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?
One of the secrets to successfully navigating a fantasy football draft is sorting through the noise that comes out of the various media sources and uncovering the hidden values. Every season, fantasy football pundits will sway the general consensus in a particular direction, making forgone conclusions that cause a good percentage of players to rethink what they already know, thus causing some stalwart players to become significantly underrated. Over the next couple of weeks, Fantasy FanHouse will provide a rundown of our perceived five most underrated players at the key fantasy skill positions, starting today with the five most underrated running backs.
When the Colts used their first-round pick on a running back (Donald Brown of Connecticut), I was quite surprised. I knew they needing running back depth, but defensive tackle, middle linebacker and wide receiver seemed much more pressing -- all with quality options on the board. However, I'm not about to question a first-round pick by Bill Polian. Click through this link to see his history with the Colts.
What the pick does mean, though, is that Joseph Addai has probably fallen out of favor with the Colts, at least as the every down starter. Let's try to envision the fantasy fallout for this coming season and beyond.
Everyone makes mistakes. But when those mistakes are magnified by intense scrutiny of the NFL draft, well, they become much more embarrassing than, say, my typical Friday morning, mustard-stain-on-khakis incident.
Which is why the NFL FanHouse braintrust got together to determine who is the biggest bust for each NFL team. They're not listed in terms of stupidity -- they're all stupid relative to a team's total draft performance. Meaning, of course, some teams "bust" is much different than another organization's; we did it this way to avoid just linking you to DetroitLions.com.
Instead, we're putting it in current draft order, sans trades, and allowing this list to serve as a reminder of each's team's ability to properly execute a fail. The "bust factor" was based primarily on three things: statistical production (or lack thereof), position in the draft and other available options during that year's draft.
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.
For the glass-half-full-types: one beneficiary of the Jaguars' decision to part ways with 11-year veteran Fred Taylor: Maurice Jones-Drew. The diminutive third-year player led the team in rushing last season, and, now that he appears to be the feature back, is in line for a raise.
Head coach Jack Del Rio did indicate that fullback Greg Jones can also expect five-to-10 carries a game, but the bulk of the work will fall to the 5-foot-7, 210-pound Jones-Drew, who also answers to Pocket Hercules. As to what he can expect in terms of compensation, the Florida Times-Union's Vito Stellino commences with the speculation:
In the months and days leading up to the 2006 NFL Draft, most folks who know about such things figured Texas safety Michael Huff to be a top-10 pick. In looking back through the '06 draft mags, Pro Football Weekly and ESPN had Huff going seventh to the 49ers, and The Sporting News had the Lions taking him with the ninth selection.
In the end, the Raiders -- a team with needs, well, at just about every position -- drafted Huff seventh overall. And that, in all likelihood, was the highlight of his professional career. Huff started every game in '06 and '07, but only managed seven starts last season. In three years, he has 191 tackles and 17 passes defended but just one interception.
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 ...
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.
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. 
One of the secrets to successfully navigating a fantasy football draft is sorting through the noise that comes out of the various media sources and uncovering the hidden values. Every season, fantasy football pundits will sway the general consensus in a particular direction, making forgone conclusions that cause a good percentage of players to rethink what they already know, thus causing some stalwart players to become significantly underrated. Over the next couple of weeks, Fantasy FanHouse will provide a rundown of our perceived five most underrated players at the key fantasy skill positions, starting today with the five most underrated running backs. 
When the Colts used their first-round pick on a running back (
With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call 
Rumors started swirling last Wednesday. NFL Network's Adam Schefter reported that 
For the glass-half-full-types: one beneficiary of the Jaguars' decision to part ways with 11-year veteran 
In the months and days leading up to the 2006 NFL Draft, most folks who know about such things figured Texas safety 
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. 
You know this job 
