FanHouse DominicRhodes

The Bills finished with the 14th-best running attack in the NFL last season. Marshawn Lynch led Buffalo with 1,036 yards and eight touchdowns last season -- but the emergence of Fred Jackson (571 yards on 130 carries) made the Bills realize they have something special.

On Tuesday, the club announced the signing of Jackson to a contract extension. Financial terms were not disclosed. Jackson was an exclusive rights free agent which meant he couldn't sign with any other team.

The Bills initially offered him a one-year contract worth $460,000, but Jackson balked at that deal.

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

I often chuckle at the amount of time people spend whining about how you can't accurately evaluate the draft immediately. We know that. We also don't know exactly who is going to do what in each season, but that doesn't stop us from giving preseason predictions or fantasy football advice. Sometimes you just have to have a little bit of intestinal fortitude and put yourself out there. The reader demand is there, so we'll provide the supply.

One of the few cases (along with teams like the Steelers and Patriots) where it's probably not a good idea to say anything bad, though, is when it comes to Bill Polian and the Colts.

With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.

The Indianapolis Colts enter the 2009 season as one of the NFL's marquee franchises. They have made the playoffs nine of the last 10 seasons, and have won at least 12 games for six straight seasons. There's a reason for that. Well, there are many reasons, but everything starts with how well the Colts draft. Beginning with the franchise-making decision to take Peyton Manning over Ryan Leaf in 1998, Bill Polian has missed once in the first round. I imagine Colts fans are pretty trusting of their Team President when Roger Goodell strolls to the podium.

The Buffalo Bills added some depth to their backfield on Friday, agreeing to a two-year deal with running back Dominic Rhodes, according to NFL.com. Rhodes, a nine-year veteran out of Midwestern State, spent the 2008 season as a member of the Indianapolis Colts -- his second stint with the team -- after spending one season with the Oakland Raiders.

He rushed for 538 yards on 152 carries, while scoring six touchdowns.

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

The Indianapolis Colts are one of the league's marquee franchises in the present tense. In 2008, they won 12 games -- their baseline figure for the past six seasons. No one else in the NFL can stake that claim. In fact, they've made the playoffs in nine of the last 10 seasons overall, another league-high in that span.

The problem, as has been the case far too many times for these Colts, was that they came away empty-handed in the postseason.

Stay on top of all the postseason action with FanHouse's NFL playoff coverage.

Considering they reside in two different divisions, the Colts and Chargers are quite the familiar foes. Last season the Chargers won a regular season game against Indy when Adam Vinatieri shanked what should have been a gimme game-winner, and then the Chargers went into Indianapolis and shocked the Colts in the playoffs. This season, the Colts went into San Diego and knocked the Chargers to an extremely disappointing 4-7 -- this time on the strength of a clutch Vinatieri kick. At the time, you would have been crazy to think the Colts would have to travel out there again this season.

Instead, the Chargers come into the playoffs winning four straight, and -- by virtue of an embarrassing division -- get the pleasure of hosting a team which holds a four game lead and head-to-head victory in the W column. I'm sure arguments can be made about whether or not this is "fair," but life ain't fair.

You can bet Peyton Manning and Tony Dungy aren't bringing their Colts into San Diego feeling sorry for themselves. If anything, this will light a fire under their bellies.

I'm just gonna be real right now: Your fantasy league should be over. It's one of those things about which we've all pretty much made an unwritten pact. When people like Peyton Manning will likely not be playing because their teams want them to rest, you shouldn't have a fantasy relevant game. That's why we don't play in the preseason.

All that being said, there are leagues out there with a championship game this week. Since we are committed to helping you win your league title no matter what, we'll still be helping you out. In lieu of positional rankings -- due to a limited audience -- we'll sift through each position and give some pointers. We'll also examine guys who need to play well, as well as those who won't factor at all.

Feel free to leave specific lineup questions in the comments section, and we'll answer. We'll also be having a shortened -- yet quite effective -- Tailgate Sunday morning.

Again, we want you to win ... even if that means supporting you when your league is mishandled.

Back in Week 3, these two teams met in Indianapolis. Jacksonville thoroughly dominated time of possession (41:35 to 18:25), yet still needed a last second drive and a clutch 51 yard field goal from Josh Scobee to win it. You can see Scobee mugging the ball-boy here after the kick in one of my favorite pictures of the 2008 season.

The Jags ran all over Indy, as both Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew went over 100 yards on the ground. Also, Rashean Mathis returned a pick 61 yards for a touchdown.

At the time it was thought that this saved Jacksonsville's season, one that carried lofty expectations. The Colts seemed vulnerable, especially because the defense supposedly couldn't stop the run unless Bob Sanders was suited up.

My, how things have changed.

The Jags are dead man walking presently. Taylor and Mathis are out for the season. The Colts are riding a seven game winning streak, and will be headed, yet again, to the playoffs. They have been stopping the run better as of late, even when Sanders is sidelined, due to the emergence of Melvin Bullitt, though Sanders is now back.

Three key questions:

It's playoff time! In what should be championship week, FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled in order to provide answers to your possible lineup dilemmas. If you need further assistance, please feel free to shoot us an email question.

Just as I said in the quarterback rankings, this is a crazy game we play -- this fantasy football. What if I told you, heading into the season, that Pierre Thomas, Matt Forte, Steve Slaton, and DeAngelo Williams would trail only Adrian Peterson in the championship week running back rankings?

I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have been back here to read any follow-ups.

Why Pierre? That's easy. The Lions are an embarrassment against the run and Reggie Bush is out of the way. There's more to it than that, however. I've been watching Thomas the past few weeks, and had a special glimpse of him last week against my favorite team. He's got everything a featured back needs. He's not just a between the tackles guy, like Deuce McAllister has become, and he's not just an outside the tackles guy like Bush. He's both. The Saints have to leave him on the field pretty much all game now, and they are playing the Lions. He's going to light up the fantasy scoreboard ... again.

More notes after the rankings.

1. Adrian Peterson, vs. ATL
2. Pierre Thomas, at DET
3. Matt Forte, vs. GB
4. Steve Slaton, at OAK
5. DeAngelo Williams, at NYG

The Cardinals had been a great team at home this season, racking up a seemingly endless supply of passing yards. So when the Minnesota Vikings brought their below average -- as far as defensive rankings went -- pass defense to the desert, it should have been a fantasy paradise.

Instead, Kurt Warner was outscored by the likes of David Garrard, Chad Pennington and Matt Schaub.

Even worse, his one touchdown pass was to Jerheme Urban. Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald, and even Steve Breaston were likely in fantasy lineups everywhere, only to be relative busts.

And this was the playoffs. Let's hope you rode other players or had a bye, because those guys warrant inclusion into the Brutus Boys at this point. That won't change this week, as the Cardinals visit New England. We've seen how well the Cards fare in the Eastern time zone, and I don't expect them to do anything different this time around. Not after this subpar performance.

Fool me once ...