2/9 Fantasy Football Rankings, Top 25

Once again, working from 25 to 1. Numbers in parenthesis are last month's ranking.

25(NR). Antonio Gates, TE, SD-When healthy last season put up numbers that equalled that of the top wide receivers in the NFL. In just 10 games in 2010 he put up 50 catches, over 750 yards, and 10 touchdowns. Averaged over a full season, the result would have been 80 catches, 1200 yards, and 16 touchdowns. Clearly the top tight end

24(24). Phillip Rivers, QB, SD-The man throwing to Gates stays at 24. Primed for a very big 2011.

23(NR). Ahmad Bradshaw, RB, NYG-Overlooked in my previous ranking, set career highs in 2010 in carries (276), rushing yards (1275), and touchdowns (8). Fumbling could prove costly given Tom Coughlin's past.

22(NR). Ryan Matthews, RB, SD-Had a rocky rookie season, but showed life toward the end of the year, scoring five touchdowns in the final touchdowns in the final four weeks while rushing for a tad under 300 yards. Given his receiving ability could put up 1200-1500 total yards in 2011.

21(19). Tom Brady, QB, NE-Brady remains one of the top QB options and doesn't move much since last ranking.

20(21). Darren McFadden, RB, Oak-Stays steady as he should be the number one option in Oakland and if he can follow up his big 2010 season could eclipse his 2010 numbers

19(22). Greg Jennings, WR, GB-Top receiver for the league's top fantasy QB. With Driver's age Jennings could see a few more targets.

18(18). Hakeem Nicks, WR, NYG-Remains in the same spot since January, huge redzone target and as long as healthy should be among top scoring receivers

17(17). Dwayne Bowe, WR, KC-Based off his huge 2010 he has become the focal point of the Chief's passing game

16(15). Calvin Johnson, WR, Det-Finished among the receiving leaders in 2010, if Stafford is healthy in 2011 he could be the top scoring fantasy receiver.

15(9). Reggie Wayne, WR, Ind-His drop from last season is due to more of an evaluation on my part than anything he has done. I expect Wayne's targets and touchdowns to drop with a healthy Dallas Clark, a matured Pierre Garcon, and possibly a healthy Austin Collie. Still a top receiver but falls short of the lofty numbers I expect from Andre Johnson and Roddy White.

14(12). Frank Gore, RB, SF-Dropped a little due to injury history. I can't spend a first round pick on someone I don't trust to stay healthy. I think Jim Harbaugh can get him more involved, but the injuries are definitely a concern.

13(14). Ray Rice, RB, Bal-Stays as a borderline first rounder, a little drop from last season but Rice isn't enough of a touchdown threat for my liking.

12(4). Maurice Jones-Drew, RB, Jax-Biggest drop for me due to the knee injury. Reports show that he has no cartilage in his injured knee. That screams to me that he may be nearing the end in terms of being an elite fantasy talent. He may be capable of huge numbers, but I don't trust him right now without seeing him in preseason.

11(16). Aaron Rodgers, QB, GB-Rodgers was good in the regular season, but what he did in the playoff with a running game was nothing short of astounding. Could be a 35 TD, 4000+ guy that also rushes for 300-400 yards and scores 5+ rushing touchdowns. Is now the elite fantasy QB.

10(13). Rashard Mendenhall, RB, Pit-Has become the focal point of the Pittsburgh offense. No reason he can't put up 1200+ yards and double digit touchdowns year in, year out. Is a first rounder in all formats for me.

9(11). LeSean McCoy, RB, Phi-In the same boat as Mendy but is a slightly better receiving option. Depending on the quarterback situation in Philadelphia he is fully capable of being a top 5 fantasy running back.

8(10). Andre Johnson, WR, Hou-Has been one of the top receivers in football for 5 or so years now and remains a first rounder for me.

7(8). Roddy White, WR, Atl-Became the elite guy among fantasy receivers and will probably stay there for me throughout the entire offseason.

6(6). Steven Jackson, RB, STL-With Bradford at QB he is an elite fantasy back. Injuries are a slight concern but he has missed just one game last two seasons.

5(7). Michael Turner, RB, Atl-Had a great bounce back season in 2010 and should be a high draft pick in 2011.

4(2). Chris Johnson, RB, Ten-Dropped from the two spot for me. Coaching will be a question and as of now no QB does not spell a successful fantasy season. He has great talent but I expect his numbers to fall, I'm not sure how dramatic that fall will be.

3(5). Jamaal Charles, RB, KC-Keeps moving up my list. The man put up 6.3 YPC last season and over 1400 rushing yards in a time share. No one seems to recall how he tallied over 1400 total yards in 2009 and had 5.9 rushing yards. He could have a Chris Johnson 2009 type season. Possibly the top option in PPR leagues. Lack of touchdowns is a bit concerning.

