Since Week Sixteen of last season, I've gotten more than a few emails from people complaining about my 'Polian bashing.' It's almost a weekly occurrence. However, despite what people complain about in these emails, there is no Bill Polian 'bashing' that goes on at this blog. We might question certain decisions Bill makes, or we might question the logic behind certain things that have his fingerprints on them, but in general there is no Polian bashing.

It's more 'Polian accountability.'

I personally do not subscribe to any doctrine that preaches blind adoration to someone just because they are successful. Bill Polian is not 'flawless.' Week Sixteen taught me that, as did this silly umpire rule fiasco he had a hand in. Both were bad decisions, and he should be held accountable for them. The first way one holds someone accountable is by calling out the error, not ignoring it of 'giving him a pass.'

I'll paraphrase Peyton Manning here, because it's appropriate. The morning after winning Super Bowl 41, Peyton walked in front of the cameras and lights to give his final press conference to the Super Bowl media. He was tired, having partied all night with teammates and friends. During the press conference, Peyton referenced how other quarterbacks 'get a pass' by the media on mistakes and errors they make in their careers after winning a Super Bowl. Peyton made it clear to them he wanted to be held to a higher standard.

"I don't want that pass."

Now, take that and apply it to Bill Polian. If Peyton Manning, arguably the greatest quarterback to ever to play football, wants to be held to a higher standard and not have a free ride for the rest of his career, then we shall hold Bill Polian to the same standard. If Peyton doesn't get a pass, no one does.

No one.

This means that when Bill Polian busts another third round pick, or makes a bad trade for a mediocre left tackle (Tony Ugoh), or berates fans on his radio show, we are going to call him out on it. And since we are a pretty widely read and distributed blog, that criticism will get some time on many news and media outlets, eventually making its way back to the big redhead himself. I stress that there is absolutely nothing 'wrong' or 'unjust' about holding the Colts president accountable for his decisions, and I question the general sanity of people who think such things are in line with 'bashing' him.

Now, all that said (and if you are playing the BBS drinking game, you just took a swig of Jack), just because Stampede Blue is critical of certain decisions Bill has made does not mean we think he should be fired, or demoted, or locked in the stocks so that Bob Kravitz can throw rotten eggs at him. Go do a search for Bill Polian on this site, and going back FOUR FRIGGIN YEARS you will see many incidents of us defending and praising the decisions and actions of Bill Polian.

There's a reason the man will go to Canton when he retires. He's a genius at building football teams.

To provide you some context, I'll juxtapose Bill Polian with Josh McDaniels, the head coach and (essentially) the president of the Broncos football operations. McDaniels, for whatever reason, has total and complete control over his roster. It's not like he earned this job, or anything, being essentially Tom Brady's ball boy in New England after Charlie Weis left the Patriots. McDaniels makes all the draft, free agent, and general roster decisions; same as Polian for the Colts.

Now, while I am often critical of Bill Polian for draft picks made in, say, the third round, at the end of the day this is just me holding Bill to a higher standard than everyone else. If I held a yutz like McDaniels to that standard, you'd see me at the Denver facility with a pitch fork and a torch!

To give you an example using recent news.

Reports out of Denver (via PFT) say that Josh McDaniels and the Broncos may cut second year corner Alphonso Smith when the team has to get its roster down to 53. Smith, you might recall, was Denver's second round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. In fact, Denver traded a first rounder in 2010 with the Seattle Seahawks so they could move up to pick #37 and grab Smith.

Needless to say, Smith has bombed in Denver, which explains why the team is considering cutting him. This type of screw-up is not JaMarcus Russell in scale, but it's still pretty damned bad.

The players Denver missed on by taking Smith are people like Phil Loadholt, Rey Maualuga, Ron Brace, and Shonn Greene (just to name a few). If Denver had not traded up to get Smith in 2009 (and thus kept their 2010 first rounder), they would have been able to take Earl Thomas, Bryan Bulaga, and Kareem Jackson.

Just a huge, massive, near Titanic screw up by McDaniels. As a team in the (hopefully continuing) salary cap era, you absolutely cannot bust on trades and draft selections like that. I say this knowing full and well Denver fans probably won't think to well of me 'bashing' their head coach, but whatever. I'm not here to placate Denver fans. I'm here to write my opinion, and I don't think my opinion is too far from the norm when I say Josh McDaniels screwed the pooch trading up for and selecting Alphonso Smith. Bad trades and poor draft selections seem to be the hallmark of Josh McDaniels. See Tim Tebow.

Now, take that mess and compare it to the Colts. If Bill Polian ever did something like the Alphonso Smith trade, I'd damn near lose my mind. However, I know Bill will never do such a boneheaded move because Bill is Bill. Sure, his third rounders are often garbage, and he has a tendency to do a piss poor job finding quality o-linemen in the draft, but Bill has never botched picks like McDaniels has in Denver. The closest is Tony Ugoh, and that guy might still be somewhat salvageable as a guard.

This doesn't even take into account all the diamonds Bill has found in later rounds and in collegiate free agency. Names like Pierre Garcon, Melvin Bullitt, and Antonio Johnson are the reason why the Colts have such great depth, despite what football novices like Bill Simmons think.

So, when you read me being critical of Bill Polian, when you see me getting a bit combative about a decision he's made, I very much hope you will remember that I do this because I hold Bill to a higher standard. I don't put him on the same plane as people like McDaniels, or Jerry Angelo, or even Bill Belichick (who has busted several picks in recent drafts).

Bill is in a class all by himself.

Pat Fitzmaurice, a winner of the FantasyPros Top 5 Accuracy Award, offers up his third and final draft board of the preseason, with comments at the end of each position.

QUARTERBACKS

1. Aaron Rodgers, Packers
2. Peyton Manning, Colts
3. Drew Brees, Saints
4. Tom Brady, Patriots
5. Tony Romo, Cowboys
6. Matt Schaub, Texans
7. Eli Manning, Giants
8. Philip Rivers, Chargers
9. Jay Cutler, Bears
10. Matt Ryan, Falcons
11. Brett Favre, Vikings
12. Joe Flacco, Ravens
13. Kevin Kolb, Eagles
14. Donovan McNabb, Redskins
15. Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers
16. Vince Young, Titans
17. Carson Palmer, Bengals
18. Matthew Stafford, Lions
19. Josh Freeman, Buccaneers
20. Chad Henne, Dolphins
21. Alex Smith, 49ers
22. David Garrard, Jaguars
23. Kyle Orton, Broncos
24. Matt Cassel, Chiefs
25. Mark Sanchez, Jets
26. Matt Hasselbeck, Seahawks
27. Matt Moore, Panthers
28. Jason Campbell, Raiders
29. Sam Bradford, Rams
30. Jake Delhomme, Browns
31. Trent Edwards, Bills
32. Derek Anderson, Cardinals
33. Matt Leinart, Cardinals
34. Byron Leftwich, Steelers
35. Michael Vick, Eagles
36. Jon Kitna, Cowboys
37. Dan Orlovsky, Texans
38. Seneca Wallace, Browns
39. Josh Johnson, Buccaneers
40. Charlie Whitehurst, Seahawks
41. Dennis Dixon, Steelers
42. Billy Volek, Chargers
43. Kerry Collins, Titans
44. Brodie Croyle, Chiefs
45. Luke McCown, Jaguars
46. Tim Tebow, Broncos
47. Jimmy Clausen, Panthers
48. Caleb Hanie, Bears
49. Chris Redman, Falcons
50. Matt Flynn, Packers
51. Bruce Gradkowski, Raiders
52. Brian Hoyer, Patriots
53. Marc Bulger, Ravens
54. Tarvaris Jackson, Vikings
55. Patrick Ramsey, Saints
56. Rex Grossman, Redskins
57. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Bills
58. A.J. Feeley, Rams
59. J.T. O'Sullivan, Bengals
60. Shaun Hill, Lions
61. Brady Quinn, Broncos
62. Mark Brunell, Jets
63. Nate Davis, 49ers
64. Chase Daniel, Saints
65. David Carr, 49ers
66. Rhett Bomar, Giants
67. Todd Collins, Bears
68. Sage Rosenfels, Vikings
69. Curtis Painter, Colts
70. Troy Smith, Ravens
71. Kellen Clemens, Jets

Significant changes

— Aaron Rodgers moves into the top spot ahead of Peyton Manning. The safer play is Manning, but Rodgers has looked sensational in the preseason and looks capable of putting up outrageous numbers. He's also getting rid of the ball more quickly than he did last season, which bodes well for his health.

— Philip Rivers falls two spots to No. 8, thanks to the stalemates between the Chargers and two of Rivers' key supporting players, WR Vincent Jackson and OLT Marcus McNeill. It's asking a lot of a franchise quarterback to perform like a franchise quarterback without his best receiver and his respected blind-side protector.

— The Cardinals' QB situation is a mess. Matt Leinart is on shaky ground, and he may end up as a game of musical quarterbacks with Derek Anderson. Arizona is not the place to find your backup quarterback.

 

RUNNING BACKS

1. Ray Rice, Ravens
2. Chris Johnson, Titans
3. Adrian Peterson, Vikings
4. Maurice Jones-Drew, Jaguars
5. Frank Gore, 49ers
6. Michael Turner, Falcons
7. Rashard Mendenhall, Steelers
8. Steven Jackson, Rams
9. DeAngelo Williams, Panthers
10. Ryan Mathews, Chargers
11. Jahvid Best, Lions
12. Shonn Greene, Jets
13. Ryan Grant, Packers
14. Jamaal Charles, Chiefs
15. Matt Forté, Bears
16. LeSean McCoy, Eagles
17. Cedric Benson, Bengals
18. Joseph Addai, Colts
19. Arian Foster, Texans
20. Pierre Thomas, Saints
21. Jonathan Stewart, Panthers
22. C.J. Spiller, Bills
23. Ronnie Brown, Dolphins
24. Knowshon Moreno, Broncos
25. Ahmad Bradshaw, Giants
26. Beanie Wells, Cardinals
27. Reggie Bush, Saints
28. Clinton Portis, Redskins
29. Marion Barber, Cowboys
30. Felix Jones, Cowboys
31. Ricky Williams, Dolphins
32. Justin Forsett, Seahawks
33. Jerome Harrison, Browns
34. Tim Hightower, Cardinals
35. Michael Bush, Raiders
36. Cadillac Williams, Buccaneers
37. Darren McFadden, Raiders
38. Laurence Maroney, Patriots
39. Brandon Jacobs, Giants
40. Bernard Scott, Bengals
41. LaDainian Tomlinson, Jets
42. Thomas Jones, Chiefs
43. Donald Brown, Colts
44. Montario Hardesty, Browns
45. Kareem Huggins, Buccaneers
46. Tashard Choice, Cowboys
47. Leon Washington, Seahawks
48. Chester Taylor, Bears
49. Steve Slaton, Texans
50. Darren Sproles, Chargers
51. Willis McGahee, Ravens
52. Fred Taylor, Patriots
53. Fred Jackson, Bills
54. Sammy Morris, Patriots
55. Jason Snelling, Falcons
56. Correll Buckhalter, Broncos
57. Javon Ringer, Titans
58. Ryan Torain, Redskins
59. Toby Gerhart, Vikings
60. Kevin Smith, Lions
61. Mike Bell, Eagles
62. Julius Jones, Seahawks
63. Kevin Faulk, Patriots
64. Brandon Jackson, Packers
65. Jeremiah Johnson, Texans
66. Brian Westbrook, 49ers
67. Keiland Williams, Redskins
68. Rashad Jennings, Jaguars
69. Peyton Hillis, Browns
70. Marshawn Lynch, Bills
71. LenDale White, Broncos
72. Anthony Dixon, 49ers
73. Jerious Norwood, Falcons
74. Kenneth Darby, Rams
75. Ladell Betts, Saints
76. Larry Johnson, Redskins
77. Le'Ron McClain, Ravens
78. Patrick Cobbs, Dolphins
79. Isaac Redman, Steelers
80. Mewelde Moore, Steelers
81. Jonathan Dwyer, Steelers
82. Tyrell Sutton, Panthers
83. Chris Ivory, Saints
84. LeGarrette Blount, Titans
85. James Davis, Browns
86. Andre Brown, Giants
87. Jackie Battle, Chiefs
88. Lance Ball, Broncos
89. Chris Ogbonnaya, Rams
90. Joe McKnight, Jets
91. Albert Young, Vikings
92. BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Patriots
93. Willie Parker, Redskins
94. Earnest Graham, Buccaneers

Significant changes

— Jahvid Best is my big mover, climbing all the way to No. 11. This kid looks like the real thing. Roster him with confidence.

— Shonn Greene drops two spots to No. 12, based largely on the surprising friskiness that LaDainian Tomlinson has shown in the preseason. Tomlinson, who looks like he'll play a significant role in the Jets' offense (or at least more significant than I'd initially envisioned), moves up to No. 41.

— Bothered by nagging injuries last season, Matt Forté is showing his rookie form again, and it's now clear that he'll take a lot more snaps than Chester Taylor once the regular season begins. Forté will rack up yardage; the only question is his TD potential. I'm bullish, and I'm vaulting him all the way up to No. 15.

— With rookie Ben Tate out for the year and Steve Slaton battling a toe injury, Arian Foster moves into the top 20, settling at No. 19. Foster has shown in the preseason that he's capable of being a leading man.

— I'm nervous about Jonathan Stewart's slow-healing Achilles injury, so I'm dropping him to No. 21 and advising that you let someone else in your league worry about his health this season. DeAngelo Williams was already a top-10 running back on my board and doesn't move up any further, but let's just say that his current ranking seems like slightly less of a stretch than it did two weeks ago.

— Beanie Wells drops to No. 26, and I won't have him on any of my teams. With the Cardinals' QB situation so shaky, this probably won't be the year that Wells takes the big step up that some are anticipating. And let's not forget that the underrated Tim Hightower is still very much in the picture.

— Reggie Bush was ranked way too low on my last board. In fact, it's not inconceivable that he could outperform teammate Pierre Thomas this year. I've moved Bush from No. 40 to No. 27.

— Kareem Huggins is one of my favorite sleepers. I have him at No. 45. He has big-play speed and could become a stud if anything happens to the oft-injured Cadillac Williams, especially now that Derrick Ward has been cut.

 

WIDE RECEIVERS

1. Andre Johnson, Texans
2. Miles Austin, Cowboys
3. Roddy White, Falcons
4. Calvin Johnson, Lions
5. Randy Moss, Patriots
6. Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals
7. Reggie Wayne, Colts
8. DeSean Jackson, Eagles
9. Brandon Marshall, Dolphins
10. Greg Jennings, Packers
11. Steve Smith, Giants
12. Steve Smith, Panthers
13. Marques Colston, Saints
14. Mike Sims-Walker, Jaguars
15. Anquan Boldin, Ravens
16. Wes Welker, Patriots
17. Mike Wallace, Steelers
18. Pierre Garcon, Colts
19. Hines Ward, Steelers
20. Santana Moss, Redskins
21. Hakeem Nicks, Giants
22. Johnny Knox, Bears
23. Michael Crabtree, 49ers
24. Dwayne Bowe, Chiefs
25. Chad Ochocinco, Bengals
26. Donald Driver, Packers
27. Jeremy Maclin, Eagles
28. Devin Hester, Bears
29. Percy Harvin, Vikings
30. Terrell Owens, Bengals
31. Lee Evans, Bills
32. Robert Meachem, Saints
33. Vincent Jackson, Chargers
34. Mike Williams, Buccaneers
35. Steve Breaston, Cardinals
36. Malcom Floyd, Chargers
37. Derrick Mason, Ravens
38. T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Seahawks
39. Devin Aromashodu, Bears
40. Devery Henderson, Saints
41. Bernard Berrian, Vikings
42. Dez Bryant, Cowboys
43. Braylon Edwards, Jets
44. Nate Burleson, Lions
45. Jerricho Cotchery, Jets
46. Jacoby Jones, Texans
47. Eddie Royal, Broncos
48. Santonio Holmes, Jets
49. Julian Edelman, Patriots
50. Jabar Gaffney, Broncos
51. Mohamed Massaquoi, Browns
52. Kenny Britt, Titans
53. James Jones, Packers
54. Laurent Robinson, Rams
55. Lance Moore, Saints
56. Early Doucet, Cardinals
57. Legedu Naanee, Chargers
58. Chris Chambers, Chiefs
59. Nate Washington, Titans
60. Roy Williams, Cowboys
61. Mike Thomas, Jaguars
62. Sidney Rice, Vikings
63. Brian Hartline, Dolphins
64. Dexter McCluster, Chiefs*
65. Sammy Stroughter, Buccaneers
66. Mario Manningham, Giants
67. Austin Collie, Colts
68. Louis Murphy, Raiders
69. Josh Morgan, 49ers
70. Jason Avant, Eagles
71. Harry Douglas, Falcons
72. Kevin Walter, Texans
73. Greg Camarillo, Vikings
74. Justin Gage, Titans
75. Anthony Gonzalez, Colts
76. Mike Williams, Seahawks
77. Danny Amendola, Rams
78. Michael Jenkins, Falcons
79. Davone Bess, Dolphins
80. Brandon Tate, Patriots
81. Golden Tate, Seahawks
82. Deion Branch, Seahawks
83. Jordy Nelson, Packers
84. Steve Johnson, Bills
85. Patrick Crayton, Cowboys
86. Dwayne Jarrett, Panthers
87. Brandon LaFell, Panthers
88. Mark Clayton, Ravens
89. Brian Robiskie, Browns
90. Joshua Cribbs, Browns
91. Mardy Gilyard, Rams
92. Keenan Burton, Rams
93. Darrius Heyward-Bey, Raiders
94. Chaz Schilens, Raiders
95. Anthony Armstrong, Redskins
96. Eric Decker, Broncos
97. Jordan Shipley, Bengals
98. Emmanuel Sanders, Steelers
99. Riley Cooper, Eagles
100. Ted Ginn Jr., 49ers
101. Javon Walker, Vikings
102. Andre Caldwell, Bengals
103. Ramses Barden, Giants
104. Joey Galloway, Redskins
105. Demaryius Thomas, Broncos

Significant changes

— I realize it's only the preseason, but Mike Wallace keeps making one big play after another. I love the guy, and I'm moving him from No. 20 to No. 17, ahead of elder-statesman teammate Hines Ward.

— With Sidney Rice expected to miss at least half of the regular season with a hip injury, Bernard Berrian's fantasy value gets a jolt of life. Rice falls to No. 62, and Berrian moves up to No. 41. The Vikings traded for Greg Camarillo, who could be surprisingly productive. Camarillo is at No. 73 on the board, and former Brett Favre cohort Javon Walker, another recent acquisition for Minnesota, joins the rankings (just barely) at No. 101.

— Buccaneers rookie Mike Williams looks like a potential star. I have him at No. 34, but don't feel obligated to grab him that early in your draft; it's unlikely that any of your competitors have him rated as a top-50 receiver.

— It's hard to sort out the Seattle receivers beyond de facto go-to guy T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Deion Branch figures to be the other starter, but his fantasy prospects are uninspiring. Golden Tate has upside, but because he's done little to excite thus far, I'm scaling back expectations and dropping him way down to No. 81. I don't see him having much of an impact this season. A guy who might be worth taking late in larger leagues is Mike Williams (yes, another guy named Mike Williams), the former USC star plucked off the scrap heap by his former college coach, Pete Carroll. Thomas debuts on the board at No. 76.

 

TIGHT ENDS

1. Antonio Gates, Chargers
2. Jermichael Finley, Packers
3. Dallas Clark, Colts
4. Vernon Davis, 49ers
5. Tony Gonzalez, Falcons
6. Jason Witten, Cowboys
7. Brent Celek, Eagles
8. Chris Cooley, Redskins
9. Zach Miller, Raiders
10. Visanthe Shiancoe, Vikings
11. Kellen Winslow, Buccaneers
12. Heath Miller, Steelers
13. John Carlson, Seahawks
14. Owen Daniels, Texans
15. Todd Heap, Ravens
16. Dustin Keller, Jets
17. Jeremy Shockey, Saints
18. Fred Davis, Redskins
19. Greg Olsen, Bears
20. Tony Scheffler, Lions
21. Marcedes Lewis, Jaguars
22. Aaron Hernandez, Patriots
23. Kevin Boss, Giants
24. Jermaine Gresham, Bengals
25. Jared Cook, Titans
26. Rob Gronkowski, Patriots
27. Anthony Fasano, Dolphins
28. Brandon Pettigrew, Lions
29. Bo Scaife, Titans
30. Daniel Fells, Rams
31. Dante Rosario, Panthers
32. Gary Barnidge, Panthers
33. Tony Moeaki, Chiefs
34. Ben Watson, Browns
35. Marquez Branson, Broncos
36. Daniel Graham, Broncos
37. Donald Lee, Packers
38. Jimmy Graham, Saints
39. Martellus Bennett, Cowboys
40. Shawn Nelson, Bills

Significant changes

— Chris Cooley moves from No. 13 to No. 8. On the earlier draft boards, I had hedged on Cooley, waiting to see how he looked in his return from an ankle injury. He's looked sharp in the preseason, and Donovan McNabb appears to love throwing to him.

— I like both of the Patriots' rookie tight ends, Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. Finally, the Pats appear to have tight ends with the receiving skills to open up new avenues in the passing game. Gronkowski was drafted higher, but I think Hernandez will end up posting the better receiving numbers. I've moved Hernandez up to No. 22.

 

PLACEKICKERS

1. Stephen Gostkowski, Patriots
2. Garrett Hartley, Saints
3. David Akers, Eagles
4. Nate Kaeding, Chargers
5. Ryan Longwell, Vikings
6. Matt Bryant, Falcons
7. Mason Crosby, Packers
8. Dan Carpenter, Dolphins
9. Shayne Graham, Ravens
10. Nick Folk, Jets
11. Rob Bironas, Titans
12. Lawrence Tynes, Giants
13. Joe Nedney, 49ers
14. Robbie Gould, Bears
15. David Buehler, Cowboys
16. Adam Vinatieri, Colts
17. Jeff Reed, Steelers
18. Graham Gano, Redskins
19. Bengals kicker
20. Olindo Mare, Seahawks
21. Sebastian Janikowski, Raiders
22. Texans kicker
23. Connor Barth, Buccaneers
24. Ryan Succop, Chiefs
25. Josh Scobee, Jaguars
26. Rian Lindell, Bills
27. Jay Feely, Cardinals
28. Matt Prater, Broncos
29. John Kasay, Panthers
30. Phil Dawson, Browns
31. Josh Brown, Rams
32. Jason Hanson, Lions

Significant changes

None.

 

DEFENSES

1. New York Jets
2. Dallas Cowboys
3. Pittsburgh Steelers
4. Philadelphia Eagles
5. Minnesota Vikings
6. Baltimore Ravens
7. Green Bay Packers
8. Miami Dolphins
9. New Orleans Saints
10. Chicago Bears
11. San Diego Chargers
12. New England Patriots
13. Oakland Raiders
14. Indianapolis Colts
15. Cincinnati Bengals
16. Atlanta Falcons
17. Tennessee Titans
18. Houston Texans
19. New York Giants
20. San Francisco 49ers
21. Kansas City Chiefs
22. Carolina Panthers
23. Washington Redskins
24. Cleveland Browns
25. Seattle Seahawks
26. Jacksonville Jaguars
27. Arizona Cardinals
28. Buffalo Bills
29. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
30. Detroit Lions
31. Denver Broncos
32. St. Louis Rams

Significant changes

— The Ravens fall from No. 2 to No. 6. Baltimore's front seven is still elite, but that secondary has problems.

 

Watch for Pat Fitzmaurice's Week One fantasy player rankings next Tuesday.

12 team league. custom league. 1 QB. 2 WR. 2 RB. 1 TE. 1 FLEX. 1 KICKER. 1 DEF. STARTERS: Tom Brady Steve Smith(Carolina) Pierre Garcon Maurice Jones Drew Ryan Grant Visanthe Shiancoe Ricky Williams Nate Keading San Diego Defense -Bench- Jay Cutler Kyle Orton John Carlson Matt Willis( gonna drop him ) Devery Henderson Bernard Berrian TJ Houshmandzadeh

Next up in our final rankings (unless there is a major move that shakes things up) are wide receivers.  

Here, there is a real wild card in Vincent Jackson, who has the potential to provide a big change before Week 1.  Will he be traded?  Will he sit out the year? He’s forcing fantasy owners to take a huge leap of faith at this point, that’s for sure.

That’s not the only story, however.  Sidney Rice’s injury had some ripple effects, as did the Cardinals QB situation.  Let’s take a look at how everything currently stands:

1. Andre Johnson - Houston Texans
2. Randy Moss - New England Patriots
3. Reggie Wayne - Indianapolis Colts
4. Larry Fitzgerald - Arizona Cardinals
5. Calvin Johnson - Detroit Lions
6. Miles Austin - Dallas Cowboys
7. Roddy White - Atlanta Falcons
8. Brandon Marshall - Miami Dolphins
9. DeSean Jackson - Philadelphia Eagles
10. Greg Jennings - Green Bay Packers
11. Marques Colston - New Orleans Saints
12. Anquan Boldin - Baltimore Ravens
13. Steve Smith - Carolina Panthers
14. Steve Smith - New York Giants
15. Dwayne Bowe - Kansas City Chiefs
16. Michael Crabtree - San Francisco 49ers
17. Wes Welker - New England Patriots
18. Chad Ochocinco - Cincinnati Bengals
19. Mike Sims-Walker - Jacksonville Jaguars
20. Percy Harvin - Minnesota Vikings
21. Hakeem Nicks - New York Giants
22. Hines Ward - Pittsburgh Steelers
23. Mike Wallace - Pittsburgh Steelers
24. Pierre Garcon - Indianapolis Colts
25. Terrell Owens - Cincinnati Bengals
26. Santana Moss - Washington Redskins
27. Jeremy Maclin - Philadelphia Eagles
28. Dez Bryant - Dallas Cowboys
29. Derrick Mason - Baltimore Ravens
30. Donald Driver - Green Bay Packers
31. Kenny Britt - Tennessee Titans
32. Malcolm Floyd - San Diego Chargers
33. Bernard Berrian - Minnesota Vikings
34. Vincent Jackson - San Diego Chargers
35. Devin Hester - Chicago Bears
36. Robert Meachem - New Orleans Saints
37. T.J. Houshmandzadeh - Seattle Seahawks
38. Nate Burleson - Detroit Lions
39. Steve Breaston - Arizona Cardinals
40. Davone Bess - Miami Dolphins
41. Johnny Knox - Chicago Bears
42. Chris Chambers - Kansas City Chiefs
43. Lee Evans - Buffalo Bills
44. Braylon Edwards - New York Jets
45. Eddie Royal - Denver Broncos
46. Santonio Holmes - New York Jets
47. James Jones - Green Bay Packers
48. Sidney Rice - Minnesota Vikings
49. Justin Gage - Tennessee Titans
50. Jacoby Jones - Houston Texans
51. Mike Williams - Tampa Bay Buccaneers
52. Devin Aromashodu - Chicago Bears
53. Mohamed Massaquoi - Cleveland Browns
54. Demaryius Thomas - Denver Broncos
55. Roy Williams - Dallas Cowboys
56. Austin Collie - Indianapolis Colts
57. Laurent Robinson - St. Louis Rams
58. Louis Murphy - Oakland Raiders
59. Julian Edelman - New England Patriots
60. Mario Manningham - New York Giants

Thoughts:

• The concerns over the Cardinals quarterback situation filters down to the other skill players on the team. Larry Fitzgerald, who had been second on this list, has to be lowered.  Same goes for Steve Breaston, who is a borderline WR3 and much better suited to be a depth option at this point.
• Sidney Rice’s hip surgery has him out for the first eight weeks of the season, if not longer.  He is worth gambling on later in your draft, because he could have a huge impact in the fantasy playoffs if he proves healthy.  However, you need to get there first, so don’t take too big of a risk with him.  His loss is Percy Harvin’s gain, however.  While Harvin has struggled with migraines, he still appears to be in line to start Week 1 and could emerge as the go to guy for Brett Favre.  Bernard Berrian’s value also gets a bit of a boost.
• Should we be concerned that Miles Austin is being over hyped prior to the 2010 season?  There are some legitimate concerns, but I wouldn’t shy away from him from the middle of the second round and beyond.  To find out why, click here.
• Chaz Schillens is always hurt, isn’t he?  At this point he’s waiver wire fodder and nothing more.
• The Rams’ Donnie Avery is out for the year with a torn ACL.  Look for Laurent Robinson, who was emerging last season before suffering an injury, to take over the top spot on the receiving depth chart.  He’s a low-end option, but one worth monitoring.
• How good do you think Michael Crabtree could be?  It wouldn’t surprise me to see him emerge as a Top 10 option by year’s end.  To find out why, click here.
• With Santonio Holmes’ four-game suspension, he should be viewed as a spare part for fantasy owners, especially with the questions at QB and the depth the team has at the position.  He’s worth drafting, but he’s a low-end option, at best, and should not be drafted as a starting option.
• The longer his holdout lasts, the further Vincent Jackson plummets down these rankings.  It’s becoming a much more realistic possibility that he holds out the entire season, though I’m still not holding my breath for that.  If he plays, you have the chance of getting a real steal, so consider drafting him as a WR3 and stashing him until this whole thing shakes out.
• Robert Meachem’s poor preseason, as well as his toe injury, drop him a few spots in the rankings.  He’s worth drafting as a low-end WR3 (though better as a WR4), but make sure you have proper depth, just in case he falls flat.
• I’ve mentioned Davone Bess as a potential sleeper in the past, but wanted to reinforce that again here.  With Brandon Marshall getting a lot of focus, Bess will have the opportunity to operate outside of the spotlight.  It’ll be a lot different with him operating as the second wide receiver, as opposed to the top option.  He easily could emerge as a WR3 by year’s end.
• Mike Williams has gone from the second receiver the Buccaneers drafted in 2010 (fourth round) to potentially emerging as their best option on the outside.  To find out more about why he has emerged as a great sleeper, click here.

What are your thoughts on these rankings?  Who is ranked too high?  Who is ranked too low?

Make sure to check out Rotoprofessor’s 2010 rankings:

• Top 25 Quarterbacks
• Top 40 Running Backs
• Top 20 Tight Ends
• Top 15 Kickers

Also, make sure to check out our recent rookie rankings:

• Top 5 Rookie RB
• Top 5 Rookie QB
• Top 5 Rookie WR
• Top 3 Rookie TE

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The starters will likely sit when the Colts wrap-up their preseason against the Cincinnati Bengals at Lucas Oil Stadium Thursday night.

A number of starters have missed some preseason action, including wide receivers Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie, who have both missed one game. Also missing time was tight end Dallas Clark and center Jeff Saturday, who have yet to play in the preseason. Clark and Saturday will likely make their season debuts against the Texans in the regular season opener.

“It’s still an evaluation process, and we’re not going to deviate much from what we’ve done previously,” head coach Jim Caldwell said. “But we’ve still got a lot of guys that we need to take a real good look at—what we have, what they can do for us, where they fit—so that’s what this game will be. A huge part of our evaluation.”

The Colts have traditionally sat starters in the final preseason game. Quarterback Peyton Manning has not played in a preseason finale since 2004. Instead, Caldwell and his staff will turn their attention to the younger players battling for the final roster spots to determine who will survive the last round of cuts.

NFL rosters must be cut down to 75 players by August 31, and trimmed to the final 53-man roster by September 4. Thursday night’s game against the Bengals may dictate who survives the remaining cuts.

“There’s a number of guys that haven’t had an opportunity to play a whole lot,” said Caldwell. “This game’s going to provide an opportunity for some. This is where they get an opportunity to show what they’re capable of doing, how much they’ve learned, how they can apply it on the field of play. So this is a very, very important ball game.”

The draft board below will be updated until the start of the regular season.

