Getting ready for your fantasy draft can be confusing and overwhelming. There are a few things to remember before making your picks. First you must qualify the player for each round. The old rule of thumb was to take two running backs in the first two rounds. However things have changed. Things have changed but fantasy owner draft strategies really haven’t. Until this year.

In the past most tight ends get drafted in rounds 4 and 5. Hopefully for you this will hold true. This year there are enough tight ends available in the same points range that you may be able to hold off until rounds 7 and 8, maybe later.

Also In the past few years tight ends Antonio Gates and Tony Gonzales were drafted early and often. This year there are at least 10 players available that are worthy of being a top pick at tight end. Also keep in mind that Gates had foot surgery in February.

Here is this years top ten picks for your tight end position. Keep in mind that tight ends are capable of having big weeks any week but could also be a no-show for a week or two. A defense that is a good fit for tight ends to play against is the cover two or Tampa 2 scheme a few teams are running this year.

The Top Ten:

1. Kellen Winslow- Browns- Kellen had a wide receiver type of season last year having caught 82 balls. He is coming into his own as a player and is part of a up and coming Browns offense that could finally do some real damage in 2008. He is certified fantasy stud.

2. Jason Witten- Cowboys- Witten has a top tier fantasy quarterback throwing to him. Romo found him often last year and both are looking to take the Cowboys all the way this season.  Witten can score big points in a given week.

3. Dallas Clark – Colts- Clark is a vital cog in the Colts offense. With Marvin Harrison a question mark for 2008 Clark will be looking for another big year in Indianapolis.  However Manning needs to get healthy before he is really worthy of #3.  Clark could actually fall out of the top ten and is a very shaky #3.

4. Antonio Gates- Chargers- Although he did have off-season surgery he may be a slow starter. However he still has the same quarterback and runningback lined up with him so he will be a big time threat no matter what.

5. Tony Gonzalez- Chiefs- Tony may not be the tight end he once was, he is probably the best receiving option the Chiefs have. Gonzalez needs runningback Larry Johnson to have a big year to open up the passing game.

6. Jeremy Shockey- Saints- Shockey will be looking to silence all the critics who said the Giants were a better team without him. They may have been, but Shockey has upside to his fantasy potential being in New Orleans. Drew Brees passes as much as any quarterback in the league and he will be looking to make Shockey a Pro-Bowl caliber tight end.

7. Chris Cooley- Redskins- Cooley is now part of the west coast offense with Jason Campbell leading the charge. Campbell had his biggest year in college under the WCO and is looking to have another huge year. Cooley was already a top tight end but in the WCO many tight ends have turned in their best years.

8. Heath Miller- Steelers- Miller has been a solid tight end most of his career. Ben Rothlisberger had arguably his best season last year as well. Look for Miller to put up solid numbers once again.

9. Owen Daniels- Texans- Daniels is a vital cog in the Texans attack. He had the highest rating of first downs per catch last season and quarterback Matt Shaub is poised to have a solid second season in Houston.

10. Alge Crumpler – Titans- No longer a fantasy stud Falcon he finds himself the target of another mobile quarterback that likes to hit the tight end on the run. Crumpler has a knack for getting open in spots to help out a scrambling QB. Crumpler may have a huge year in Tennessee.

The NFL has an abundance of good tight ends. Some of the better tight ends you may be able to snag would be Bears end Greg Olsen, Denver’s Tony Schefler, Patriot Ben Watson, and Rams tight end Randy McMichael. All of these players would be good late round picks.

One tight end that will be drafted high in many leagues to stay away from is the 49er’s Vernon Davis. He is a very good tight end. He may be one of the best in the league. However he is now under new offensive guru/knucklehead Mike Martz. In Detroit Martz’ offense made the tight end/H-back position nonexistent. Not to mention the QB battle has come down to former NFL Europe and back up Lions QB J.T. O’Sullivan ahead of a struggling Alex Smith.  Also don't forget, there is areason why Mike Martz has been fired from his last two jobs, and it wasn't because he was an offensive guru. 

Another set of TE that may fall into waiver wires after the draft is Jets TE Chris Baker and Dustin Keller. Either may be a very good player with Brett Favre now running the show. It is a camp battle worth looking at. In 2007 Baker almost averaged (71%) a first down per catch.

One last item is that on average per week the difference between the top TE and the bottom is not always that great. The main thing to look for is consistency. But hey, maybe I am wrong about everyone of these guys. Opinions are like behinds, everyone has one and most of the really stink!

Part one of seven

The most common draft strategy used by many fantasy team owners is to draft running backs in round one and two. Some even take backs in the first three rounds. But if everyone does this how would anyone separate their team from other teams besides injuries? This year there are four QBs you should consider in the first round as well. This doesn’t mean to skip RBs all together, but consider other options.

