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.
Earlier this week, EA Sports released the player ratings for Madden 10. And now, with the NFL Draft in the rearview, and nothing else to do between now and training camps, we'll ponder the important questions. Like: How is [Player who is obviously rated too high] rated above [Player who is obviously rated too low]?
I've often argued -- unoriginally -- that, in general, NFL teams should avoid using first-round picks on running backs. Salary-cap friendly alternatives can often be found later in the draft, and other, harder-to-address needs -- like offensive line or wide receiver -- can be targeted in the early rounds.
Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades. LaDainian Tomlinson and Darren Sproles threw a wrench into the mock-drafting plans of anyone hoping to predict who the Chargers would take in the first round of 2009's NFL Draft; San Diego had obvious defensive needs, but the future at running back was uncertain as well. Of course, lots of folks had them taking Knowshon Moreno, and he was off the board a touch early anyway.
With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.
The San Diego Chargers were one of the earliest contenders to be drafting a running back in the 2009 NFL draft (and they probably would have had their pick, too, if not for those darned kids). But then Darren Sproles got tagged with the old franchiser and LaDainian Tomlinson worked out his feud with A.J. Smith, and, suddenly, the Chargers were back to the secretly-stacked squad that just needs a little defensive help.
Okay, "little" might be off -- it was the absence of Shawne Merriman last year that killed the defense as a whole; without Merriman in the middle of the D to create havoc, the secondary suffered and teams moved the ball almost at will against San Diego. In other words, you should see some defensive picks in this year's draft.
"I don't care who we gotta play. I really don't. If we're going to be World Champions, we gotta beat them all in some form or fashion, anyway... I embrace tough schedules. Hopefully, we'll always have a tough schedule because I think if we're able to see our way through it like we were this past year, it strengthens you for January football."
After the draft, the NFL schedule release party is the biggest event of the offseason -- at least to hear the NFL sell it to us. For football-starved fans, it doesn't take much, so if NFL Network devotes two hours to scrutinizing the just-released 2009 schedule, well, I'm all for it. In fact, here's a look at some potentially big matchups, at least from the perspective of April.
I'm generally of the opinion that selecting a running back in the first round is a waste of money. Players of similar talent can be found later in the draft for a fraction of the salary-cap space, and it allows teams to address other, less fungible needs in the meantime.
There are exceptions, of course -- the Vikings and Adrian Peterson, the Rams and Steven Jackson, and the Chargers and LaDainian Tomlinson. But as we're constantly reminded, the NFL is a business with no room for sentimentality. Last offseason, the Seahawks dumped Shaun Alexander two years after he rushed for 1,880 yards, 27 touchdowns and was named league MVP.
After restructuring his contract earlier this week, LaDainian Tomlinson will be in San Diego for at least one more season. There was speculation that if the two sides couldn't reach an agreement, the Chargers would either trade or release him, but it never came to that.
That doesn't mean LdT didn't think about the possibility of finishing his career with another team. In fact, on Thursday he appeared on the Dan Patrick Show and talked about just that. Via SI.com:
While "LdT" will take some reductions in his 2010 and 2011 base-compensation numbers, he'll now make the same amount he was originally scheduled to earn in 2009: $6.75 million, which, not coincidentally, is $1.75 million more than Darren Sproles will earn if he signs the team's franchise tender.
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. 
I've often argued -- unoriginally -- that, in general, NFL teams should avoid using first-round picks on running backs. Salary-cap friendly alternatives can often be found later in the draft, and other, harder-to-address needs -- like offensive line or wide receiver -- can be targeted in the early rounds. 
Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 
With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call 
"I don't care who we gotta play. I really don't. If we're going to be World Champions, we gotta beat them all in some form or fashion, anyway... I embrace tough schedules. Hopefully, we'll always have a tough schedule because I think if we're able to see our way through it like we were this past year, it strengthens you for January football." 
I'm generally of the opinion that selecting a running back in the first round is a waste of money. Players of similar talent can be found later in the draft for a fraction of the salary-cap space, and it allows teams to address other, less fungible needs in the meantime. 
After 
LaDainian Tomlinson