Quarterbacks   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. Aaron Rodgers / Packers 10
2. Drew Brees / Saints 10
3. Peyton Manning / Colts 7
4. Matt Schaub / Texans 7
5. Tony Romo / Cowboys 4
6. Tom Brady / Patriots 5
7. Philip Rivers / Chargers 10
8. Joe Flacco / Ravens 8
9. Eli Manning / Giants 8
10. Brett Favre / Vikings 4
11. Jay Cutler / Bears 8
12. Kevin Kolb / Eagles 8
13. Donovan McNabb / Redskins 9
14. Carson Palmer / Bengals 6
15. Matt Ryan / Falcons 8
16. Ben Roethlisberger / Steelers 5
17. Chad Henne / Dolphins 5
18. Matthew Stafford / Lions 7
19. Alex Smith / 49ers 9
20. Matt Cassel / Chiefs 4
21. David Garrard / Jaguars 9
22. Vince Young / Titans 9
23. Mark Sanchez / Jets 7
24. Kyle Orton / Broncos 9
25. Jason Campbell / Raiders 10
26. Matt Hasselbeck / Seahawks 5
27. Derek Anderson / Cardinals 6
28. Josh Freeman / Buccaneers 4
29. Matt Moore / Panthers 6
30. Sam Bradford / Rams 9
31. Jake Delhomme / Browns 8
32. Trent Edwards / Bills 6
33. Matt Leinart / Cardinals 6
34. Michael Vick / Eagles 8
35. Byron Leftwich / Steelers 5
36. Tarvaris Jackson / Vikings 4
37. Seneca Wallace / Browns 8
38. Charlie Whitehurst / Seahawks 5
39. Jimmy Clausen / Panthers 6
40. Tim Tebow / Broncos 9

Running backs   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. Chris Johnson / Titans 9
2. Adrian Peterson / Vikings 4
3. Maurice Jones-Drew / Jaguars 9
4. Ray Rice / Ravens 8
5. Michael Turner / Falcons 8
6. Frank Gore / 49ers 9
7. Steven Jackson / Rams 9
8. Rashard Mendenhall / Steelers 5
9. Cedric Benson / Bengals 6
10. DeAngelo Williams / Panthers 6
11. Ryan Grant / Packers 10
12. Shonn Greene / Jets 7
13. Ryan Mathews / Chargers 10
14. Jonathan Stewart / Panthers 6
15. Pierre Thomas / Saints 10
16. Jamaal Charles / Chiefs 4
17. Beanie Wells / Cardinals 6
18. Knowshon Moreno / Broncos 9
19. Ronnie Brown / Dolphins 5
20. Joseph Addai / Colts 7
21. Jahvid Best / Lions 7
22. LeSean McCoy / Eagles 8
23. Arian Foster / Texans 7
24. Matt Forté / Bears 8
25. Felix Jones / Cowboys 4
26. Ahmad Bradshaw / Giants 8
27. Marion Barber / Cowboys 4
28. Ricky Williams / Dolphins 5
29. C.J. Spiller / Bills 6
30. Brandon Jacobs / Giants 8
31. Michael Bush / Raiders 10
32. Reggie Bush / Saints 10
33. Cadillac Williams / Buccaneers 4
34. Justin Forsett / Seahawks 5
35. Fred Jackson / Bills 6
36. Montario Hardesty / Browns 8
37. Clinton Portis / Redskins 9
38. Jerome Harrison / Browns 8
39. LaDainian Tomlinson / Jets 7
40. Thomas Jones / Chiefs 4
41. Tim Hightower / Cardinals 6
42. Darren McFadden / Raiders 10
43. Chester Taylor / Bears 8
44. Donald Brown / Colts 7
45. Willis McGahee / Ravens 8
46. Darren Sproles / Chargers 10
47. Leon Washington / Seahawks 5
48. Laurence Maroney / Patriots 5
49. Steve Slaton / Texans 7
50. Correll Buckhalter / Broncos 9
51. Kevin Smith / Lions 7
52. Larry Johnson / Redskins 9
53. Kareem Huggins / Buccaneers 4
54. Mike Bell / Eagles 8
55. Marshawn Lynch / Bills 6
56. Javon Ringer / Titans 9
57. Toby Gerhart / Vikings 4
58. Bernard Scott / Bengals 6
59. Rashad Jennings / Jaguars 9
60. Fred Taylor / Patriots 5
61. Julius Jones / Seahawks 5
62. Jason Snelling / Falcons 8
63. Brian Westbrook / 49ers 9
64. Mewelde Moore / Steelers 5
65. Tashard Choice / Cowboys 4
66. Jerious Norwood / Falcons 8
67. Anthony Dixon / 49ers 9
68. Sammy Morris / Patriots 5
69. Brandon Jackson / Packers 10
70. Joe McKnight / Jets 7

   
Wide receivers   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. Andre Johnson / Texans 7
2. Randy Moss / Patriots 5
3. Reggie Wayne / Colts 7
4. Calvin Johnson / Lions 7
5. Miles Austin / Cowboys 4
6. Brandon Marshall / Dolphins 5
7. Roddy White / Falcons 8
8. Larry Fitzgerald / Cardinals 6
9. DeSean Jackson / Eagles 8
10. Greg Jennings / Packers 10
11. Marques Colston / Saints 10
12. Steve Smith / Giants 8
13. Steve Smith / Panthers 6
14. Anquan Boldin / Ravens 8
15. Chad Ochocinco / Bengals 6
16. Hines Ward / Steelers 5
17. Mike Sims-Walker / Jaguars 9
18. Dwayne Bowe / Chiefs 4
19. Hakeem Nicks / Giants 8
20. Michael Crabtree / 49ers 9
21. Wes Welker / Patriots 5
22. Percy Harvin / Vikings 4
23. Jeremy Maclin / Eagles 8
24. Santana Moss / Redskins 9
25. Mike Wallace / Steelers 5
26. Malcom Floyd / Chargers 10
27. Pierre Garcon / Colts 7
28. T.J. Houshmandzadeh / Seahawks 5
29. Donald Driver / Packers 10
30. Robert Meachem / Saints 10
31. Johnny Knox / Bears 8
32. Dez Bryant / Cowboys 4
33. Braylon Edwards / Jets 7
34. Lee Evans / Bills 6
35. Steve Breaston / Cardinals 6
36. Bernard Berrian / Vikings 4
37. Derrick Mason / Ravens 8
38. Terrell Owens / Bengals 6
39. Santonio Holmes / Jets 7
40. Nate Burleson / Lions 7
41. Devin Aromashodu / Bears 8
42. Jacoby Jones / Texans 7
43. Jabar Gaffney / Broncos 9
44. Kenny Britt / Titans 9
45. Vincent Jackson / Chargers 10
46. Jerricho Cotchery / Jets 7
47. Chris Chambers / Chiefs 4
48. Mike Williams / Buccaneers 4
49. Devin Hester / Bears 8
50. Roy Williams / Cowboys 4
51. Austin Collie / Colts 7
52. Louis Murphy / Raiders 10
53. Mohamed Massaquoi / Browns 8
54. Kevin Walter / Texans 7
55. Laurent Robinson / Rams 9
56. Eddie Royal / Broncos 9
57. Mario Manningham / Giants 8
58. James Jones / Packers 10
59. Early Doucet / Cardinals 6
60. Devery Henderson / Saints 10
61. Mike Thomas / Jaguars 9
62. Legedu Naanee / Chargers 10
63. Sidney Rice / Vikings 4
64. Brandon LaFell / Panthers 6
65. Golden Tate / Seahawks 5
66. Jordy Nelson / Packers 10
67. Arrelious Benn / Buccaneers 4
68. Nate Washington / Titans 9
69. Josh Morgan / 49ers 9
70. Julian Edelman / Patriots 5
71. Anthony Gonzalez / Colts 7
72. Dexter McCluster / Chiefs 4
73. Demaryius Thomas / Broncos 9
74. Brian Hartline / Dolphins 5
75. Davone Bess / Dolphins 5
76. Devin Thomas / Redskins 9
77. Jason Avant / Eagles 8
78. Brandon Gibson / Rams 9
79. Justin Gage / Titans 9
80. Deion Branch / Seahawks 5

   
Tight ends   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. Dallas Clark / Colts 7
2. Antonio Gates / Chargers 10
3. Vernon Davis / 49ers 9
4. Jermichael Finley / Packers 10
5. Jason Witten / Cowboys 4
6. Brent Celek / Eagles 8
7. Tony Gonzalez / Falcons 8
8. Kellen Winslow / Buccaneers 4
9. Visanthe Shiancoe / Vikings 4
10. Owen Daniels / Texans 7
11. Chris Cooley / Redskins 9
12. Zach Miller / Raiders 10
13. John Carlson / Seahawks 5
14. Heath Miller / Steelers 5
15. Dustin Keller / Jets 7
16. Greg Olsen / Bears 8
17. Jeremy Shockey / Saints 10
18. Marcedes Lewis / Jaguars 9
19. Tony Scheffler / Lions 7
20. Todd Heap / Ravens 8
21. Kevin Boss / Giants 8
22. Fred Davis / Redskins 9
23. Benjamin Watson / Browns 8
24. Jermaine Gresham / Bengals 6
25. Bo Scaife / Titans 9
26. Anthony Fasano / Dolphins 5
27. Brandon Pettigrew / Lions 7
28. Rob Gronkowski / Patriots 5
29. Tony Moeaki / Chiefs 4
30. Jared Cook / Titans 9

   
Placekickers   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. Nate Kaeding / Chargers 10
2. Stephen Gostkowski / Patriots 5
3. David Akers / Eagles 8
4. Ryan Longwell / Vikings 4
5. Garrett Hartley / Saints 10
6. Mason Crosby / Packers 10
7. Robbie Gould / Bears 8
8. Rob Bironas / Titans 9
9. Lawrence Tynes / Giants 8
10. Jay Feely / Cardinals 6
11. Texans PK 7
12. Dan Carpenter / Dolphins 5
13. Jeff Reed / Steelers 5
14. Sebastian Janikowski / Raiders 10
15. Matt Prater / Broncos 9
16. Shayne Graham / Ravens 8
17. Nick Folk / Jets 7
18. Adam Vinatieri / Colts 7
19. Ryan Succop / Chiefs 4
20. Joe Nedney / 49ers 9

   
Defenses/Special teams   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. New York Jets 7
2. Minnesota Vikings 4
3. Green Bay Packers 10
4. Dallas Cowboys 4
5. Pittsburgh Steelers 5
6. Baltimore Ravens 8
7. Philadelphia Eagles 8
8. New Orleans Saints 10
9. San Francisco 49ers 9
10. Chicago Bears 8
11. San Diego Chargers 10
12. New England Patriots 5
13. Cincinnati Bengals 6
14. New York Giants 8
15. Miami Dolphins 5
16. Arizona Cardinals 6
17. Houston Texans 7
18. Indianapolis Colts 7
19. Tennessee Titans 9
20. Washington Redskins 9

Top 100 overall   
Rk. Pos / Player / Team  

1. RB Chris Johnson / Titans  
2. RB Adrian Peterson / Vikings  
3. RB Maurice Jones-Drew / Jaguars  
4. RB Ray Rice / Ravens  
5. RB Michael Turner / Falcons
6. RB Frank Gore / 49ers 
7. RB Steven Jackson / Rams
8. QB Aaron Rodgers / Packers  
9. WR Andre Johnson / Texans
10. RB Rashard Mendenhall / Steelers
11. QB Drew Brees / Saints 
12. RB Cedric Benson / Bengals
13. RB DeAngelo Williams / Panthers  
14. WR Randy Moss / Patriots  
15. QB Peyton Manning / Colts
16. RB Ryan Grant / Packers  
17. RB Shonn Greene / Jets 
18. WR Reggie Wayne / Colts
19. WR Calvin Johnson / Lions  
20. WR Miles Austin / Cowboys
21. RB Ryan Mathews / Chargers
22. WR Brandon Marshall / Dolphins  
23. WR Roddy White / Falcons  
24. RB Jonathan Stewart / Panthers
25. RB Pierre Thomas / Saints
26. WR Larry Fitzgerald / Cardinals 
27. WR DeSean Jackson / Eagles 
28. RB Jamaal Charles / Chiefs
29. RB Beanie Wells / Cardinals
30. QB Matt Schaub / Texans
31. RB Knowshon Moreno / Broncos
32. QB Tony Romo / Cowboys
33. WR Greg Jennings / Packers  
34. WR Marques Colston / Saints
35. RB Ronnie Brown / Dolphins
36. TE Dallas Clark / Colts
37. RB Joseph Addai / Colts
38. TE Antonio Gates / Chargers
39. QB Tom Brady / Patriots 
40. WR Steve Smith / Giants
41. WR Steve Smith / Panthers
42. RB Jahvid Best / Lions
43. WR Anquan Boldin / Ravens
44. WR Chad Ochocinco / Bengals  
45. RB LeSean McCoy / Eagles
46. WR Hines Ward / Steelers
47. TE Vernon Davis / 49ers
48. RB Arian Foster / Texans
49. WR Mike Sims-Walker / Jaguars
50. QB Philip Rivers / Chargers
51. WR Dwayne Bowe / Chiefs  
52. WR Hakeem Nicks / Giants 
53. RB Matt Forté / Bears 
54. WR Michael Crabtree / 49ers
55. WR Wes Welker / Patriots
56. TE Jermichael Finley / Packers
57. WR Percy Harvin / Vikings
58. QB Joe Flacco / Ravens
59. TE Jason Witten / Cowboys
60. RB Felix Jones / Cowboys
61. RB Ahmad Bradshaw / Giants
62. WR Jeremy Maclin / Eagles  
63. TE Brent Celek / Eagles
64. RB Marion Barber / Cowboys  
65. QB Eli Manning / Giants 
66. RB Ricky Williams / Dolphins
67. WR Santana Moss / Redskins 
68. WR Mike Wallace / Steelers
69. TE Tony Gonzalez / Falcons
70. RB C.J. Spiller / Bills
71. RB Brandon Jacobs / Giants
72. RB Michael Bush / Raiders
73. QB Brett Favre / Vikings
74. RB Reggie Bush / Saints
75. WR Malcom Floyd / Chargers
76. WR Pierre Garcon / Colts
77. QB Jay Cutler / Bears
78. QB Kevin Kolb / Eagles 
79. WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh / Seahawks
80. RB Cadillac Williams / Buccaneers
81. WR Donald Driver / Packers
82. WR Robert Meachem / Saints
83. QB Donovan McNabb / Redskins
84. WR Johnny Knox / Bears
85. WR Dez Bryant / Cowboys
86. TE Kellen Winslow / Buccaneers  
87. RB Justin Forsett / Seahawks
88. RB Fred Jackson / Bills
89. QB Carson Palmer / Bengals
90. RB Montario Hardesty / Browns
91. RB Clinton Portis / Redskins 
92. TE Visanthe Shiancoe / Vikings
93. RB Jerome Harrison / Browns
94. RB LaDainian Tomlinson / Jets
95. WR Braylon Edwards / Jets  
96. WR Lee Evans / Bills
97. RB Thomas Jones / Chiefs
98. QB Matt Ryan / Falcons
99. TE Owen Daniels / Texans
100. WR Steve Breaston / Cardinals

For authoritative coverage and analysis of NFL news, free agency and fantasy football, visit ProFootballWeekly.com.

Colts President Bill Polian (8/28/2010)

On the new umpire rule possibly effecting his team more than other teams:

I don’t think that’s a concern. We’ve never had that issue before and if we do the mechanics right, I don’t think it ought to be an issue. It was certainly not the intent. If I thought that would be a bi-product of it, obviously I would not have voted for it. There are mechanical issues that we have identified, but I think most teams see that. It’s not us alone.

On linebacker Gary Brackett's injury:

He’s okay. It’s just a bruise. (LB-Pat) Angerer played very well, but yes, sure (I breathed a sigh of relief). I don’t even talk about injuries in the preseason.

On wide receiver Pierre Garcon's potential:

There is (a) ceiling still. He can get better. He got set back a little bit by the injury. We would have liked to see him have a real full camp in, but he’s doing fine and there is more to go

Polian Conti.

On if he can think of a number of players over the years that have needed the fourth preseason game:

Melvin Bullitt, Gary Brackett, Pierre Garcon, keep naming them. The fact of the matter is that there are not 48 positions determined before we go to training camp. There are probably closer to 38 than 48. And when you’re talking about a 53-man squad and a practice squad, which by the way counts, the fact of the matter is that when you go to camp there are probably 38 spots that you can count on, absent injury, and injury always occurs. So when you’re really talking about it you probably figure that you have 35 spots for a 53-man team. That is a lot of evaluating to do and a lot of practicing to do. Now having said that, if they go to 18 (games), we’ll have to figure out another way, as I’ve said before. I’m not taking a position on that. They’ll determine and we’ll do it. But the fact of the matter is you need training camp, you need evaluations, you need padded practices, you need that work not only to get ready to play football, which is your number one objective, but to find football players, which is objective number 1-A, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job of it over the years.

On if he feels better about QB-Curtis Painter after the last two preseason games:

I haven’t ever felt bad about Curtis Painter. I felt good about him last preseason, and yes, he’s played well in the last two weeks, but we’re not surprised.

On several spots still being open on the team:

Yes, a lot, quite a few. I know there are some people that don’t like to hear that, but the fact of the matter is there are a great many that are still open.

This edition of Luke Links is dedicated to getting us all through the fourth (ok, technically, fifth) and final week of the 2010 NFL preseason.  For me, these have been dark days, in part because I just haven't caught enough of a glimpse to feel comfortable with our Day 1 offense.  But mostly they have been dark days because of all the injuries the team has already suffered prior to any meaningless game.  Gone to IR are promising TE Tom Santi, special teams ace S Jamie Silva, and intriguing prospect DB David Caldwell.  Already wounded are starters LT Charlie Johnson, C Jeff Saturday, TE Dallas Clark, LB Gary Brackett, CB Jerraud Powers and DT Antonio Johnson.

Thankfully none of these men has been declared lost for the season, and none has yet been placed on the PUP list, meaning there is still hope that all could appear in the Week 1 game at Houston.  So I am starting to peek from under my blanket, and although I expect the final preseason game against the Bengals to be equally ugly as the previous three, I know we are on our way to the light of the regular season.

 

FROM THE SADDLE
Official Team News

• John Oehser (Special to Colts.com)
  • Coach Caldwell with the understatement of the year
  • Coach tempers the panic a bit, too
  • Bill Polian thinks the umpire placement rule is a work in progress
  • Pat Angerer is getting more comfortable each time he steps onto the field
• Jake Thompson (Colts.com) recaps the game against Green Bay
• Videos / Media
  • Coach Caldwell's post-game press conference
  • Bob Lamey and Kevin Lee host Jim Caldwell, Pat Angerer, and Pierre Garcon
  • Sounds of the game, with Bob Lamey

GREEN APPLES AND ROAD APPLES
Positive and Negative Analysis

• Paul Kuharsky (ESPN)
  • offers his observations from the game
  • comments on the new umpire position rule
  • quotes Manning regarding his thoughts on the new umpire position
• Michael Marot (Associated Press) The Colts are coordinated on offense
• Matt Bowen (National Football Post) breaks down the Colts' offense
• Associated Press The Colts' franchise bucks the trend and increases in value
• Associated Press The Colts make a number of roster moves to trim to 75
• USA Today Anthony Gonzalez re-enters a crowded field
• Tom Pedulla (USA Today) This year is a fresh start for Adam Vinatieri
• Pete Prisco (CBS Sports) reveals what he learned from summer camps, including a lot of Colts mentions
• Sports Xchange has some personnel updates (including injury notes) on the Colts
• Phillip B. Wilson (Indy Star)
  • Gets to know Colin Cloherty
  • Gets to know Blair White
  • Catch up with Phil B.'s blog
• Mike Chappell (Indy Star)
  • Despite the outcomes, the Colts accomplish what they need to in preseason
  • Let's hope Mike's sources are good
  • The Colts make some roster moves in advance of the August 31 deadline to cut to 75
  • The return game is still a mess
  • Mike Chappell answers readers' questions
• Phil Richards (Indy Star)
  • Clint Session was eager to get back on the field
  • Peyton Manning doesn't like the new umpire positioning
• Bob Kravitz (Indy Star) wants the pain pills
• John Oesher (Indy Football Report, AOL Fanhouse)
  • takes a next-day look at the game
  • Clint Session is developing into an elite linebacker
  • The new umpire rule may impact the Colts' offense
  • Bill Polian doesn't think it will (for more rebuttal, check out Peter King's MMQB... he promised over the weekend that he would write about it)
    
• The Sports Xchange (ColtPower.com) The Colts are unconcerned with preseason records
• Brad Keller (ColtPower.com) evaluates which of the Colts' players might be high on your fantasy draft board... for the wrong reasons
• Larry Hawley (IndySportsNation.com) Bill Polian thinks they can work out the umpire problem
• Nate Dunlevy (18to88.com)
  • analyzes the 3rd preseason game
• Brett Mock (Coltzilla)
  • joins the group in reminding us to not panic
  • updates his roster prediction
• Greg Cowan (Coltzilla)
  • posts the first of a three-part series on whether a work stoppage will impact Manning's historic chase
• Robert Itoh (Coltzilla)
  • gives us 5 things he thinks he knows
  • offers up his own roster prediction
• TJ Higley (Coltzilla) posts a local TV special on Devin Moore
  

IN THE PADDOCK
News About This Week's Opponent

• Mike Vandermause (Green Bay Press Gazette) The Packers' defense left Manning speechless
• James Walker (ESPN)
  • reviews Cincinnati's game against the Bills
  • looks at the strange case of Antonio Bryant
• Joe Reedy (Cincinnati Enquirer)
  • The Bengals are hurting in their secondary
  • There were bright spots in the Bengals' loss to the Bills

OUTSIDE THE STABLE
Around the League

 

• Jim Wyatt (The Tennessean) A week after engaging in a "pillow fight" with the Jets, the Panthers seemingly did it again against the Titans
• Vito Stellino (Florida Times-Union) The Jaguars continue to be inconsistent in the preseason
• Richard Justice (Houston Chronicle) The Texans improved their game against the Cowboys
• Bob Raissman (NY Daily News) has an interesting idea to reduce expenses and increase revenue for the NFL
  

The draft board below will be updated until the start of the regular season.

Quarterbacks   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. Aaron Rodgers / Packers 10
2. Drew Brees / Saints 10
3. Peyton Manning / Colts 7
4. Matt Schaub / Texans 7
5. Tony Romo / Cowboys 4
6. Tom Brady / Patriots 5
7. Philip Rivers / Chargers 10
8. Joe Flacco / Ravens 8
9. Eli Manning / Giants 8
10. Brett Favre / Vikings 4
11. Jay Cutler / Bears 8
12. Kevin Kolb / Eagles 8
13. Donovan McNabb / Redskins 9
14. Matt Ryan / Falcons 8
15. Carson Palmer / Bengals 6
16. Ben Roethlisberger / Steelers 5
17. Chad Henne / Dolphins 5
18. Matthew Stafford / Lions 7
19. Alex Smith / 49ers 9
20. Matt Cassel / Chiefs 4
21. David Garrard / Jaguars 9
22. Vince Young / Titans 9
23. Mark Sanchez / Jets 7
24. Kyle Orton / Broncos 9
25. Jason Campbell / Raiders 10
26. Matt Hasselbeck / Seahawks 5
27. Derek Anderson / Cardinals 6
28. Josh Freeman / Buccaneers 4
29. Matt Moore / Panthers 6
30. Sam Bradford / Rams 9
31. Jake Delhomme / Browns 8
32. Trent Edwards / Bills 6
33. Matt Leinart / Cardinals 6
34. Michael Vick / Eagles 8
35. Byron Leftwich / Steelers 5
36. Tarvaris Jackson / Vikings 4
37. Seneca Wallace / Browns 8
38. Charlie Whitehurst / Seahawks 5
39. Jimmy Clausen / Panthers 6
40. Tim Tebow / Broncos 9

Running backs   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. Chris Johnson / Titans 9
2. Adrian Peterson / Vikings 4
3. Maurice Jones-Drew / Jaguars 9
4. Ray Rice / Ravens 8
5. Michael Turner / Falcons 8
6. Frank Gore / 49ers 9
7. Steven Jackson / Rams 9
8. Rashard Mendenhall / Steelers 5
9. Cedric Benson / Bengals 6
10. DeAngelo Williams / Panthers 6
11. Ryan Grant / Packers 10
12. Shonn Greene / Jets 7
13. Ryan Mathews / Chargers 10
14. Beanie Wells / Cardinals 6
15. Jonathan Stewart / Panthers 6
16. Pierre Thomas / Saints 10
17. Jamaal Charles / Chiefs 4
18. Knowshon Moreno / Broncos 9
19. Ronnie Brown / Dolphins 5
20. Joseph Addai / Colts 7
21. Jahvid Best / Lions 7
22. LeSean McCoy / Eagles 8
23. Felix Jones / Cowboys 4
24. Matt Forté / Bears 8
25. Arian Foster / Texans 7
26. Brandon Jacobs / Giants 8
27. Marion Barber / Cowboys 4
28. Ricky Williams / Dolphins 5
29. Ahmad Bradshaw / Giants 8
30. C.J. Spiller / Bills 6
31. Michael Bush / Raiders 10
32. Reggie Bush / Saints 10
33. Thomas Jones / Chiefs 4
34. Justin Forsett / Seahawks 5
35. Fred Jackson / Bills 6
36. Montario Hardesty / Browns 8
37. Cadillac Williams / Buccaneers 4
38. Jerome Harrison / Browns 8
39. Clinton Portis / Redskins 9
40. LaDainian Tomlinson / Jets 7
41. Tim Hightower / Cardinals 6
42. Darren McFadden / Raiders 10
43. Chester Taylor / Bears 8
44. Donald Brown / Colts 7
45. Willis McGahee / Ravens 8
46. Darren Sproles / Chargers 10
47. Leon Washington / Seahawks 5
48. Laurence Maroney / Patriots 5
49. Steve Slaton / Texans 7
50. Correll Buckhalter / Broncos 9
51. Kevin Smith / Lions 7
52. Larry Johnson / Redskins 9
53. Mike Bell / Eagles 8
54. Marshawn Lynch / Bills 6
55. Javon Ringer / Titans 9
56. Toby Gerhart / Vikings 4
57. Bernard Scott / Bengals 6
58. Rashad Jennings / Jaguars 9
59. Fred Taylor / Patriots 5
60. Julius Jones / Seahawks 5
61. Jason Snelling / Falcons 8
62. Brian Westbrook / 49ers 9
63. Mewelde Moore / Steelers 5
64. Tashard Choice / Cowboys 4
65. Jerious Norwood / Falcons 8
66. Anthony Dixon / 49ers 9
67. Sammy Morris / Patriots 5
68. Brandon Jackson / Packers 10
69. Kareem Huggins / Buccaneers 4
70. Joe McKnight / Jets 7

   
Wide receivers   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. Andre Johnson / Texans 7
2. Randy Moss / Patriots 5
3. Reggie Wayne / Colts 7
4. Calvin Johnson / Lions 7
5. Miles Austin / Cowboys 4
6. Brandon Marshall / Dolphins 5
7. Roddy White / Falcons 8
8. Larry Fitzgerald / Cardinals 6
9. DeSean Jackson / Eagles 8
10. Greg Jennings / Packers 10
11. Marques Colston / Saints 10
12. Steve Smith / Giants 8
13. Steve Smith / Panthers 6
14. Chad Ochocinco / Bengals 6
15. Anquan Boldin / Ravens 8
16. Hines Ward / Steelers 5
17. Mike Sims-Walker / Jaguars 9
18. Dwayne Bowe / Chiefs 4
19. Hakeem Nicks / Giants 8
20. Michael Crabtree / 49ers 9
21. Wes Welker / Patriots 5
22. Percy Harvin / Vikings 4
23. Jeremy Maclin / Eagles 8
24. Santana Moss / Redskins 9
25. Mike Wallace / Steelers 5
26. Malcom Floyd / Chargers 10
27. Pierre Garcon / Colts 7
28. T.J. Houshmandzadeh / Seahawks 5
29. Donald Driver / Packers 10
30. Robert Meachem / Saints 10
31. Dez Bryant / Cowboys 4
32. Braylon Edwards / Jets 7
33. Lee Evans / Bills 6
34. Johnny Knox / Bears 8
35. Steve Breaston / Cardinals 6
36. Bernard Berrian / Vikings 4
37. Derrick Mason / Ravens 8
38. Terrell Owens / Bengals 6
39. Santonio Holmes / Jets 7
40. Nate Burleson / Lions 7
41. Devin Aromashodu / Bears 8
42. Jacoby Jones / Texans 7
43. Jabar Gaffney / Broncos 9
44. Kenny Britt / Titans 9
45. Devin Hester / Bears 8
46. Vincent Jackson / Chargers 10
47. Jerricho Cotchery / Jets 7
48. Chris Chambers / Chiefs 4
49. Mike Williams / Buccaneers 4
50. Roy Williams / Cowboys 4
51. Austin Collie / Colts 7
52. Louis Murphy / Raiders 10
53. Mohamed Massaquoi / Browns 8
54. Kevin Walter / Texans 7
55. Laurent Robinson / Rams 9
56. Eddie Royal / Broncos 9
57. Mario Manningham / Giants 8
58. James Jones / Packers 10
59. Early Doucet / Cardinals 6
60. Devery Henderson / Saints 10
61. Mike Thomas / Jaguars 9
62. Brandon LaFell / Panthers 6
63. Golden Tate / Seahawks 5
64. Jordy Nelson / Packers 10
65. Arrelious Benn / Buccaneers 4
66. Nate Washington / Titans 9
67. Sidney Rice / Vikings 4
68. Legedu Naanee / Chargers 10
69. Josh Morgan / 49ers 9
70. Julian Edelman / Patriots 5
71. Anthony Gonzalez / Colts 7
72. Dexter McCluster / Chiefs 4
73. Demaryius Thomas / Broncos 9
74. Brian Hartline / Dolphins 5
75. Davone Bess / Dolphins 5
76. Devin Thomas / Redskins 9
77. Jason Avant / Eagles 8
78. Brandon Gibson / Rams 9
79. Justin Gage / Titans 9
80. Deion Branch / Seahawks 5

   
Tight ends   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. Dallas Clark / Colts 7
2. Antonio Gates / Chargers 10
3. Vernon Davis / 49ers 9
4. Jermichael Finley / Packers 10
5. Jason Witten / Cowboys 4
6. Brent Celek / Eagles 8
7. Tony Gonzalez / Falcons 8
8. Owen Daniels / Texans 7
9. Kellen Winslow / Buccaneers 4
10. Visanthe Shiancoe / Vikings 4
11. Chris Cooley / Redskins 9
12. Zach Miller / Raiders 10
13. John Carlson / Seahawks 5
14. Heath Miller / Steelers 5
15. Dustin Keller / Jets 7
16. Greg Olsen / Bears 8
17. Jeremy Shockey / Saints 10
18. Marcedes Lewis / Jaguars 9
19. Tony Scheffler / Lions 7
20. Todd Heap / Ravens 8
21. Kevin Boss / Giants 8
22. Fred Davis / Redskins 9
23. Benjamin Watson / Browns 8
24. Jermaine Gresham / Bengals 6
25. Bo Scaife / Titans 9
26. Anthony Fasano / Dolphins 5
27. Brandon Pettigrew / Lions 7
28. Rob Gronkowski / Patriots 5
29. Tony Moeaki / Chiefs 4
30. Jared Cook / Titans 9

   
Placekickers   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. Nate Kaeding / Chargers 10
2. Stephen Gostkowski / Patriots 5
3. David Akers / Eagles 8
4. Ryan Longwell / Vikings 4
5. Garrett Hartley / Saints 10
6. Mason Crosby / Packers 10
7. Robbie Gould / Bears 8
8. Rob Bironas / Titans 9
9. Lawrence Tynes / Giants 8
10. Jay Feely / Cardinals 6
11. Texans PK 7
12. Dan Carpenter / Dolphins 5
13. Jeff Reed / Steelers 5
14. Sebastian Janikowski / Raiders 10
15. Matt Prater / Broncos 9
16. Shayne Graham / Ravens 8
17. Nick Folk / Jets 7
18. Adam Vinatieri / Colts 7
19. Ryan Succop / Chiefs 4
20. Joe Nedney / 49ers 9

   
Defenses/Special teams   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. New York Jets 7
2. Minnesota Vikings 4
3. Green Bay Packers 10
4. Dallas Cowboys 4
5. Pittsburgh Steelers 5
6. Baltimore Ravens 8
7. Philadelphia Eagles 8
8. New Orleans Saints 10
9. San Francisco 49ers 9
10. Chicago Bears 8
11. San Diego Chargers 10
12. New England Patriots 5
13. Cincinnati Bengals 6
14. New York Giants 8
15. Miami Dolphins 5
16. Arizona Cardinals 6
17. Houston Texans 7
18. Indianapolis Colts 7
19. Tennessee Titans 9
20. Washington Redskins 9

Top 100 overall   
Rk. Pos / Player / Team  

1. RB Chris Johnson / Titans  
2. RB Adrian Peterson / Vikings  
3. RB Maurice Jones-Drew / Jaguars  
4. RB Ray Rice / Ravens  
5. RB Michael Turner / Falcons
6. RB Frank Gore / 49ers 
7. RB Steven Jackson / Rams
8. QB Aaron Rodgers / Packers  
9. WR Andre Johnson / Texans
10. RB Rashard Mendenhall / Steelers
11. QB Drew Brees / Saints 
12. RB Cedric Benson / Bengals
13. RB DeAngelo Williams / Panthers  
14. WR Randy Moss / Patriots  
15. QB Peyton Manning / Colts
16. RB Ryan Grant / Packers  
17. RB Shonn Greene / Jets 
18. WR Reggie Wayne / Colts
19. RB Ryan Mathews / Chargers
20. WR Calvin Johnson / Lions  
21. WR Miles Austin / Cowboys
22. RB Beanie Wells / Cardinals
23. WR Brandon Marshall / Dolphins  
24. WR Roddy White / Falcons  
25. RB Jonathan Stewart / Panthers
26. RB Pierre Thomas / Saints
27. WR Larry Fitzgerald / Cardinals 
28. WR DeSean Jackson / Eagles 
29. RB Jamaal Charles / Chiefs 
30. QB Matt Schaub / Texans
31. RB Knowshon Moreno / Broncos
32. QB Tony Romo / Cowboys
33. WR Greg Jennings / Packers  
34. WR Marques Colston / Saints
35. RB Ronnie Brown / Dolphins
36. TE Dallas Clark / Colts
37. RB Joseph Addai / Colts
38. TE Antonio Gates / Chargers
39. QB Tom Brady / Patriots 
40. WR Steve Smith / Giants
41. WR Steve Smith / Panthers
42. RB Jahvid Best / Lions
43. WR Chad Ochocinco / Bengals  
44. RB LeSean McCoy / Eagles
45. WR Anquan Boldin / Ravens 
46. WR Hines Ward / Steelers
47. TE Vernon Davis / 49ers
48. RB Felix Jones / Cowboys
49. WR Mike Sims-Walker / Jaguars
50. QB Philip Rivers / Chargers
51. WR Dwayne Bowe / Chiefs  
52. WR Hakeem Nicks / Giants 
53. RB Matt Forté / Bears 
54. WR Michael Crabtree / 49ers
55. WR Wes Welker / Patriots
56. TE Jermichael Finley / Packers
57. WR Percy Harvin / Vikings
58. QB Joe Flacco / Ravens
59. TE Jason Witten / Cowboys
60. RB Arian Foster / Texans
61. RB Brandon Jacobs / Giants
62. WR Jeremy Maclin / Eagles  
63. TE Brent Celek / Eagles
64. RB Marion Barber / Cowboys  
65. QB Eli Manning / Giants 
66. RB Ricky Williams / Dolphins
67. WR Santana Moss / Redskins 
68. WR Mike Wallace / Steelers
69. RB Ahmad Bradshaw / Giants
70. TE Tony Gonzalez / Falcons
71. RB C.J. Spiller / Bills
72. RB Michael Bush / Raiders
73. QB Brett Favre / Vikings
74. TE Owen Daniels / Texans
75. RB Reggie Bush / Saints
76. WR Malcom Floyd / Chargers
77. WR Pierre Garcon / Colts
78. QB Jay Cutler / Bears
79. QB Kevin Kolb / Eagles 
80. WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh / Seahawks
81. RB Thomas Jones / Chiefs 
82. WR Donald Driver / Packers
83. WR Robert Meachem / Saints
84. QB Donovan McNabb / Redskins 
85. WR Dez Bryant / Cowboys
86. TE Kellen Winslow / Buccaneers  
87. RB Justin Forsett / Seahawks
88. RB Fred Jackson / Bills 
89. RB Montario Hardesty / Browns 
90. QB Matt Ryan / Falcons 
91. RB Cadillac Williams / Buccaneers 
92. RB Jerome Harrison / Browns  
93. RB Clinton Portis / Redskins  
94. WR Braylon Edwards / Jets  
95. WR Lee Evans / Bills
96. WR Johnny Knox / Bears
97. RB LaDainian Tomlinson / Jets
98. WR Steve Breaston / Cardinals 
99. WR Bernard Berrian / Vikings
100. TE Visanthe Shiancoe / Vikings

For authoritative coverage and analysis of NFL news, free agency and fantasy football, visit ProFootballWeekly.com.