This year is the year you can finally get an edge. This doesn’t mean you need to draft a kicker in round three, you still should be drafting your kicker dead last. What you may need is a new strategy. If everyone is using the same strategies usually the only thing that separates your team from theirs is dumb luck.

The era of the three down back is over. In 2007 the NFL saw it lowest total of 300 carry backs (6) since 1999. There are a lot of quality backs you can get after the RB draft frenzy is over. In fact there are only a few backs worthy of round one status. Lets break it down.

Round 1 RBs

1. LaDanian Tomlinson – he is healthy and a fantasy stud, he is worthy of a number one overall pick.

2. Adrian Peterson – Peterson is unstoppable at times and can rack up monstrous fantasy numbers against any team any week. Worthy of a top 5 pick.

3. Steven Jackson – Jackson was injured in 2007 and the Ram offense was a non-factor. In 2008 big things are expected from Jackson and unless he holds out for a long period of time he is worthy of your round one pick in the 4-8 range.

4. Joseph Addai- The Colts offense is predicated on the ability of Peyton Manning to be able to run play action passes. This makes Addai’s role very important again in 2008 and he should deliver as well. Addai is a "inside the 5 guy" as well (see below)He is worthy of your round one pick in the 4-8 range.

5. Brian Westbrook – Westbrook does it all in Philly. He runs well, catches the ball, and blocks. Westbrook and McNabb should both have good years, but Westbrook is the key to it all and they will use him as such. He is also worthy of your round one pick between 5-10.

Round 2 RBs

Frank Gore had a bit of a down year after his breakout season in 2006. But with a new offense coordinated by Mike Martz Gore should flourish once again. Gore could be yours at pick 10-13.
Larry Johnson is back and ready to go. He is rated low this year based off of last years stats. Last season he held out almost all of camp and then was injured. The Chief’s offense has a bright spot and it shines on Johnson. He may fall all the way to the end of round 2 or even into round 3.

Clinton Portis is now under the West Coast offense in Washington. Portis will get more catches and should be better in 2008 with a healthy shoulder. He should go early in the 2nd round.

Marshawn #### is the number one back in Buffalo and could have another good season. He was a surprise as a rookie and should be able to build on that to haveyet a n even bigger 2008. #### should go in the 2nd round for sure.

Marion Barber is now the featured back in Dallas. With an offense like the Cowboys have he could have yet his biggest season yet. He hasn’t been at his best as the featured back in the past when Julius Jones was out, but Jones is gone now and Barber doesn’t have a choice but to be the man. Barber may go early in round 2 but he would be better late in round 2 or early round three.

Best of the Rest

Jamal Lewis is part of a very potent Cleveland attack. He was one of the better RBs last season but is still ranked too low in pre-draft rankings. You could snag him as late as round 5!

Matt forte is a rookie in Chicago this year and is going to be the featured back. First Cedric Benson was arrested twice and then swiftly cut. Then the Bears brought in former Lion Kevin Jones but he is still hurt yet again from last season. Forte may slip under the radar onto your roster in round 4 or later.

One-Two Punch

These are the players that if you draft one you need to get the other.

Willie Parker is still the one in the one-two punch in Pittsburgh. Parker will get the bulk of the load ahead of rookie Rashard Mendenhall.

Kevin Smith is a rookie in Detroit where they team has changed from a pass happy offense to a run oriented zone blocking scheme used in Denver. Tatum Bell is the veteran of the duo. Bell started the first 5 games last year until Kevin Jones returned. However once Jones did return, Bell was deactivated in all 11 weeks after.

Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor may actually have better numbers as a duo in 2008 with the additions to the already stout defense. The offense should be on the field even more so they will be solid picks once again.
Don’t Forget Backs

Brandon Jacobs, Darren McFadden, Edgerin James, Rudi Johnson, Ronnie Brown, Thomas Jones, Julius Jones, TJ Duckett, Reggie Bush, and Michael Turner should all be available after you have filled your other starters at every other position.

RBs to Stay Away from Early


Laurence Maroney- The Patriots use so many backs and Maroney has been injured so many times that you should pick him with caution. He should be a late round find instead of an early round buster without the rhymes.

Willis McGahee is highly ranked and lowly productive. The Ravens offense is terrible and the QB situation may change every week making Willis a weak pick. Hope that another fantasy owner goes bananas and drafts him in the 2nd round.



Handy Dandy Chart

Here is another way to look for a RB late in your draft that can have an impact on your season. With so many teams running by committee it is very important to have the back that teams go to in the red zone. Although some of the players didn’t rack up a ton of points last year that doesn’t mean they won’t in 2008. You should seriously consider these numbers when determining one player ahead of another.


Here are the top ten go to backs when it matters. They may not be your franchise back but they each had at least 200 carries.

