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.
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.
The playoffs are either upon us or one week away in the majority of fantasy football leagues. With this in mind, Fantasy FanHouse is examining what you can expect from the fantasy relevant players on each team.
Chicago Bears
The Opposing Defenses: vs. JAX (14th against pass, t19th against run), vs. NO (24th against pass, t19th against run), vs. GB (5th against pass, 27th against run) The skinny: Playing three games at home is nice, and none of them are especially good run stopping defenses. You know what the Bears want to do, and that is run the football with Matt Forte. He's even performed beautifully against rock-solid fronts -- like the Vikings. They'll need to mix in the pass as well, though, and at least the Week 15 game should be a good opportunity for that. The must-start:Matt Forte The likely-starts:Greg Olsen, Robbie Gould The spot-starts: Kyle Orton, Devin Hester The no-starts: Rashied Davis, Desmond Clark, Brandon Lloyd The D/ST: They are a great start against the sad Jags offense, which happens to be visiting in a second consecutive road game on a short week. Lick your chops if you own the Bears for this week. The Packers and Saints don't pose especially good matchups, so you may have to look elsewhere. Still, both games are at home and you know the Saints outside in the cold doesn't exactly bode well for them, historically.
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.
As always, this is the most fickle and unpredictable position in fantasy football. We'll stay the course -- as usual -- and try to find guys who kick for teams that should score a lot of points while hopefully stalling in field goal once or twice. You'll notice the entire top five play for teams with decent offenses against defenses on which they should be able to move the ball. Hopefully you get several extra points and two field goals. That's all you can ask of a kicker.
Hear that? It's the pitter-patter of fantasy football season approaching. Fantasy FanHouse is here to get you ready by previewing every team from a fantasy perspective.
Meet The ...
Best running team in football. If anything they'll be better at running the ball this season. The Vikes have committed to a better balance between passing and running, which will (hopefully) prevent teams from stacking the box against the run -- opening more running lanes. Tarvaris Jackson has experience under his belt and is unchallenged as the starter, not to mention they signed Bernard Berrian in the off-season to give him a legitimate NFL wideout. Adrian Peterson has a year of NFL experience, and Chester Taylor is an able-bodied complement to Peterson. Expect the same, if not better, numbers as last season from the ground game.
The Breakout
He's not going to be a pro-bowler or even a fantasy starter, but "breakout" is defined as someone whose eventual value exceeds the value he held on draft day. Tarvaris Jackson is going to be avoided in nearly all drafts, or possibly taken as a third string fantasy QB with the hopes of upside. By the end of the year, he'll pick his spots well enough to be worthy of a backup fantasy QB for bye-week replacement or injury replacement purposes. He'll get rushing yards -- which is such a huge bonus for QBs -- avoid the interception quite well, and throw for 150-200 yards a week with a passing TD per game.
They put a quarterback ball in," Longwell said, referring to the different balls used in the game. "They didn't put a K ball in the game. ... The quarterbacks' (ball) are a little bit tackier and have better grip... Obviously, the K ball was flying pretty well today."
"You don't think about giving up a return like that," Longwell said. "When you've got a guy like that against linemen, and snappers and kickers, I mean, he's got good odds."
As Tony Romomade us all aware last postseason, the K ball was introduced to prevent kickers from breaking in the football too much. They're slicker, which presumably makes them travel farther (everybody knows slick balls go a long way, right?), but also harder to hold onto (or so I've been told).
(This ends the high-school humor segment of NFL FanHouse)
Just know this: somehow, a non-kicking football made its way into the game during a kicking situation. Longwell's attempt came up short, and he thinks not having a K ball had something to do with it. Given that the VikesPurple Jesus won, it's hardly a big deal. But if this had decided the outcome, I'm guessing we'd be hearing much more about it this morning.
If you're the Minnesota Vikings, I'm guessing this isn't how you want to end the half. FanHouse's J.J. Cooper has the details, and here are the moving pictures. Ryan Longwell came up short on a 57-yard field-goal attempt with four seconds left in the second quarter, and Chargers cornerback Antonio Cromartie was waiting in the end zone, Devin Hester-like, to return the kick.
And all he did was take it 109 yards the other way, to give San Diego a 14-7 lead heading to the locker room. And yeah, I think that's steam you see coming off Vikings head coach Brad Childress' bald head. Can't say I blame him, either. I mean, doesn't this team play in the same division as Hester? Don't the special teams practice this every week?
Meanwhile, Cromartie continues to impress -- he returned an interception 70 yards for a touchdown last week, and now he has a nifty missed-field-goal for six.
If you were driving around Chicagoland yesterday and listening to the exciting conclusion of the Bears game with the Vikings you may have slammed your horn in delight when Jeff Joniak and Tom Thayer of WBBM described Ryan Longwell's 55-yard field goal attempt at the end of the game.
"Angle to right. Snap. The spot by Kluwe. Kick by Ryan Longwell. End over-end. It's Noooo Good. Oh, for the wind."
You may have even been so excited that you missed the sheepish voice that came moments later and admitted that the kick was "through the uprights" and described Longwell being mobbed by the "victorious Vikings." To be fair to the radio guys, it was pretty clear on Dick Stockton's TV call that he was taking his time but at least there you had visual proof of what was going on. Longwell's kick did look like it might fall short, it was blustery at Soldier Field, but it didn't and the brief thought of overtime was adding the last insult added to injury for anguished Bears fans yesterday.
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. 
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 
The playoffs are either upon us or one week away in the majority of fantasy football leagues. With this in mind, 
Hear that? It's the pitter-patter of fantasy football season approaching. 
If you were driving around Chicagoland yesterday and listening to the exciting conclusion of the Bears game with the Vikings you may have slammed your horn in delight when 