Just completed my fantasy football draft. 10 teams with positions 2 (QB), 4 (RB). 5 (WR), 2 (K), 2 (DEF).

 

This is who I selected in the order in which I picked. I had the 4th overall pick.

1. RB Ray Rice Balt

2. RB Rashard Mendenhall Pitt

3. WR Mikes Austin Dal

4. Steve Smith NYG

5. QB Matt Schaub

6. DEF Philadelphia

7. RB Johnathan Stewart Car 

8. WR Jeremy Mackin Phil

9. K Rob Bironas Tenn

10. QB Joe Flacco Balt

11. RB Marion Barber Dal

12. K Sebastian Janikowski Oak

13. WR Justin Edelman NE

14. WR Pierre Garcon Ind

15. DEF Tennesse

 

Had it all automated. Show the drafted selections on a 47 inch TV and a running ticker at the bottom. It was pretty cool.

 

How do you think I did.
 

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Well, after your humble commissioner nearly blew up the league by forgetting to change one of the settings, the Official Daily Norseman Fantasy Football League was drafted yesterday.  We managed to get through 16 rounds of drafting in a 12-team draft in approximately an hour and 20 minutes, and a good time was had by all.  It just about didn't happen, but thanks to the features and flexibility of the CBSSports.com Fantasy Football Commissioner, we got past the minor hiccup in relatively short order.

See, there's a setting for the league that asks you if you want to use the "Draft Robot."  I wasn't entirely sure what that meant, so I left it set to "no."  Well, it turns out that that activates the "auto pick" feature after a certain time period, and if you don't turn it on, you have unlimited time to make your selections.  So, when we got the the #5 overall pick and that person wasn't there, the draft screeched to a halt.  However, I was able to go back into the league manager, reset the draft, empty out the rosters, immediately reschedule the draft for 15 minutes from the time we realized something was wrong. . .let's see you do THAT on one of those "free" services. . .and we started the draft at 11:30 AM Central rather than 11 as if nothing had happened.

So, here are the results from the draft, with a poll at the end to see who you all think came out the best after draft day.  This post may also set a Daily Norseman record for most players tagged in one post, but we shall see.  I'll list the teams in the order they drafted in Round One, and the number in parenthesis behind them will be the round a particular player was taken in.  Teams with a * were auto-picked by the computer, as you'll be able to see by a bit of. . .shall we say, "disparity". . .in the make-up of their rosters.

8-Bit Bowling

QB - Philip Rivers (2), Jake Delhomme (15)
RB - Chris Johnson (1), Jahvid Best (4), Michael Bush (9), Leon Washington (10)
WR - Larry Fitzgerald (3), Hakeem Nicks (6), Steve Breaston (7), Vincent Jackson (11), Jerricho Cotchery (12), Austin Collie (14)
TE - Jason Witten (5), Jim Kleinsasser (16)
K - Adam Vinatieri (13)
D - Ravens (8)

AP's 14 LB Balls

QB - Ben Roethlisberger (11), Mark Sanchez (14)
RB - Adrian Peterson (1), Jonathan Stewart (4), Ahmad Bradshaw (6), Darren Sproles (9), Donald Brown (13)
WR - Miles Austin (2), Michael Crabtree (5), Malcolm Floyd (7), T.J. Houshmandzadeh (8), Jabar Gaffney (10), Jacoby Jones (12)
TE - Dallas Clark (3)
K - Ryan Succop (16)
D - Dolphins (15)

Maulers of America

QB - Jay Cutler (6), Matt Ryan (9)
RB - Maurice Jones-Drew (1), Jamaal Charles (3), Knowshon Moreno (5), Beanie Wells (7)
WR - Calvin Johnson (2), Steve Smith (4, Carolina version), Santana Moss (8), Lee Evans (10)
TE - John Carlson (11), Jeremy Shockey (15)
K - Jeff Reed (14), Sebastian Janikowski (16)
D - Saints (12), Cardinals (13)

Dead Parrots Society

QB - Carson Palmer (4), Matt Cassel (11)
RB - Ray Rice (1), Rashard Mendenhall (3), Justin Forsett (7), Darren McFadden (10), Montario Hardesty (15)
WR - Brandon Marshall (2), Percy Harvin (5), Pierre Garcon (6), Santonio Holmes (9), Laurent Robinson (14)
TE - Chris Cooley (8), Tony Scheffler (16)
K - Rob Bironas (12)
D - Bengals (13)

VikingsRule*

QB - Aaron Rodgers (1), Alex Smith (11), Chad Henne (13), David Garrard (14)
RB - Cedric Benson (3), LeSean McCoy (4), Tim Hightower (5), Brandon Jacobs (10), Laurence Maroney (16)
WR - Roddy White (2), Dwayne Bowe (6)
TE - Owen Daniels (9)
K - Garrett Hartley (7), David Buehler (12), Jay Feely (15)
D - Packers (8)

Shank's Redemption

QB - Tom Brady (2), Sam Bradford (13)
RB - Frank Gore (1), Matt Forte (5), Jerome Harrison (7), Ricky Williams (8), Marion Barber (9)
WR - Marques Colston (3), Greg Jennings (4), Braylon Edwards (11), Dez Bryant (12)
TE - Brent Celek (6), Jermaine Gresham (15)
K - Matt Prater (14)
D - Eagles (10), Titans (16)

Norseman of the Apocalypse*

QB - Peyton Manning (1), Donovan McNabb (10)
RB - Felix Jones (6), Cadillac Williams (7), Fred Jackson (11), Thomas Jones (13)
WR - Randy Moss (2), DeSean Jackson (3), Steve Smith (4, NYG version)
TE - Heath Miller (9)
K - David Akers (8), Lawrence Tynes (12), Robbie Gould (14), Neil Rackers (15), Nick Folk (16)
D - Jets (5)

REVENGE4FAVRE

QB - Brett Favre (3. . .and, believe me, I'm as shocked as you are), Matt Hasselbeck (14)
RB - Michael Turner (1), Ryan Mathews (2), Ronnie Brown (4), Toby Gerhart (16)
WR - Terrell Owens (5), Mike Sims-Walker (6), Derrick Mason (10), Robert Meachem (11)
TE - Kellen Winslow (8), Dustin Keller (12), Rob Gronkowski (13)
K - Ryan Longwell (7)
D - Vikings (9), Falcons (15)

It's Destiny

QB - Matt Schaub (2), Kevin Kolb (8)
RB - Pierre Thomas (3), Clinton Portis (7), LaDainian Tomlinson (11)
WR - Andre Johnson (1), Wes Welker (4), Hines Ward (6), Sidney Rice (12), Chris Chambers (14), Eddie Royal (15), Legedu Naanee (16)
TE - Tony Gonzalez (5), Greg Olsen (13)
K - Mason Crosby (10)
D - Cowboys (9)

Preying Amish

QB - Joe Flacco (9), Vince Young (11)
RB - DeAngelo Williams (1), Shonn Greene (2), Arian Foster (6), Larry Johnson (12), Javon Ringer (15)
WR - Anquan Boldin (3), Mike Wallace (7), Johnny Knox (10), Mike Williams (13, Tampa Bay version), Greg Camarillo (16)
TE - Vernon Davis (4), Jermichael Finley (5)
K - Dan Carpenter (14)
D - 49ers (8)

Metropolitan Upperdeckers

QB - Tony Romo (2), Kyle Orton (11)
RB - Reggie Bush (4), C.J. Spiller (6), Steve Slaton (9)
WR - Reggie Wayne (1), Donald Driver (7), Bernard Berrian (8), Nate Washington (15)
TE - Antonio Gates (3), Visanthe Shiancoe (5), Kevin Boss (13)
K - Nate Kaeding (10), Joe Nedney (16)
D - Colts (12), Chargers (14)

Purple Jesus Drank*

QB - Drew Brees (1), Eli Manning (10), Matthew Stafford (11), Josh Freeman (15)
RB - Steven Jackson (2), Joseph Addai (3), Ryan Grant (4), Chester Taylor (12)
WR - Chad Ochocinco (6), Jeremy Maclin (9)
TE - Zach Miller (7)
K - Stephen Gostkowski (8), Shayne Graham (13), Matt Bryant (16)
D - Steelers (5), Patriots (14)

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Poll

Which team do you believe came out the best in the 2010 Daily Norseman Fantasy League Draft?

• 8-Bit Bowling
• AP's 14 LB Balls
• Maulers of America
• Dead Parrots Society
• VikingsRule
• Shank's Redemption
• Norsemen of the Apocalypse
• REVENGE4FAVRE
• It's Destiny
• Preying Amish
• Metropolitan Upperdeckers
• Purple Jesus Drank

  2 votes | Results

The News Austin Collie (undisclosed injury) returned to practice for the Colts on Saturday, according to the Indianapolis Star. Our View Collie should be good to go for the regular season. It remains to be seen how snaps will be split between him, Pierre Garcon and Anthony Gonzalez.

12 Vote(s)

Although there were several points of concern and praise that could be taken from the third preseason debacle that took place in Lambeau Field, we will focus in on two of the major points that will play a key role in the Colts run at a Super Bowl. From the performances of Pierre Garcon and Reggie Wayne to [...]

The draft board below will be updated until the start of the regular season.

Quarterbacks   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. Aaron Rodgers / Packers 10
2. Drew Brees / Saints 10
3. Peyton Manning / Colts 7
4. Matt Schaub / Texans 7
5. Tony Romo / Cowboys 4
6. Tom Brady / Patriots 5
7. Philip Rivers / Chargers 10
8. Joe Flacco / Ravens 8
9. Eli Manning / Giants 8
10. Brett Favre / Vikings 4
11. Jay Cutler / Bears 8
12. Kevin Kolb / Eagles 8
13. Donovan McNabb / Redskins 9
14. Matt Ryan / Falcons 8
15. Carson Palmer / Bengals 6
16. Ben Roethlisberger / Steelers 5
17. Chad Henne / Dolphins 5
18. Matthew Stafford / Lions 7
19. Alex Smith / 49ers 9
20. Matt Cassel / Chiefs 4
21. David Garrard / Jaguars 9
22. Vince Young / Titans 9
23. Mark Sanchez / Jets 7
24. Jason Campbell / Raiders 10
25. Kyle Orton / Broncos 9
26. Derek Anderson / Cardinals 6
27. Matt Hasselbeck / Seahawks 5
28. Josh Freeman / Buccaneers 4
29. Matt Moore / Panthers 6
30. Sam Bradford / Rams 9
31. Jake Delhomme / Browns 8
32. Trent Edwards / Bills 6
33. Michael Vick / Eagles 8
34. Byron Leftwich / Steelers 5
35. Matt Leinart / Cardinals 6
36. Tarvaris Jackson / Vikings 4
37. Seneca Wallace / Browns 8
38. Charlie Whitehurst / Seahawks 5
39. Jimmy Clausen / Panthers 6
40. Tim Tebow / Broncos 9

Running backs   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. Chris Johnson / Titans 9
2. Adrian Peterson / Vikings 4
3. Maurice Jones-Drew / Jaguars 9
4. Ray Rice / Ravens 8
5. Michael Turner / Falcons 8
6. Frank Gore / 49ers 9
7. Steven Jackson / Rams 9
8. Rashard Mendenhall / Steelers 5
9. Cedric Benson / Bengals 6
10. DeAngelo Williams / Panthers 6
11. Ryan Grant / Packers 10
12. Shonn Greene / Jets 7
13. Ryan Mathews / Chargers 10
14. Beanie Wells / Cardinals 6
15. Jonathan Stewart / Panthers 6
16. Pierre Thomas / Saints 10
17. Jamaal Charles / Chiefs 4
18. Knowshon Moreno / Broncos 9
19. Ronnie Brown / Dolphins 5
20. Joseph Addai / Colts 7
21. Felix Jones / Cowboys 4
22. LeSean McCoy / Eagles 8
23. Jahvid Best / Lions 7
24. Matt Forté / Bears 8
25. Brandon Jacobs / Giants 8
26. Marion Barber / Cowboys 4
27. Ricky Williams / Dolphins 5
28. Michael Bush / Raiders 10
29. Ahmad Bradshaw / Giants 8
30. Arian Foster / Texans 7
31. C.J. Spiller / Bills 6
32. Reggie Bush / Saints 10
33. Thomas Jones / Chiefs 4
34. Justin Forsett / Seahawks 5
35. Fred Jackson / Bills 6
36. Montario Hardesty / Browns 8
37. Cadillac Williams / Buccaneers 4
38. Jerome Harrison / Browns 8
39. Clinton Portis / Redskins 9
40. LaDainian Tomlinson / Jets 7
41. Tim Hightower / Cardinals 6
42. Chester Taylor / Bears 8
43. Donald Brown / Colts 7
44. Willis McGahee / Ravens 8
45. Darren McFadden / Raiders 10
46. Darren Sproles / Chargers 10
47. Steve Slaton / Texans 7
48. Leon Washington / Seahawks 5
49. Laurence Maroney / Patriots 5
50. Correll Buckhalter / Broncos 9
51. Kevin Smith / Lions 7
52. Larry Johnson / Redskins 9
53. Mike Bell / Eagles 8
54. Marshawn Lynch / Bills 6
55. Javon Ringer / Titans 9
56. Toby Gerhart / Vikings 4
57. Bernard Scott / Bengals 6
58. Rashad Jennings / Jaguars 9
59. Fred Taylor / Patriots 5
60. Julius Jones / Seahawks 5
61. Jason Snelling / Falcons 8
62. Brian Westbrook / 49ers 9
63. Mewelde Moore / Steelers 5
64. Tashard Choice / Cowboys 4
65. Jerious Norwood / Falcons 8
66. Anthony Dixon / 49ers 9
67. Sammy Morris / Patriots 5
68. Brandon Jackson / Packers 10
69. Kareem Huggins / Buccaneers 4
70. Joe McKnight / Jets 7

   
Wide receivers   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. Andre Johnson / Texans 7
2. Randy Moss / Patriots 5
3. Reggie Wayne / Colts 7
4. Calvin Johnson / Lions 7
5. Miles Austin / Cowboys 4
6. Brandon Marshall / Dolphins 5
7. Roddy White / Falcons 8
8. Larry Fitzgerald / Cardinals 6
9. DeSean Jackson / Eagles 8
10. Greg Jennings / Packers 10
11. Marques Colston / Saints 10
12. Steve Smith / Giants 8
13. Steve Smith / Panthers 6
14. Chad Ochocinco / Bengals 6
15. Anquan Boldin / Ravens 8
16. Hines Ward / Steelers 5
17. Mike Sims-Walker / Jaguars 9
18. Dwayne Bowe / Chiefs 4
19. Hakeem Nicks / Giants 8
20. Michael Crabtree / 49ers 9
21. Wes Welker / Patriots 5
22. Percy Harvin / Vikings 4
23. Jeremy Maclin / Eagles 8
24. Santana Moss / Redskins 9
25. Mike Wallace / Steelers 5
26. Malcom Floyd / Chargers 10
27. Pierre Garcon / Colts 7
28. T.J. Houshmandzadeh / Seahawks 5
29. Donald Driver / Packers 10
30. Robert Meachem / Saints 10
31. Steve Breaston / Cardinals 6
32. Dez Bryant / Cowboys 4
33. Braylon Edwards / Jets 7
34. Lee Evans / Bills 6
35. Johnny Knox / Bears 8
36. Bernard Berrian / Vikings 4
37. Derrick Mason / Ravens 8
38. Terrell Owens / Bengals 6
39. Santonio Holmes / Jets 7
40. Nate Burleson / Lions 7
41. Devin Aromashodu / Bears 8
42. Kevin Walter / Texans 7
43. Kenny Britt / Titans 9
44. Devin Hester / Bears 8
45. Jabar Gaffney / Broncos 9
46. Vincent Jackson / Chargers 10
47. Jerricho Cotchery / Jets 7
48. Chris Chambers / Chiefs 4
49. Mike Williams / Buccaneers 4
50. Roy Williams / Cowboys 4
51. Austin Collie / Colts 7
52. Louis Murphy / Raiders 10
53. Mohamed Massaquoi / Browns 8
54. Jacoby Jones / Texans 7
55. Laurent Robinson / Rams 9
56. Eddie Royal / Broncos 9
57. Mario Manningham / Giants 8
58. Golden Tate / Seahawks 5
59. James Jones / Packers 10
60. Early Doucet / Cardinals 6
61. Devery Henderson / Saints 10
62. Mike Thomas / Jaguars 9
63. Brandon LaFell / Panthers 6
64. Jordy Nelson / Packers 10
65. Arrelious Benn / Buccaneers 4
66. Nate Washington / Titans 9
67. Sidney Rice / Vikings 4
68. Legedu Naanee / Chargers 10
69. Josh Morgan / 49ers 9
70. Julian Edelman / Patriots 5
71. Anthony Gonzalez / Colts 7
72. Brandon Gibson / Rams 9
73. Demaryius Thomas / Broncos 9
74. Brian Hartline / Dolphins 5
75. Davone Bess / Dolphins 5
76. Devin Thomas / Redskins 9
77. Jason Avant / Eagles 8
78. Dexter McCluster / Chiefs 4
79. Donté Stallworth / Ravens 8
80. Antonio Bryant / Bengals 6

   
Tight ends   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. Dallas Clark / Colts 7
2. Antonio Gates / Chargers 10
3. Vernon Davis / 49ers 9
4. Jermichael Finley / Packers 10
5. Jason Witten / Cowboys 4
6. Brent Celek / Eagles 8
7. Tony Gonzalez / Falcons 8
8. Owen Daniels / Texans 7
9. Kellen Winslow / Buccaneers 4
10. Visanthe Shiancoe / Vikings 4
11. Chris Cooley / Redskins 9
12. Zach Miller / Raiders 10
13. John Carlson / Seahawks 5
14. Heath Miller / Steelers 5
15. Dustin Keller / Jets 7
16. Greg Olsen / Bears 8
17. Jeremy Shockey / Saints 10
18. Marcedes Lewis / Jaguars 9
19. Tony Scheffler / Lions 7
20. Todd Heap / Ravens 8
21. Kevin Boss / Giants 8
22. Fred Davis / Redskins 9
23. Benjamin Watson / Browns 8
24. Jermaine Gresham / Bengals 6
25. Bo Scaife / Titans 9
26. Anthony Fasano / Dolphins 5
27. Brandon Pettigrew / Lions 7
28. Rob Gronkowski / Patriots 5
29. Tony Moeaki / Chiefs 4
30. Jared Cook / Titans 9

   
Placekickers   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. Nate Kaeding / Chargers 10
2. Stephen Gostkowski / Patriots 5
3. David Akers / Eagles 8
4. Ryan Longwell / Vikings 4
5. Garrett Hartley / Saints 10
6. Mason Crosby / Packers 10
7. Robbie Gould / Bears 8
8. Rob Bironas / Titans 9
9. Lawrence Tynes / Giants 8
10. Jay Feely / Cardinals 6
11. Texans PK 7
12. Dan Carpenter / Dolphins 5
13. Jeff Reed / Steelers 5
14. Sebastian Janikowski / Raiders 10
15. Matt Prater / Broncos 9
16. Shayne Graham / Ravens 8
17. Nick Folk / Jets 7
18. Adam Vinatieri / Colts 7
19. Ryan Succop / Chiefs 4
20. Joe Nedney / 49ers 9

   
Defenses/Special teams   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. New York Jets 7
2. Minnesota Vikings 4
3. Green Bay Packers 10
4. Dallas Cowboys 4
5. Pittsburgh Steelers 5
6. Baltimore Ravens 8
7. Philadelphia Eagles 8
8. New Orleans Saints 10
9. San Francisco 49ers 9
10. Chicago Bears 8
11. San Diego Chargers 10
12. New England Patriots 5
13. Cincinnati Bengals 6
14. New York Giants 8
15. Miami Dolphins 5
16. Arizona Cardinals 6
17. Houston Texans 7
18. Indianapolis Colts 7
19. Tennessee Titans 9
20. Washington Redskins 9

Top 100 overall   
Rk. Pos / Player / Team  

1. RB Chris Johnson / Titans  
2. RB Adrian Peterson / Vikings  
3. RB Maurice Jones-Drew / Jaguars  
4. RB Ray Rice / Ravens  
5. RB Michael Turner / Falcons
6. RB Frank Gore / 49ers 
7. RB Steven Jackson / Rams
8. QB Aaron Rodgers / Packers  
9. WR Andre Johnson / Texans
10. RB Rashard Mendenhall / Steelers
11. QB Drew Brees / Saints 
12. RB Cedric Benson / Bengals
13. RB DeAngelo Williams / Panthers  
14. WR Randy Moss / Patriots  
15. QB Peyton Manning / Colts
16. RB Ryan Grant / Packers  
17. RB Shonn Greene / Jets 
18. WR Reggie Wayne / Colts
19. RB Ryan Mathews / Chargers
20. WR Calvin Johnson / Lions  
21. WR Miles Austin / Cowboys
22. RB Beanie Wells / Cardinals
23. WR Brandon Marshall / Dolphins  
24. WR Roddy White / Falcons  
25. RB Jonathan Stewart / Panthers
26. RB Pierre Thomas / Saints
27. WR Larry Fitzgerald / Cardinals 
28. WR DeSean Jackson / Eagles 
29. RB Jamaal Charles / Chiefs 
30. QB Matt Schaub / Texans
31. RB Knowshon Moreno / Broncos
32. QB Tony Romo / Cowboys
33. WR Greg Jennings / Packers  
34. WR Marques Colston / Saints
35. RB Ronnie Brown / Dolphins
36. TE Dallas Clark / Colts
37. RB Joseph Addai / Colts
38. TE Antonio Gates / Chargers
39. QB Tom Brady / Patriots 
40. WR Steve Smith / Giants
41. WR Steve Smith / Panthers
42. RB Felix Jones / Cowboys
43. WR Chad Ochocinco / Bengals  
44. RB LeSean McCoy / Eagles
45. RB Jahvid Best / Lions 
46. WR Anquan Boldin / Ravens 
47. WR Hines Ward / Steelers
48. TE Vernon Davis / 49ers
49. WR Mike Sims-Walker / Jaguars
50. QB Philip Rivers / Chargers
51. WR Dwayne Bowe / Chiefs  
52. WR Hakeem Nicks / Giants 
53. RB Matt Forté / Bears 
54. WR Michael Crabtree / 49ers
55. WR Wes Welker / Patriots
56. TE Jermichael Finley / Packers
57. WR Percy Harvin / Vikings
58. QB Joe Flacco / Ravens
59. TE Jason Witten / Cowboys
60. RB Brandon Jacobs / Giants
61. WR Jeremy Maclin / Eagles  
62. TE Brent Celek / Eagles
63. RB Marion Barber / Cowboys  
64. QB Eli Manning / Giants 
65. RB Ricky Williams / Dolphins
66. WR Santana Moss / Redskins 
67. WR Mike Wallace / Steelers
68. RB Michael Bush / Raiders
69. RB Ahmad Bradshaw / Giants
70. TE Tony Gonzalez / Falcons
71. RB Arian Foster / Texans
72. RB C.J. Spiller / Bills
73. QB Brett Favre / Vikings
74. TE Owen Daniels / Texans
75. RB Reggie Bush / Saints
76. WR Malcom Floyd / Chargers
77. WR Pierre Garcon / Colts
78. QB Jay Cutler / Bears
79. QB Kevin Kolb / Eagles 
80. WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh / Seahawks
81. RB Thomas Jones / Chiefs 
82. WR Donald Driver / Packers
83. WR Robert Meachem / Saints 
84. WR Steve Breaston / Cardinals  
85. QB Donovan McNabb / Redskins 
86. WR Dez Bryant / Cowboys
87. TE Kellen Winslow / Buccaneers  
88. RB Justin Forsett / Seahawks
89. RB Fred Jackson / Bills 
90. RB Montario Hardesty / Browns 
91. QB Matt Ryan / Falcons 
92. RB Cadillac Williams / Buccaneers 
93. RB Jerome Harrison / Browns  
94. RB Clinton Portis / Redskins  
95. WR Braylon Edwards / Jets  
96. WR Lee Evans / Bills
97. WR Johnny Knox / Bears
98. RB LaDainian Tomlinson / Jets
99. WR Bernard Berrian / Vikings
100. TE Visanthe Shiancoe / Vikings

For authoritative coverage and analysis of NFL news, free agency and fantasy football, visit ProFootballWeekly.com.

I’m a walking contradiction when it comes to fantasy football drafting...

• Form your own opinions and don’t rely on experts...but rely on experts to form your own opinions.
• Be flexible...but make sure you know exactly what you’re going to do during every round.
• Draft for value...but reeeeeeeach for gems that you think will be gone by your next pick.

See what I’m saying? Looks as gross on paper as Donnie Avery’s knee looked at Foxboro...actually, the grossest thing about that was Devin McCourty and Brandon Meriweather pimping all over the world together as Avery writhed in pain beneath them, but I digress. (Laurent Robinson value increase alert.)

Anyway, I don’t have a profound explanation for how all those contradictions work together, but I’ll run through each in turn. (I’ll follow up soon with more thoughts on specific positions and players.)

 

Form your own opinions and don’t rely on experts...but rely on experts to form your own opinions.

I don’t take a training camp tour every year. I can’t even get the NFL Network because the building I live in is classified as “historic” (it’s not).

Even if I could watch everything firsthand, I’m no NFL scout, and I don’t pretend to be. I played high school football and lots of Madden, and I generally know what I’m seeing, but to pretend I’m a qualified NFL talent evaluator is naïve. Are you? (You’re not.)

But I do have access to an endless stream of news, stats, data, updates, and analysis through the interwebs. I liken being a good fantasy player to being a good CEO...you build a good team of folks you trust to do the grunt work; then you analyze the information they provide; then you make (and own) the final call.

Absorb as much news and analysis as you can, and analyze that information as well as you can. But then, at some point, you have to develop your own opinions, ranks, and draft strategies. Only then will you reach true draft nirvana, young grasshopper.

 

Be flexible...but make sure you know exactly what you’re going to do during every round.

It’s one of the bona fide nugs of fantasy goodness you read everywhere: Be flexible in your draft. It’s true, but if you go in with your team too well-defined in your mind, you’re going to end up disappointed.

However, you also need to have a pretty, pretty, prrrettty, prrreettttty good idea of what’s going to be around when your picks come, and that comes from a combination of keeping an eye on average draft position (ADP) and mock drafting. (My ADP go-to is at Fantasy Football Calculator...but that may just be because it’s the first one The Googs gives me. Would love to hear of which ones you prefer.)

It’s been written about very well on this site before, but ADP is the average spot where a player’s being taken, and it’s a pretty dependable forecaster with a large enough sample size. Here’s a quick run of how to use ADP:

• Step one to is to determine your picks, i.e. pick 10 in a 12-team league gives you pick 10, 15, 34, 39, etc.
• Step two is identifying a range of players you might expect to be around at those picks. Pick 10 gives you RBs S-Jax, Ryan Mathews, Rashard Mendenhall; WRs Randy Moss, Reggie Wayne, Megatron, Miles Austin; and QBs Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees. Create ranges for each pick throughout your draft, and begin to identify different scenarios with which you’re most comfy, i.e. WR-RB-WR vs. WR-WR-RB vs. RB-WR-WR (sorry, not a QB early guy).
• Step three: Mock draft from your draft slot and try out the different combinations. Are you happier with Wayne, DeAngelo Williams, and a Steve Smith; S-Jax, Roddy White, and Beanie Wells; or what about Wayne, Megatron, Beanie? In which rounds do you need to jump on a position to avoid a positional weakness? Combining ADP knowledge with mock drafts helps you avoid surprises and develop contingency plan after contingency plan for the different turns your draft can take.

There’s no excuse for hitting a point in standard drafts at which you don’t have a qualified opinion of any of the players there and are just picking blindly.

You also need to use a little common sense and follow how the rest of the teams are shaping up. Say you decide to wait on a QB in the Jay Cutler-Kevin Kolb-Joe Flacco tier, and you think it’s a push between the three. It’s your pick at 6-3/63 overall, all three are left, and only two owners between your sixth and seventh-round picks need QBs.

Do the math and wait on the QB, and instead grab a guy like Pierre Garcon or C.J. Spiller to fill in a hole or add depth.

 

Draft for value...but reeeeeeeach for gems that you think will be gone by your next pick.

Knowing ADP and mock drafting is also critical to identifying value picks.

Brandon Jacobs has an ADP right now of 6-12/~72 overall. I’m not hot and heavy on Jacobs, but if he’s still there at my pick late in the seventh round on and I don’t have any other positional holes to fill, the value’s too good to pass up.

The one major drawback about drafting for value is that sometimes it causes owners to pick up guys they don’t like because of their "value.” Case in point, I’m not on the Malcom Floyd bandwagon and wouldn’t even draft him in the ninth round, regardless of his 6-8/~68 overall ADP.

Go into every draft with a list of non-draftables...you should look elsewhere no matter how far Braylon Edwards drops, because he’ll drop just as many balls this season...ba-dum-ching.

You also need to trust your preparation enough to reach on players you think will far outperform their draft slot/rank/projection/etc....if they’re unlikely to be there at your next pick.

Jermichael Finley (ADP 5.02/~50) is my top-ranked TE this year. Would I buy him in the third round? No, but I’m taking him in the fourth (ahead of Antonio Gates, Dallas Clark, and any other TE). I’ve mocked enough to know the odds of him making it back to me in the fifth round are slim (and to know some effective WR/RB/QB combos later in the draft to compensate for taking a TE so early).

 

The single most important thing to remember about fantasy football

Until you have the best players at each position and a bench full of starting players, you shouldn’t be satisfied with your team.

You should continually try to make your team better unless you’re in a league that doesn’t allow trades or severely limits moves (which I respect but don’t like). As soon as the draft is over, flag players on the wire that interest you; identify roster strengths and weaknesses of every team in your league; identify your “untradables” and try to piece together feasible and fair trade packages that might nab you a player you need to fill a weakness.

My favorite part of fantasy football, as anyone who’s ever been in a league with me can attest (and detest), is working out trades. More to come on that in the future, but please let me know if you have any trade questions/scenarios in the meantime. Never too early to hit the market!

 

And now, some things you probably missed this offseason/preseason

Brett Favre came back to the Vikings. Wes Welker’s knee is healthy. Sidney Rice had hip surgery and is out for half the season. Ben Tate is on the IR. There’s some stranger-than-fiction running back battle going on between Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles in Kansas City. Mike Martz is installing an offense in Chicago. Sam Bradford was the No. 1 draft pick.

Nah, I’m joking—you already heard about all of those things.

Everything posted on this blog is my personal opinion, and absolutely right. Not just a Hat Rack, people.

Email me: hat.rack@hattywaiverwireguru.com

Not too late for a 2010 Draft Guide from HWWG for $5.

Pierre Garcon
Robert Meachem
Mike Wallace

All three of them are big play guys.

Who has a better overall season by these 3 categories:
Yards
YPC
TDS

Are any of them going to out produce the other two by a landslide? Projections?

Thanks!

Joe, GoBigBlue88, and a few others pretty much hit all the major notes I wanted to address this morning. I think we can all agree that the new umpire rule does not work, and needs to be scrapped. If it isn't, Roger Goodell should expect to see fewer fans watching football games. The hurry-up offense is a staple of football, and this rule totally destroys it. It's like making a rule that eliminates the shotgun formation.

Put the umpire back were he was. If refs are worried about being hurt, the NFL league office could remind them that this is, you know, football and them's the risks.

Contact sport, refs. Accept it.

The rule aside, the main point I'd like to stress about this game is the score is meaningless. The Packers could start the season 0-3, and no one will remember how good their team looked against the Colts in preseason. During this time of year, the team that 'loses' a preseason game is the team who suffers more injuries, and right now the Colts very much lost their third preseason game. If they'd have gone into Green Bay and smacked the Pack around 45-0, but come away with the various injuries they had last night, I'd consider that a loss.

After the jump, we talk concerns...

Injuries

It sure would be nice to have a season where injuries were not the driving force behind how our team plays, but right now they are the #1 reason why the offense looks out of sync and the defense seemed lost. Losing Gary Brackett to a 'hand injury' was a big blow. Without him and his impressive coverage skills, the Packers attacked the middle of the field all night. Pat Angerer is a good kid, but he cannot cover like Gary. The Pack took advantage of that.

Also injured were Joseph Addai and Jacob Lacey. Both suffered concussions. The o-line, which is absolutely decimated, lost Tony Ugoh with a toe injury.

Right now, it's just to much. It serves no purpose to put Peyton Manning out there behind this group of linemen. Once again I ask, Why was Ryan Lilja cut back in March? Why wasn't Charles Brown drafted in April?

You think the Colts couldn't use them now?

 

Second Quarter Collapses

We saw this in the 49ers preseason game. At the time, we simply blamed Curtis Painter, and rightly so. Once is a coincidence. Twice is a trend, and this trend does not always involve Curtis Painter.

Turnovers, penalties, and inexcusably stupid play resulted in a 21 point second quarter for the Packers. They went on to score 31 unanswered points. Brandon James played himself off the team with that muffed punt. Just dumb. Dumb. Dumb. DUMB.