2(3). Arian Foster, RB, Hou-I don't fully trust him and Ben Tate will probably get some carries but its hard to ignore 2220 total yards and 18 touchdowns although the man also had over 390 touches last season.

1(1). Adrian Peterson, RB, Min-Has proven it doesn't matter what his QB does or who the coach is he performs. The safest pick in the fantasy world.


There you go, the following guys dropped off my top 25

Peyton Manning (20)-The collection of top QBs makes grabbing one too early foolish
Vincent Jackson (23)-I feel I had him overvalued in the first ranking
Drew Brees (25)-See Peyton Manning, the interceptions scare me

Pass Aaron Pass

You’ve heard the old saying about how to win football games, “you have to run the ball and be able to stop the run”. By that logic, the wrong team lost the Super Bowl. Green Bay ran the ball a meager 13 times; two of those were kneel downs by Aaron Rodgers, in all, the Packers gained 50 yards on the ground. In contrast, the Steelers ran the ball 23 times for 126 yards, averaging 5.5 yards per carry. If I were to tell you prior to the game that Pittsburgh will more than double the Packers rushing yards, nearly double their total carries, run one less passing play, and tally three times as many sacks, who would your money have been put on?

Football is an ever-evolving sport, it started with the inclusion of the forward pass, then the likes of Johnny Unitas further enforced the importance of a quarterback’s ability to pass. Dan Fouts took it to new heights and was quickly followed by Dan Marino lighting up the scoreboard and rewriting the record books. Quarterbacks were putting up bigger and bigger numbers, but the Lombardi trophies weren’t coming with them. Peyton Manning’s record breaking 2004 season didn’t end with a Super Bowl title and Tom Brady’s 50 touchdown 2007 season ended with a loss to the New York Giants and their two man running attack. With the last two Super Bowls, it appears that we are firmly entrenched in the “Year(s) of the quarterbacks”

The Saints won Super Bowl XLIV despite only running ball 18 times for 51 yards while allowing 99 yards on 19 carries. Super Bowl XLIII, the victorious Pittsburgh Steelers managed just 58 yards on 2.3 yard per carry average. That means over the last three Super Bowls, the winning team has had 159 rushing yards on 56 carries. In contrast, Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XL rushed 33 times for 181 yards and Indianapolis in XLI rushed 42 times for 191 yards. Of the first 41 Super Bowls, the winning team rushed for 100+ yards in 37 of them, but it hasn’t happened since the Colts in 2007.

Change is definitely upon us and those old sayings are just that, old and outdated.

On a side note, I don’t see any way the owners and NFLPA do not come to an agreement for the CBA. The Super Bowl garnered more viewings worldwide than any event on television, ever. There is too much money at risk here for them not to come to an agreement. I sure hope they do, the last few Super Bowls have been great television, from Roethlisberger’s stalled two minute drill, Tracy Porter sealing the win for the Saints with the pick-6, Kurt Warner and Big Ben gun slinging into the closing seconds of XLIII, to David Tyree’s impossible catch and Eli’s game winner in the closing seconds, and Peyton Manning finally grabbing his Championship. Football has become the greatest spectacle in American sports and I can’t see someone no making a concession on order to maintain their loft atop the sports’ world.

Forget Lions and Bears, the Tigers are scary

National Signing Day has come and gone and the winners and losers have been labeled. One team in particular stood out to me, and while they were somewhat overlooked by many media outlets, the Clemson Tigers come out smelling like roses.

It was impressive enough that according to Rivals.com that they grabbed four five star players, but three of those youngsters came out of the state of Florida. Talent from Florida usually stays there, but more importantly, they stole these players from the Florida State Seminoles who in the coming years could be the biggest hurdle in Clemson's quest for ACC domination. With five schools in Florida that played in bowl games in 2010, these three, as well as another five star recruit, and six four star recruits decided to attend a school that went 6-6 before losing the Meineke Bowl to...........



South Florida.

Now Clemson has gone into their backyard, FIU's backyard, Miami's backyard, Florida's backyard, and Florida State's backyard and took some of their top talent. That's not to say that these teams didn't fare well, they did, but to go into a rival state and come out with three of their top players is phenomenal. It was not just Florida either, they grabbed the top linebacker and a four star offensive tackle out of the state of North Carolina and two four star recruits out of Hargrove Academy in Virginia. They dominated much of the east coast and got more bang for their buck than any other team in the nation.

Clemson struggled to a 4-4 ACC record last year in a conference that was possibly the weakest of all the BCS conferences, yet they brought in more top talent than nearly every other school in the country. Well done fellas.

