FanHouse Ryan Longwell

When slotting fantasy football kickers, there are myriad factors which should be considered. After looking at all of them, I've determined my favorite option for Week 11 is Matt Prater. The Broncos are desperately in need of a win this weekend in a pivotal home tilt against the Chargers. With Kyle Orton banged up, expect the Broncos to try and shorten the game by running the ball and making short throws. These kinds of drives often end up stalling in the red zone. Only two teams have allowed more field goals this season than the Chargers, who have allowed 13 of their 16 field goals in 31 red zone trips. Predicting the top kicker for the week is the most difficult of any position because of all the variables that go into kicker points, but I'm rolling with Prater this week.

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What do you get when you have the league's fourth-highest scoring kicker squaring off -- in a dome, no less -- against the team who has allowed the most kicking points in the NFL? An easy No. 1 fantasy kicker ranking, that's what.

Ryan Longwell has only been outscored by three other kickers this season -- and one of them is on a bye this week. He's made 13 of 14 field goal attempts and all 29 extra points. The Lions have been on the receiving end of 27 extra points and 14 field goals thus far in 2009. Expecting double digit points from your kicker is rarely feasible -- due to the fickle nature of kickers -- but you can do so here, Longwell owners.

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Fantasy FanHouse's "Bust a Move" segment provides quick-hitting insight on the most popular adds and drops across Fleaflicker fantasy leagues between Tuesday and Wednesday of each week. Knowing who is on the move during this 24-hour period often provides a valuable edge with regard to outperforming or underperforming players, injuries and depth chart shifts. So do as the man says, "Don't just stand there..."

The Adds

Ladell Betts (RB, Redskins, 1,896 adds) -- We told you to add him on Sunday and again on Monday, so it's great to know you were listening. You were listening, right? Well, either way Betts makes a solid pickup while Portis recovers from his concussion and ankle injury, especially since he's very doubtful for Sunday. It's not like he was ever that healthy to begin with, so Betts exhibits a lot of upside particularly considering he showed the most life of just about any Redskins player this season. The X-factor with this pickup is a rumor floating around that Washington is looking at Larry Johnson, but go ahead and cross that bridge if/when you come to it. Besides, Zorn already said no.

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In addition to being bad at everything else, the Raiders are pretty reliable in terms of allowing fantasy football points to kickers. They've yielded 10 field goals so far this season, which ties them for the most in the NFL. They've also given up 14 extra points, which means no one has given up more kicking points than the Raiders. Seriously, it's like a never-ending line of suck coming from Oaktown these days.

This week, the Eagles take their high-powered offense to Oakland. Expect the scoreboard operator to be a bit busy, at least in the visitor's column. David Akers will get his fair share, and he tops our Week 6 fantasy football kicker rankings.

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With all the offensive stars New England has, you would think someone like Tom Brady would be leading the team in total points. But it's kicker Stephen Gostkowski that's blazing the trail, with 30 points through three games. He nailed all four of his attempts last week against Atlanta en route to a 14-point showing, and with another tough defense on tap his leg should be golden again. If this keeps up, he'll have no problem matching his 148 points from last season.

1. Stephen Gostkowski, NE vs. BAL
2. John Carney, NO vs. NYJ
3. Nate Kaeding, SD @ PIT
4. Ryan Longwell, MIN vs. GB
5. Matt Prater, DEN vs. DAL

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With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.

Meet The ...
Dude we're sick of seeing on the cover of all the magazines. Well, that is until we land the first pick in our fantasy drafts. Adrian Peterson comes in as the entirely unanimous No. 1 in every league known to man. Unless you have a huge homer crush on Michael Turner, Maurice Jones-Drew or Matt Forte, Peterson is the best fantasy player in the game. But of course he could get injured, something he is known to do ...

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It's been over a month since we last posted positional fantasy football rankings, so it's time to run our second version. Plus, we added some staff. This is now an average ranking from eight Fantasy FanHouse writers. To view the early version of our kicker rankings, click here.

I'll beat the dead horse here, because I feel like it is my duty. Please don't draft a kicker until the last round and never pay more than a dollar for one in an auction. It's just not worth it because of the turnover from year to year. Check this out:

Top three kickers in '08: Gostkowski, Akers, Carney
In '07: Crosby, Bironas, Folk
In '06: Gould, Kaeding, Scobee
In '05: Rackers, Feely, Graham

I could use a lot more data to continually hammer the point home, but it would be a waste of time. So, uh, yeah. Don't waste a pick until you have to.

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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 17 at a glance, where we point out the horses destined for the Kentucky Derby and jeer those headed to the glue factory.

Studs

Michael Bush, RB Oakland (27 carries, 177 yards, 2 TDs) -- This is the other running back in Oakland, and boy did he have a pretty nice coming out party. In his first game with more than 16 carries, Bush rolled a Tampa Bay defense in search of a playoff spot and carried the Raiders to their second consecutive win. Sure, the team went 5-11, but the last two games were something to build on, and Michael looked like a capable backfield option.

The Minnesota Vikings won the NFC North on this Ryan Longwell 50-yard field goal as time expired:

Minnesota didn't exactly set the world on fire, needing a last-second field goal to beat a Giants team that was basically phoning it in as it rested its top players for the playoffs. But when the Vikings needed quarterback Tarvaris Jackson to deliver down the stretch, he did: Jackson hit Bernard Berrian for a 54-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Vikings fans have to feel good about that.

Next weekend the Vikings will host the winner of this afternoon's game between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles.

FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled weekly by the staff in order to provide answers to possible lineup questions. These are assuming most leagues use Fleaflicker's standard scoring structure. If you need clarification, you need more players ranked, or have funky league rules, feel free to shoot us an email question.

The Houston Texans defense looked pretty solid against the hapless Jags at home Monday night. Unfortunately they'll get to travel up to Green Bay on short rest this week. The Packers should move the ball with ease in Lambeau, but let's hope the Texans defense can mount a few red zone stops. I think they can. Mason Crosby is the top kicker this week.

More notes after the rankings.

1. Mason Crosby, vs. HOU
2. Jason Elam, at NO
3. Stephen Gostkowski, at SEA
4. Ryan Longwell, at DET
5. Rob Bironas, vs. CLE