"I had preset and was ready to catch it, and it drifted back on me,'' James said after the Colts' 59-24 loss to the Packers. "Instead of letting it go, I tried to make the catch and it got away from me.

"You've just got to move on.''

Speaking of 'letting go,' look for Brandon to get let go in a few weeks. The muff happened after he signaled 'fair catch.' Inexcusable, bonehead play. After that muff, the team went into a shell and just seemed to want to get out of Green Bay as quickly as possible.

Oh, and speaking of trends, the Colts defense surrendered 75% of their third downs. An entire off-season of work to correct the main weakness of the defense, and in the 'dress rehearsal' game, they look worse than ever.

 

Far Too Many Mistakes

Overall, the Colts had four fumbles and two INTs on offense. That simply will not win football games on the road, even in preseason. They also had 12 penalties for 116 yards. I mean, come on! Why even play the game if you are going to surrender that sh*t?

 

Despite All This, The Positives...?

It's still preseason. The score means nothing. Everyone calm down.

If you want to get really concerned, look at the injury report. I'm not so concerned about the ump rule because the NFL will likely change it back. Roger Goodell said they wanted  to see how it would work in preseason. Well, we saw, and it's a disaster.

Players like Pierre Garcon, Clint Session, Adam Vinatieri, Fili Moala, Dwight Freeney, and Bob Sanders looked very good last night. All of these guys are either returning from injury, or they are trying to prove that they are better and more-focused this year. Ole Bob played 45 plays last night.

I was also encouraged by Ray Fisher. His 58-yard return was a good spark. Ray needed to make a play in this game, and he did. He also had two tackles.

Colts interior defense held the Packers to 2.7 rushing yards per carry. However, teams are throwing the ball more on the Colts. Aaron Rodgers went 21-29. Yes, the Packers o-line held early and often. It wasn't called. Then again, the Colts offensive line (which is terrible right now) likely did the same. It's preseason. Refs just want the games over with. Flagging people left and right for holding calls is a waste.

The key right now for the Colts is just to heal up. Most of the guys who looked truly terrible last night will not be with the team after the fourth preseason game. The Colts just need to get all available horses back ASAP, which they will.

Green Bay, WI (Sports Network) - Aaron Rodgers threw for 195 yards and three touchdowns, as Green Bay flexed its offensive muscle in a 59-24 rout of Indianapolis at Lambeau Field.

Rodgers completed 21-of-29 passes to increase his preseason stats to 41-of-53 for 470 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions, as the Packers won for the second time in three exhibition games. Matt Flynn threw for another two touchdowns in the win.

Jermichael Finley led the receiving attack with six catches for 85 yards and a score, while Donald Driver and James Jones each caught a touchdown pass in the win. Jason Chery capped the scoring with a long 75-yard punt return for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

Peyton Manning completed 15-of-26 passes for 214 yards and two touchdowns while throwing one interception in the loss, as the Colts fell to 0-3 in preseason action this season and 4-21 since 2005. This is the sixth consecutive losing exhibition schedule for the Colts, although they haven't missed the playoffs since 2001.

Pierre Garcon played for the first time this preseason and caught two passes for 42 yards and a score. Reggie Wayne added seven receptions for a game-high 96 yards and a touchdown. Joseph Addai ran for 60 yards in defeat, as the Colts gave up a franchise record most points in a preseason game.

Colts linebacker Gary Brackett suffered a right hand injury in the game late in the first quarter and left to the locker room to be examined. No word was given on the severity of the injury.

(Sports Network) - Quarterback Aaron Rodgers will look to continue his letter- perfect preseason on Thursday night, when Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers welcome the Indianapolis Colts to Lambeau Field in the third preseason outing for each team.

Rodgers has a 154.0 passer rating in the warm-up period, completing 20-of-24 passes for 275 yards with three touchdowns and zero turnovers. Two of the three touchdown strikes came in last Saturday's 27-24 win at the Seattle Seahawks, with tight end Jermichael Finley and fullback John Kuhn both notching scoring grabs for the Pack.

Among players with 10 or more passing attempts in the preseason to date, Rodgers is the NFL leader in passer rating. He is expected to play about a half on Thursday, in keeping with third-game-of-preseason tradition, before yielding to backup Matt Flynn.

Running back Brandon Jackson also comes off a solid outing against the Seahawks, as Ryan Grant's backup carried 11 times for 80 yards in the contest.

Green Bay has some injury concerns at linebacker, where Nick Barnett (knee), A.J. Hawk (ankle), Brad Jones (shoulder) and Clay Matthews (hamstring) all missed last Saturday's game and are question marks for the Indianapolis game.

The Colts, meanwhile, will come into Thursday's contest seeking something that has been most-elusive for their franchise - a preseason win. Last Thursday's 34-21 loss to the Buffalo Bills in Toronto dropped Indy to 4-20 in warm-up games since 2005, and a loss to Green Bay would guarantee a sixth consecutive losing preseason. Indianapolis hasn't missed the playoffs since 2001, however, so another defeat would probably not incite panic in Hoosier country.

Quarterback Peyton Manning, who should play the first half on Thursday, was 8- of-15 for 91 yards, including an interception and a 21-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jacob Tamme, against the Bills. A 17-yard TD run for Joseph Addai was another of the offensive highlights for Indy.

The attack should get a boost on Thursday, as wideout Pierre Garcon, who has missed the first two preseason games with an undisclosed injury, is expected to suit up.

Elsewhere on the injury front for Indianapolis, tight end Dallas Clark (left leg), center Jeff Saturday (knee) and cornerback Jerraud Powers (foot) are not expected to participate against the Packers.

The Colts lead the all-time preseason series with the Packers, 5-3, including a 20-6 home victory in the last such meeting, prior to the 1996 season.

The teams last met in meaningful play in 2008 at Lambeau Field, a 34-14 Packers victory.

The Indianapolis Colts first team offense started off quickly on Thursday night against the Green Bay Packers. Only 22 seconds into the game, QB Peyton Manning had a touchdown pass. On the Colts first play from scrimmage, RB Joseph Addai took a handoff from Manning for 49 yards. The next play, Manning his WR Pierre Garcon for an 18 yard touchdown pass.

Packers QB Aaron Rodgers brought the Packers right back on a six-play drive that included a 48-yard pass interference penalty and a six-yard touchdown pass from Rodgers.

The Colts later kicked a field goal and lead the Packers 10-7 at the end of the first quarter.

Check out Stampede Blue for more Colts and Acme Packing Company for more Packers.

2010 Preseason: Indianapolis Colts at Green Bay Packers
Location: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, WI
Kick-off Time: 8:00pm Eastern

Broadcast: FOX Sports
SB Nation Co-Blog: Acme Packing Company

Colts starters are expected to play into the third quarter. Likely out for tonight's game are Jeff Saturday, Charlie Johnson, Dallas Clark, Jerraud Powers, Devin Moore, and Marcus McCauley. Expected to return are Pierre Garcon, Clint Session, Kyle DeVan, and Mike Hart.

Go Colts!

The draft board below will be updated until the start of the regular season.

Quarterbacks   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. Aaron Rodgers / Packers 10
2. Drew Brees / Saints 10
3. Peyton Manning / Colts 7
4. Matt Schaub / Texans 7
5. Tony Romo / Cowboys 4
6. Tom Brady / Patriots 5
7. Philip Rivers / Chargers 10
8. Joe Flacco / Ravens 8
9. Eli Manning / Giants 8
10. Brett Favre / Vikings 4
11. Jay Cutler / Bears 8
12. Kevin Kolb / Eagles 8
13. Donovan McNabb / Redskins 9
14. Matt Ryan / Falcons 8
15. Carson Palmer / Bengals 6
16. Ben Roethlisberger / Steelers 5
17. Chad Henne / Dolphins 5
18. Matthew Stafford / Lions 7
19. Alex Smith / 49ers 9
20. Matt Cassel / Chiefs 4
21. David Garrard / Jaguars 9
22. Vince Young / Titans 9
23. Mark Sanchez / Jets 7
24. Jason Campbell / Raiders 10
25. Matt Leinart / Cardinals 6
26. Kyle Orton / Broncos 9
27. Matt Hasselbeck / Seahawks 5
28. Josh Freeman / Buccaneers 4
29. Matt Moore / Panthers 6
30. Jake Delhomme / Browns 8
31. Trent Edwards / Bills 6
32. Sam Bradford / Rams 9
33. Michael Vick / Eagles 8
34. Byron Leftwich / Steelers 5
35. Derek Anderson / Cardinals 6
36. Tarvaris Jackson / Vikings 4
37. Seneca Wallace / Browns 8
38. Charlie Whitehurst / Seahawks 5
39. A.J. Feeley / Rams 9
40. Ryan Fitzpatrick / Bills 6

Running backs   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. Chris Johnson / Titans 9
2. Adrian Peterson / Vikings 4
3. Maurice Jones-Drew / Jaguars 9
4. Ray Rice / Ravens 8
5. Michael Turner / Falcons 8
6. Frank Gore / 49ers 9
7. Steven Jackson / Rams 9
8. Rashard Mendenhall / Steelers 5
9. Cedric Benson / Bengals 6
10. DeAngelo Williams / Panthers 6
11. Ryan Grant / Packers 10
12. Shonn Greene / Jets 7
13. Ryan Mathews / Chargers 10
14. Beanie Wells / Cardinals 6
15. Jonathan Stewart / Panthers 6
16. Pierre Thomas / Saints 10
17. Jamaal Charles / Chiefs 4
18. Knowshon Moreno / Broncos 9
19. Ronnie Brown / Dolphins 5
20. Joseph Addai / Colts 7
21. Felix Jones / Cowboys 4
22. LeSean McCoy / Eagles 8
23. Jahvid Best / Lions 7
24. Matt Forté / Bears 8
25. Brandon Jacobs / Giants 8
26. Marion Barber / Cowboys 4
27. Ricky Williams / Dolphins 5
28. Michael Bush / Raiders 10
29. Ahmad Bradshaw / Giants 8
30. Arian Foster / Texans 7
31. C.J. Spiller / Bills 6
32. Reggie Bush / Saints 10
33. Thomas Jones / Chiefs 4
34. Justin Forsett / Seahawks 5
35. Fred Jackson / Bills 6
36. Montario Hardesty / Browns 8
37. Cadillac Williams / Buccaneers 4
38. Jerome Harrison / Browns 8
39. Clinton Portis / Redskins 9
40. LaDainian Tomlinson / Jets 7
41. Tim Hightower / Cardinals 6
42. Chester Taylor / Bears 8
43. Donald Brown / Colts 7
44. Laurence Maroney / Patriots 5
45. Willis McGahee / Ravens 8
46. Darren McFadden / Raiders 10
47. Darren Sproles / Chargers 10
48. Steve Slaton / Texans 7
49. Leon Washington / Seahawks 5
50. Correll Buckhalter / Broncos 9
51. Kevin Smith / Lions 7
52. Larry Johnson / Redskins 9
53. Mike Bell / Eagles 8
54. Marshawn Lynch / Bills 6
55. Javon Ringer / Titans 9
56. Toby Gerhart / Vikings 4
57. Bernard Scott / Bengals 6
58. Rashad Jennings / Jaguars 9
59. Fred Taylor / Patriots 5
60. Julius Jones / Seahawks 5
61. Jason Snelling / Falcons 8
62. Brian Westbrook / 49ers 9
63. Mewelde Moore / Steelers 5
64. Tashard Choice / Cowboys 4
65. Derrick Ward / Buccaneers 4
66. Jerious Norwood / Falcons 8
67. Anthony Dixon / 49ers 9
68. Sammy Morris / Patriots 5
69. Brandon Jackson / Packers 10
70. Kareem Huggins / Buccaneers 4

   
Wide receivers   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. Andre Johnson / Texans 7
2. Randy Moss / Patriots 5
3. Reggie Wayne / Colts 7
4. Calvin Johnson / Lions 7
5. Miles Austin / Cowboys 4
6. Larry Fitzgerald / Cardinals 6
7. Brandon Marshall / Dolphins 5
8. Roddy White / Falcons 8
9. DeSean Jackson / Eagles 8
10. Greg Jennings / Packers 10
11. Marques Colston / Saints 10
12. Steve Smith / Giants 8
13. Steve Smith / Panthers 6
14. Chad Ochocinco / Bengals 6
15. Anquan Boldin / Ravens 8
16. Hines Ward / Steelers 5
17. Mike Sims-Walker / Jaguars 9
18. Dwayne Bowe / Chiefs 4
19. Hakeem Nicks / Giants 8
20. Michael Crabtree / 49ers 9
21. Wes Welker / Patriots 5
22. Percy Harvin / Vikings 4
23. Jeremy Maclin / Eagles 8
24. Santana Moss / Redskins 9
25. Mike Wallace / Steelers 5
26. T.J. Houshmandzadeh / Seahawks 5
27. Malcom Floyd / Chargers 10
28. Pierre Garcon / Colts 7
29. Donald Driver / Packers 10
30. Robert Meachem / Saints 10
31. Steve Breaston / Cardinals 6
32. Dez Bryant / Cowboys 4
33. Braylon Edwards / Jets 7
34. Lee Evans / Bills 6
35. Johnny Knox / Bears 8
36. Bernard Berrian / Vikings 4
37. Derrick Mason / Ravens 8
38. Santonio Holmes / Jets 7
39. Nate Burleson / Lions 7
40. Kevin Walter / Texans 7
41. Terrell Owens / Bengals 6
42. Devin Aromashodu / Bears 8
43. Kenny Britt / Titans 9
44. Devin Hester / Bears 8
45. Vincent Jackson / Chargers 10
46. Jerricho Cotchery / Jets 7
47. Chris Chambers / Chiefs 4
48. Mike Williams / Buccaneers 4
49. Roy Williams / Cowboys 4
50. Jabar Gaffney / Broncos 9
51. Austin Collie / Colts 7
52. Louis Murphy / Raiders 10
53. Eddie Royal / Broncos 9
54. Donnie Avery / Rams 9
55. Mohamed Massaquoi / Browns 8
56. Mario Manningham / Giants 8
57. Golden Tate / Seahawks 5
58. James Jones / Packers 10
59. Early Doucet / Cardinals 6
60. Jacoby Jones / Texans 7
61. Devery Henderson / Saints 10
62. Mike Thomas / Jaguars 9
63. Brandon LaFell / Panthers 6
64. Jordy Nelson / Packers 10
65. Arrelious Benn / Buccaneers 4
66. Nate Washington / Titans 9
67. Sidney Rice / Vikings 4
68. Josh Morgan / 49ers 9
69. Julian Edelman / Patriots 5
70. Anthony Gonzalez / Colts 7
71. Demaryius Thomas / Broncos 9
72. Legedu Naanee / Chargers 10
73. Brian Hartline / Dolphins 5
74. Laurent Robinson / Rams 9
75. Davone Bess / Dolphins 5
76. Devin Thomas / Redskins 9
77. Jason Avant / Eagles 8
78. Dexter McCluster / Chiefs 4
79. Donté Stallworth / Ravens 8
80. Antonio Bryant / Bengals 6

   
Tight ends   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. Dallas Clark / Colts 7
2. Antonio Gates / Chargers 10
3. Vernon Davis / 49ers 9
4. Jason Witten / Cowboys 4
5. Jermichael Finley / Packers 10
6. Brent Celek / Eagles 8
7. Tony Gonzalez / Falcons 8
8. Owen Daniels / Texans 7
9. Kellen Winslow / Buccaneers 4
10. Visanthe Shiancoe / Vikings 4
11. Chris Cooley / Redskins 9
12. Zach Miller / Raiders 10
13. John Carlson / Seahawks 5
14. Heath Miller / Steelers 5
15. Dustin Keller / Jets 7
16. Greg Olsen / Bears 8
17. Jeremy Shockey / Saints 10
18. Marcedes Lewis / Jaguars 9
19. Tony Scheffler / Lions 7
20. Todd Heap / Ravens 8
21. Kevin Boss / Giants 8
22. Fred Davis / Redskins 9
23. Benjamin Watson / Browns 8
24. Jermaine Gresham / Bengals 6
25. Bo Scaife / Titans 9
26. Anthony Fasano / Dolphins 5
27. Brandon Pettigrew / Lions 7
28. Rob Gronkowski / Patriots 5
29. Tony Moeaki / Chiefs 4
30. Jared Cook / Titans 9

   
Placekickers   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. Nate Kaeding / Chargers 10
2. Stephen Gostkowski / Patriots 5
3. David Akers / Eagles 8
4. Ryan Longwell / Vikings 4
5. Garrett Hartley / Saints 10
6. Mason Crosby / Packers 10
7. Robbie Gould / Bears 8
8. Rob Bironas / Titans 9
9. Lawrence Tynes / Giants 8
10. Jay Feely / Cardinals 6
11. Texans PK 7
12. Dan Carpenter / Dolphins 5
13. Jeff Reed / Steelers 5
14. Sebastian Janikowski / Raiders 10
15. Matt Prater / Broncos 9
16. Shayne Graham / Ravens 8
17. Nick Folk / Jets 7
18. Adam Vinatieri / Colts 7
19. Ryan Succop / Chiefs 4
20. Joe Nedney / 49ers 9

   
Defenses/Special teams   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. New York Jets 7
2. Minnesota Vikings 4
3. Green Bay Packers 10
4. Dallas Cowboys 4
5. Pittsburgh Steelers 5
6. Baltimore Ravens 8
7. Philadelphia Eagles 8
8. New Orleans Saints 10
9. San Francisco 49ers 9
10. Chicago Bears 8
11. San Diego Chargers 10
12. New England Patriots 5
13. Cincinnati Bengals 6
14. New York Giants 8
15. Miami Dolphins 5
16. Arizona Cardinals 6
17. Houston Texans 7
18. Indianapolis Colts 7
19. Tennessee Titans 9
20. Washington Redskins 9

Top 100 overall   
Rk. Pos / Player / Team  

1. RB Chris Johnson / Titans  
2. RB Adrian Peterson / Vikings  
3. RB Maurice Jones-Drew / Jaguars  
4. RB Ray Rice / Ravens  
5. RB Michael Turner / Falcons
6. RB Frank Gore / 49ers 
7. RB Steven Jackson / Rams
8. QB Aaron Rodgers / Packers  
9. WR Andre Johnson / Texans
10. RB Rashard Mendenhall / Steelers
11. QB Drew Brees / Saints 
12. RB Cedric Benson / Bengals
13. RB DeAngelo Williams / Panthers  
14. WR Randy Moss / Patriots  
15. QB Peyton Manning / Colts
16. RB Ryan Grant / Packers  
17. RB Shonn Greene / Jets 
18. WR Reggie Wayne / Colts
19. RB Ryan Mathews / Chargers
20. WR Calvin Johnson / Lions  
21. WR Miles Austin / Cowboys
22. WR Larry Fitzgerald / Cardinals  
23. RB Beanie Wells / Cardinals
24. WR Brandon Marshall / Dolphins  
25. WR Roddy White / Falcons  
26. RB Jonathan Stewart / Panthers
27. RB Pierre Thomas / Saints 
28. WR DeSean Jackson / Eagles 
29. RB Jamaal Charles / Chiefs 
30. QB Matt Schaub / Texans
31. RB Knowshon Moreno / Broncos
32. QB Tony Romo / Cowboys
33. WR Greg Jennings / Packers  
34. WR Marques Colston / Saints
35. RB Ronnie Brown / Dolphins
36. TE Dallas Clark / Colts
37. RB Joseph Addai / Colts
38. TE Antonio Gates / Chargers
39. QB Tom Brady / Patriots 
40. WR Steve Smith / Giants
41. WR Steve Smith / Panthers
42. RB Felix Jones / Cowboys
43. WR Chad Ochocinco / Bengals  
44. RB LeSean McCoy / Eagles
45. RB Jahvid Best / Lions 
46. WR Anquan Boldin / Ravens 
47. WR Hines Ward / Steelers
48. TE Vernon Davis / 49ers
49. WR Mike Sims-Walker / Jaguars
50. QB Philip Rivers / Chargers
51. WR Dwayne Bowe / Chiefs  
52. WR Hakeem Nicks / Giants 
53. RB Matt Forté / Bears 
54. WR Michael Crabtree / 49ers
55. WR Wes Welker / Patriots
56. TE Jason Witten / Cowboys
57. WR Percy Harvin / Vikings
58. QB Joe Flacco / Ravens 
59. RB Brandon Jacobs / Giants
60. TE Jermichael Finley / Packers  
61. WR Jeremy Maclin / Eagles  
62. TE Brent Celek / Eagles
63. RB Marion Barber / Cowboys  
64. QB Eli Manning / Giants 
65. RB Ricky Williams / Dolphins
66. WR Santana Moss / Redskins 
67. WR Mike Wallace / Steelers
68. TE Tony Gonzalez / Falcons
69. RB Michael Bush / Raiders
70. RB Ahmad Bradshaw / Giants
71. WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh / Seahawks
72. RB Arian Foster / Texans
73. RB C.J. Spiller / Bills
74. QB Brett Favre / Vikings
75. TE Owen Daniels / Texans
76. RB Reggie Bush / Saints
77. WR Malcom Floyd / Chargers
78. WR Pierre Garcon / Colts
79. QB Jay Cutler / Bears
80. QB Kevin Kolb / Eagles  
81. RB Thomas Jones / Chiefs 
82. WR Donald Driver / Packers
83. WR Robert Meachem / Saints 
84. WR Steve Breaston / Cardinals  
85. QB Donovan McNabb / Redskins 
86. WR Dez Bryant / Cowboys
87. TE Kellen Winslow / Buccaneers  
88. RB Justin Forsett / Seahawks
89. RB Fred Jackson / Bills 
90. RB Montario Hardesty / Browns 
91. QB Matt Ryan / Falcons 
92. RB Cadillac Williams / Buccaneers 
93. RB Jerome Harrison / Browns  
94. RB Clinton Portis / Redskins  
95. WR Braylon Edwards / Jets  
96. WR Lee Evans / Bills
97. WR Johnny Knox / Bears
98. RB LaDainian Tomlinson / Jets
99. WR Bernard Berrian / Vikings
100. TE Visanthe Shiancoe / Vikings

For authoritative coverage and analysis of NFL news, free agency and fantasy football, visit ProFootballWeekly.com.

Clint Session  hopes to play thurs hes back at practive,since pectoral injury,  and eager to hit someone as hasnt since SB Caldwell confirmed that center Jeff Saturday is progressing well but no tuime frame given & may noit be ready Vs Texans Pierre Garcon (undisclosed injury) and right guard Kyle DeVan (hamstring) returned to practice this week, and guard Jaimie Thomas (foot) and tight end Brody Eldridge (undisclosed) were back Tuesday, suggesting they might play.   Musch more discused     http://www.indystar.com/article/20100825/SPORTS03/8250347/Session-eager-to-return-to-field

2010 Colts Preseason: Walking Wounded Heading Into Green Bay The good news is Kyle DeVan, Pierre Garcon, and Mike Hart have returned to practice this week. All three missed the Buffalo Bills preseason game.  article touches on on who is hutrt, whose not practicing etc , raises concerns on pPoweres who said the other day he isnt injured h just sore, yeah but if training & 1preseaon can cause soreness how about real games and pending the soreness as u need a foot to plant turn, run , jump etc , it can be a problem playing under it from my point of view. artcle expresses concerns and abilty to count on him for entire season and THUS NEED TO GET YET ANOTHER VETERAN  CB   http://www.stampedeblue.com/2010/8/25/1649774/2010-colts-preseason-walking#storyjump

The good news is Kyle DeVan, Pierre Garcon, and Mike Hart have returned to practice this week. All three missed the Buffalo Bills preseason game. DeVan had suffered from a hamstring injury against the 49ers the week before, and Garcon had been in and out of practices all through training camp and preseason. I have no idea what Hart's problem is, and frankly I don't care. Mike is always hurt, and I kind of get annoyed tracking his various injuries. This is why part of me is hoping Baby J (Javarris James) unseats him as the goal-line back. I like Mike Hart, and I would never say he is 'weak' or anything like that.

However, he gets hurt a lot, and an injured player is a useless player. Cold, I agree. But, it's life in the Not For Long game.

Also missing practice this week were Jeff Saturday, Dallas Clark, Charlie Johnson, Jaimie Thomas, Austin Collie, Trevor Anderson, Devin Moore, and Jerraud Powers.

Powers is the one that is most concerning. After the jump, I explain why.

From Mike Chappell at the Indy Star:

Soreness in his surgically repaired left foot could force cornerback Jerraud Powers to miss the final two preseason games.

"There is nothing wrong with it," he said Monday. "I didn't reinjure it. It's just sore.

"We're going to be more cautious than anything. We don't want this thing acting up when we get ready to play Houston."

Here is where I throw up a red flag and scream 'caution!' Clearly, there is something wrong with the foot. I believe Powers when he said he didn't re-injury it. However, that he didn't re-injure it, but the foot is still 'sore,' tells me the foot is not healed. This is the same foot injury that caused Powers to miss multiple games last year. He was also hurt in the Super Bowl.

We are in preseason, with nary a real game played, and already his foot is hurting him. How is that foot going to feel by Week Ten? Week Sixteen? See my point?

If this injury is a trend for Powers, he cannot be counted on as a reliable starter, and the Colts need to seriously consider bringing in another veteran corner. Lingering injuries from last season don't just 'heal up' while one is playing the following season.If anything, they get worse.

Also, we now know the reason Devin Moore is not returning kicks tomorrow night is because he's hurt. This is likely why the Colts signed Allen Patrick.

It's that time of the year again. When you gather around the drafting kit or enter your online draft three hours early to see what pick you ended up with. Just remember to make your fantasy football draft picks with your heart. That is, if you don't have any interest in winning.

Here's a few projections you might want to consider before clicking the draft button.

1) Larry Fitzgerald will finish outside the top 10 in fantasy WRs and will have career lows in yards and touchdowns. With a knee injury and the shaky Matt Leinart at QB, expect a disappointing season if you draft him in the first round.

2) Tony Gonzalez will lead the Atlanta Falcons in both receptions and touchdowns. The Falcons won’t be unleashing Matty Ice like a lot of analysts think. They are a run-first team with a very balanced passing game.

3) Joe Flacco will throw more touchdowns than Brett Favre. The addition of Anquan Boldin and another year of growth for Flacco will make him a very dangerous QB this season.

4) Terrell Owens will finish as a top 25 WR and score more touchdowns than Wes Welker and T.J. Houshmandzadeh. He’s big and he can still play. With the run game the Bengals have, and Ochocinco on the opposite side of the field, expect T.O. to have plenty of opportunities to score.

5) Michael Bush will become the every-down back for the Raiders and will rush for over 1,000 yards. He has been underrated the past couple of seasons, and with an improvement at QB and injury problems to Darren McFadden, Bush takes the cake.

6) Steve Smith (Car) will finish with more touchdowns and receiving yards than both Miles Austin and DeSean Jackson. He has something to prove this year, and seemed to show good chemistry with Matt Moore at the end of '09.

7) Jay Cutler will throw for 30 touchdowns, more than Phillip Rivers. It’s a bold projection, but with his big arm and quick receivers in a Mike Martz system, expect him to let it fly and surprise a lot of people.

8) Carson Palmer will finish as a top 15 QB and have more touchdown passes than Matt Ryan. Ryan will get his. But I like the Bengals’ receiving corps just a tad bit more.

9) Jake Delhomme will throw for more touchdowns than Sam Bradford and Matt Castle and finish among the top 25 fantasy QBs. Delhomme isn’t as bad as a lot of people think he is. He has enough magic left in the tank for one more solid year.

10) Tony Romo will throw for over 30 touchdowns and finish as a top five fantasy QB. Romo is an experienced QB with a strong offensive line and plenty of weapons. He’s thinking Super Bowl at home this year.

11) Kyle Orton will finish as a top 25 fantasy QB and will throw for more touchdowns than Matt Stafford and Vince Young. Orton is in his prime and has showed improvement every year dating back to his rookie days with the Bears.

12) Matt Stafford will throw for at least 20 touchdowns and finish as a top 20 fantasy QB. The Lions are slowly, but surely, improving. Expect him and Megatron to be a dynamic duo in 2010

13) Greg Jennings will finish as a top 10 fantasy WR. He has tremendous talent and will easily double his touchdown total of four from last season.

14) Arian Foster will have a 1,000 yard, 10 touchdown season finishing as a top 20 fantasy RB. With a powerful passing game, and the inconsistent Slaton behind him, Foster will be ready to find the holes with every carry.

15) Matt Schaub will throw more touchdown passes than Tom Brady. That’s right.

16) Pierre Garcon will finish as a top 25 fantasy WR and will score more touchdowns than Wes Welker. Did you see this man down the stretch of the 09’ season? If Peyton Manning trusts him, I do.

17) Mike Sims-Walker will not finish as a top 25 WR. With nobody proven opposite him, Walker will be grinding for catches this season.

18) Dwayne Bowe will not finish as a top 20 fantasy WR, and will have less receiving yards and touchdowns than Hakeem Nicks. I’m not sold on Matt Cassel, especially when the Chiefs have a solid backfield to depend on.

19) Brandon Marshall will not finish as a top 10 fantasy WR. It’s his third different QB in as many seasons. Expect a slight drop off fantasy wise.

20) Javon Walker will be the Vikings' second leading receiver, behind Bernard Berrian. Sidney Rice is out for several games. Percy Harvin has been dealing with migraines his entire NFL career. Oh, and Walker has rapport with Farve, who can make anybody look good.

21) Laurence Maroney will be a top 30 fantasy RB, finishing ahead of Darren McFadden and Steve Slaton. Maroney will get more carries than people think. The New England Patriots are becoming a more balanced offense looking to eat up some yards on the ground this season.

22) Drew Brees will not finish as a top 3 fantasy QB. Blame it on the “Madden Curse” if you will.

23) Heath Miller will finish as a top 10 fantasy TE and will score at least eight touchdowns. Roethlisberger loves him. So will whoever else is quarterbacking for the Pittsburgh Steelers this season.

24) Houston Texans’ D/ST will finish as a top 10 fantasy D/ST. Expect the defense to step up a notch this season. They’re going to have to if the Texans want to go to the postseason

25) Ryan Matthews will score at least 10 rushing touchdowns and will finish as a top 10 fantasy RB. Phillip Rivers is scary good at QB, and Matthews will be the main back behind a good offensive line.

26) Antonio Gates will lead the San Diego Chargers in receiving yards and touchdowns. He can do it all, and with the Vincent Jackson situation not looking good, Rivers and Gates will be connecting all season long.

27) Ricky Williams will rush for over 1,000 yards and 10 scores. What can I say? The guy is determined. 

28) Sleeper Alert: Devin Aromashodu will lead the Chicago Bears’ WRs in receptions and touchdowns. A big guy, who can work the middle of the field bodes well for a team with a weak offensive line.

29) Derrick Mason will have more touchdowns and receptions than fellow teammate Anquan Boldin. You don’t really think Flacco is going to turn his back on ole’ faithful just because Boldin wants to be the number one, do you?

30) Michael Turner will finish among the top 5 in fantasy RBs and will score more rushing touchdowns than Ray Rice. Expect a comeback year for “The Burner” in 2010. He’s tough, with speed, and can handle the goal line carries.

31) Matt Moore will be a top 25 QB ahead of Mark Sanchez, Alex Smith, and Matt Leinart. Moore will take full advantage of the Panthers’ strong running game. Expect him to connect with Steve Smith on a regular basis.

32) Sleeper Alert: Mohamed Massaquoi will finish with more touchdowns and receptions than Braylon Edwards. He’s got good hands and has someone to throw him the ball this year. Sorry Brady Quinn.

33) Cedric Benson will finish with more rushing yards and touchdowns than both, DeAngelo Williams and Ryan Grant. He’s a beast who is taking full advantage of his opportunity in Cincinnati.

34) Marion Barber will lead the Dallas Cowboys in rushing yards and touchdowns. After a down season, expect the feisty Marion “The Barbarian” to close out games for the "Boys" this season.

35) Calvin Johnson will catch at least 12 touchdown passes, more than Brandon Marshall. This is Megatron’s year to open up shop in the end zone.

36) Aaron Rodgers will throw for 35 touchdowns, more than Peyton Manning and Drew Brees. Is it really that hard to believe?

37) Sleeper Alert: Jabar Gaffney will have a 1,000-yard receiving season and finish with at least eight touchdowns. With Brandon Marshall gone, someone has to take over the receiving duties. He’s shown good chemistry with Kyle Orton in the past.

38) Mercedes Lewis will score more touchdowns than Dustin Keller and will finish as a top 15 TE. The tight end is a quarterback's best friend. Especially when there are few other options.

39) The San Francisco 49ers D/ST will finish with more fantasy points than the Eagles D/ST. They’re quick, they're tough, and they have Mike Singletary as their coach.

40) Beanie Wells will rush for over 1,000 yards and 10 scores. With the almighty Kurt Warner out of the picture, Wells will be seeing a lot of carries in 2010. He won’t disappoint.

41) Dallas Clark will lead the Colts in receiving yards and touchdowns. Not a big surprise here.

42) Sleeper Alert: Jacoby Jones, not Kevin Walter, will be the Houston Texans’ number two WR and will catch at least six touchdown passes opposite Andre Johnson.

43) Both Greg Jennings and Donald Driver will have 1,000-yard receiving seasons. The Green Bay Packers are a team built for offensive domination. Rodgers will be more than willing to spread the wealth.

44) The Bears D/ST makes a huge turnaround this year and finishes in the top 12 fantasy D/ST. Peppers was a huge addition. Urlacher is back. Lovie Smith wants to keep his job.

45) Nate Burleson will score at least sive touchdowns and finish with more receiving yards than Steve Breaston. With so much attention being drawn towards Calvin Johnson, Burleson will be open early and often.

46) Jason Witten will have more receptions, reception yards, and touchdowns than fellow teammate Roy Williams, and will finish as a top five TE. He’s clearly got fantastic chemistry with Romo and is highly trusted by his QB.

47) Jerome Harrison will finish as a top 25 RB and have more rushing yards and touchdowns than Ronnie Brown and Matt Forte. Harrison took advantage of his late opportunity last season rushing for over 500 yards and five scores during the Browns last three games. He’s in for a huge season.

