FanHouse MarionBarber

On Second Thought is Matt Snyder's look back at the initial FanHouse staff rankings, which were compiled nearly a month ago. As we all know, fantasy players' value changes frequently, even when no games are being played. Today, we look at running backs.

As teams continue to use two-backs systems, running back has become an increasingly deep and unpredictable position. Thus, you don't have the predictable first two rounds of years past. Injuries and the progress of young backs will shuffle backfields throughout the preseason. As that happens, the fantasy values of the running backs continually shift. Let's take a look.

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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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CARROLLTON, Texas -- Tony Romo sits on a small set of bleaches wearing a blue baseball hat turned backward with a beard sprouting from his face.

Romo looks like the second-line center for the Bruins instead of the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, who just completed the first day of organized team activities on Tuesday. But Romo is getting paid to lead the Cowboys. Last year, Romo led them to a 9-7 finish and a seat on the couch for the postseason.

Romo put up decent numbers, second in the NFL in touchdown percentage and eighth in quarterback rating despite missing three games with a broken pinkie.

But 2009, more than any other season for Romo, is about him.

A year ago, the Cowboys used their two first-round picks on running back Felix Jones and cornerback Mike Jenkins. Neither contributed much as a rookie; Jenkins played in 14 games (starting three) and had 19 tackles, but the one he didn't make sticks out most in my mind (of course it does).

Jones, who was something of a surprise pick with Rashard Mendenhall still available, played in just six games before landing on injured reserve with a big toe and hamstring injury.

Just because the Terrell Owens era is over in Dallas doesn't mean we're finished talking about it. In fact, depending on how the 2009 season unfolds for the Cowboys, we could be hearing about T.O. for a while. Good times.

Owner and self-appointed team spokesman Jerry Jones commented last week that releasing Owens made the offense "Romo-friendly." Not only that, Jones is apparently under the impression that the wide receivers currently on the roster are more than adequate. Via the Dallas Morning News' Tim Cowlishaw:

Keyshawn Johnson, for all his antics on the field as a player, is quickly making himself famous for his brash and bold commentary in the studio. ESPN, I'm sure, is just distraught over this behavior.

Recently, Key called out Jake Delhomme for 'trust' issues and, well, I could list the folks, but it's pretty much everyone. Now he's turned his expertise towards Jon Gruden and Terrell Owens. Namely, he doesn't really think that Chucky has what it takes to coach the Dallas Cowboys. And he doesn't think T.O. is really "good" for Big D.

I want to prep this by explaining something. I'd say I'm an average bragger. I don't talk about my skills as much as some people do, mostly because I don't have a lot of them (true), and the ones I do have are fairly dorky and pointless (golf, writing, ping-pong).

That said, I've always been a fairly decent fantasy football player, even though I think at this point in the history of fantasy, it is more luck and less about skill (see "Brady, Tom" first-round pick).

Anyway, my fantasy football story begins a year ago, when I was reading ESPN's BIll Simmons talk about his fantasy year. He was going undefeated. His fantasy team hadn't lost, and his favorite real team, the Patriots, were undefeated as well. He made it a battle to see who could keep the second "0" the longest.

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.

The season just ended yesterday, but that's no excuse to stop thinking about fantasy football. Remember, it's never too early (wow, flashback). Obviously you are now thinking about keepers -- don't worry, we'll have bunches of dynasty diaries over the next couple weeks -- and looking ahead towards the elite players.

This season was certainly the year of the passer. In Fleaflicker standard scoring leagues, the top seven overall scorers were quarterbacks, including Matt Cassel. Chad Pennington and David Garrard in the top 15, and Tyler Thigpen was 16th. This is overall, guys. This is also why we warned against picking quarterbacks too early at the beginning of the season. I'll take this opportunity to warn against that again. Do not pick a quarterback in the first round. You only have to play one, and -- as you can see -- there are easily 12 serviceable starting quarterbacks.

Running back, on the other hand, has the moneymakers. I'm stubborn, and I still believe in RB-RB for the first two rounds. Even if you disagree, you at least need to get one within the first two rounds. So you'll notice the top 10 is full of them.