FanHouse PierreThomas

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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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.

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This is my favorite play in my history as a Saints fan. Saints vs. Eagles, 2006 divisional playoffs. Deuce McAllister takes from five yards out, meets a wall of green, and pushes the entire pile into the end zone. The Saints win, I rejoice with much liquor.

Today's a sad yet not unexpected day for Saints fans. The team and Deuce have agreed to part ways.

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 ...

The now 0-14 Lions have many believing that a winless season is not only possible, but probable. This is 0for08, FanHouse's eye on the Detroit Lions and their quest for a winless season.

Some fans and pundits have looked at the Lions schedule over the last four or five games of the season and thought that their best chance to get in the win column would come today against the Saints. On ESPN's Sunday Countdown this morning, Tom Jackson -- normally a rational NFL mind -- stood firmly against the rest of the crew in picking the Lions today.

The Lions aren't going to win today.

At halftime, the score is 28-7, and Detroit can't stop a single thing New Orleans is doing on offense. The Saints have scored four rushing touchdowns by four different players (Robert Meachem, Deuce McAllister, Pierre Thomas, and Mike Bell). Meanwhile, Dan Orlovsky has a quarterback rating of 19.6, though that number is damaged by a prayer at the end of the first half which was picked off by Usama Young, and a long touchdown pass to Calvin Johnson that was called back on an illegal formation penalty by Gosder "The Human Penalty" Cherilus.

Still, the game is as lopsided as the score indicates.

UPDATE: It gets worse. After returning the opening kickoff of the second half, the Lions get called for 12 men on the field. Those are your halftime adjustments at work.

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 ...

So, once again, Reggie Bush tweaked his knee and Pierre Thomas took full advantage. He exploded for 25+ points in most leagues, and hopefully you had him active. Moving forward, it's pretty obvious that even though the Saints would like to use Bush more, his knee just isn't totally healthy yet. In the meantime, they are finding Thomas can be an every down back in this league.

That's not all we have to discuss today, not in the least. We'll be piggy-backing the NFL FanHouse 1:00 chat and kick off right when it ends -- because we know that you definitely don't want to do any work after lunch on a Friday. No way, not with the fantasy playoff season in high gear and the NFL playoff picture remaining completely out of focus.

Make sure to check out our player rankings and other analysis lower down on the Fantasy FanHouse page, and we'll help fill in any gaps or answer any questions about our top-notch analysis you may have.

Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around with his finger in the air while the next he's laying on his back, holding his facemask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's Studs and Duds.

Here's Week 14 at a glance, where we point out the horses destined for the Kentucky Derby and jeer those headed to the glue factory. (Disclaimer: This will only be for the Sunday games, since you probably can't even remember the Thursday games at this point.)

Studs

Brian Westbrook, RB Philadelphia (33 rushes, 131 yards, 1 TD, 6 catches, 72 yards, 1 TD) -- Not a lot of people have exposed the Giants' defense like Westbrook did yesterday, but I guess not a lot of people have completely taken over games in Brandon Jacobs' house. Westbrook had 203 all-purpose yards in the upset by the Eagles, not only keeping Philly's playoff chances very much alive but showing that when the offense is clicking, this team will be scary for the other side of the sidelines. Donovan McNabb might have just found his best offensive scheme yet -- check down to Westbrook and let the athlete make the plays.

Weeding through those unwieldy waiver wires requires a keen eye and a quick trigger. Thus, Waiver Wire Wonders provides a weekly snapshot of players worthy of consideration who should be available on a good portion of league waiver wires. Enjoy those pickups...

With the holiday season and the first big week of the fantasy playoffs in full effect, let's kick things off with a little scene from 'A Christmas Story'.

Mr. Parker: It's a Major Award!
Swede: Shucks I wouldn't know that. It looks like a lamp.
Mr. Parker: What is a lamp, you nincompoop? It's a Major Award. I won it!
Swede: Damn, hell, you say won it?
Mr. Parker: Yeah, mind power, Swede; mind power.

As we learned from Ralphie's old man, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. When it comes to waiver wire decisions in the fantasy playoffs, most rosters are pretty stable by now, but there are always a few holes to fill. This week, for those of you looking to fill specific needs, there are a few major prizes out there.

Derrick Ward (RB, Giants) - Derrick Ward looked like a decent add coming into this week's game against the Eagles, but with Brandon Jacobs leaving the game with an injured knee, he is officially this week's leg lamp -- a major award. Coach Tom Coughlin says he is hopeful that the injury is nothing big, but Jacobs did not return to action after injuring the knee early, so snag Ward now in case Jacobs misses some time. Jacobs has struggled this season with injuries, so it is very conceivable that this might be more problematic than the coaches are leading on at this point. In Jacobs' absence, Ward carried the ball eight times for just 39 yards. Hence, this payoff only comes to fruition if Jacobs misses action, but I think it is worth the add if you can spare a roster spot.