48) Chad Ochocinco will have more receptions than T.O., but less touchdowns. He’s still Carson Palmer’s top target, but not as dangerous in the red zone as T.O.

49) Jonathan Stewart will be the Carolina Panthers’ leading rusher. He proved he’s got what it takes when DeAngelo Williams was out with an injury during the stretch of the 09 season.

50) Santana Moss will have a 1,000-yard plus season with Donovan McNabb under center.

There it is folks. Go ahead and book it

http://podcast.footballguys.com/2010/Footb...010-Vol126a.mp3

In This Episode: Cecil Lammey and Sigmund Bloom discuss every skill position player worth keeping an eye on in fantasy leagues. Topics Include - why fantasy owners should not forget about Donald Brown, could Pierre Garcon be on the verge of stardom, any concerns with Dallas Clark this year, plus more!

enjoy!

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Back in April, I posted my first guess at the roster. Two months later in June, I did it again. I re-visited that June roster prediction back on August 11th and now, after two preseason games and the team heading into the 'dress rehearsal' game, I present my latest proposed depth chart for the 2010 Indianapolis Colts.

Hope you enjoy. Please, be merciful. For offense...

QB: Peyton Manning, Curtis Painter, Tom Brandstater

RB: Joseph Addai, Donald Brown, Mike Hart, Devin Moore 

WR: Reggie Wayne, Pierre Garcon, Austin Collie, Anthony Gonzalez, Brandon James

TE: Dallas Clark, Brody Eldridge, Jacob Tamme, Justin Snow

OT: Charlie Johnson, Ryan Diem, Tony Ugoh, Jeff Linkenbach

OG: Kyle DeVan, Jamey Richard, Mike Pollak, Jacques McClendon

OC: Jeff Saturday

Notes: Back on August 11th, I had the Colts keeping six wide receivers. With Taj Smith being too inconsistent, and Sam Giguere really doing nothing so far in preseason, I don't see the Colts keeping six. For most of last year, they kept only four, adding Sam Giguere right before the start of the playoffs. Brandon James, a running back in college, is now listed at wideout by the team. He will be the fifth WR based solely on his special teams skills. Jeff Linkenbach replaces Adam Terry at tackle because Linkenbach offers more versatility. Devin Moore makes the team because he has been electric during camp and preseason.

For defense...

DE: Dwight Freeney, Robert Mathis, John Chick, Jerry Hughes

DT: Daniel Muir, Antonio Johnson, Fili Moala, Eric Foster, Mitch King, Marlon Favorite

OLB: Clint Session, Philip Wheeler, Kavell Conner, Ramon Humber

ILB: Gary Brackett, Cody Glenn, Pat Angerer

CB: Jerraud Powers, Kelvin Hayden, Jacob Lacey, Deshea Townsend, Terrail Lambert

FS: Antoine Bethea, Unsigned Veteran 

SS: Bob Sanders, Melvin Bullitt

K: Adam Vinatieri

P: Pat McAfee

Notes: Lots of changes on defense.To start, last go around I had the Colts cutting Jamie Silva. Obviously, with him landing on IR, that won't happen. I also don't think the team is sold on Mike Newton. He's looked pretty bad in both preseason games. So, I think the team will sign an as-yet-unknown veteran at safety, not unlike Aaron Francisco last year. Terrail Lambert and Marlon Favorite are added to the defense as well. Favorite was singled out by Bill Polian after the 49ers game, which is a strong sign. Lambert was everywhere against the Bills last week. Both have played well in preseason, and both will likely make the roster. Because of Lambert excelling, Ray Fisher is gone.

They may still trail snake drafts in terms of popularity, but auctions are gaining momentum every year as more and more fantasy owners look for a different type of draft experience.

For those of you unfamiliar with this format, an auction allows you to build your team with the guys you want by giving you a certain amount of "money" to purchase a roster of players. Unlike traditional snake drafts, auctions don't pigeonhole you into one draft spot, providing you the freedom to use your funds on the players you covet. A lot more strategy is involved — you have to spend your dollars wisely and carefully — and you won't have to worry about drawing a poor draft position. Auctions definitely change the draft-day dynamic and really make you think hard about your decisions.

Below is a list of suggested prices to spend on players in your auction. This is based on a 12-team league with a $200 budget and the following starting lineup configuration: one QB, two RBs, three WRs, one TE, one PK and one defense/special-teams unit. Each roster is composed of 16 players. The scoring system is standard, with points awarded for both touchdowns (four for passing, six for rushing/receiving) and yardage.

SUGGESTED PLAYER PRICES

QUARTERBACKS
Rk.   Player / Team   Price 
 
  1.   Aaron Rodgers / Packers   $36
  2.   Drew Brees / Saints   $34
  3.   Peyton Manning / Colts   $33
  4.   Matt Schaub / Texans   $29
  5.   Tony Romo / Cowboys   $27
  6.   Tom Brady / Patriots   $25
  7.   Philip Rivers / Chargers   $22
  8.   Brett Favre / Vikings   $16
  9.   Eli Manning / Giants   $13
10.   Joe Flacco / Ravens   $12
11.   Jay Cutler / Bears   $11
12.   Kevin Kolb / Eagles   $11
13.   Donovan McNabb / Redskins   $10
14.   Matt Ryan / Falcons   $8
15.   Carson Palmer / Bengals   $7
16.   Ben Roethlisberger / Steelers   $5
17.   Chad Henne / Dolphins   $4
18.   Matthew Stafford / Lions   $4
19.   Alex Smith / 49ers   $3
20.   Matt Cassel / Chiefs   $2
21.   David Garrard / Jaguars   $2
22.   Vince Young / Titans   $2
23.   Matt Leinart / Cardinals   $1
24.   Mark Sanchez / Jets   $1
25.   Jason Campbell / Raiders   $1
26.   Matt Hasselbeck / Seahawks   $0
27.   Kyle Orton / Broncos   $0
28.   Josh Freeman / Buccaneers   $0
29.   Matt Moore / Panthers   $0
30.   Jake Delhomme / Browns   $0
   
RUNNING BACKS
Rk.   Player / Team   Price   

  1.   Chris Johnson / Titans   $58
  2.   Adrian Peterson / Vikings   $56
  3.   Maurice Jones-Drew / Jaguars   $53
  4.   Ray Rice / Ravens   $50
  5.   Michael Turner / Falcons   $47
  6.   Frank Gore / 49ers   $46
  7.   Steven Jackson / Rams   $44
  8.   Rashard Mendenhall / Steelers   $40
  9.   Cedric Benson / Bengals   $38
10.   DeAngelo Williams / Panthers   $37
11.   Ryan Grant / Packers   $35
12.   Shonn Greene / Jets   $34
13.   Ryan Mathews / Chargers   $32
14.   Beanie Wells / Cardinals   $29
15.   Jonathan Stewart / Panthers   $28
16.   Pierre Thomas / Saints   $28
17.   Jamaal Charles / Chiefs   $26
18.   Knowshon Moreno / Broncos   $25
19.   Ronnie Brown / Dolphins   $23
20.   Joseph Addai / Colts   $22
21.   Felix Jones / Cowboys   $22
22.   LeSean McCoy / Eagles   $21
23.   Jahvid Best / Lions   $20
24.   Matt Forté / Bears   $18
25.   Brandon Jacobs / Giants   $17
26.   Marion Barber / Cowboys   $16
27.   Ricky Williams / Dolphins   $15
28.   Michael Bush / Raiders   $14
29.   Ahmad Bradshaw / Giants   $13
30.   Arian Foster / Texans   $12
31.   Fred Jackson / Bills   $11
32.   Montario Hardesty / Browns   $10
33.   C.J. Spiller / Bills   $10
34.   Reggie Bush / Saints   $9
35.   Thomas Jones / Chiefs   $9
36.   Justin Forsett / Seahawks   $8
37.   Cadillac Williams / Buccaneers   $7
38.   Jerome Harrison / Browns   $6
39.   Clinton Portis / Redskins   $6
40.   LaDainian Tomlinson / Jets   $5
41.   Tim Hightower / Cardinals   $5
42.   Chester Taylor / Bears   $5
43.   Donald Brown / Colts   $4
44.   Laurence Maroney / Patriots   $3
45.   Willis McGahee / Ravens   $3
46.   Darren McFadden / Raiders   $2
47.   Darren Sproles / Chargers   $2
48.   Steve Slaton / Texans   $2
49.   Leon Washington / Seahawks   $1
50.   Brian Westbrook / 49ers   $1
51.   Correll Buckhalter / Broncos   $1
52.   Kevin Smith / Lions   $1
53.   Larry Johnson / Redskins   $1
54.   Mike Bell / Eagles   $1
55.   Marshawn Lynch / Bills   $1
56.   Javon Ringer / Titans   $1
57.   Toby Gerhart / Vikings   $1
58.   Derrick Ward / Buccaneers   $1
59.   Bernard Scott / Bengals   $1
60.   Rashad Jennings / Jaguars   $1
61.   Fred Taylor / Patriots   $1

WIDE RECEIVERS
Rk.   Player / Team   Price   

  1.   Andre Johnson / Texans   $42
  2.   Randy Moss / Patriots   $39
  3.   Reggie Wayne / Colts   $36
  4.   Larry Fitzgerald / Cardinals   $34
  5.   Calvin Johnson / Lions   $33
  6.   Miles Austin / Cowboys   $33
  7.   Brandon Marshall / Dolphins   $32
  8.   Roddy White / Falcons   $31
  9.   DeSean Jackson / Eagles   $30
10.   Greg Jennings / Packers   $29
11.   Marques Colston / Saints   $28
12.   Steve Smith / Giants   $26
13.   Chad Ochocinco / Bengals   $25
14.   Steve Smith / Panthers   $25
15.   Sidney Rice / Vikings   $23
16.   Hines Ward / Steelers   $23
17.   Anquan Boldin / Ravens   $23
18.   Mike Sims-Walker / Jaguars   $22
19.   Dwayne Bowe / Chiefs   $21
20.   Hakeem Nicks / Giants   $20
21.   Michael Crabtree / 49ers   $20
22.   Percy Harvin / Vikings   $19
23.   Jeremy Maclin / Eagles   $19
24.   Wes Welker / Patriots   $18
25.   Santana Moss / Redskins   $17
26.   Mike Wallace / Steelers   $17
27.   T.J. Houshmandzadeh / Seahawks   $15
28.   Malcom Floyd / Chargers   $15
29.   Pierre Garcon / Colts   $15
30.   Donald Driver / Packers   $13
31.   Robert Meachem / Saints   $12
32.   Steve Breaston / Cardinals   $12
33.   Dez Bryant / Cowboys   $12
34.   Braylon Edwards / Jets   $11
35.   Lee Evans / Bills   $10
36.   Vincent Jackson / Chargers   $9
37.   Derrick Mason / Ravens   $8
38.   Johnny Knox / Bears   $8
39.   Santonio Holmes / Jets   $7
40.   Nate Burleson / Lions   $6
41.   Kevin Walter / Texans   $6
42.   Terrell Owens / Bengals   $5
43.   Devin Aromashodu / Bears   $4
44.   Kenny Britt / Titans   $3
45.   Devin Hester / Bears   $3
46.   Jerricho Cotchery / Jets   $2
47.   Mario Manningham / Giants   $2
48.   Austin Collie / Colts   $2
49.   Chris Chambers / Chiefs   $1
50.   Bernard Berrian / Vikings   $1
51.   Roy Williams / Cowboys   $1
52.   Jabar Gaffney / Broncos   $1
53.   Mike Williams / Buccaneers   $1
54.   Eddie Royal / Broncos   $1
55.   Donnie Avery / Rams   $1
56.   Golden Tate / Seahawks   $1
57.   Mohamed Massaquoi / Browns   $1
58.   James Jones / Packers   $1
59.   Early Doucet / Cardinals   $1
60.   Jacoby Jones / Texans   $1
61.   Devery Henderson / Saints   $1
62.   Louis Murphy / Raiders   $1
63.   Josh Morgan / 49ers   $1
64.   Mike Thomas / Jaguars   $1
65.   Brandon LaFell / Panthers   $1
66.   Jordy Nelson / Packers   $1
67.   Arrelious Benn / Buccaneers   $0
68.   Nate Washington / Titans   $0
69.   Julian Edelman / Patriots   $0
70.   Anthony Gonzalez / Colts   $0

TIGHT ENDS
Rk.   Player / Team   Price   

 1.   Dallas Clark / Colts   $18
  2.   Antonio Gates / Chargers   $17
  3.   Vernon Davis / 49ers   $16
  4.   Jason Witten / Cowboys   $13
  5.   Jermichael Finley / Packers   $12
  6.   Brent Celek / Eagles   $10
  7.   Tony Gonzalez / Falcons   $8
  8.   Owen Daniels / Texans   $6
  9.   Kellen Winslow / Buccaneers   $5
10.   Visanthe Shiancoe / Vikings   $4
11.   Chris Cooley / Redskins   $3
12.   John Carlson / Seahawks   $2
13.   Heath Miller / Steelers   $1
14.   Zach Miller / Raiders   $1
15.   Dustin Keller / Jets   $1
16.   Greg Olsen / Bears   $1
17.   Kevin Boss / Giants   $0
18.   Jeremy Shockey / Saints   $0
19.   Marcedes Lewis / Jaguars   $0
20.   Todd Heap / Ravens   $0
21.   Tony Scheffler / Lions   $0
22.   Fred Davis / Redskins   $0
23.   Benjamin Watson / Browns   $0
24.   Jermaine Gresham / Bengals   $0
25.   Bo Scaife / Titans   $0
26.   Brandon Pettigrew / Lions   $0
27.   Anthony Fasano / Dolphins   $0
28.   Rob Gronkowski / Patriots   $0
29.   Shawn Nelson / Bills   $0
30.   Tony Moeaki / Chiefs   $0
   
PLACEKICKERS
Rk.   Player / Team   Price   

  1.   Nate Kaeding / Chargers   $2
  2.   Stephen Gostkowski / Patriots   $2
  3.   David Akers / Eagles   $2
  4.   Ryan Longwell / Vikings   $2
  5.   Garrett Hartley / Saints   $2
  6.   Mason Crosby / Packers   $2
  7.   Robbie Gould / Bears   $1
  8.   Rob Bironas / Titans   $1
  9.   Lawrence Tynes / Giants   $1
10.   Jay Feely / Cardinals   $1
11.   Texans PK   $1
12.   Dan Carpenter / Dolphins   $1
13.   Jeff Reed / Steelers   $0
14.   Sebastian Janikowski / Raiders   $0
15.   Matt Prater / Broncos   $0
16.   Shayne Graham / Ravens   $0
17.   Nick Folk / Jets   $0
18.   Adam Vinatieri / Colts   $0
19.   Ryan Succop / Chiefs   $0
20.   Joe Nedney / 49ers   $0

DEFENSES/SPECIAL TEAMS
Rk.   Player / Team   Price   

  1.   New York Jets   $4
  2.   Minnesota Vikings   $3
  3.   Baltimore Ravens   $3
  4.   Pittsburgh Steelers   $2
  5.   Green Bay Packers   $2
  6.   Dallas Cowboys   $2
  7.   Philadelphia Eagles   $1
  8.   New Orleans Saints   $1
  9.   San Francisco 49ers   $1
10.   Chicago Bears   $1
11.   San Diego Chargers   $1
12.   New England Patriots   $1
13.   Cincinnati Bengals   $1
14.   New York Giants   $1
15.   Miami Dolphins   $0
16.   Arizona Cardinals   $0
17.   Houston Texans   $0
18.   Indianapolis Colts   $0
19.   Tennessee Titans   $0
20.   Washington Redskins   $0

 

For authoritative coverage and analysis of NFL news, free agency and fantasy football, visit ProFootballWeekly.com.

Here are the results of our draft from yesterday. Roster starters are 1QB, 1RB, 2WR, 1TE, 1 FLEX (RB,WR,TE), 1K, 1Dst. PPR-.75 for RBs, 1 for WRs, 1.25 for TE.

Draft Results
Round 1
Pick Team Player Elapsed Time Pts
1 Multiple Scoregasims Johnson, Chris RB TEN 0/0
2 Guru The Sequel Johnson, Andre WR HOU 51 sec 0/0
3 Three Blind Mice Peterson, Adrian RB MIN 44 sec 0/0
4 Proctor Jones-Drew, Maurice RB JAC 5 sec 0/0
5 Gabe Rice, Ray RB BAL 21 sec 0/0
6 Tidwell Moss, Randy WR NE 5 sec 0/0
7 John C Turner, Michael RB ATL 2 min 28 sec 0/0
8 Brett Jones Gore, Frank RB SF 9 sec 0/0
9 Rachael Rodgers, Aaron QB GB 1 min 45 sec 0/0
10 BeauchampClonce Manning, Peyton QB IND 29 sec 0/0
11 BHAM Wayne, Reggie WR IND 10 sec 0/0
12 Chris Johnson Fitzgerald, Larry WR ARI 1 min 40 sec 0/0
13 Southpark Cows Austin, Miles WR DAL 1 min 52 sec 0/0
14 Dorris Marshall Johnson, Calvin WR DET 4 min 37 sec 0/0
15 Jake Carter Brees, Drew QB NO 16 sec 0/0
16 Bob Bowser Benson, Cedric RB CIN 16 sec 0/0
Round 2
Pick Team Player Elapsed Time Pts
1 Bob Bowser Colston, Marques WR NO 10 sec 0/0
2 Jake Carter Mendenhall, Rashard RB PIT 14 sec 0/0
3 Dorris Marshall Marshall, Brandon WR MIA 16 sec 0/0
4 Southpark Cows Jackson, Steven RB STL 1 min 1 sec 0/0
5 Chris Johnson Williams, DeAngelo RB CAR 24 sec 0/0
6 BHAM Gates, Antonio TE SD 1 min 25 sec 0/0
7 BeauchampClonce Charles, Jamaal RB KC 1 min 46 sec 0/0
8 Rachael Thomas, Pierre RB NO 2 min 26 sec 0/0
9 Brett Jones Jackson, DeSean WR PHI 2 min 1 sec 0/0
10 John C White, Roddy WR ATL 23 sec 0/0
11 Tidwell Jennings, Greg WR GB 1 min 38 sec 0/0
12 Gabe Smith, Steve WR NYG 56 sec 0/0
13 Proctor Greene, Shonn RB NYJ 1 min 38 sec 0/0
14 Three Blind Mice Boldin, Anquan WR BAL 12 sec 0/0
15 Guru The Sequel Romo, Tony QB DAL 46 sec 0/0
16 Multiple Scoregasims Schaub, Matt QB HOU 43 sec 0/0
Round 3
Pick Team Player Elapsed Time Pts
1 Multiple Scoregasims Smith, Steve WR CAR 17 sec 0/0
2 Guru The Sequel Grant, Ryan RB GB 55 sec 0/0
3 Three Blind Mice Brady, Tom QB NE 19 sec 0/0
4 Proctor Rivers, Philip QB SD 5 sec 0/0
5 Gabe Rice, Sidney WR MIN 1 min 32 sec 0/0
6 Tidwell Mathews, Ryan RB SD 1 min 31 sec 0/0
7 John C Bowe, Dwayne WR KC 1 min 13 sec 0/0
8 Brett Jones Driver, Donald WR GB 2 min 10 sec 0/0
9 Rachael Moreno, Knowshon RB DEN 3 min 51 sec 0/0
10 BeauchampClonce Welker, Wes WR NE 44 sec 0/0
11 BHAM McCoy, LeSean RB PHI 24 sec 0/0
12 Chris Johnson Ochocinco, Chad WR CIN 53 sec 0/0
13 Southpark Cows Clark, Dallas TE IND 2 min 13 sec 0/0
14 Dorris Marshall Davis, Vernon TE SF 1 min 40 sec 0/0
15 Jake Carter Addai, Joseph RB IND 60 sec 0/0
16 Bob Bowser Gonzalez, Tony TE ATL 54 sec 0/0
Round 4
Pick Team Player Elapsed Time Pts
1 Bob Bowser Witten, Jason TE DAL 5 sec 0/0
2 Jake Carter Harvin, Percy WR MIN 1 min 7 sec 0/0
3 Dorris Marshall Best, Jahvid RB DET 30 sec 0/0
4 Southpark Cows Favre, Brett QB MIN 17 sec 0/0
5 Chris Johnson Wells, Beanie RB ARI 1 min 41 sec 0/0
6 BHAM Portis, Clinton RB WAS 22 sec 0/0
7 BeauchampClonce Finley, Jermichael TE GB 1 min 32 sec 0/0
8 Rachael Wallace, Mike WR PIT 13 sec 0/0
9 Brett Jones Crabtree, Michael WR SF 1 min 49 sec 0/0
10 John C Houshmandzadeh, T.J. WR SEA 31 sec 0/0
11 Tidwell Sims-Walker, Mike WR JAC 1 min 3 sec 0/0
12 Gabe Forte, Matt RB CHI 1 min 40 sec 0/0
13 Proctor Ward, Hines WR PIT 1 min 3 sec 0/0
14 Three Blind Mice Daniels, Owen TE HOU 3 min 36 sec 0/0
15 Guru The Sequel Moss, Santana WR WAS 20 sec 0/0
16 Multiple Scoregasims Celek, Brent TE PHI 33 sec 0/0
Round 5
Pick Team Player Elapsed Time Pts
1 Multiple Scoregasims Miller, Zach TE OAK 26 sec 0/0
2 Guru The Sequel Brown, Ronnie RB MIA 1 min 22 sec 0/0
3 Three Blind Mice Floyd, Malcom WR SD 41 sec 0/0
4 Proctor Shiancoe, Visanthe TE MIN 1 min 4 sec 0/0
5 Gabe Cooley, Chris TE WAS 24 sec 0/0
6 Tidwell Kolb, Kevin QB PHI 49 sec 0/0
7 John C Winslow, Kellen TE TB 1 min 35 sec 0/0
8 Brett Jones Stewart, Jonathan RB CAR 1 min 38 sec 0/0
9 Rachael Nicks, Hakeem WR NYG 3 min 9 sec 0/0
10 BeauchampClonce Knox, Johnny WR CHI 3 min 22 sec 0/0
11 BHAM* Palmer, Carson QB CIN 0 sec 0/0
12 Chris Johnson Flacco, Joe QB BAL 40 sec 0/0
13 Southpark Cows Barber, Marion RB DAL 1 min 39 sec 0/0
14 Dorris Marshall Bradshaw, Ahmad RB NYG 1 min 48 sec 0/0
15 Jake Carter Jets DST 24 sec 0/0
16 Bob Bowser Owens, Terrell WR CIN 1 min 56 sec 0/0
Round 6
Pick Team Player Elapsed Time Pts
1 Bob Bowser Harrison, Jerome RB CLE 19 sec 0/0
2 Jake Carter Garcon, Pierre WR IND 40 sec 0/0
3 Dorris Marshall Ryan, Matt QB ATL 1 min 37 sec 0/0
4 Southpark Cows Edwards, Braylon WR NYJ 1 min 9 sec 0/0
5 Chris Johnson Maclin, Jeremy WR PHI 1 min 16 sec 0/0
6 BHAM* Cotchery, Jerricho WR NYJ 0 sec 0/0
7 BeauchampClonce Foster, Arian RB HOU 2 min 9 sec 0/0
8 Rachael Keller, Dustin TE NYJ 48 sec 0/0
9 Brett Jones Cutler, Jay QB CHI 2 min 8 sec 0/0
10 John C Bush, Reggie RB NO 1 min 4 sec 0/0
11 Tidwell Gaffney, Jabar WR DEN 1 min 43 sec 0/0
12 Gabe Steelers DST 32 sec 0/0
13 Proctor Mason, Derrick WR BAL 1 min 10 sec 0/0
14 Three Blind Mice Jones, Felix RB DAL 1 min 24 sec 0/0
15 Guru The Sequel Williams, Ricky RB MIA 2 min 49 sec 0/0
16 Multiple Scoregasims Meachem, Robert WR NO 27 sec 0/0
Round 7
Pick Team Player Elapsed Time Pts
1 Multiple Scoregasims Evans, Lee WR BUF 32 sec 0/0
2 Guru The Sequel Miller, Heath TE PIT 3 min 42 sec 0/0
3 Three Blind Mice Jackson, Vincent WR SD 2 min 38 sec 0/0
4 Proctor Packers DST 1 min 41 sec 0/0
5 Gabe McNabb, Donovan QB WAS 18 sec 0/0
6 Tidwell Bush, Michael RB OAK 1 min 26 sec 0/0
7 John C Holmes, Santonio WR NYJ 1 min 35 sec 0/0
8 Brett Jones Breaston, Steve WR ARI 24 sec 0/0
9 Rachael Massaquoi, Mohamed WR CLE 1 min 13 sec 0/0
10 BeauchampClonce Bryant, Dez WR DAL 2 min 10 sec 0/0
11 BHAM* Hartley, Garrett K NO 0 sec 0/0
12 Chris Johnson Longwell, Ryan K MIN 1 min 33 sec 0/0
13 Southpark Cows Ravens DST 26 sec 0/0
14 Dorris Marshall 49ers DST 1 min 11 sec 0/0
15 Jake Carter Boss, Kevin TE NYG 2 min 12 sec 0/0
16 Bob Bowser Britt, Kenny WR TEN 2 min 10 sec 0/0
Round 8
Pick Team Player Elapsed Time Pts
1 Bob Bowser Hester, Devin WR CHI 6 sec 0/0
2 Jake Carter Manning, Eli QB NYG 1 min 14 sec 0/0
3 Dorris Marshall Olsen, Greg TE CHI 2 min 6 sec 0/0
4 Southpark Cows Tomlinson, LaDainian RB NYJ 24 sec 0/0
5 Chris Johnson Carlson, John TE SEA 1 min 42 sec 0/0
6 BHAM* Patriots DST 0 sec 0/0
7 BeauchampClonce Vikings DST 1 min 37 sec 0/0
8 Rachael Eagles DST 20 sec 0/0
9 Brett Jones Jacobs, Brandon RB NYG 4 min 5 sec 0/0
10 John C Williams, Cadillac RB TB 21 sec 0/0
11 Tidwell Spiller, C.J. RB BUF 1 min 7 sec 0/0
12 Gabe Royal, Eddie WR DEN 44 sec 0/0
13 Proctor Aromashodu, Devin WR CHI 12 sec 0/0
14 Three Blind Mice Gonzalez, Anthony WR IND 3 min 33 sec 0/0
15 Guru The Sequel Forsett, Justin RB SEA 31 sec 0/0
16 Multiple Scoregasims McFadden, Darren RB OAK 45 sec 0/0
Round 9
Pick Team Player Elapsed Time Pts
1 Multiple Scoregasims McCluster, Dexter WR KC 46 sec 0/0
2 Guru The Sequel Cowboys DST 31 sec 0/0
3 Three Blind Mice Jackson, Fred RB BUF 2 min 54 sec 0/0
4 Proctor Hightower, Tim RB ARI 18 sec 0/0
5 Gabe Chambers, Chris WR KC 45 sec 0/0
6 Tidwell Shockey, Jeremy TE NO 2 min 41 sec 0/0
7 John C Chargers DST 29 sec 0/0
8 Brett Jones Smith, Alex QB SF 1 min 32 sec 0/0
9 Rachael Maroney, Laurence RB NE 3 min 35 sec 0/0
10 BeauchampClonce Brown, Donald RB IND 23 sec 0/0
11 BHAM* Slaton, Steve RB HOU 0 sec 0/0
12 Chris Johnson Colts DST 41 sec 0/0
13 Southpark Cows Washington, Nate WR TEN 30 sec 0/0
14 Dorris Marshall Stafford, Matthew QB DET 2 min 35 sec 0/0
15 Jake Carter Williams, Roy E. WR DAL 12 sec 0/0
16 Bob Bowser Orton, Kyle QB DEN 50 sec 0/0
Round 10
Pick Team Player Elapsed Time Pts
1 Bob Bowser Roethlisberger, Ben QB PIT 6 sec 0/0
2 Jake Carter Jones, Thomas RB KC 20 sec 0/0
3 Dorris Marshall Avery, Donnie WR STL 1 min 5 sec 0/0
4 Southpark Cows Sanchez, Mark QB NYJ 15 sec 0/0
5 Chris Johnson Taylor, Chester RB CHI 1 min 55 sec 0/0
6 BHAM* Sproles, Darren RB SD 0 sec 0/0
7 BeauchampClonce Berrian, Bernard WR MIN 56 sec 0/0
8 Rachael Cassel, Matt QB KC 1 min 3 sec 0/0
9 Brett Jones Hardesty, Montario RB CLE 1 min 47 sec 0/0
10 John C Henne, Chad QB MIA 2 min 9 sec 0/0
11 Tidwell Dolphins DST 4 sec 0/0
12 Gabe Gostkowski, Stephen K NE 1 min 24 sec 0/0
13 Proctor Burleson, Nate WR DET 22 sec 0/0
14 Three Blind Mice Saints DST 1 min 52 sec 0/0
15 Guru The Sequel Kaeding, Nate K SD 7 min 37 sec 0/0
16 Multiple Scoregasims Taylor, Fred RB NE 31 sec 0/0
Round 11
Pick Team Player Elapsed Time Pts
1 Multiple Scoregasims Young, Vince QB TEN 14 sec 0/0
2 Guru The Sequel Robinson, Laurent WR STL 1 min 1 sec 0/0
3 Three Blind Mice Leinart, Matt QB ARI 19 sec 0/0
4 Proctor Akers, David K PHI 11 sec 0/0
5 Gabe Johnson, Larry RB WAS 20 sec 0/0
6 Tidwell Bironas, Rob K TEN 7 sec 0/0
7 John C Hasselbeck, Matt QB SEA 1 min 4 sec 0/0
8 Brett Jones Bears DST 1 min 59 sec 0/0
9 Rachael Jones, Jacoby WR HOU 41 sec 0/0
10 BeauchampClonce Campbell, Jason QB OAK 1 min 8 sec 0/0
11 BHAM* Scaife, Bo TE TEN 0 sec 0/0
12 Chris Johnson Collie, Austin WR IND 1 min 28 sec 0/0
13 Southpark Cows Manningham, Mario WR NYG 21 sec 0/0
14 Dorris Marshall Bengals DST 44 sec 0/0
15 Jake Carter Tate, Golden WR SEA 24 sec 0/0
16 Bob Bowser Choice, Tashard RB DAL 1 min 23 sec 0/0
Round 12
Pick Team Player Elapsed Time Pts
1 Bob Bowser Crosby, Mason K GB 13 sec 0/0
2 Jake Carter Vinatieri, Adam K IND 1 min 14 sec 0/0
3 Dorris Marshall Smith, Kevin RB DET 31 sec 0/0
4 Southpark Cows Buehler, David K DAL 28 sec 0/0
5 Chris Johnson McGahee, Willis RB BAL 21 min 44 sec 0/0
6 BHAM Williams, Mike WR TB 16 sec 0/0
7 BeauchampClonce Rackers, Neil K HOU 15 sec 0/0
8 Rachael Davis, Fred TE WAS 12 sec 0/0
9 Brett Jones Walter, Kevin WR HOU 29 sec 0/0
10 John C Titans DST 14 sec 0/0
11 Tidwell Garrard, David QB JAC 5 sec 0/0
12 Gabe Cook, Jared TE TEN 20 sec 0/0
13 Proctor Edelman, Julian WR NE 10 sec 0/0
14 Three Blind Mice Gerhart, Toby RB MIN 16 sec 0/0
15 Guru The Sequel Murphy, Louis WR OAK 27 sec 0/0
16 Multiple Scoregasims Ringer, Javon RB TEN 28 sec 0/0
Round 13
Pick Team Player Elapsed Time Pts
1 Multiple Scoregasims Raiders DST 10 sec 0/0
2 Guru The Sequel Gresham, Jermaine TE CIN 37 sec 0/0
3 Three Blind Mice Heap, Todd TE BAL 17 sec 0/0
4 Proctor Bradford, Sam QB STL 26 sec 0/0
5 Gabe Delhomme, Jake QB CLE 12 sec 0/0
6 Tidwell Giants DST 12 sec 0/0
7 John C Prater, Matt K DEN 15 sec 0/0
8 Brett Jones Scheffler, Tony TE DET 33 sec 0/0
9 Rachael Westbrook, Brian RB SF 8 min 24 sec 0/0
10 BeauchampClonce Fasano, Anthony TE MIA 41 sec 0/0
11 BHAM Freeman, Josh QB TB 19 sec 0/0
12 Chris Johnson Lewis, Marcedes TE JAC 13 sec 0/0
13 Southpark Cows Panthers DST 33 sec 0/0
14 Dorris Marshall Tynes, Lawrence K NYG 9 sec 0/0
15 Jake Carter Watson, Benjamin TE CLE 32 sec 0/0
16 Bob Bowser Washington, Leon RB SEA 27 sec 0/0
Round 14
Pick Team Player Elapsed Time Pts
1 Bob Bowser Cardinals DST 52 sec 0/0
2 Jake Carter Texans DST 40 sec 0/0
3 Dorris Marshall Bell, Mike RB PHI 24 sec 0/0
4 Southpark Cows Buckhalter, Correll RB DEN 25 sec 0/0
5 Chris Johnson Moore, Matt QB CAR 30 sec 0/0
6 BHAM Doucet, Early WR ARI 28 sec 0/0
7 BeauchampClonce Bryant, Matt K ATL 5 sec 0/0
8 Rachael Falcons DST 3 sec 0/0
9 Brett Jones Folk, Nick K NYJ 3 min 37 sec 0/0
10 John C Pettigrew, Brandon TE DET 15 sec 0/0
11 Tidwell Reed, Jeff K PIT 1 min 2 sec 0/0
12 Gabe Janikowski, Sebastian K OAK 15 sec 0/0
13 Proctor Snelling, Jason RB ATL 43 sec 0/0
14 Three Blind Mice Feely, Jay K ARI 16 sec 0/0
15 Guru The Sequel Graham, Shayne K BAL 1 min 40 sec 0/0
16 Multiple Scoregasims Gould, Robbie K CHI 49 sec 0/0
Round 15
Pick Team Player Elapsed Time Pts
1 Multiple Scoregasims Bills DST 16 sec 0/0
2 Guru The Sequel Redskins DST 45 sec 0/0
3 Three Blind Mice Broncos DST 27 sec 0/0
4 Proctor Buccaneers DST 5 sec 0/0
5 Gabe Chiefs DST 30 sec 0/0
6 Tidwell Gronkowski, Rob TE NE 51 sec 0/0
7 John C Nedney, Joe K SF 17 sec 0/0
8 Brett Jones Lions DST 1 min 8 sec 0/0
9 Rachael Carpenter, Dan K MIA 2 min 28 sec 0/0
10 BeauchampClonce Moore, Mewelde RB PIT 1 min 8 sec 0/0
11 BHAM Browns DST 6 sec 0/0
12 Chris Johnson Seahawks DST 16 sec 0/0
13 Southpark Cows Schilens, Chaz WR OAK 39 sec 0/0
14 Dorris Marshall Randle El, Antwaan WR PIT 19 sec 0/0
15 Jake Carter Succop, Ryan K KC 37 sec 0/0
16 Bob Bowser Jaguars DST 22 sec 0/0
Round 16
Pick Team Player Elapsed Time Pts
1 Bob Bowser Dawson, Phil K CLE 5 sec(10 min 14 sec) 0/0
2 Jake Carter Jones, Julius RB SEA 45 sec(11 min 51 sec) 0/0
3 Dorris Marshall Gano, Graham K WAS 5 min 36 sec(25 min 8 sec) 0/0
4 Southpark Cows Brown, Kris K HOU 19 sec(12 min 31 sec) 0/0
5 Chris Johnson Mare, Olindo K SEA 10 sec(36 min 46 sec) 0/0
6 BHAM Kasay, John K CAR 4 sec(3 min 34 sec) 0/0
7 BeauchampClonce Rams DST 5 sec(18 min 30 sec) 0/0
8 Rachael Barth, Connor K TB 14 sec(30 min 25 sec) 0/0
9 Brett Jones Scobee, Josh K JAC 8 sec(25 min 37 sec) 0/0
10 John C Jackson, Brandon RB GB 47 sec(14 min 40 sec) 0/0
11 Tidwell Lynch, Marshawn RB BUF 7 sec(14 min 31 sec) 0/0
12 Gabe Blount, LeGarrette RB TEN 27 sec(10 min 40 sec) 0/0
13 Proctor Lindell, Rian K BUF 39 sec(9 min 52 sec) 0/0
14 Three Blind Mice Brown, Josh K STL 5 sec(19 min 33 sec) 0/0
15 Guru The Sequel Edwards, Trent QB BUF 35 sec(24 min 29 sec) 0/0
16 Multiple Scoregasims Hanson, Jason K DET 38 sec(7 min 35 sec) 0/0

My draft strategy for 2010 is to be very flexible. I’m hearing lots of so called “experts” telling owners this is the year to take elite WR’s early, or this is the year to grab an elite QB early, or even TE. What is amazing about all that advise is that it is the same advise I have been hearing for the last three years. My leagues are all PPR, 12 team leagues, usually with a flex spot, so that is what I use to form my strategy. In most cases you know your draft slot a little while before you draft, but not always. In my main league we have a live draft with all the guys in one room and we draw for draft slots first, right before we start drafting. So I develop a strategy for three different slots in the draft. The “A” slot is pick 1-4, the “B” slot is pick 5-8, and “C” slot is pick 9-12. I have a few draft rules I follow to the tee that might help also. I take very few items to the draft. I have my own cheat sheet with players ranked at each position in tiers. I take a draft sheet I use to keep track of what the other owners are drafting each round. Finally, I will be taking this little draft flow chart to keep things in perspective throughout the draft. I also have some simple tips I keep in the back of my mind during the draft. Take the player on the better team when stuck between two or three players in a tier. Don’t try to always be the guy looking to get the best “value” pick, or be a slave to ADP lists. You end up losing players you want more often than not. If you like a player, don’t be afraid to jump up a round or two and take him. The same goes with your sleepers. If he is your sleeper, chances are he is someone else’s sleeper also, so don’t wait too long to grab him or as the old saying goes, “ you snooze you lose.” One final thing, I always take defense and kicker with the last two picks, period. Ok lets get the ball rolling……

First Round – Overall just take solid players with little or no question marks. However taking a RB1 gives you much greater flexibility the rest of the way.

