McNabb a Raider?

The latest reports from ESPN state that Donovan McNabb will be traded to the Oakland Raiders before hes due his 6 million dollar roster bonus in May. So what does this mean for fantasy?

Well first off, this would shoot Eagles QB Kevin Kolb up the QB rankings. He could be a nice potential sleeper this year. And in fact, I would recommend grabbing Kolb as a QB2 in later rounds because I believe he'll put up QB1 numbers in a loaded Philadelphia offense. Mark my words, Kevin Kolb could be the next Matt Schaubb of last season.

As for McNabb, a move to Oakland will hurt his draft stock. First of all, McNabb would have to learn a whole new offensive system. In Philadelphia a West Coast offense system was in place. In this system, the Eagles passed the ball more than any other team in the NFL. This helped McNabbs fantasy numbers greatly. Not only will McNabb not pass as much, but he will be behind an abysmal offensive line with a lot less talent at the skill positions. McNabb will most likely be taken as a QB1 this year but I expect him to put up inconsistent and borderline QB1 numbers this season in Oakland, with lots of potential to do worse. My advice would be to avoid Donovan McNabb this year in fantasy.

The Very Early Rankings *Revised*

Quarter Backs

1. Peyton Manning
2. Drew Brees
3. Aaron Rodgers
4. Tom Brady
5. Matt Schaubb
6. Phillip Rivers
7. Brett Favre
8. Tony Romo
9. Ben Roethlisberger
10. Eli Manning
11. Matt Ryan
12. Donovan McNabb
13. Carson Palmer
14. Jay Cutler
15. Joe Flacco
16. Kyle Orton
17. David Gerrard
18. Mark Sanchez
19. Alex Smith
20. Kevin Kolb
21. Vince Young
22. Matthew Stafford
23. Matt Cassel
24. Matt Hasselbeck
25. Jason Campbell
26. Matt Moore
27. Matt Leinart
28. Chad Henne
29. Josh Freeman
30. Jake Delhomme

Runningbacks
1. Chris Johnson
2. Adrian Peterson
3. Ray Rice
4. Maurice Jones Drew
5. Steven Jackson
6. Michael Turner
7. Frank Gore
8. DeAngelo Williams
9. Joseph Addai
10. Cedric Benson
11. Jamaal Charles
12. Jonathon Stewart
13. Felix Jones
14. Ryan Grant
15. Matt Forte
16. Pierre Thomas
17. Rashard Mendenhall
18. Knowshon Moreno
19. LaSean McCoy
20. Chris Wells
21. Jerome Harrison
22. Ronnie Brown
23. Clinton Portis
24. Shonn Greene
25. Ladainian Tomlinson
26. Ricky Williams
27. Justin Forsett
28. Fred Jackson
29. Thomas Jones
30. Ahmad Bradshaw
31. Darren Sproles
32. Brandon Jacobs
33. Reggie Bush
34. Darren McFadden
35. Marion Barber
36. Cadillac Williams
37. Steve Slaton
38. Donald Brown
39. Willis McGahee
40. Marshawn Lynch
41. Michael Bush
42. Laurence Maroney
43. Kevin Smith
44. Julius Jones
45. Chester Taylor

Wide Recievers

1. Andre Johnson
2. Brandon Marshall
3. Reggie Wayne
4. Larry Fitzgerald
5. Randy Moss
6. Miles Austin
7. DaSean Jackson
8. Calvin Johnson
9. Vincent Jackson
10. Sidney Rice
11. Roddy White
12. Marques Colston
13. Greg Jennings
14. Santonio Holmes
15. Chad OchoCinco
16. Anquan Boldin
17. Mike Sims-Walker
18. Wes Welker
19. Steve Smith (CAR)
20. Dwayne Bowe
21. Steve Smith (NYG)
22. Robert Meachem
23. Hines Ward
24. Michael Crabtree
25. Devin Hester
26. Jerricho Cotchery
27. Percy Harvin
28. Donald Driver
29. Hakeem Nicks
30. Derrick Mason
31. Jeremy Maclin
32. Steve Breaston
33. Antonio Bryant
34. Pierre Garcon
35. Kenny Britt
36. Early Doucet
37. Mike Wallace
38. Braylon Edwards
39. Terrell Owens
40. TJ Houshmanzadeh
41. Laurent Robinson
42. Santana Moss
43. Chris Chambers
44. Mohammed Massaquoi
45. Donnie Avery
46. Devin Aromashadu
47. Roy Williams
48. Bernard Berrian
49. Eddie Royal
50. Devery Henderson
51. Nate Burlesson
52. Johnny Knox
53. Davonne Bess
54. Austin Collie
55. Nate Washington
56. Mario Manningham
57. Kevin Walter
58. Darrius Heyward Bey
59. Jabar Gaffney
60. Earl Bennet
61. Josh Morgan
62. Greg Camarillo
63. Jason Avant
64. Julian Edelman
65. Brian Hartline

Tight Ends

1. Dallas Clark
2. Antonio Gates
3. Jason Witten
4. Vernon Davis
5. Tony Gonzalez
6. Owen Daniels
7. Brent Celek
8. Jermichael Finley
9. Chris Cooley
10. Kellen Winslow
11. Heath Miller
12. Visanthe Shiancoe
13. Zach Miller
14. Greg Olson
15. Jeremy Shockey
16. Todd Heap
17. Fred Davis
18. Dustin Keller
19. Kevin Boss
20. Brandon Pettigrew
21. John Carlson
22. Ben Watson
23. Mercedes Lewis
24. Bo Scaife
25. Tony Scheffler

Tight Ends

Like the quarterback position, my rule of thumb is to wait till the mid rounds (6,7) to draft a tight end. This is because after the "stud" TE's, the point variation between the rest of the available tight ends is quite small. And on top of that, there are always TE's who come out of nowhere and have a break out season. For example, Owen Daniels, untill he got injured, was the number one TE in fantasy last year. So I'm going to break down the tight ends this year.



