is done...it's still not easy. We've gotta be on top of the game at all times, take the criticism when we're wrong and still somehow manage our own fantasy teams and hope to win our own fantasy titles.

The hard part is always dropping a post about a potential sleeper we like and then having a buddy in our league read that very post and beating us to the punch. Well, that's just life and I'm hardly complaining. And not that we like to brag or boast all too much, but when we get it right, we gotta let people know. When it comes to fantasy football, cockiness is all part of the game.

With that said I'm holding myself accountable today for some of the things I nailed this season and some of the others I completely whiffed on.