A- Options: CJ, A Pete, Rice, MJD
Just take one of the top 4 RB’s and move on.

B- Options: Gore, S Jax, AJ, Fitz, Moss, Turner, etc.
Gore and Turner are the best two picks, but can’t argue against AJ. Gore is clear cut #5 pick, especially in PPR leagues. I see the fire back in Turner, plus he may surprise and catch a few passes this year on top of the TD’s and yards. The players in italic letters are the one’s I am staying away from if possible. S Jax is on a bad team, and has a rookie QB to boot. Fitz will still be good, but nothing like he was with Warner and Boldin on his team.

C- Options: Turner, Fitz, Moss, Wayne, Calvin, Rodgers, etc.
If Turner is available, take him without question. I like Moss and Calvin both better than Fitz and Wayne this year. Calvin finally has some help, and his QB has another year of experience. Moss has big play written all over him. I can’t really argue against Rodgers, but I probably wouldn’t take him. Here is a slot you may have to take a guy a little earlier than his ADP to get him. I like D Will in this slot a lot, even though he might last until middle of the second round. I think you could take Rodgers here and still have enough quality to recover in the next three rounds, but it will limit your flexibility.

Second Round- Here is when it can start to get tricky, don’t get caught up in the WR hype. It is ok to take that RB a little earlier than his ADP.

C- Options: Wayne, Calvin, White, Mendenhall, Austin, D Will, Marshall.
If you didn’t take a RB in round 1, I think you may have to take one here unless you want Benson or Wells as your RB1. If D Will is here, jump on him, or take the next best RB available on your cheat sheet regardless of ADP. I’m not sold on Mendy as an RB1, with Ben gone for at least 4 games. You might start out with 4 losses on your record. I really like these three guys much better (Matthews, McCoy, Grant) and would not hesitate to take them earlier. If you took a RB in round 1, you have the flexibility to go WR if you want, especially if Moss or Calvin are available.

B- Options: Marshall, Austin, White, Mendenhall, J Charles, Jennings, Brees
Read what I wrote above, must take RB if you didn’t in round 1, unless your fairly positive McCoy can get back to you. If you have a RB1, I would love to have Matthews, McCoy, or Grant as my RB2. But you can also take Brees or the top WR on your cheat sheet. J Charles is fools gold with that team, coach, and Thomas Jones in the backfield with him. One note: Everyone expects the 2nd round to be a WR fest. So if you continue to take them your feeding into the frenzy. You might just throw a wrench in things, and push back some top WR’s, by going with a RB in round two. Trust me there will still be some decent WR’s to take in rounds 3 and 4. Do you really like Jennings, Austin, and Marshall that much better than Carolina’s S. Smith or Boldin?

A – Options: Jennings, De Jacks, Peyton, J. Charles, Matthews, Grant, Colston
You went RB in round one, so take your pick and don’t forget to look and see who may have slipped down. I have seen D Will fall this far. If you don’t take a WR here, you must take one in round three. If you take a WR here, you can still take one in round three, and I recommend that. I am not real high on the WR2’s that will be available late round 4. Again taking a QB is ok, but limits you down the road. Colston is too inconsistent in that offense, you never know who is going to be the hot guy from week to week.

Third Round – This is the round to be very flexible and take players that may drop or are valued by you.

A – Options: Grant, Pierre, McCoy, Greene, De Jacks, Colston, NY Smith, Dal Clark, Top QB
Peyton has been known to drop this far, along with Jennings. It is also a good time to jump on someone you like regardless of his ADP like McCoy, S. Smith, Boldin, or even Brady, Romo. If you have a RB/WR already go ahead and reach for your guy. If you went RB/RB, you better take a WR. The only way I go RB again is if I want to start 3 RB’s each week, which has it’s pluses. Once again hoping to force other owner to take RB’s and push WR’s further down the draft board. Greene is unproven, has LT to share with and Sanchez hasn’t shown he can beat anyone with by passing. NY Smith has the emergence of Nicks to deal with and a healthy running game back. Dallas Clark is a stud, but too many pass catchers for Peyton this year for him to duplicate last years numbers. If you don’t take Brady, Romo or Schaub now they won’t get back to you.

B- Options: McCoy, Pierre, Greene, Benson, NY Smith, Rice, Boldin, Top QB, Clark
I don’t care who you have drafted at this point, if McCoy is still here at this point you have to take him. Otherwise take the top WR on your cheat sheet. Rice isn’t healthy.

C- Options: Benson, Wells, Rice, Boldin, S. Smith, Brady, Romo.
I really like Boldin and Carolina’s Steve Smith at this point, but Brady and Romo are nice picks also if you have good RB already. If you managed not to take a RB yet, you better grab Benson or the top RB on your draft sheet. Wells isn’t the starter on his team and can’t catch the ball. Don’t forget to check for players that may have dropped unexpectedly.

Fourth Round – Take the players you like and forget about ADP in this round.

C – Options: Romo, Brady, Schaub, Moreno, Stewart, Addai, Ocho, S. Smith, Welker, Gates

Let me say this first, Wes Welker is a steal in the 4th round. I don’t care who I have that is who I am targeting, period. I know what his adp is, but he will not make it through this round. If he is gone Gates, Brady, or Romo are nice picks. Moreno can’t stay healthy, and Stewart only saw the numbers he had because D Will was hurt. Addai is a little undervalued this year in my opinion.

B - Options: Schaub, Addai, Ocho, Welker, Crabtree, Moreno, Addai, Stewart
See below

A – Options: See above and add V. Davis.
Here is the bottom line on this round. If Welker is available take him first. Then take the best player available. If Brady falls, he is a nice pick. I also like Finley. J. Best, CJ Spiller, R. Bush, Brown, and M. Forte are also guys I’m targeting in this round and the next regardless of their stinking adp.

Fifth Round – Target those pass catching RB’s or last of the top TE’s

A- Options: Witten, Finley, Best, R. Brown, Forte, Rivers, Nicks, Bowe
You probably didn’t get Welker, so you probably got Best, Forte, or Brown last round. If you have two RB’s and two WR’s go for the top TE left. Probably Witten or Finley. Otherwise, grab R. Bush or Spiller to give a great flex back. Bowe is on a bad team.

B- Options: Finley, R. Brown, Rivers, Nicks, Bowe, Celek, Felix
There is a chance you snagged Welker, but still unlikely. You should have easily gotten Brown, Best, or Forte last round. So there is a good chance you can take the top TE left and still get Bush or Spiller on the return next round. If you don’t like any of the TE left, take Nicks. Felix is talented, but on a team with two other talented RB’s and he hasn’t stayed healthy the last two years. I just don’t like him this early.

C- Options: Felix, R. Bush, H. Ward, Sims-Walker, Celek, Spiller
You should have gotten Welker. Now your targets should be Bush and Spiller. If you need a decent WR2, Ward will do. Celek is the last of the top TE left. In reality you could have a team of Rodgers/Dwill/Ssmith/Welker/Bush/Spiller after your sixth pick. I would take that all day. Have you seen Sims-Walker’s team, they suck!

Sixth Round- stud QB’s andTE’s are gone, be patient after Gonzo and wait for both until the 8th round.

C-Options: Spiller, Barber, Jacobs, Gonzo, Harvin, Maclin, Cutler
Take Spiller right now unless he is gone. Then take Gonzo. Hines Ward might still be around also for the taking. I honestly like Bradshaw and Harrison better than Barber and Jacobs, so I would pull the trigger on one of those two guys now if I had too, because they won’t make it back to me. If I had to have a WR and Ward was not there, I would jump on T. Owens early and not look back. Someone will take him in the sixth round. Cutler has no line to block for pass plays, he will get killed this year. Harvin’s head worries me. Start drinking heavily if Spiller is still available!

B-Options: Cutler, Barber, Jacobs, Maclin, Harvin, S. Moss, M. Wallace, Forsett, Driver
I like S. Moss this year as a very good WR3 with 2 upside. Driver will be a solid WR3. I liked Forsett early, but with Washington healthy, not so much. If I had to go RB, Bradshaw and Harrison would be who I looked at. Maclin is still unproven, but has great potential. T.O!

A-Options: Wallace, Garcon, Driver, Forsett, Kolb, Bradshaw, Harrison
Take T. Owens right now! Otherwise look at your Top WR left, someone like Driver, S. Moss., Houshman, Breaston, and try to grab two in the next two picks. Kolb should put up some good numbers, so he is a fine pick also. Don’t forget about Bradshaw and Harrison. Wallace won’t have a decent QB throwing him the ball for the first 4 games.

Seventh Round- Look for Value this round, but go for the guys you want early if you have too

A-Options: Houshman, Bradshaw, Harrison, M. Floyd, Dez Bryant, V. Jackson, Breaston, Ricky
Once again, TAKE T. OWENS! I really like Housh , Floyd, and Breaston this round also. Bradshaw and Harrison may be gone, if not jump. Start thinking about Portis!

B-Options: Harrison, Ricky, Floyd, Housh, Breaston, Bryant, V. Jackson, Winslow, O. Daniels
Ok, here is the deal. If you have to have a RB at this point for whatever reason go ahead and take Portis right now. Winslow might not be a bad choice for a TE.

C-Options: Once again Portis right now if you need a RB. However, if you still don’t have a QB grab Favre and smile at the rest of your drafting buddies.



Eighth Round- QB and TE time has come for those without.
C- Options: Favre, Eli, Ryan, Flacco, Winslow, Z. Miller, D. Hester, Holmes, Gaffney, Portis
Take Favre, Eli, or Flacco with confidence if you need a QB. I like Z. Miller here also if you still need a TE. One final time, please take Clinton Portis. Gaffney could get taken later, so could Holmes and Hester, but don’t be afraid to take them now.

B- Options: Eli, Flacco, Z. Miller, D. Brown, M. Bush, A. Foster. Hester, Holmes, Gaffney
Ok, lets say Portis is gone. Bush, and Foster are fine RB to have at this point. However, there is one RB still left I like better, LT. I also like Cooley at TE a little earlier than his ADP. The WR are over the place by now, but one of the three above should still be there. Eli and Flacco still should be there also.

A.- Options: McNabb, Palmer, Stafford, Foster, Bush, McFadden, Cooley, Shiancoe, LT
Take one of these QB’s if you don’t have one yet. Take LT or one of these RB’s if you still need one. McFadden is a big question mark, but may pay off big in PPR league. Take Cooley or Shank at TE if you don’t have one yet.

Round Nine and Beyond!

Please take LT! I also like Sproles and Hightower very well. Don’t laugh, but take a flyer on Freddie Taylor late also.

If you got Welker, pick up Edelman in the 11th. L.Evans is way undervalued. Collie and A Gonz should be nabbed at some point also. L. Naanee will surprise some owners.

H. Miller will be a viable TE in a pinch. Keller, Carlson, Olsen, Shockey, will help. Gresham may surprise us all!

First off, I want to thank ColtsBraZil for finding and embedding Pierre Garçon's absolutely hilarious video from Garcon's own Facebook page. For those of you who have not seen it, Garçon's video recorded the team bowling tournament that we blogged about two weeks ago. This was the event players like Pat McAfee, Robert Mathis, and Jacob Lacey were Tweeting about.

We have a story up at SB Nation Indiana about the recording, including some highlighted moments and a screen grab of Clint Session that is absolutely priceless. Garçon's recording offers a rare glimpse at several Colts players (including Peyton Manning and Adam Vinatieri) goofing off, having fun, and just being themselves. It is pure, unfiltered fun that will make you laugh out loud.  

Special thanks to Pierre Garçon for making and posting this (he reads this blog, by the way).

Colts WR Pierre Garcon, who has yet to play this preseason, returned to practice on Sunday. Garcon has been dealing with an undisclosed injury but has been able to get back to practice. He could play in Thursday's preseason game in Green Bay. Garcon caught 47 passes last season for 765 yards and four touchdowns. Indianapolis Colts - Pierre Garçon - Wide receiver - Sports - NFL

20 Vote(s)

I spent much of Friday recovering from an illness. Thanks to GoBigBlue88 and LovinBlue for posting some great game recaps for the Colts and Bills preseason game in Toronto. Before we get to my note,s it seems the "Toronto Experiment" for the Bills is not working. Only 20,000 people attended the game. That's putrid, even by preseason standards.

OK, onto the notes. I've watched the game three times. Yes, I am THAT obsessive!

• From the first kick, Devin Moore had something to prove. He was four years deep in the endzone on the opening kickoff and got the ball out near the 30. Tremendous burst and "shake." On his second return, he runs it out to the 37. The 49 yard punt return late in the first, where he took it straight up the middle of the seam without any hesitation, was awesome. This explosive element adds a new weapon for the Colts if Moore can be consistent with it. 
• Devin running was also quite impressive. He hits the hole, and his speed takes care of the rest. Devin Moore had an outstanding overall game against the Bills.
• All night, punt returns were very good for the Colts. Brandon James had a good one in the fourth when he came into the game. Either the Bills truly suck on special teams, or the Colts have two or three guys who can make some things happen with the football returning punts and kicks.

• Penalty on Tony Ugoh to start the game was a trend. Kyle Williams, #95 for the Bills, killed Ugoh all day. Pretty much on every passing play, Ugoh was getting beat. Again, Ugoh has all the talent in the world. There's no excuse for him to be losing battles to players like Chris Kelsay. 
• Manning seemed to be annoyed all evening with Clyde Christensen. During the first drive, Peyton was seen gesturing to the sideline, indicating a 'hurry up and get me the friggin play' attitude. Later, on the team's second drive and near the red zone, the Colts tried to run the WR screen, but the Bills sniffed it out. Manning threw the ball in the dirt, turned to the sideline and said "You can't f*cking call that!" I've watched Peyton since 1998. I never recall him ever doing that to Tom Moore. Maybe some of you can recall a time or a moment where you saw him do that, but I can't.
• After a third down competition, Manning looked at the bench and shook his head in disgust about something. To me, it seemed he was pissed at Ugoh blowing his block on Chris Kelsay, almost giving Kelsay a free shot at Peyton's blindside.
• Lots of 4 WR sets with empty backfield for the first team offense. For those of you who want to see Anthony Gonzalez and Pierre Garcon on the field together, this was that formation. 4 wide, no back in the backfield, spread offense. The first time they used it, Marcus Stroud was able to penetrate and bat the ball down. Stroud slapped Jamey Richard around all night.
• The C.J. Spiller TD run was just a fluke play. Robert Mathis, Jacob Lacey, Bob Sanders, and Antoine Bethea all missed tackles. Spiller should have been dropped for a loss, which he was several times throughout the evening. It will be interesting to see how Spiller performs throughout the year. He's a speed back, and as the season drags on and he takes a few hard sticks, will he be able to maintain that speed?
• Impressive receiving skills on display by one Brody Eldridge. Manning trusts the kid. Equally great receiving by Joseph Addai. If the Colts use a 4 wide package on offense this year, they can do it with multiple personnel groupings On his long third down receptions, Addai beat Paul Pozlusnky. Addai running routes with a LBer covering him is a match-up that favors Indy.
• Strong running by Donald Brown, especially on delayed draw runs. He saw the field a bit better this evening, and allowed his blocks to develop.However, on passing downs, Brown does not have reliable hands. He dropped an easy one from Manning late on the first.
• On the 19-yard Joseph Addai TD, blocking up from was excellent. Jeff Linchenback, who played both tackle and both guard positions Thursday night, did a nice job blocking at the second level, taking out Bills safety Bryan Scott to spring Addai for the score. After the TD, Addai pointed to Linkenbach as if to say 'Good job.' Good blocking by Mike Pollak on the run as well.
• Joseph Addai has speed. The TD runs proves it. Give him blocking and he can make things happen. Most under-rated back in all of football.
• In second Bills offensive series, Colts defense imposed their will. Bills fans had to shudder seeing Trent Edwards taking multiple shots. His pass outside on second down should have been picked by Kelvin Hayden. Edwards got lucky. On third down, the Colts had six defenders up against the line. None blitzed. Dwight Freeney, Daniel Muir, and Robert Mathis all got into Edwards' face, and Edwards was absolutely rocked by Mathis. Helmet came off. Edwards clearly dazed and affected by Mathis' hit. The ball floated out of his hands and yet another pass that the Bills were lucky was not picked.
• The pick six was Gonzo's fault. Ball was thrown right into his hands. It bounced off, pick six. Catch the ball, Gonzo.
• Back to Ugoh, as bad as he was in pass protection, he was seemingly quite good in off-tackle run blocking.
• Jacob Tamme really is a great asset for the Colts. He is an outstanding receiving TE. Dallas Clark is awesome, but if Clark were out of a few games, Tamme could pick up the slack. He runs great routes, and the TD catch from Manning to tie the game at 14 was excellent. Tamme's excellent special teams skills, and his ability to play long-snapper, make him a very vital part of this Colts team. Anyone suggesting Tamme will be cut is just someone who is ignorant of how valuable Tamme is. The Colts love the guy and view him as an essential player.
• The Lee Evans touchdown was a result of Antoine Bethea not getting over and helping Kelvin Hayden. Colts need to tighten that up. Giving up big plays in the passing game is often a side effect of a blitz happy defense. Bug plays are unacceptable. At their core foundation, the colts are still a Tampa-2. Tampa-2 absolutely cannot give up big passing plays. It defeats the whole purpose of playing the scheme.
• Ray Fisher did a good job handling the coffin corner punt in the second. Ray also had a nice hit in the second to cause that fumble. However, in coverage both he and Brandon King had issues with Chad Jackson.
• Javarris James is a nice, physical runner. I've been impressed with him in the kid's two preseason games. He initiates contact well.
• Terrail Lambert seemed to own the second half. In the second half, Lambert made a great tackle on Jackson after Bills quarterback Brian Brohm was pressured. Lambert also covered very well. He finished the game with 9 tackles. Lambert might beat out Fisher and King for the fifth corner spot.
• Regarding Curtis Painter, it's nice that he had a decent bounce back game from the disaster that was last weekend. I say 'decent' because even though Painter had a perfect QB rating for the game, I'm still seeing too many mistakes. Painter really panics in the pocket when things break down, and I have no patience for stuff like that. This is why I have a sense Tom Brandstater will get a shot at replacing Painter. Brandstater seems much more poised and confident. I cite his near sack but resilient fourth quarter run as an example.
• The two throws that gave Painter confidence were the two long passes to Taj Smith in the second quarter. Both were against Bills corner Ellis Lankster, who was awful. I mean, truly awful covering Smith. Were talking David Macklin bad. On the 43 yard TD throw to Smith, Taj ran the exact same route he had smoked Lankster on the play before. Lankster, lost and frustrated in the coverage, essentially tried to tackle Smith before the ball landed in his hands. Flag. Smith catches it anyway, strolls into the endzone, celebrates.
• Painter's one in-completion, in the second half, should have been a pick six. There's a reason Ashton Youboty for the Bills is a third string corner, and his drop of Painter's gift is why. Painter's next throw was a useless dump-off to Javarris James. Again, Painter's whole night was made because of two throws against an awful coverage corner. I need to see more than that to say he has truly "bounced back."
• More so than Curtis Painter, Taj Smith absolutely needed to have a bounce back game. He did. Nice job, Taj. Smith played better than Painter, and thus made Curtis look better than he is.
• Second string Colts defense utilized a lot of Eric Foster at defensive end and Mitch King at tackle. King really does have a tremendous motor and get outstanding line penetration. Bills guard Cordaro Howard was having trouble dealing with him, and was called for a hold on a good run by former-Colts back Chad Simpson. Without that hold, King likely drops Simpson in the backfield.
• Mike Newton played better against the Bills. Saw some nice blitzing from the guy who might need to step in for Jamie Silva, who was IRed last week.
• Saw some good line penetration in the second half by Ricardo Mathews, a kid who has been invisible for this team all preseason. Ervin Baldwin also had some good rush from his DE spot. I spent a lot of time watching Jerry Hughes, and yes the kid is very raw. He isn't ready for real NFL games. Lots of speed. Lots of ability. But, he isn't there yet.
• Yeah, Tim Hiller is getting cut. He's pretty awful.
• Jacques McClendon and Brandstater need more reps. The fumble in the fourth looked like McClednon's fault.

All in all, I have to say I saw many, many positives out of this Colts team in their second preseason outing. Some players that really needed to play better to have any hope at making this 53-man roster did so. I also have some very high praise for the Colts second string defense. They have some players there. Colts seem very deep, and very talented, on defense this year.

The ongoing mock draft at www.chinstrapninjas.com has been garnering plenty of attention and comments as we weave through the rounds. Some crazy picks and unorthodox moves have defined this draft.

Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5

For an easy-to-navigate list of all our 2010 fantasy football strategies, advice, rankings, sleepers, etc., go here.

What craziness happens in round six of our redraft mock? Check it out below:

6.01 Owen Daniels, HOU (jzak)

Second part of my Texas two-step, Daniels, much like Schaub, has an injury onus on him, but few seem to remember how dominating he was at tight end last year before succumbing to injury. He deserves to be selected before some of the other tight ends on this list, in my opinion, and considering how many TEs are off the board at this point, I’m happy to take him here.

6.02 Pierre Garcon (ep)

Bottom line: Garcon is the No. 2 receiver for the high-powered Colts offense and could outscore Reggie Wayne in fantasy leagues in 2010. That makes him an easy sixth-rounder.

6.03 Jay Cutler (consigliere)

What’s not to like here. He has put up big numbers the past two years and the interception number doesn’t scare me one bit. He has also had low INT totals dating back to his Vandy days.

He is the most talented quarterback Mike Martz has had, all due respect to Kurt Warner.

6.04 Arian Foster (sockonfl)

I was going to wait another round, but I feel he will be the full time starter in Houston. That’s worth a ton considering how well that offense played last year. He also caught the ball out of the backfield some last year too. He could turn into an every down back. Just the type of back I need to take a chance on.

6.05 – Marion Barber (jay-mo)

I’ll probably get some grief for this pick, but I’m not drafting to make friends nor am I following some cookie-cutter glossy magazine. I was looking at WR here, but I’m confident my target will last until the next round. So, why not take the best available player (in my opinion)?

Obviously, Barber is going to get compared to Felix Jones. Barber is the starter: advantage one. Barber scores more often (7 TDs vs. 3 TDs): advantage two. Barber had nearly twice as many carries than Felix (214 vs. 116): advantage three. More importantly to me, Barber is the No. 1 runner in the red zone: advantage four.

I know, I know … that was last year and all of the fantasy experts are saying differently. Well, are they calling the plays for Dallas? Don’t believe me, watch the preseason …

6.06 Fred Jackson, BUF (jzak)

Not thrilled with Jackson, but he is the official starter in Buffalo. In fact, he’s the main fantasy weapon in Buffalo at the moment. He’s the starter, for what it’s worth, and helps provide some RB depth.

6.07 Ahmad Bradshaw (speedy)

This might be a little high for him, but he’s been getting the starting carries early in training camp.

6.08 – Terrell Owens (ryder)

I'm going to go ahead and pick one half of the co-diva reality star T.O. Although he is getting older he still has a good year left in him. He is in much better situation this year with the Bengals rather then the dreadful Buffalo offense from a season ago. I cant believe I'm going to say this, but I think Chad Ochocinco and T.O. will help each other. Here comes Batman & Robin.

6.09 – Joe Flacco, BAL (krause)

I was going to wait on a QB but I like Flacco’s upside this year. Everything Baltimore did in the offseason makes me think their going to score a lot. Now I have Flacco and Ray Rice so 90% of the time Baltimore scores, I score.

6.10 Matt Ryan (consigliere)

Looking for a bounce back year for Ryan here. He has some legit weapons and i expect Michael Turner to be a lot better this year.

I am grabbing a top-10 quarterback here and hoping he plays like it. Not really a lot to say i am happy to have my starting line up filled out, now i need to fix my bench.

6.11 — Vincent Jackson, SD (ep)

It’s a risk because of Jackson’s holdout, but no other receiver has a better chance to transform my team at this point in the draft. If one side caves — V-Jax, dude, you’re not Andre Johnson — I get a top-10 receiver in the sixth round.

6.12 Hines Ward (sockonfl)

Seeing that ep stole my pick here right before me, I had to make a change of plans. I decided to go with the ever consistent and highly underrated Hines Ward. He puts up consistent numbers year in and year out. I know Ben Roethlisberger is out early on, but he will still post some solid numbers throughout the season.

Every August as the summer winds down, the anticipation of another football season takes its place.  The highs and the lows, pure joy coupled with pure agony are the stops on the fantasy football roller coaster every fall.  It all begins with the most exciting day this side of the Super Bowl: the fantasy draft.

The draft can very well determine the course that your team will follow for the rest of the year.  You miss on a player in the early rounds and you could be spending the rest of the season desperately raiding the wavier wire for suitable fill-ins.  Anyone who has played at least one season can relate, and this conundrum can be avoided with a quality draft. 

So how do you put together a quality draft?  The answer depends on what you consider quality.  My definition of quality is drafting players who hold more value than their draft position.  For example if you draft a player in the fourth round who produces more than a fantasy player of the same position drafted in the second, then you drafted a quality player. 

The Strategy:

There are many strategies that can be used when drafting a fantasy football team.  One is to load up on a key position (usually running back) and hope to either score enough points with that position or trade some of the depth for other key position players later.  Another is to draft quality at every position and run the risk of injury depleting one or more positions.  Others are a combination of the two or personal formulas.

Whichever strategy you use, a good draft is the foundation that you need to remain competitive over the course of the season. 

To complete a quality draft you have to pay attention to trends in the NFL and do a little homework on the teams in the league.  For example, the NFL has become much more pass oriented in the last few years.  When teams pass the ball more often, quarterbacks, receivers, and receiving running backs become more valuable.  This alters the conventional draft wisdom of solely loading up on running backs in the early rounds. 

With the passing offenses of today, you can ill afford to "pass" up the chance to acquire a top flight QB in the early rounds along with the quality running backs.  If you do not pick up a top QB your team will fall behind when the season hits its stride and teams start to open up their passing games. 

Although running backs are still the anchor for your team, a lack of WR depth can derail your championship hopes real fast.  The last couple of years I have been burned by terrible WR years from Steve Smith (CAR) in 2009, and Marvin Harrison/Santana Moss in 2008.  Because of the fickle nature of the WR position you want to hold out on drafting your WRs until your league starts picking them up, and once they do make sure to grab a couple fast. 

You do not stand a chance to make the playoffs without a certified primary target at WR.  Wide receiver has always been a source of trouble for my drafts in the past and I believe it is one of the hardest positions to get consistent production from.  This year I hope to target Marques Colston, Reggie Wayne or Steve Smith (NYG) as a second-tier primary target. 

You want to choose a WR who is not any lower than the second option in the passing game like a Wayne or a Fitzgerald.  Do not get fooled by false targets such as Santonio Holmes, Santana Moss, or any receiver on the Dolphins (including Brandon Marshall).  Those are receivers who look good on paper but will disappoint you on a weekly basis due to their team's reliance on the run and shaky quarterback play.

My super sleeper QB picks of the draft (I know they had good years in 2009, but they will take another step forward):

Joe Flacco, Jay Cutler, and Eli Manning and the deep sleeper is Alex Smith

So, as your draft progresses you want to make sure you fill your team with quality depth, especially at WR and RB.  You also want to keep an eye on a QB as a bye week fill-in and manage the rest of your team's bye-week absences.  The best bet is to look for the underrated backs or rookies poised to explode. 

This year the list of under-the-radar RB's include:

Arian Foster (HOU), Ahmad Bradshaw (NYG), Jahvid Best (DET), Beanie Wells (ARI), and Shonn Greene (NYJ). 

As for the WR's set the explode on to the scene include:

Michael Crabtree (SF), Pierre Garcon (IND), Jeremy Maclin (PHI), Johnny Knox (CHI), and possibly even Malcolm Floyd (SD) in the absence of Vincent Jackson.

I generally follow the following draft pattern to build a quality team: 

QB/RB, RB/QB, RB, RB/WR, WR, TE/WR, TE,...the rest depth and Def.

It can be difficult to follow suit with a strategy when a draft is so dynamic and unpredictable, but keeping your eye on the goal of building a quality team with consistent producers at multiple positions.

Eight players are listed out, including Dallas Clark, Keyunta Dawson, Kyle DeVan, Pierre Garcon, Mike Hart, Charlie Johnson, Jerraud Powers, and Jeff Saturday. Dwight Freeney likely will not play, but the man who is expected to suit up is non other than Bob Sanders.

Please chat away, offering your insights into all this preseason goodness.

Go Colts!

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In this week's Fantasy Football Primer, I thought I'd do something I've never really done before.  I'm going to put myself on record and see how I do.  I generally don't make predictions about how players do, but since I don't do much front page posting anymore and you don't get many opportunities to knock my spelling and grammar why not give you something else to knock me on?

I'm going to list wide receivers that I think are overrated, underrated, and will be breakout fantasy receivers.  Take a look, tell me I suck, tell me you agree, or just tell me who you think fit these categories.

Fantasy Football Wide Receivers - Overrated

Every year hype is thrown on players based on a few games in which they showed up the previous year.  Anybody remember Steve Breaston?  I was big time on him going into last year.  What exactly did he do last year?  So this year's list is...

1)  Dwayne Bowe, Kansas City Chiefs - I'm not sure what captured people's interest in this guy.  Last year many people, including myself, had this guy as a starting wide receiver.  Maybe we hoped for flashes of what looked like he was turning the corner in previous years. Maybe we thought the new QB would help.  He is currently ranked toward the bottom of the top 20 list of receivers.  I'd probably move him a bit more.  With the signing of  Thomas Jones and the expected continued improvement of Jamall Charles, I'd expect  KC to do a fair bit more running then they normally do. And until Matt Cassel shows he can live up to his signing price, I'd stay away from Bowe.

