FanHouse MichaelTurner

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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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]?

It's fun and original!

LaDainian Tomlinson has weathered the proverbial storm. For the first month of the offseason, the discussion was whether his employer, the San Diego Chargers, would trade or release him. And after the team franchised Darren Sproles, the speculation intensified.

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 ...

So here's the deal: when healthy, LaDainian Tomlinson is arguably the best running back in the league (All Day obviously has a strong case). The problem: sometimes LdT isn't healthy. Like, say, the last two postseasons. Michael Turner and Darren Sproles filled in admirably, which has led to speculation that Tomlinson might've already played his last game for the Chargers.

I mentioned the possibility on Sunday, and Brinson pointed out that LdT's heard about it, too.

And today, the San Diego Union-Tribune's Nick Canepa adds his two cents:

You can blame Matt Ryan's two interceptions, or the Falcons' defense's inability to get off the field, but the most shocking part of the Falcons loss has to be Michael Turner's inability to ever get going against the Cardinals defense.

Turner finished with only 42 yards on 18 carries, a 2.33-yard per carry average that looks more like what Chris Perry would do instead of what you would expect from the second-leading rusher in the NFL. And to add to the ugliness, a botched exchange between Ryan and Turner turned into the go-ahead touchdown for the Cardinals.

Turner picked the worst possible time to have his worst game of the season. Twelve of Turner's 18 carries went for two yards or less, and six were for no gain or negative yardage. The Cardinals had a solid run defense this year, but it was hard to expect that they would completely turn Atlanta into a one-dimensional passing team.

Turner had seven carries in the first quarter, eight in the second quarter and only three carries in the entire second half. Jerious Norwood, one of the more dangerous No. 2 backs in the league, got only two carries all night -- his fewest of the season.

But considering how the game was going, you can't blame Falcons offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey for junking the run. Atlanta had very few possessions in the third quarter and it was already clear that the running game wasn't working. By the time Atlanta finally got the ball back in the fourth quarter, it was desperation time.

Turner and Ryan carried the Falcons to the playoffs. So it's not surprising that when they struggled on Saturday, Atlanta's season ended.

ESPN's John Clayton reported during NFL Countdown that Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates will be game-time decisions for their Wild Card game against the Indianapolis Colts tonight. Clayton said he thinks that LT will play, but this information puts into doubt about how effective he will be. ESPN's Ed Werder reported that San Diego coach Norv Turner said that LT won't play if he can't be effective.

Remember that in last year's AFC Championship game, LT got a lot of heat for not fighting through a bum knee. Tomlinson got only two carries despite everyone believing that he was good to go. Yet CBS cameras kept panning over to him with his helmet on, sitting on the Chargers bench. It also looked bad when Philip Rivers fought through a worse injury in the very same game.

These Chargers don't have the luxury of Michael Turner as LT's backup (side note: how amazing is it that they had both these guys?). Darren Sproles is a different kind of back who gained just 330 yards rushing this year. And just like their last playoff game in New England, the Chargers will be facing a team with the NFL's longest current winning streak, who also has the MVP at quarterback.

(Via PFT)

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning has been selected the NFL's 2008 Most Valuable Player by an Associated Press panel of sports writers.

Manning wins the award after a 2008 in which he played through knee pain and led his team from a rocky start to a 12-4 finish. On the season, he completed 66.8% of his passes, with 27 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. His 4,002 passing yards made it the ninth time in his career that he exceeded the 4,000-yard mark.

Of the 50 media voters, 32 selected Manning. Second place was a tie between Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington and Falcons running back Michael Turner, with four votes each. Via PFT, the other votes went to Steelers linebacker James Harrison (3), Vikings running back Adrian Peterson (3), Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers (2), Titans running back Chris Johnson (1), and Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner (1).

Manning joins Brett Favre as the only player to win the AP MVP award three times. Manning shared the award with Steve McNair in 2003 and won it outright with 49 of 50 votes in 2004. Favre won the award outright in 1995 and 1996 and shared it with Barry Sanders in 1997.

Manning won't have long to celebrate. The Colts are headed to San Diego for a wild card playoff game against the Chargers tomorrow night.

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

It's the battle of the unlikely birds.

We have the Falcons, who are just a year away from being the league's laughingstock with a quarterback in prison and a coach who bailed the first time things got tough, against the Cardinals, who make the playoffs about as often as Vanderbilt wins a bowl game.

The Cardinals wrapped up a playoff spot weeks ago, but they're considered potential frauds because of their easy NFC West schedule. The Falcons had to wait a while longer, and they have to carry some skepticism because they've gone from being considered one of the league's worst teams to a playoff team in the span of three months and conventional wisdom often takes longer than that to catch up.

But both of these teams are only three wins away from the Super Bowl. It doesn't matter how they got here, as a couple of wins and fans can start dreaming of a trip to Tampa--even if there aren't enough Cardinals fans to sell out their stadium, much less to travel to the Super Bowl.