Player                              carries                inside the 5

Jamal Lewis                    298                      
    22

Joseph Addai                  261                           18

Clinton Portis                  324                           17

LaDanian Tomlinson    315                           17

Thomas Jones               310                           15

Willis McGahee              294                           14

Earnest Graham            222                           14

LenDale White                304                          13

Marion Barber                 201                          13

Edgerin James              323                           11

 

  Of the four major pro sports Hockey, Baseball, Football, Basketball in the United States and Canada only eight teams actually have a color as part of the mascot. Soccer was not included because it is lower than bowling and poker on the sports food chain in America. Simply looking at the four sports and the 122 pro sports teams there is one thing obvious, if you are a team of color you better have "red" in the name.

  Teams with the name "red" include the Redskins, Red Wings, Red Sox, and Reds. These teams comprise 50% of the list known as the "A list". The Browns, White Sox, and Blue Jays represent the other 50% of the list known as the "B list".

  The Red teams have a combined 27 Championships between them. The Red Wings have won 11 Stanley Cups, the Red Sox have won 6 World Series, the Reds have won 5 World Series, and the Redskins have won 5 Super Bowls. This is why they are the "A list".

  The other #### teams have only 12 combined Championships. That is why they are on the "B list". They are not new franchises either. These teams have been around a long time. In fact every team of color has been around a long time. The newest team on the list is the Toronto Blue Jays whose franchise began in 1977 which is relatively young in comparison to the other teams on the list.

Teams of color are old school. You will probably never see another team name including a color as part of the name. But if your city gets one, they better make the name have "Red" in it!

 The entire list of most championships by pro teams of color:

Red Wings 11

Red Sox 6

Reds 5

Redskins 5

Browns 4

White soxs 3

Blackhawks 3

Blue Jays 2


The Breakdown:

4 teams were from MLB

Zero teams were from the NBA

Chicago has 2 teams on the list

2 teams with Indian names on the list and 2 about colors of Sox.

2 teams of color left off the list the St. Louis Blues and Columbus Blue Jackets have never won a Championship.

Of all teams "Blue" only a combined 2 Championships

  I know you thought you would never read that line.  All you ever hear is how bad o####M Matt Millen is.  Today I will show you that maybe he really isn't that bad after all.  Well for starters, he never had a number one overall pick bust like so many other GMs have in the past.  Cleveland had Tim Couch at number one overall and Couch isn't even in the league anymore.  They should have taken Donavon McNabb.  Remember though he was the guy Philly fans booed when he was selected number two just ahead of Cincinnati's bust, Akili Smith.  Also don't forget that same draft in 1999 the Saints traded away every pick to get Texas RB Ricky Williams.

Soooo back to defending Millen's moves.  He still has five of the last seven first round picks on the roster.  It made sense at the time and is still a running joke among Lions fans that drafting another WR in the first round is to give Joey more "weapons!"  Now as it stands Charles Rogers is trying to just get another shot, Joey is backing up Ron Mexico in Atlanta, and "BMW" Big Mike Williams may be cut or traded after June 1st.  Not to worry though.  The Lions will be near a 50% roster change.  They did finish with a whopping 18 players on IR last season.  That is almost two full first teams for offense and defense.  They have brought in a lot of lineman as well, which they needed.  Ross Verba was a bum and Damien Woody is so overweight he has step on two scales to weigh in these days, and he is down 30lbs......again.

This years draft, Millen has a lot of options.  He has used options well in the past as well.  In 2004 he traded down with Cleveland to draft Roy Williams and later in the first round selected RB Kevin Jones.

On the other hand it doesn't matter what moves Millen has or hasn't made, the Lions have been the bottom feeders of the NFL for six years now and Lions fans have had enough.  If he was doing such a great job he wouldn't have fans staging protests against him.  Maybe this is what Jets fans should have done a long time ago.  Just look at this clip from youtube.com and see just what the Jets have done in drafts past.  Jets fans you may get sick by watching this, but hey, this is a article trying to defend Matt Millen and it is pretty hard with out your help.

In all fairness to Matt Millen, and i have been as fair as I can be all season, he now has a chance this year to NOT blow the draft.  To also be fair to Millen, five of the last seven first round draft picks he has made are still on the roster. 

That actually is saying something.  Ok so he blew the QB pick with Harrington, many teams have done that.  Look at he Browns and Bengals and the 1999 draft.  The top three picks were all QBs.  The Browns took Tim Couch number one overall, the Eagles took Donavon Mcnabb number two, and the Bengals took Akili Smith number three overall.  Two of these three not only aren't on their teams anymore, they aren't even in the NFL anymore.

This year the Lions have the number 2 pick and plenty of time to get teams ready to move up and trade.  Matt Millen needs to have personell start leaking who they "want" to draft at number two so other teams feel that if they want a certain player they have to trade up with the Lions.  The Browns could use a RB like Adrian Peterson and have been rumored to be interested in selecting him with their top pick.  Maybe that is the Browns working the angle I just mentioned the Lions need to take though.