2)  Anquan Boldin, Baltimore Ravens - Okay, this might be the one I regret the most at the end of the year.  Joe Flacco is a good QB, I don't question that, but I'm not sure I buy him as an elite QB. He has one of the strongest arms in the league if not the strongest, but I just don't buy his value in the 10-30 yard range.  Boldin is not a speed receiver.  He's a strong possession guy.  Maybe he becomes a big red zone target for Flacco and makes me eat my words.  Flacco also has Derrick Mason and Todd Heap who he is much more familiar with.  I also expect Ray Rice to be a much bigger part of this offense including the receiving game.

3) Michael Crabtree, San Franciso 49ers - Crabtree is on many's breakout list, but I can't figure out why.  Firstly, look who is throwing to him.  Exactly, how much faith do you have in Alex Smith?  The 49ers are stocked for a playoff run.  I don't expect them to be going for big numbers most games.  They are going to  put a few on the board then let their defense hold the other team while Frank Gore grinds the clock out.  They also have Vernon Davis who showed up big time last season and there is no reason to expect he doesn't continue to improve.  The 49ers also beefed up their run and passing game with the signing of Brian Westbrook.  He may be the biggest reason Crabtree doesn't see the ball as much, especially if the offensive line doesn't hold up.

Fantasy Football Wide Receivers - Underrated

I'm going to leave our quartet of potential underrated or break-out receivers out of this discussion.  It would be too easy for me to have them fill up the next section.

1) Donald Driver, Green Bay Packers - I hate putting a Packer on this list and I hate more putting this one on the list.  I don't know what it is about him that puts me off, but I have to admit the guy just gets it done.  He has had 6 straight seasons of over 1,000 yards receiving and with the Packers having another big time QB, there is no reason to think this streak stops.  If Greg Jennings ever lives up to his billing, it might take away from Driver's numbers, but until that happens he is a solid #2 and a great #3 receiver.

2) Mike Wallace, Pittsburgh Steelers - Last year in just 39 catches he amassed 756 yards and 6 touchdowns.  Hines Ward is old and Santonio Holmes is not in town.  Wallace has the opportunity to put up some big numbers with or without Big Ben in the game.

3) Kenny Britt, Tennessee Titans - Underrated is a relative term.  It doesn't mean you are going to become an elite player, it only means you are worth more than you are ranked, bringing me to Britt.  I've always liked him as a receiver and I think on a team with a more reliable QB, he could be looking at big numbers, but I'm not entirely sold on Vince Young's new attitude and skills.  But I still think Britt is going to be considerably better than the projections.

Fantasy Football Wide Receivers - Breakout Receivers

Again too easy to put the Devins and Knox in here, so I'm leaving them out. You already know about them.

1) Austin Collie, Indianapolis Colts - Collie has the potential to be for the Colts what Wes Welker is or was for the Patriots. With Reggie Wayne and Pierre Garcon roaming the outside and getting  most of the attention, it leaves the middle wide open for Collie to get some of the attention from Manning that usually goes just to Dallas Clark. 

2) Darrius Heyward-Bey, Oakland Raiders - This pick scares me.  DHB was drafted way too early and the expectations on him were a bit too high.  Couple that with the fact that he had an over-sized twinkie throwing the ball in Oakland and there was no way he was succeeding.  With Jason Campbell now the starting QB in Oakland, their two skill sets mesh perfectly.  The one thing Heyward-Bey can do is run and he can do it really fast. And Campbell is primarily a deep ball passer, with his issues being in the smaller ranges. I'm not sure how breakout he will be, but I think the two of them will hook up on a goodly amount of deep passes this year.

3) Malcom Floyd, San Diego Chargers - Floyd had 45 catches, 1 TD and 776 yards last  year.  But with Chris Chambers past his prime and Vincent Jackson's off season implosion and current contact hold out, somebody has to catch the ball.  Phillip Rivers is a very good QB and if Floyd can stay on the field (he has past injury concerns) he could be the big benefactor.

There it is.  Did I do good, bad, ugly?  How about... did I just not make a fool of myself?  

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August 13, 2010Reggie Wayne makes an over the shoulder catch while Dallas Clark, Austin Collie, & Pierre Garcon look on.

Colts corner Jerraud Powers is 'out' for tomorrow's preseason game in Toronto against the Buffalo Bills. Powers is experiencing soreness in the same foot he injured last year.

Looks like we shall see a more of Jacob Lacey against the Bills with a bit of Deshea Townsend, Ray Fisher, and Brandon King sprinkled in.

Pierre Garcon also will not play. Jim Caldwell said he would return "Shortly."

Here are 75 Predictions for the NFL Season. I'm standing behind all of these predictions, and at the end of the season, I'm going to check myself.

 

Fill free to list your own predictions at the bottom of the list.

 

1. Chad Henne throws for 25+ touchdowns

 

2. Miami beats the New York Jets twice

 

3. Jets fall to 7-9 and miss the playoffs

 

4. Miami and New England split their games

 

5. Miami wins the division; New England gets the Wild Card

 

6. Louisville QB Brian Brohm starts for Buffalo at some point this season and plays well

 

7. It doesn't matter, Buffalo falls to 3-13, get a top three pick, and gear up to take a QB next April

 

8. Fred Jackson rushes for 1000+ yards and five touchdowns

 

9. CJ Spiller is underwhelming

 

10. Joe Flacco becomes the best QB in the AFC North

 

11. Anquan Boldin doesn't stay healthy, but still records 1000+ yards

 

12. Ray Rice tops 2000 total yards

 

13. Baltimore wins the division over Cincinnati

 

14. There is no more entertaining team than Cincinnati; they get the final wild card spot

 

15. Pittsburgh wins three out of the six games that Byron Leftwich starts, but still miss the playoffs

 

16. Cleveland improves to 5-11

 

17. Indianapolis locks up the division in week 12

 

18. Reggie Wayne takes a step back; Pierre Garcon takes two steps forward

 

19. Houston, once again, underwhelms their fans and the rest of the football world, missing the playoffs

 

20. Matt Schaub misses at least one game because of injury

 

21. RB Arian Foster finishes in the top 10 in rushing.

 

22. Chris Johnson tops out around 1500 rushing yards, 800 receiving yards

 

23. Vince Young plays well enough to get the Titans close, but they don't make the playoffs.

 

24. Maurice Jones-Drew breaks down.

 

25. David Garrard plays poorly enough that he is replaced for next season.

 

26. Jacksonville underperforms and ownership starts to seriously contemplate moving the team.

 

27. Kansas City wins the AFC West

 

28. Eric Berry is Defensive Rookie of the Year

 

29. Kansas City leads the league in running the ball

 

30. San Diego Chargers miss the playoffs.

 

31. Oakland Raiders improve on their record from last year.

 

32. Jason Campbell becomes a Pro Bowl quarterback.

 

33. Denver Broncos don't win more then five games.

 

34. Tim Tebow is the starting quarterback by week 10.

 

35. McDaniels is fired at the end of the season.

 

36. Knowshon Moreno proves to be a huge bust at running back.

 

37. The New York Giants win the NFC East

 

38. Hakeem Nicks is the leading wide receiver on the team and makes the Pro Bowl.

 

39. Ahmad Bradshaw rushes for 1000+ yards; Brandon Jacobs doesn't.

 

40. Kevin Kolb throws for 25+ touchdowns and 20+ interceptions.

 

41. Philadelphia has a winning season, but they do not make the playoffs.

 

42. Dallas Cowboys get the final wild card spot on the final day of the season.

 

43. Felix Jones misses at least eight games due to injury.

 

44. Washington Redskins finish below .500.

 

45. Donovan McNabb has the worst stats out of every quarterback in the NFC East.

 

46. Albert Haynesworth records fewer than 30 tackles.

 

47. Green Bay Packers win the division and represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.

 

48. Aaron Rodgers is the NFL's MV

 

49. Jay Cutler figures it out, and Chicago grabs a Wild Card spot.

 

50. With Julius Peppers' arrival and the return of Brian Urlacher, the Bears have the best defense in the division.

 

51. Matt Forte tops 1500 total yards.

 

52. Brett Favre underperforms and doesn't finish out the season due to injury.

 

53. Adrian Peterson cuts back on his fumbles but finishes fifth in rushing

 

54. The Detroit Lions win six games.

 

55. Jahvid Best outperforms every running back in the division.

 

56. New Orleans doesn't make the playoffs behind Brees' subpar season.

 

56. Atlanta Falcons make the playoffs and grab the second seed in the conference.

 

57. Tampa Bay outperforms last season and finishes in third place in the division. 

 

58. The "Josh Freeman to Mike Williams and Arrelious Benn" hookup has shockingly good results.

 

59. Carolina finishes last in the division despite winning seven games.

 

60. Jimmy Clausen is starting by week eight, and plays well to finish out the season.

 

61. Matt Leinart leads Arizona to the playoffs in his first full year as a starter.

 

62. Steve Breaston and Larry Fitzgerald combine to form the top receiving tandem in their division.

 

63. Michael Crabtree suffers from a bad quarterback and puts up weak numbers; Vernon Davis falls back to earth.

 

64. Frank Gore misses at least four games due to injury.

 

65.  Seattle wide receiver Mike Williams enjoys a good comeback season and catches eight touchdowns.

 

66. Charlie Whitehurst is starting by week eight.

 

67. Seattle wins six games in Pete Carroll's first year.

 

68. LB Aaron Curry breaks out.

 

69. St. Louis is once again selecting in the top five in 2011

 

70. Sam Bradford starts in week 12 of this season.

 

71. The wild cards are Cincinnati, New England, Chicago, and Dallas

 

72. The AFC division winners are Miami, Baltimore, Indianapolis, and Kansas City

 

73. NFC division winners are New York Giants, Green Bay, Atlanta, and Arizona

 

74. Baltimore over New England; Atlanta over Green Bay in the conference games

 

75. Baltimore beats Atlanta in the Super Bowl

 

 

Also remember that I do a Friday mailbag. Email questions to sherwoodanderson@rocketmail (or league them on my page) and they might, just might, make the cut.

After missing the team's first preseason game with an undisclosed injury, Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Pierre Garcon continues to be withheld from practice this week, and is likely to be sidelined for tomorrow's preseason tilt against the Buffalo Bills, as well. When asked recently about an impending return for the third-year widout, Colts coach Jim Caldwell theorized that Garcon would be back on the practice field "shortly." FANTASY ANALYSIS: Because of the big-play potential flashed by Garcon last season (12 catches of 25+ yards in 2009), many fantasy owners have tabbed the young Colts flanker as a potential sleeper heading into upcoming drafts. The problem is, when a preponderance of owners around the country identify one particular player as a sleeper, that player is no longer flying under anyone's radar. Such is the case for Garcon entering the 2010 season. Listed as No. 2 on the team's depth chart at receiver, Frenchy has inherent fantasy value as long as Peyton Manning remains upright and breathing. Yes, Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark should remain Manning's primary reads on the majority of passing plays, but the consummate field general is sure to find Garcon streaking down the sidelines for a handful of long touchdowns again this season. Though his ADP continues to rise (even in light of the recent mystery ailment that has sidelined him thus far in preseason), Garcon should still prove to be worth the escalating price-tag that owners will have to pay to acquire his services. [Go To Page]

Pat Fitzmaurice offers up his second draft board of the preseason, by position, with comments at the end of each position.

QUARTERBACKS

1. Peyton Manning, Colts
2. Aaron Rodgers, Packers
3. Drew Brees, Saints
4. Tom Brady, Patriots
5. Tony Romo, Cowboys
6. Philip Rivers, Chargers
7. Matt Schaub, Texans
8. Eli Manning, Giants
9. Matt Ryan, Falcons
10. Jay Cutler, Bears
11. Brett Favre, Vikings
12. Kevin Kolb, Eagles
13. Joe Flacco, Ravens
14. Donovan McNabb, Redskins
15. Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers
16. Chad Henne, Dolphins
17. Carson Palmer, Bengals
18. Vince Young Titans
19. Matthew Stafford, Lions
20. Matt Cassel, Chiefs
21. David Garrard, Jaguars
22. Alex Smith, 49ers
23. Mark Sanchez, Jets
24. Matt Leinart, Cardinals
25. Josh Freeman, Buccaneers
26. Matt Hasselbeck, Seahawks
27. Kyle Orton, Broncos
28. Jason Campbell, Raiders
29. Matt Moore, Panthers
30. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Bills
31. Jake Delhomme, Browns
32. Byron Leftwich, Steelers
33. Trent Edwards, Bills
34. Sam Bradford, Rams
35. Derek Anderson, Cardinals
36. Jon Kitna, Cowboys
37. Chris Redman, Falcons
38. Seneca Wallace, Browns
39. Charlie Whitehurst, Seahawks
40. A.J. Feeley, Rams
41. Michael Vick, Eagles
42. Billy Volek, Chargers
43. Luke McCown, Jaguars
44. Dan Orlovsky, Texans
45. Brian Hoyer, Patriots
46. Colt McCoy, Browns
47. Jimmy Clausen, Panthers
48. Tim Tebow, Broncos
49. Tarvaris Jackson, Vikings
50. Bruce Gradkowski, Raiders
51. Kerry Collins, Titans
52. Marc Bulger, Ravens
53. Caleb Hanie, Bears
54. Matt Flynn, Packers
55. Brodie Croyle, Chiefs
56. Patrick Ramsey, Saints
57. Mark Brunell, Jets
58. Chad Pennington, Dolphins
59. Tyler Thigpen, Dolphins
60. Shaun Hill, Lions
61. Josh Johnson, Buccaneers
62. Brady Quinn, Broncos
63. Dennis Dixon, Steelers
64. Chase Daniel, Saints
65. Nate Davis, 49ers
66. David Carr, 49ers
67. Rex Grossman, Redskins
68. Jim Sorgi, Giants
69. Colt Brennan, Redskins
70. Keith Null, Rams
71. Brian Brohm, Bills
72. Curtis Painter, Colts
73. Sage Rosenfels, Vikings

Significant changes

— Although there are plenty of Tim Tebow skeptics out there (including me), what matters is that the Broncos are believers. It's inevitable that the team will give Tebow a fair chance to prove himself, if not several chances, and I'm starting to think that Tebow will get his first chance this season. Tebow's first preseason game with the Broncos was much better than Brady Quinn's, and I doubt that the team will waste any time trying to determine whether Quinn can play, since there's already ample evidence that he can't. Nor does it seem logical to stick with starter Kyle Orton and his low ceiling once Denver's playoff hopes start to fade - and with limited talent on the roster, those hopes could fade quickly. I'm dropping Orton a few spots, dropping Quinn into the lower rungs of the position, and tentatively moving up Tebow to the neighborhood occupied by fellow rookies Colt McCoy and Jimmy Clausen.

 

RUNNING BACKS

1. Ray Rice, Ravens
2. Chris Johnson, Titans
3. Adrian Peterson, Vikings
4. Maurice Jones-Drew, Jaguars
5. Frank Gore, 49ers
6. Rashard Mendenhall, Steelers
7. Michael Turner, Falcons
8. Steven Jackson, Rams
9. DeAngelo Williams, Panthers
10. Shonn Greene, Jets
11. Ryan Grant, Packers
12. Ryan Mathews, Chargers
13. Cedric Benson, Bengals
14. Jamaal Charles, Chiefs
15. LeSean McCoy, Eagles
16. Jonathan Stewart, Panthers
17. Jahvid Best, Lions
18. Beanie Wells, Cardinals
19. Pierre Thomas, Saints
20. Knowshon Moreno, Broncos
21. Joseph Addai, Colts
22. Ahmad Bradshaw, Giants
23. C.J. Spiller, Bills
24. Ronnie Brown, Dolphins
25. Matt Forté, Bears
26. Clinton Portis, Redskins
27. Justin Forsett, Seahawks
28. Arian Foster, Texans
29. Ricky Williams, Dolphins
30. Felix Jones, Cowboys
31. Jerome Harrison, Browns
32. Laurence Maroney, Patriots
33. Marion Barber, Cowboys
34. Michael Bush, Raiders
35. Tim Hightower, Cardinals
36. Brandon Jacobs, Giants
37. Darren McFadden, Raiders
38. Cadillac Williams, Buccaneers
39. Bernard Scott, Bengals
40. Reggie Bush, Saints
41. Donald Brown, Colts
42. Tashard Choice, Cowboys
43. Thomas Jones, Chiefs
44. Fred Jackson, Bills
45. Steve Slaton, Texans
46. Chester Taylor, Bears
47. Darren Sproles, Chargers
48. Correll Buckhalter, Broncos
49. Derrick Ward, Buccaneers
50. Sammy Morris, Patriots
51. LaDainian Tomlinson, Jets
52. Willis McGahee, Ravens
53. James Davis, Browns
54. Javon Ringer, Titans
55. Montario Hardesty, Browns
56. Ryan Torain, Redskins
57. Jason Snelling, Falcons
58. Larry Johnson, Redskins
59. Marshawn Lynch, Bills
60. Toby Gerhart, Vikings
61. Leon Washington, Seahawks
62. Leonard Weaver, Eagles
63. Kevin Smith, Lions
64. Kevin Faulk, Patriots
65. Brian Westbrook, 49ers
66. Brandon Jackson, Packers
67. Jerious Norwood, Falcons
68. Rashad Jennings, Jaguars
69. Dexter McCluster, Chiefs
70. Ladell Betts, Saints
71. Jonathan Dwyer, Steelers
72. James Starks, Packers
73. Anthony Dixon, 49ers
74. Fred Taylor, Patriots
75. Mike Bell, Eagles
76. Julius Jones, Seahawks
77. LeRon McClain, Ravens
78. Mewelde Moore, Steelers
79. BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Patriots
80. LenDale White, Broncos
81. Justin Fargas, Broncos
82. Joe McKnight, Jets
83. Willie Parker, Redskins

Significant changes

— Chiefs head coach Todd Haley is a weird cat. His weirdness runs rampant in the preseason, where Haley likes to do unusual things with his depth chart and lineup. Last year in the preseason, Haley started scrubs ahead of his only decent wide receiver, Dwayne Bowe. This preseason, Haley is listing the deteriorating Thomas Jones, acquired in the offseason, ahead of Jamaal Charles, who ran wild for the Chiefs in the second half of 2009. The folly of this decision was evident in the Chiefs' first preseason game when Jones had a couple of unproductive carries before leaving with a stinger, and then Charles came in and instantly ran for a pair of first downs. I had Charles at No. 10 in my last set of rankings, and I hope to land him in several fantasy drafts, but I feel compelled to bump Charles down to No. 14 now that Haley is jerking him around. I also feel obligated to bump up Jones a few spots, even though there's little doubt in my mind that he'll end up as a mere caddie to Charles. One more note on Chiefs running backs: I'm moving rookie Dexter McCluster from the WR rankings to the RB rankings based on the fact that he operated out of the backfield in K.C.'s first preseason game. McCluster won't be a major factor this season but could provide Kevin Faulk-type depth. 

— A frayed hamstring dents the fantasy value of the Broncos' Knowshon Moreno, who slides from No. 13 to No. 20. The injury makes Moreno a risky play, though he still offers a great deal of potential if he falls to the third round or beyond.

— Brian Westbrook, who signed with the 49ers this week, makes his debut on the board at No. 64. Westbrook now figures to be the primary backup to Frank Gore - provided that Westbrook's past knee and/or concussion issues don't crop up again. The backup job had belonged to the once-promising Glen Coffee, but Coffee shocked the Niners by announcing his retirement from football at age 23, reportedly for religious reasons. Westbrook's signing doesn't affect the ranking of Gore, whose status as the 49ers' main man won't be threatened by the newcomer, or sleeper Anthony Dixon, who had 100 yards in San Francisco's first preseason game and should be on the radars of all Gore owners.

— I was high on C.J. Spiller before, and there's even more reason to be optimistic about Spiller's rookie year now that his primary competition for carries, Fred Jackson, is expected to be out a month or more with a broken hand. Spiller moves up one spot on the board, and I think he's now a solid third-round value in PPR leagues, a fourth-round value in other leagues. Jackson has been moved down accordingly.

— The Texans entered the preseason with one of the more opaque RB situations in the league. Things have become clearer, but not necessarily in a good way. The Texans placed rookie Ben Tate, a second-round pick, on injured reserve after Tate sustained a major ankle injury in Houston's preseason opener. Tate comes off the board, and Arian Foster, a strong bet to open the season as the starter, moves up several spots on the board. Steve Slaton is still in the picture, but he isn't being moved up - it appears that the Texans now view him as a third-down back and not much more.

— The Saints signed former Redskin Ladell Betts to a one-year deal following RB Lynell Hamilton's season-ending knee injury. Betts enters the rankings at No. 67. That's about 10 spots lower than Hamilton's original ranking, but Betts nonetheless has a good chance to become a factor, as Saints head coach Sean Payton is fully committed to the RB-by-committee approach.

 

WIDE RECEIVERS

1. Andre Johnson, Texans
2. Miles Austin, Cowboys
3. Roddy White, Falcons
4. Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals
5. Calvin Johnson, Lions
6. Reggie Wayne, Colts
7. Randy Moss, Patriots
8. DeSean Jackson, Eagles
9. Greg Jennings, Packers
10. Brandon Marshall, Dolphins
11. Steve Smith, Giants
12. Sidney Rice, Vikings
13. Steve Smith, Panthers
14. Wes Welker, Patriots
15. Hines Ward, Steelers
16. Hakim Nicks, Giants
17. Marques Colston, Saints
18. Pierre Garcon, Colts
19. Anquan Boldin, Ravens
20. Mike Wallace, Steelers
21. Chad Ochocinco, Bengals
22. Michael Crabtree, 49ers
23. Santana Moss, Redskins
24. Mike Sims-Walker, Jaguars
25. Dwayne Bowe, Chiefs
26. Johnny Knox, Bears
27. Jeremy Maclin, Eagles
28. Vincent Jackson, Chargers
29. Steve Breaston, Cardinals
30. Percy Harvin, Vikings
31. T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Seahawks
32. Lee Evans, Bills
33. Donald Driver, Packers
34. Julian Edelman, Patriots
35. Terrell Owens, Bengals
36. Robert Meachem, Saints
37. Devin Hester, Bears
38. Derrick Mason, Ravens
39. Malcom Floyd, Chargers
40. Nate Burleson, Lions
41. Kenny Britt, Titans
42. Devin Aromashodu, Bears
43. Dez Bryant, Cowboys
44. Santonio Holmes, Jets
45. Braylon Edwards, Jets
46. Jacoby Jones, Texans
47. Jerricho Cotchery, Jets
48. Early Doucet, Cardinals
49. James Jones, Packers
50. Austin Collie, Colts
51. Eddie Royal, Broncos
52. Chris Chambers, Chiefs
53. Josh Morgan, 49ers
54. Golden Tate, Seahawks
55. Devery Henderson, Saints
56. Louis Murphy, Raiders
57. Bernard Berrian, Vikings
58. Donnie Avery, Rams
59. Mario Manningham, Giants
60. Jason Avant, Eagles
61. Mohamed Massaquoi, Browns
62. Anthony Gonzalez, Colts
63. Legedu Naanee, Chargers
64. Mike Thomas, Jaguars
65. Roy Williams, Cowboys
66. Jabar Gaffney, Broncos
67. Chaz Schilens, Raiders
68. Mike Williams, Buccaneers
69. Lance Moore, Saints
70. Laurent Robinson, Rams
71. Kevin Walter, Texans
72. Davone Bess, Dolphins
73. Nate Washington, Titans
74. Harry Douglas, Falcons
75. Jordan Shipley, Bengals
76. Earl Bennett, Bears
77. Mardy Gilyard, Rams
78. Justin Gage, Titans
79. Antonio Bryant, Bengals
80. Sammy Stroughter, Buccaneers
81. Devin Thomas, Redskins
82. Jordy Nelson, Packers
83. Brian Hartline, Dolphins
84. Patrick Crayton, Cowboys
85. Michael Jenkins, Falcons
86. Brandon Tate, Patriots
87. Ted Ginn Jr., 49ers
88. Deon Butler, Seahawks
89. Brian Robiskie, Browns
90. Brandon LaFell, Panthers
91. Josh Reed, Chargers
92. Eric Decker, Broncos
93. Demaryius Thomas, Broncos
94. Arrelious Benn, Buccaneers
95. Dwayne Jarrett, Panthers
96. Darrius Heyward-Bey, Raiders

Significant changes

— At this point it's nearly impossible to assess Vincent Jackson's fantasy value. He'll miss at least three games due to a league suspension, and he could miss 10 games or more if he makes good on his threat to stage a long holdout. Jackson slides to No. 28 for now.

— Percy Harvin's ongoing migraine problems are cause for concern. Will occasional flare-ups make him unavailable for portions of the regular season?

— Antonio Bryant's knee problems are serious enough that the Bengals might be on the verge of releasing him, according to some reports. Bryant tumbles down the board into the 70s and is virtually undraftable at this point, barring any positive medical news. With Bryant out of the picture, Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens both get small boosts in the rankings, and rookie slot man Jordan Shipley makes his debut on the board at No. 73. Shipley has intriguing sleeper potential, but beware: He's uber-fragile.

— Some minor adjustments to the Bears' wide receivers as the preseason starts to provide clues about how offensive personnel will be deployed under new offensive coordinator Mike Martz: Johnny Knox and Devin Aromashodu both move up slightly, while Devin Hester and Earl Bennett both move down slightly. Knox could be a potential gem here. He's the best bet for a 1,000-yard season among Chicago receivers. Aromashodu could be overdrafted in some leagues, but he should definitely be a factor, more as a TD guy than as a yardage guy.

— The Patriots have placed Torry Holt on injured reserve with a knee injury. Holt comes off the board entirely. No significant changes to the rankings of New England's other receivers. I continue to be somewhat bearish on Randy Moss (I rate him seventh among receivers while many people rate him No. 2), and I continue to be bullish on both Wes Welker, who's making a hasty recovery from a major injury, and Julian Edelman, who was sensational in the Pats' preseason opener and is a candidate for a major breakout in 2010.

— Michael Jenkins, among the candidates for the title of "Worst Starting Receiver in the NFL," slides further down the rankings now that he's out 4-6 weeks with a shoulder injury. Harry Douglas, who lost his rookie season to a torn ACL, is the top candidate to replace Jenkins, and it's possible that Jenkins won't be able to reclaim his job once he returns.

— Demaryius Thomas re-aggravated a foot injury, and it's starting to look as if this could be an ongoing problem. Thomas, who drops into the 90s on the WR list, is essentially undraftable in all but dynasty leagues.

 

TIGHT ENDS

1. Antonio Gates, Chargers
2. Jermichael Finley, Packers
3. Dallas Clark, Colts
4. Vernon Davis, 49ers
5. Tony Gonzalez, Falcons
6. Jason Witten, Cowboys
7. Zach Miller, Raiders
8. Brent Celek, Eagles
9. Kellen Winslow, Buccaneers
10. Heath Miller, Steelers
11. Visanthe Shiancoe, Vikings
12. John Carlson, Seahawks
13. Chris Cooley, Redskins
14. Owen Daniels, Texans
15. Todd Heap, Ravens
16. Dustin Keller, Jets
17. Kevin Boss, Giants
18. Jeremy Shockey, Saints
19. Fred Davis, Redskins
20. Greg Olsen, Bears
21. Jermaine Gresham, Bengals
22. Marcedes Lewis, Jaguars
23. Jared Cook, Titans
24. Aaron Hernandez, Patriots
25. Tony Scheffler, Lions
26. Anthony Fasano, Dolphins
27. Shawn Nelson, Bills
28. Brandon Pettigrew, Lions
29. Tony Moeaki, Chiefs
30. Zach Miller, Jaguars
31. Ben Watson, Browns
32. Rob Gronkowski, Patriots
33. Bo Scaife, Titans
34. Daniel Graham, Broncos
35. Dante Rosario, Panthers
36. Gary Barnidge, Panthers
37. Dennis Pitta, Ravens

Significant change

— Patriots rookie Aaron Hernandez made an impressive preseason debut and could be a significant contributor to the Patriots' aerial attack. Don't waste time on the tight end the Pats drafted ahead of Hernandez, Rob Gronkowski. Hernandez will be the more valuable fantasy commodity, and he moves up to No. 24 on the list.

 

PLACEKICKERS

1. Stephen Gostkowski, Patriots
2. Ryan Longwell, Vikings
3. Nate Kaeding, Chargers
4. Garrett Hartley, Saints
5. David Akers, Eagles
6. Dan Carpenter, Dolphins
7. Lawrence Tynes, Giants
8. Ravens kicker
9. Rob Bironas, Titans
10. Mason Crosby, Packers
11. Nick Folk, Jets
12. Adam Vinatieri, Colts
13. Cowboys kicker
14. Matt Bryant, Falcons
15. Robbie Gould, Bears
16. Joe Nedney, 49ers
17. Jeff Reed, Steelers
18. Sebastian Janikowski, Raiders
19. Texans kicker
20. Bengals kicker
21. Jay Feely, Cardinals
22. Matt Prater, Broncos
23. Rian Lindell, Bills
24. Olindo Mare, Seahawks
25. Ryan Succop, Chiefs
26. Josh Scobee, Jaguars
27. Redskins kicker
28. John Kasay, Panthers
29. Phil Dawson, Browns
30. Connor Barth, Buccaneers
31. Jason Hanson, Lions
32. Josh Brown, Rams

 

Significant changes

None

 

DEFENSES

1. Minnesota Vikings
2. Baltimore Ravens
3. New York Jets
4. Dallas Cowboys
5. Pittsburgh Steelers
6. Philadelphia Eagles
7. Green Bay Packers
8. Miami Dolphins
9. New Orleans Saints
10. Chicago Bears
11. San Diego Chargers
12. Oakland Raiders
13. New England Patriots
14. Indianapolis Colts
15. Cincinnati Bengals
16. Tennessee Titans
17. Houston Texans
18. New York Giants
19. Atlanta Falcons
20. Arizona Cardinals
21. San Francisco 49ers
22. Kansas City Chiefs
23. Washington Redskins
24. Cleveland Browns
25. Jacksonville Jaguars
26. Seattle Seahawks
27. Carolina Panthers
28. Buffalo Bills
29. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
30. Denver Broncos
31. Detroit Lions
32. St. Louis Rams

Significant changes

— The Broncos' defense appeared shaky to begin with, but now that elite pass rusher Elvis Dumervil has gone on I.R., there's little hope of the Denver defense providing fantasy value. The Broncos drop to No. 30 on the list.

 

Next Wednesday: Fitz's Four-Course Fantasy Feast

The Colts enter 2010 coming off a heartbreaking loss in the Super Bowl in which the team’s usually potent offense went AWOL in the second half, a rare occurrence throughout much of Peyton Manning’s career in Indianapolis.

The team returns this year with its core players back for what figures to be another successful season.

Although the Colts disappointed in the Super Bowl, they had another outstanding season in 2009, finishing 14-2 and winning the AFC South for the sixth time in seven seasons. Rookie head coach Jim Caldwell made a seamless transition to the team’s top job, helping the Colts to a record-setting seventh consecutive 12-win season.

The Colts will feature a potent offensive attack again this season with Manning at the controls, maximizing the production of the team’s numerous, talented skill position players.

Joseph Addai enjoyed a solid comeback season in 2009, holding off first-round pick Donald Brown from taking over as the team’s feature back.

Addai is a solid runner and receiver, but he is unlikely to reach the upper echelon of backs, partly because of his injury issues. Brown had some big plays as a rookie but was inconsistent and had his own injury problems.

Entering training camp, Addai is the odds-on favorite to retain the starting position.

The team’s passing attack features the excellent receiving talents of wideout Reggie Wayne and tight end Dallas Clark. Wayne had a Pro Bowl year in 2009, but struggled down the stretch, while Clark had a career year.

Despite Wayne’s lack of production in the second half of last season, the consensus opinion is that he will have another solid year in 2010, even at 31 years of age.

The trio of Pierre Garcon, Austin Collie, and Anthony Gonzalez will battle for the team’s starting spot opposite Wayne, as well for as the slot back role.

Garcon came out of nowhere to have a solid season, and Collie excelled as a rookie, becoming Manning’s security blanket (along with Clark) over the season’s second half. Gonzalez was considered a promising player before missing all but a handful of plays in 2009.

With Manning under center, the Colts offense has been in the league’s top five year in and year out, and there’s no reason for that to change in 2010. If the offensive line improves from the off year it had last season, the Colts could lead the league in offense in their march for another AFC South crown.

 

QB Peyton Manning

Fantasy owners are looking for solid production on a consistent basis, and no other player has displayed those traits more than Peyton Manning has since entering the league.

Over the past 12 years, Manning has topped 4,000 yards 10 times and has averaged over 30 passing touchdowns per season. In 2010, playing without Marvin Harrison for the first time, Manning finished as the fourth-ranked fantasy quarterback, and may have finished second had he not been benched for parts of the Colts final two games.

Look for Manning to have another exceptional season in 2010 as the Colts return all of the key parts of their offense, including Anthony Gonzalez, who will be back from the knee injury that ruined all but the first quarter of the opening game of his 2009 season.

Given his history of production and his ability to avoid injury, having never missed a start, Manning is the safest pick at the quarterback position. The only risk Manning presents is with the Colts wrapping up home-field advantage early, leaving fantasy owners to ponder how much he will play over the season’s final few games.

 

RB Joseph Addai

Addai rebounded from a miserable 2008 campaign to finish with 1,164 total yards and 13 touchdowns in 2009.

That production allowed him to sneak into the top 10 last year. However, he will never be a bell-cow runner, and predicting 13 touchdowns for Addai and more injury problems for backup Donald Brown (11 games and 90 touches as a rookie) in 2010 may not be the safest of bets.

Addai will need to hold off Brown to remain fantasy relevant—and he is likely to do so. However, while he may match his yardage totals from a year ago, expect fewer touchdowns, which drops him down to low-end RB2 status.

 

RB Donald Brown

Brown suffered through a 2009 season of unmet expectations, as the Colts first-round pick failed to stay healthy or provide much competition to Joseph Addai for the starting spot at running back.

However, look for an increased role for Brown in his second year, provided he can remain healthy.