5 Teams to watch in 2011

If past seasons have been any indication, 2011 will see a few unexpected playoff teams. Just use 2010 as an example. Who saw the Chiefs winning the AFC West? Didn’t anyone notify the Bears that it was supposed to be Green Bay and Minnesota battling it out in the NFC West? Seattle, under a rah-rah college coach found their way into the playoffs and won a game over the defending champs. I thought Philadelphia was supposed to be a last place team in the NFC East? This happens every year, teams that are supposed to be after thoughts find their way into the playoffs. Who could it be next year? I have five candidates, some surprising, some not so.

1. San Diego Chargers-They were the team to beat in the AFC West at the onset of the season. That didn’t work out so well, Phillip Rivers did his part but the lack of a consistent running game, injuries to many of Rivers’ top target, and the defense took most of the season to get started, by the time they were ready to roll it was too late. Why is their optimism for 2011? Ryan Matthews finished the season strong, Rivers is an MVP candidate, and the defense didn’t lose anything, but they should go into the year healthy and return to the upper echelon in the NFL.

2. Dallas Cowboys-They started 1-7; got Wade Phillips fired, and looked pathetic. Then what happened? Tony Romo was lost for the season; they promoted Jason Garrett, and went 5-3 with Jon Kitna at QB. Dallas is one of the most talented teams in all of football and Garrett seemed to tap into that in the second half of 2010. Now going into his second season I would expect him to carry that momentum through the offseason and watch out for the ‘Boys next year.

3. San Francisco 49ers-Somehow they went from preseason favorites in the league’s weakest division to being a 6-10 team that was essentially out of the playoff hunt following an 0-5, and 1-6 start. Enter Jim Harbaugh who worked wonders in Stanford and let us not forget they still play in the atrocious NFC West. Harbaugh may be able to tap into the talent of either Alex or Troy Smith, or possibly go with a rookie but look for him to get the most out of his QBs. The running game led by Frank Gore, receivers with Crabtree and Vernon Davis, and the Patrick Willis led defense are enough to win and if Harbaugh does get one of the QBs to turn the corner, look for them to compete in 2011.

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers-Tampa Bay matured very quickly in 2010. Coming off a 3-13 season they were an afterthought, instead of wallowing in that, Tampa just rolled off a 10-6 season in one of the toughest divisions in football. The maturation of Josh Freeman, Mike Williams, and Arrelious Benn came much quicker than expect. LaGarette Blount supplied a much needed boost to the running game and Kellen Winslow put up some of the best numbers of his career. The defense, led by linebackers Barrett Ruud and Geno Hayes were the real surprise and the return of a healthy Gerald McCoy should help improve the troubled rush defense. Much like Atlanta this year, look for Tampa Bay to make the final step and contend for the NFC South title this coming season.

5. Buffalo Bills-Am I high or what? Buffalo hasn’t been a contender in over a decade and are coming off of a 4-12 season. Fact is though, Buffalo started 0-8 and played nine of their sixteen games against playoff teams (Chicago, Green Bay, Baltimore, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, New England x2, and New York Jets x2). Buffalo played hard all season, going into overtime at Baltimore and at Kansas City and dropping a sure winner against Pittsburgh. The team found an offensive identity and some fluidity behind Ryan Fitzpatrick despite numerous wide receiver injuries. The defensive front was the problem, enter Dave Wannstedt. There is some talent up front and the addition of Shawne Merriman could exponentially increase the pass rush. Buffalo may not win the tough AFC East, but with a slightly easier schedule in 2011, they could contend.

There you go, 2011 is a long way off but those five teams should have much improved seasons. I was tempted to put Houston here, but I’m tired of being let down. Next week, look for my five teams to fall in 2011.

Better by a Mile(s)

I've never been a huge fan of Les Miles, he's never done anything I disagree with, I was just indifferent. I knew him as the head coach of the LSU Tigers. I knew him as a guy that did things his own way. Called plenty of trick plays and more often than not they worked. I knew him as a guy that did exactly what you didn't expect, so, maybe everyone shouldn't be surprised that he turned down the head coaching position at his alma-mater Michigan in order to stay at LSU.

In his ten years as a head coach Miles has a combined record of 90-38, including 62-17 since taking over for the Tigers in 2005. He has led his teams to nine consecutive bowl games, winning five out of six since going to LSU, including the 2007 National Championship. Miles has accomplished so much in only a decade, why not see what you can do at Michigan? The Wolverines are one of the most storied teams in college football and is a part of histories greatest collegiate rivalry, Ohio State versus Michigan. Why not do it?

This brings me to the change in my opinion of Miles. His reasons were simple, yet spoke so much about his character. He didn't want to leave because he feels he has made a commitment to the school, faculty, assistants, players, and fans, and wants to fulfill that commitment. In a time when coaches can leave at the drop of a hat, not taking into account the players they recruited. The players who chose a school so they could learn under that coach for four years, only to see them leave a year or two later. Miles apparently does something that most don't, he considers his players, he considers the fans, he looks out for others around him and for all that he has accomplished, I think that should be the most respected.