Either way this year Matt has options at number two in the draft, however he already had this option once and decided to draft Charles Rogers (all Lions fans wanted him too) the local Michigan State and Saginaw, Michigan kid and we all know how that worked out.

Here is a new one to me.  The Seattle Supersonics may move out of Seattle at the end of the season the the WNBA Storm if the taxpayers do not assist with $300 million in taxpayers subsidies.  I was reading this in sleeplessineattles blog and couldn't help but get a little upset about another team holding their city hostage on a new arena/stadium.  Art Modell did this to the city of Cleveland with the Browns.  He used the stadium and its revenue as a means to get out.

It takes a lot of stones to actually have the nerve to demand a city grant $300 million to help a multi-Billion dollar company build its own facility.  The Sonics like almost every single team in any sport are NOT owned by the city but by an investor or investment group.  The Packers are the only team I even know of that is own by the citizens.

The part that really takes it over the top is that when you do go to watch your hometown team that you helped build a facility, they charge you 600% more for every item in the building and parking too!  Shouldn't everything be cheaper?  Seriously, how can they charge $8 or more for a beer and $3.50 for one hot dog.  Even McDonalds and other fast food chains have gotten into this scam.  Last season at a Tigers game I went into McDonalds to get a Big Mac meal and saw it was $9.50!  and you couldn't even get it special made.  I am not even sure if they made the food at this McDonalds.  It could have been driven there from a real McDonalds outside of the stadium.

  Roy Williams is the worst offender of the all talk and no walk since Kellen Winslow jr.  Last week as you know guaranteed victory at Chicago.  Roy also has not done anything in his career to warrant such a guarantee either.  Just like Kellen he needs to just SHUT UP!  Kellen last week said cornerback Leigh Bodden is the best corner in all of football and he was gonna shut down Chad Johnson.

  Roy on Sunday did the biggest thing I hate to see as well.  With my Detroit Lions down 24-0 he thought it was still appropriate to signal first down with his signature first down move.   You can see it here.  Notice the score on there as well.

  If Winslow and Williams didn't so many stupid things so often they wouldn't even be getting interviewed because they rarely do anything on the field.  Maybe they think they are gonna get their team fired up.  That isn't the case though.  They get the other teams fired up and they embarrass their own fans. 

  How about this, show some class and let your playing do the talking.  Establish yourself as a player and not a jack ####.  At least when Terrell Owens says something he can back it up, and he has over ten years of film to prove it.  That is probably the first and last time you will ever read someone saying to be more like T.O. but hey at least he has proven he is a great player.  Kellen has proven to be a good player in all 4 games of his NFL career and Roy, well he made a sweet catch once last year!

 

  Tuesday, The Governator said that he had a meeting with several NFL owners Tuesday and told them he was there to make sure "we're getting not only one NFL team to the Los Angeles area, Southern California, but to actually get two teams. That's why I came. Why limit it?"  I do have to say that I wasn't and do not support him as a governor, but it is hard to not root for a guy that would try to get me two NFL teams.  Besides it is a traveshamockery that there in no NFL football in L.A.

  Yes Arnold why not?  why limit it?  You are so business and pro sport savy anyway.  Actually I am guessing you don't know a very much about that fancy math that is put together when you are wanting to accomplish something that has never been done in pro sports.  Just expand the NFL by two or move two teams to L.A.  That makes a lot of sense considering how well the city handled two NFL teams in the past. (terrible)

    It is however rediculous that L.A. does not have a NFL team.    Two teams is not and should not happen ever again there.  But they do however deserve one team. Lets look at a couple options they may actually have eventually as ways to get a new NFL team(s) there.

1. Expansion - may be the best option, at least to get two teams in southern California.  They could put a team in Aneheim and one in Los Angeles.  That is the best chance to get two teams.  This is actually one of the proposals they are going to put together.

2. Move an existing franchise - (a) How about the Saints?  They still have the Superdome under renovation and is a possible reopening by next season.  This franchise has a lot of new talent and upside and just drafted Reggie Bush.  I think he would sell a lot of jerseys back in southern California.  (b) There are two teams that I would not have any personal issues with them moving.  One is the Baltimore Ravens, they lost a team to Indianapolis and stole the Browns from Cleveland, then won a Superbowl them and just digs the knife a little deeper.  The other team would be the Jacksonville Jaguars.  Florida does not need three NFL teams.  So by order of inception, they gotta go.

3. Move Oakland or St. Louis back.  Oakland is the better choice because that is best place for them anyway.  Renovate the L.A. Colesium into a brand new looking place and use the same field and outer layer to keep the original theme.  St. Louis (won a superbowl shotly after leaving as well) needs to stay put as they lost the Cardinals they took from Chicago to Arizona.