He displayed some big-play ability as a rookie, and may be the Colts future at the position given that Addai is entering a contract year. Brown is a must-have handcuff for Addai owners, but he is one that will have to be taken with a mid-round pick, given his potential to earn the starting role at some point during the season.

If Brown can stay healthy, look for him to approach 1,000 total yards and five or six touchdowns while splitting time with Addai.

 

WR Reggie Wayne

The 31-year-old Wayne enters his 1oth season as the Colts’ top receiver, as he comes off another solid season in 2009.

Wayne has been a remarkably consistent performer, topping 1,000 yards in each of the last six seasons and averaging 1,249 yards and almost nine touchdowns per year over that period.

He was exceptional for the first nine games of 2009, but trailed off badly during the last seven (with a mere 385 yards and two touchdowns), which begs the question: Is he finally wearing down?

The emergence of Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie, coupled with the return of Anthony Gonzalez, figures to impact Wayne’s production in 2010. Still, he remains a top fantasy wide receiver, and another top-five fantasy season seems likely.

 

WR Anthony Gonzalez

Gonzalez is back in Indy after a wasted 2009 campaign, but he may not resume his previous role as a starter on the outside.

Pierre Garcon has earned playing time there, and Austin Collie deserves playing time in the slot, so Gonzalez will have to fight for a spot in the starting lineup. However, he’s a solid option for Manning, since he has caught 71.8 percent of the passes thrown his way during his first three years in the league.

While others are clamoring for Garcon and Collie, fantasy owners will be able to get Gonzalez on the cheap in the final rounds of most drafts.

 

WR Pierre Garcon

Garcon is coming off a solid season in which he emerged as a big-play threat for the Colts after languishing on the bench as a rookie in 2008.

The former sixth-round pick finished the year with 765 receiving yards and four touchdown, and improved on those numbers with 251 yards and two touchdowns in the playoffs.

Despite all the euphoria regarding Garcon’s production, there should be some concern that he and Peyton Manning were clearly not always on the same page, hence his completion rate of 51 percent, as opposed to Manning’s overall rate of 68.8 percent. The Colts prefer reliability, and Anthony Gonzalez may bring more of that to the position, limiting Garcon’s upside unless he hits the playbook hard.

Based on his 2009 season, Garcon will be drafted as a fantasy starter in leagues that feature three wide receivers, but he carries significant risk as a top-30 wide receiver.

Let others take a shine to Garcon.

 

WR Austin Collie

Collie enters 2010 coming off a solid rookie season in which he finished with 60 receptions for 676 yards and seven touchdowns. He performed well out of the slot, displaying excellent hands as the season progressed.

Collie was exceptional during the playoffs, finishing with 241 yards and two touchdowns through three games. In 2010, He will face competition for playing time from Anthony Gonzalez, who missed much of 2009 with a torn ACL.

Look for Collie to hold off Gonzalez and increase his yardage total from last season while remaining a solid option in the red zone, as opposing defenses focus on Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark. However, don’t expect him to match his touchdown total of a year ago.

He should be a fantasy backup in most leagues.

 

TE Dallas Clark

Clark is coming off a career year in 2009, where he benefited from the absence of a solid threat opposite Reggie Wayne early in the season.

With Anthony Gonzalez injured in the opening game, quarterback Peyton Manning fed the ball to Clark, who finished the season with 132 targets, topping his previous high of 107 in 2008.

Clark made the most of his opportunities, finishing the year with 100 receptions for 1,106 yards and 10 touchdowns. However, Gonzalez returns from injury and Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie have earned significant roles in the team’s offense, so Clark’s opportunities will likely be reduced in 2010.

Although he remains a top-five fantasy tight end, don’t expect him to match his 2009 production in 2010.

 

---

Dave Stringer is a staff writer at FFToday.com, home of the popular Cheatsheet Compiler & Draft Buddy custom cheatsheet and draft tracking software.

The draft board below will be updated until the start of the regular season.

Quarterbacks   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. Aaron Rodgers / Packers 10
2. Drew Brees / Saints 10
3. Peyton Manning / Colts 7
4. Matt Schaub / Texans 7
5. Tony Romo / Cowboys 4
6. Tom Brady / Patriots 5
7. Philip Rivers / Chargers 10
8. Brett Favre / Vikings 4
9. Eli Manning / Giants 8
10. Joe Flacco / Ravens 8
11. Jay Cutler / Bears 8
12. Kevin Kolb / Eagles 8
13. Donovan McNabb / Redskins 9
14. Matt Ryan / Falcons 8
15. Carson Palmer / Bengals 6
16. Ben Roethlisberger / Steelers 5
17. Chad Henne / Dolphins 5
18. Matthew Stafford / Lions 7
19. Alex Smith / 49ers 9
20. Matt Cassel / Chiefs 4
21. David Garrard / Jaguars 9
22. Vince Young / Titans 9
23. Matt Leinart / Cardinals 6
24. Mark Sanchez / Jets 7
25. Jason Campbell / Raiders 10
26. Matt Hasselbeck / Seahawks 5
27. Kyle Orton / Broncos 9
28. Josh Freeman / Buccaneers 4
29. Matt Moore / Panthers 6
30. Jake Delhomme / Browns 8
31. Trent Edwards / Bills 6
32. Sam Bradford / Rams 9
33. Michael Vick / Eagles 8
34. Byron Leftwich / Steelers 5
35. Tarvaris Jackson / Vikings 4
36. Derek Anderson / Cardinals 6
37. Seneca Wallace / Browns 8
38. Charlie Whitehurst / Seahawks 5
39. Brady Quinn / Broncos 9
40. A.J. Feeley / Rams 9

Running backs   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. Chris Johnson / Titans 9
2. Adrian Peterson / Vikings 4
3. Maurice Jones-Drew / Jaguars 9
4. Ray Rice / Ravens 8
5. Michael Turner / Falcons 8
6. Frank Gore / 49ers 9
7. Steven Jackson / Rams 9
8. Rashard Mendenhall / Steelers 5
9. Cedric Benson / Bengals 6
10. DeAngelo Williams / Panthers 6
11. Ryan Grant / Packers 10
12. Shonn Greene / Jets 7
13. Ryan Mathews / Chargers 10
14. Beanie Wells / Cardinals 6
15. Jonathan Stewart / Panthers 6
16. Pierre Thomas / Saints 10
17. Jamaal Charles / Chiefs 4
18. Knowshon Moreno / Broncos 9
19. Ronnie Brown / Dolphins 5
20. Joseph Addai / Colts 7
21. Felix Jones / Cowboys 4
22. LeSean McCoy / Eagles 8
23. Jahvid Best / Lions 7
24. Matt Forté / Bears 8
25. Brandon Jacobs / Giants 8
26. Marion Barber / Cowboys 4
27. Ricky Williams / Dolphins 5
28. Michael Bush / Raiders 10
29. Ahmad Bradshaw / Giants 8
30. Arian Foster / Texans 7
31. Fred Jackson / Bills 6
32. C.J. Spiller / Bills 6
33. Reggie Bush / Saints 10
34. Thomas Jones / Chiefs 4
35. Montario Hardesty / Browns 8
36. Justin Forsett / Seahawks 5
37. Cadillac Williams / Buccaneers 4
38. Jerome Harrison / Browns 8
39. Clinton Portis / Redskins 9
40. LaDainian Tomlinson / Jets 7
41. Tim Hightower / Cardinals 6
42. Chester Taylor / Bears 8
43. Donald Brown / Colts 7
44. Laurence Maroney / Patriots 5
45. Willis McGahee / Ravens 8
46. Darren McFadden / Raiders 10
47. Darren Sproles / Chargers 10
48. Steve Slaton / Texans 7
49. Leon Washington / Seahawks 5
50. Brian Westbrook / 49ers 9 
51. Correll Buckhalter / Broncos 9
52. Kevin Smith / Lions 7
53. Larry Johnson / Redskins 9
54. Mike Bell / Eagles 8
55. Marshawn Lynch / Bills 6
56. Javon Ringer / Titans 9
57. Toby Gerhart / Vikings 4
58. Bernard Scott / Bengals 6
59. Rashad Jennings / Jaguars 9
60. Fred Taylor / Patriots 5
61. Julius Jones / Seahawks 5
62. Jerious Norwood / Falcons 8
63. Derrick Ward / Buccaneers 4
64. Mewelde Moore / Steelers 5
65. Tashard Choice / Cowboys 4
66. Jason Snelling / Falcons 8
67. Sammy Morris / Patriots 5
68. Brandon Jackson / Packers 10
69. Anthony Dixon / 49ers 9
70. Joe McKnight / Jets 7

   
Wide receivers   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. Andre Johnson / Texans 7
2. Randy Moss / Patriots 5
3. Reggie Wayne / Colts 7
4. Larry Fitzgerald / Cardinals 6
5. Calvin Johnson / Lions 7
6. Miles Austin / Cowboys 4
7. Brandon Marshall / Dolphins 5
8. Roddy White / Falcons 8
9. DeSean Jackson / Eagles 8
10. Greg Jennings / Packers 10
11. Marques Colston / Saints 10
12. Steve Smith / Giants 8
13. Chad Ochocinco / Bengals 6
14. Steve Smith / Panthers 6
15. Sidney Rice / Vikings 4
16. Hines Ward / Steelers 5
17. Anquan Boldin / Ravens 8
18. Mike Sims-Walker / Jaguars 9
19. Dwayne Bowe / Chiefs 4
20. Hakeem Nicks / Giants 8
21. Michael Crabtree / 49ers 9
22. Percy Harvin / Vikings 4
23. Jeremy Maclin / Eagles 8
24. Wes Welker / Patriots 5
25. Santana Moss / Redskins 9
26. Mike Wallace / Steelers 5
27. T.J. Houshmandzadeh / Seahawks 5
28. Malcom Floyd / Chargers 10
29. Pierre Garcon / Colts 7
30. Donald Driver / Packers 10
31. Robert Meachem / Saints 10
32. Steve Breaston / Cardinals 6
33. Dez Bryant / Cowboys 4
34. Braylon Edwards / Jets 7
35. Lee Evans / Bills 6
36. Vincent Jackson / Chargers 10
37. Derrick Mason / Ravens 8
38. Johnny Knox / Bears 8
39. Santonio Holmes / Jets 7
40. Nate Burleson / Lions 7
41. Kevin Walter / Texans 7
42. Terrell Owens / Bengals 6
43. Devin Aromashodu / Bears 8
44. Kenny Britt / Titans 9
45. Devin Hester / Bears 8
46. Jerricho Cotchery / Jets 7
47. Mario Manningham / Giants 8
48. Austin Collie / Colts 7
49. Chris Chambers / Chiefs 4
50. Bernard Berrian / Vikings 4
51. Roy Williams / Cowboys 4
52. Jabar Gaffney / Broncos 9
53. Mike Williams / Buccaneers 4
54. Eddie Royal / Broncos 9
55. Donnie Avery / Rams 9
56. Golden Tate / Seahawks 5
57. Mohamed Massaquoi / Browns 8
58. James Jones / Packers 10
59. Early Doucet / Cardinals 6
60. Jacoby Jones / Texans 7
61. Devery Henderson / Saints 10
62. Louis Murphy / Raiders 10
63. Josh Morgan / 49ers 9
64. Mike Thomas / Jaguars 9
65. Brandon LaFell / Panthers 6
66. Jordy Nelson / Packers 10
67. Arrelious Benn / Buccaneers 4
68. Nate Washington / Titans 9
69. Julian Edelman / Patriots 5
70. Anthony Gonzalez / Colts 7
71. Demaryius Thomas / Broncos 9
72. Chaz Schilens / Raiders 10
73. Legedu Naanee / Chargers 10
74. Brian Hartline / Dolphins 5
75. Laurent Robinson / Rams 9
76. Davone Bess / Dolphins 5
77. Antonio Bryant / Bengals 6
78. Devin Thomas / Redskins 9
79. Jason Avant / Eagles 8
80. Donté Stallworth / Ravens 8

   
Tight ends   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. Dallas Clark / Colts 7
2. Antonio Gates / Chargers 10
3. Vernon Davis / 49ers 9
4. Jason Witten / Cowboys 4
5. Jermichael Finley / Packers 10
6. Brent Celek / Eagles 8
7. Tony Gonzalez / Falcons 8
8. Owen Daniels / Texans 7
9. Kellen Winslow / Buccaneers 4
10. Visanthe Shiancoe / Vikings 4
11. Chris Cooley / Redskins 9
12. John Carlson / Seahawks 5
13. Heath Miller / Steelers 5
14. Zach Miller / Raiders 10
15. Dustin Keller / Jets 7
16. Greg Olsen / Bears 8
17. Kevin Boss / Giants 8
18. Jeremy Shockey / Saints 10
19. Marcedes Lewis / Jaguars 9
20. Todd Heap / Ravens 8
21. Tony Scheffler / Lions 7
22. Fred Davis / Redskins 9
23. Benjamin Watson / Browns 8
24. Jermaine Gresham / Bengals 6
25. Bo Scaife / Titans 9
26. Brandon Pettigrew / Lions 7
27. Anthony Fasano / Dolphins 5
28. Rob Gronkowski / Patriots 5
29. Shawn Nelson / Bills 6
30. Tony Moeaki / Chiefs 4

   
Placekickers   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. Nate Kaeding / Chargers 10
2. Stephen Gostkowski / Patriots 5
3. David Akers / Eagles 8
4. Ryan Longwell / Vikings 4
5. Garrett Hartley / Saints 10
6. Mason Crosby / Packers 10
7. Robbie Gould / Bears 8
8. Rob Bironas / Titans 9
9. Lawrence Tynes / Giants 8
10. Jay Feely / Cardinals 6
11. Texans PK 7
12. Dan Carpenter / Dolphins 5
13. Jeff Reed / Steelers 5
14. Sebastian Janikowski / Raiders 10
15. Matt Prater / Broncos 9
16. Shayne Graham / Ravens 8
17. Nick Folk / Jets 7
18. Adam Vinatieri / Colts 7
19. Ryan Succop / Chiefs 4
20. Joe Nedney / 49ers 9

   
Defenses/Special teams   
Rk. Player / Team Bye week

1. New York Jets 7
2. Minnesota Vikings 4
3. Baltimore Ravens 8
4. Pittsburgh Steelers 5
5. Green Bay Packers 10
6. Dallas Cowboys 4
7. Philadelphia Eagles 8
8. New Orleans Saints 10
9. San Francisco 49ers 9
10. Chicago Bears 8
11. San Diego Chargers 10
12. New England Patriots 5
13. Cincinnati Bengals 6
14. New York Giants 8
15. Miami Dolphins 5
16. Arizona Cardinals 6
17. Houston Texans 7
18. Indianapolis Colts 7
19. Tennessee Titans 9
20. Washington Redskins 9

Top 100 overall   
Rk. Pos / Player / Team  

1. RB Chris Johnson / Titans  
2. RB Adrian Peterson / Vikings  
3. RB Maurice Jones-Drew / Jaguars  
4. RB Ray Rice / Ravens  
5. RB Michael Turner / Falcons
6. RB Frank Gore / 49ers 
7. RB Steven Jackson / Rams
8. QB Aaron Rodgers / Packers  
9. WR Andre Johnson / Texans
10. RB Rashard Mendenhall / Steelers
11. QB Drew Brees / Saints 
12. RB Cedric Benson / Bengals
13. RB DeAngelo Williams / Panthers  
14. WR Randy Moss / Patriots  
15. QB Peyton Manning / Colts
16. RB Ryan Grant / Packers  
17. RB Shonn Greene / Jets 
18. WR Reggie Wayne / Colts
19. RB Ryan Mathews / Chargers 
20. WR Larry Fitzgerald / Cardinals  
21. WR Calvin Johnson / Lions  
22. WR Miles Austin / Cowboys  
23. RB Beanie Wells / Cardinals
24. WR Brandon Marshall / Dolphins  
25. WR Roddy White / Falcons  
26. RB Jonathan Stewart / Panthers
27. RB Pierre Thomas / Saints 
28. WR DeSean Jackson / Eagles 
29. RB Jamaal Charles / Chiefs 
30. QB Matt Schaub / Texans
31. RB Knowshon Moreno / Broncos
32. QB Tony Romo / Cowboys
33. WR Greg Jennings / Packers  
34. WR Marques Colston / Saints
35. RB Ronnie Brown / Dolphins  
36. RB Joseph Addai / Colts  
37. TE Dallas Clark / Colts
38. TE Antonio Gates / Chargers
39. QB Tom Brady / Patriots 
40. WR Steve Smith / Giants 
41. RB Felix Jones / Cowboys
42. WR Chad Ochocinco / Bengals  
43. WR Steve Smith / Panthers
44. RB LeSean McCoy / Eagles
45. RB Jahvid Best / Lions 
46. QB Philip Rivers / Chargers 
47. WR Sidney Rice / Vikings 
48. WR Hines Ward / Steelers  
49. WR Anquan Boldin / Ravens  
50. TE Vernon Davis / 49ers
51. WR Mike Sims-Walker / Jaguars 
52. WR Dwayne Bowe / Chiefs  
53. WR Hakeem Nicks / Giants 
54. RB Matt Forté / Bears 
55. WR Michael Crabtree / 49ers 
56. TE Jason Witten / Cowboys
57. QB Brett Favre / Vikings
58. WR Percy Harvin / Vikings
59. RB Brandon Jacobs / Giants
60. TE Jermichael Finley / Packers  
61. WR Jeremy Maclin / Eagles  
62. TE Brent Celek / Eagles
63. RB Marion Barber / Cowboys  
64. QB Eli Manning / Giants 
65. WR Wes Welker / Patriots 
66. RB Ricky Williams / Dolphins
67. QB Joe Flacco / Ravens  
68. WR Santana Moss / Redskins 
69. WR Mike Wallace / Steelers
70. TE Tony Gonzalez / Falcons
71. RB Michael Bush / Raiders
72. RB Ahmad Bradshaw / Giants
73. WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh / Seahawks
74. RB Arian Foster / Texans
75. RB Fred Jackson / Bills 
76. TE Owen Daniels / Texans
77. RB C.J. Spiller / Bills 
78. RB Reggie Bush / Saints
79. WR Malcom Floyd / Chargers
80. WR Pierre Garcon / Colts
81. QB Jay Cutler / Bears
82. QB Kevin Kolb / Eagles  
83. RB Thomas Jones / Chiefs 
84. WR Donald Driver / Packers
85. WR Robert Meachem / Saints 
86. WR Steve Breaston / Cardinals  
87. QB Donovan McNabb / Redskins 
88. WR Dez Bryant / Cowboys
89. RB Montario Hardesty / Browns  
90. TE Kellen Winslow / Buccaneers  
91. RB Justin Forsett / Seahawks  
92. QB Matt Ryan / Falcons 
93. RB Cadillac Williams / Buccaneers 
94. RB Jerome Harrison / Browns  
95. RB Clinton Portis / Redskins  
96. WR Braylon Edwards / Jets  
97. WR Lee Evans / Bills
98. WR Vincent Jackson / Chargers
99. TE Visanthe Shiancoe / Vikings
100. RB LaDainian Tomlinson / Jets

For authoritative coverage and analysis of NFL news, free agency and fantasy football, visit ProFootballWeekly.com.

Sam drops passes, Tamme lines up wrong side, peyton chews him out,Townsend looks good Ryan Diem, Pierre Garcon, Dallas Clark, Kyle DeVan, Jaimie Thomas, Bob Sanders, and Donye` McCleskey all sat out. DeVan had a wrap on his leg, presumably because of his hamstring injury. 2nd year lineman Jaimie Thomas wears walking boot. Offensive line is 'walking wounded.' +++++    One bright spot for o-line today: Jacques McClendon practiced.  http://www.stampedeblue.com/2010/8/17/1627485/2010-colts-training-camp-notes#storyjump

Colts WR Pierre Garcon has missed the last week of practice with an undisclosed injury. He did not play in the preseason opener with San Francisco. Garcon could return to the practice field soon, however. "I would say shortly," coach Jim Caldwell said Tuesday. Garcon will be listed as questionable for Thursday's preseason game at Buffalo. Indianapolis Colts - Jim Caldwell - San Francisco

9 Vote(s)

For all intent and purposes, today is the last real day of training camp at the University of Anderson for the 2010 Indianapolis Colts. While a practice is scheduled for tomorrow, it will likely be more of a light walk through to prepare for Thursday's preseason game against the Buffalo Bills.

Today, there are two practices scheduled. One was earlier this morning at 9:30am and the other is the third and final night scrimmage for this camp. If you have not attended camp, I highly recommend tonight's night scrimmage. Camp is much different, and more fan-friendly, than an actual game (preseason or otherwise).

At this morning's practice was Coltzilla's Brett Mock, along with a few other people. Here's what they saw:

• Practice in shorts today. No pads. I have to admit, after watching a preseason game, practicing in shorts has lost a bit of its luster. I'm sure Taj Smith looked great running around in them, but football is played in pads, not shorts.
• Despite the lack of pads, drills were "aggressive."
• Speaking of Taj Smith, he Tweeted today: "1 who learns how 2 control his thinking learns how 2 control his destiny. Nothing can save us but ourselves." I will add to this with a saying of my own, "1 who learns to catch the ball when it's thrown to him earn him a roster spot on the team. 1 who doesn't is going 2 get his @ss cut."
• Lots of extra reps for Tom Hiller today. We should expect to see a ton of him this Thursday at quarterback. Apparently, he needs the extra time. Gary Brackett picked him off in practice.
  

• Ryan Diem, Pierre Garcon, Dallas Clark, Kyle DeVan, Jaimie Thomas, Bob Sanders, and Donye` McCleskey all sat out. DeVan had a wrap on his leg, presumably because of his hamstring injury. Jaimie Thomas in a walking boot. Offensive line is 'walking wounded.'
• One bright spot for o-line today: Jacques McClendon practiced. 
• Sam Giguere dropped more passes today.
• Ray Fisher practiced with the second team. Brandon King practiced with the third team.
• Interesting moment involved Peyton Manning getting pissy with Jacob Tamme, who is filling in for Clark. Tamme lined up wrong. Manning no like.
• Deshea Townsend looked good in coverage today.
• Today's crowd was the smallest, by far, at Anderson since camp opened. I guess since preseason started, and the fans have finally seen the team in action somewhat, their football fix is satisfied... at least for a little while.

As drafts and auctions are ramping up for leagues across North America, fantasy football fanatics are being inundated with information on how to pick their teams.

Some of it is useful, some of it is not. Some of it is boring, some of it is not.

This article has two of those four features. I leave it to you to decide which two they are.

1. Aaron Rodgers had 304 yards and five touchdowns rushing last year and the 60 fantasy points that provided is the reason why he was fantasy football’s top ranked quarterback.

2. There is no reason to suggest why he won’t accomplish both feats again in 2010.

3. Andre Johnson has topped 1,500 yards and eight touchdowns in each of the last two seasons.

4. I believe that the best predictor of future performance is past performance.

5. Larry Fitzgerald had the 15th most receiving yards in the league in 2009, but was the fourth-ranked fantasy wide receiver courtesy of his 13 touchdowns.

6. Kurt Warner retired and has been replaced by Matt Leinart.

7. Whereas Warner’s career completion percentage was 65.7% and his yards per attempt were 7.8, Leinart has compiled a completion rate of 57.1% to go along with an average yards per attempt of 5.6.

8. Reggie Wayne is 31 years old and only had 385 yards and two touchdowns during the last seven games of 2009.

9. Overall, I’m a lot more concerned about the top 15 fantasy wide receivers than I was last year.

10. The San Diego Chargers traded to move up in the first round of the NFL Draft in order to select Ryan Mathews and they have a very good offense.

11. I think Ryan Mathews will win the NFL’s Rookie Offensive Player of the Year award.

12. When the Buffalo Bills selected C.J. Spiller in the first round, Fred Jackson became the unqualified biggest fantasy loser from the NFL Draft.

13. I think C.J. Spiller will finish the year with 1,050 total yards and five touchdowns.

14. Amongst tight ends, Jason Witten had the second most receiving yards with 1,030, but finished tied with 17 other players for 25th most touchdowns with only two.

15. In seven seasons in the league, Witten has averaged fewer than four touchdowns per year.

16. The average size of the Cowboys top three wide receivers is just under 6’3” and 218 pounds.

17. Ronnie Brown has missed 20 games over five years and finished two of those years on injured reserve.

18. Ricky Williams is 33 years old and had his highest average yards per carry in 2009 to go along with the second most touchdowns of his career.

19. During the last 12 weeks of the 2009 season, Ray Rice had 42 red zone touches while Willis McGahee had 16.

20. McGahee had a surprising 146 fantasy points last year but 113 of them came in five games, including the first three games of the season. In one of my leagues, he was on the bench for all five of those games.

21. During the last four games of last season, Chris Wells had 14 red zone touches while Tim Hightower had six.

22. During his two years in the league, Tim Hightower has 96 receptions (63 last year) to go along with 18 touchdowns.

23. There are fantasy football leagues that award a point per reception.

24. Owen Daniels would have been the top ranked fantasy tight end in 2009 had an ACL injury not ended his season.

25. Of Jamaal Charles’ 189 fantasy points, 85 came in three games against the Bills, Browns and Broncos during weeks 14, 15 and 17.

26. The Chiefs signed Thomas Jones during the off-season.

27. Jerome Harrison did nothing for three years, and 89 of his 150 fantasy points came in three games against the Chiefs, Raiders, and Jaguars.

28. The Browns drafted Montario Hardesty in the second round and general manager Tom Heckert said he views Hardesty as a feature back.

29. I am always sceptical of running backs who get a large portion of their fantasy points either at the end of the season or in a few games against weak opposition.

30. I am a Rams fan and think that Steven Jackson is the third best running back in the league. Despite that, I can tell you that there are at least seven running backs I will take instead of him because they will have more touchdown opportunities in 2010.

31. Hakeem Nicks had 115 fantasy points on only 74 targets, ranking him fifth in that category (of players with at least 40 targets). That means he’s a big play waiting to happen and assures the Giants will use him more in 2010.

32. Average fantasy points per target is a statistic that you’re going to hear a lot about in the future, especially in articles focusing on dynasty/keeper leagues.

33. Jermichael Finley had 97 fantasy points in 13 games and averaged 11.5 fantasy points per game over the last five games of the 2009 season.

34. Mike Wallace had an exceptional rookie year with 756 yards and six touchdowns.

35. Ben Roethlisberger had the third most fantasy points per game amongst quarterbacks last year.

36. The Steelers traded Santonio Holmes to the New York Jets.

37. The Steelers threw the ball 536 times in 2009 while the Jets threw it a league low 393 times. That’s a difference of 143 or 8.9 fewer attempts per game.

38. Visanthe Shiancoe has caught 18 touchdown passes over the last two years but has never topped 600 yards receiving.

39. With Ben Tate on injured reserve, Arian Foster is the first string Texans running back (he was holding down that position before Tate was injured).

40. The Houston Texans will have an outstanding offense in 2010 and I like Arian Foster.

41. The Baltimore Ravens ran 128 plays in the red zone last year and 95 of them were runs and 33 were passes.

42. Of the 8,004 fantasy points the top-30 ranked fantasy quarterbacks combined to score, 31.1% of those points came on touchdown passes.

43. Joe Flacco didn’t get a lot of chances to throw touchdown passes last year and the Ravens aren’t about the abandon their run game in the red zone in 2010.

44. Most people think Greg Olsen is a talented tight end, but no tight end in a Mike Martz offense has ever topped 380 yards.

45. Mike Martz is a stubborn man.

46. People tend to think of Devery Henderson as a solid deep threat but he has 16 touchdown receptions over the last five years (excluding his rookie season when he played one game).

47. Robert Meachem scored nine touchdowns in 2009, the first year he received extended playing time.

48. The Seahawks have tried desperately this off season to replace Julius Jones as the team’s lead running back including trading for an out-of-shape LenDale White and an injured Leon Washington.

49. If I don’t think a team likes a player, then I don’t like relying on those players for my fantasy teams, especially in dynasty leagues.

50. At times, I have had to go against my own advice but I will not rely on Jones in 2010 (repeat ten times).

51. Justin Forsett had four games with 10 or more carries and accumulated 397 rushing yards in those games while averaging 6.3 yards per carry.

52. I like Forsett based on his current ADP of 6.01.

53. Coaches tend to talk up their players when there is a roster deficiency in order to drive down the trade value of players they are interested in. The Seahawks Pete Carroll sure has been talking up Forsett this summer and the Bills sure would like to trade Marshawn Lynch (despite what they’re saying).

54. The teams in the NFC North have to face the teams in the NFC East and the AFC East, which makes the Bears, Lions, Packers and the Vikings losers from a scheduling perspective.

55. The teams in the AFC West get to face the teams in the NFC West and the AFC South, which makes the Broncos, Chiefs, Raiders and Chargers winners from a scheduling perspective.

56. Most of Eddie Royal’s 2009 targets came on short passes yet he caught only 46.8% of his targets whereas Brandon Marshall had more deep targets and caught 65.6% of his targets.

57. Brandon Marshall was traded to the Miami Dolphins.

58. There is a reason why the Denver Broncos drafted Demaryius Thomas in the first round and Eric Decker in the third round.

59. Now you know what that reason was.

60. During his three years as the Texans starter, Matt Schaub has started 11 games twice and 16 games once.

61. I believe in the law of averages (so should you).

62. As a rookie, Mohamad Massaquoi led the Browns with 624 receiving yards and three touchdowns.

63. Massaquoi caught 35.8% of his targets ranking him 94th amongst wide receivers with at least 40 targets.

64. I don’t think that was entirely because of the quarterback play in Cleveland last year.

65. Roy Williams caught 44% of his targets in 2009.

66. The Dallas Cowboys drafted Dez Bryant in the first round of the NFL Draft.

67. Pierre Garcon caught 51% of his targets last year. Austin Collie caught 67% of his targets and Anthony Gonzalez caught 72% of his targets during his first two years in the league.

68. Peyton Manning connected on 72.2% of his targets to players not named Pierre Garcon.

69. Quarterbacks like to throw to receivers who catch the ball, especially really good ones like Peyton Manning and Tony Romo.

70. Tony Gonzalez and Greg Olsen tied for the most red zone touches amongst tight ends with Brent Celek finishing third.

71. The Falcons, Bears, and Eagles failed to acquire a big wide receiver during the off season (or more accurately, none who are expected to contribute in 2010).

72. Reggie Bush’s touches have declined three straight years, hitting 117 last year.

73. In any situation, success is a function of opportunity, ability, and motivation.

74. Fantasy success cannot be achieved with minimal opportunity and is rarely achieved by players with declining opportunities.

75. At the end of all of my job interviews, I finish by stating that success requires three components – ability, motivation and opportunity, if you can provide the opportunity then I will provide the ability and motivation. This applies to fantasy football as well.

76. Brandon Pettigrew had five receptions for 165 yards and two touchdowns in the three games before he suffered a season-ending knee injury.

77. The Lions traded for Tony Scheffler during the off season.

78. Panthers quarterback Matt Moore and wide receiver Steve Smith connected 20 times for 378 yards and three touchdowns in the four games they started together.

79. I don’t think Jimmy Clausen is going to unseat Moore in 2010.

80. LaDainian Tomlinson’s current ADP is 9.10.

81. Tomlinson backs up Shonn Greene, who had 541 rushing yards as a rookie.

82. The Jets ran the ball far more than any team in the NFL last year.

83. I like veteran running backs backing up largely unproven players playing in offenses that run heavily.

84. There are plenty of backup running backs being drafted before LaDainian Tomlinson.

85. I don’t know why that is.

86. Michael Bush of the Raiders has received 15 or more touches in six games over the course of his career.

87. He has averaged 122 total yards in those six games.

88. Darren McFadden of the Raiders has received 15 or more touches in five games over the course of his career.

89. He has averaged 93 total yards in those five games.

90. The current average draft positions for Frank Gore, Michael Crabtree, and Vernon Davis are 1.06, 4.06, and 5.03 yet Alex Smith’s ADP is 12.03.

91. Alex Smith averaged 17.7 fantasy points per game during the eleven games he received extensive playing time last year.

92. I don’t know why Alex Smith isn’t being viewed as a sleeper at quarterback.

93. Ryan Grant is the undisputed lead running back for the Green Bay Packers.

94. The Packers had an explosive offense in 2009 and figure to have one again this year.

95. Ryan Grant’s is currently being taken 13th overall, amongst running backs, and that represents excellent value.

96. Marcedes Lewis has increased his yardage total every year but has never scored more than two touchdowns.

97. You have not read anything yet about kickers.

98. You have not read anything yet about defenses.

99. That’s because there’s no point wasting your time guessing how kickers and defenses will perform. Use the last two selections in your draft or your last two auction dollars to fill these positions.

100. If you liked this article, then you should check back regularly for fantasy tips and advice to help you win your league. 

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Dave Stringer is a staff writer at FFToday.com, home of the popular Cheatsheet Compiler & Draft Buddy custom cheatsheet and draft tracking software.

After Monday's walk through, the Colts players got together at a bowling alley for a little Offense v. Defense event they call 'The Team Building Bowling Tournament.' The winner got free iPads. Naturally, the always Tweet happy defense provided us with updates throughout the evening.

Jerraud Powers, via Twitter:

Off vs def bowling tourny for ipads right now....people bowling like this their last

Pat McAfee, via Twitter:

4728-4791 in favor of the offense at halftime.. Peyton rigged this sh*t

After the jump, see how Jacob Lacey scored the highest of anyone in the tournament both in his bowling and (in our eyes) his Twitter awesomeness.

At the end of the tourny, the Tweets coming pretty clearly indicated that the offense won, making the defense a bunch of very grumpy men.

Javarris James:

We got them ipads boyyyy.

Robert Mathis:

This is some bull........cheated again!

Pat McAfee:

Rough evening at the bowling alley losing to the offense, but I rolled a 149 and a 135, pretty hyped about triple digits twice

But the Tweet of the night came from Jacob Lacey in response to Pierre Garcon:

@PierreGarcon85: OFFENSE WINS...PG85™

@YungLace27: Shut up

It seems we have a fairly enjoyable and funny group of guys playing for our Colts this year.