Studs (Guys who could go before the 6th round)

Tony Gonzalez

Jason Witten

Antonio Gates

Vernon Davis

Dallas Clark

Owen Daniels



Tier 2 (Guys who have had solid seasons and are reliable #1 TEs)

Chris Cooley

Brent Celek

Heath Miller

Kellen Winslow

Greg Olsen

Visanthe Shiancoe



Tier 3 (Inconsistent)

Jeremy Shockey

Zach Miller

Todd Heap

John Carlson

Kevin Boss

Jermichael Finley

Fred Davis



One guy I absolutely love this year is Jermichael Finley. He's an absolute freak. Hes got great size (6'5 250 lbs) and receiver like athletic ability. Another thing thats great about Finley is that he has already showed flashes of greatness last year. He put up a huge game against the Vikings early on befroe he got hurt, and then ended the season with 3 good games. He is also on a pass first offense with a good QB in Aaron Rodgers. If you can get Finley in round 7 go ahead and grab him. Hes going to be top 7 this year.



Fred Davis can't block at all. Fortunately that doesn't matter in fantasy, and when Chris Cooley went down with a broken ankle, Fred Davis came out of nowhere to post big numbers. Expect Mike Shanahan to use lots of 2 TE sets this year, especially since the Redskins aren't deep at WR. Draft Davis as a number 2 TE with lots of upside who could post big numbers if Cooley gets hurt again.

The Impact of Free Agency on Fantasy Football

Free agency has a huge impact on fantasy football every season. Some players are cut or released. Some are re-signed. And some sign big contracts with new teams. So far the free agent market has been very active this off season. Some key moves that will impact fantasy are the signings of Thomas Jones to the Chiefs, and Chester Taylor to the bears.

Matt Forte was a top 3 back his rookie season but struggled mightily last year. Yes, he was plagued with injuries, but by the end of the year he was relatively healthy and still struggled to maintain a high yards per carry. So what do the bears do? Go out and get Chester Taylor, who was backing up Adrian Peterson in Minnesota. Why is this important? Well the Bears recently signed Mike Martz as their new offensive coordinator. Traditionally, running backs in Martz system perform well. (Marshall Faulk, Frank Gore) He usually prefers backs with good hands, who can catch the ball as well as they can run with it. Taylor has great hands. And since Taylor is getting paid starter money I wouldn't be surprised if he got the majority of the touches in Chicago. Going into the season Forte was a RB2, he's now a borderline RB3 , along with Taylor. If your gonna draft a Bears RB, pass on Forte and take Taylor a few rounds later.

Bad news for Jamal Charles fans......The chiefs signed Thomas Jones. After the Chiefs cut Larry Johnson, Jamal Charles became the center piece of there offense and put up huge numbers. In the last 6 weeks of the season he was a top 5 fantasy running back. In most rankings this year (before the signing of Jones) hes a top 10 back. Though Jones is old, and showed signs of slowing down last year, Jones always seems to perform well everywhere he goes. Hes a true runningback, capable of carrying the ball 30 times a game. I would expect a 60/40 carry split between the two favoring Charles. And Charles will be in the game on all 3rd downs. I would still expect Charles to get 20 touches a game, either rushing or receiving. The guy is a game breaker, they're going to design plays to get him the ball. In PPR Charles is a borderline RB1. In standard formats hes dropped to a RB2. TJ on the other hand should be a solid RB3, with upside if Charles gets injured.

3rd Year Wide Receivers

It seems like every year a wide receiver in their third year has a break out campaign. So one way to hit big in a fantasy league is to draft a WR who hasn't put together a solid season yet, in their 3rd year, with a lot of upside. Easier said then done huh? Steve Smith (the one on the Panthers) came out of no where to have a huge season in his 3rd year, back in 2003. Since then, other WRs have followed his footsteps, this list includes guys like Santana Moss, Lee Evans, Roddy White, and last years stand outs Sidney Rice and the other Steve Smith (Giants).

DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon already had big seasons in there second year last season, so the obvious can be ignored, you probably wont be getting these guys late in a draft.

So who are next years 3rd year wide receivers with break out season potential?

Early Doucet (ARI) - Most likely the Cardinals will get rid of Anquan Boldin this off season, if they do, that makes Doucet a starter in a pass happy offense. Hes already showed flashes of big game potential in the playoffs. If Boldin goes, take Doucet in a later round next year.

Andre Caldwell (CIN) - Last season Caldwell put up decent numbers as a slot receiver. Next year could be the year though that he steps his game up and become a fantasy stud. With reliable hands, and an aging WR in Laverneus Coles ahead of him on the depth chart, Caldwell has lots of potential.

Eddie Royal (DEN) - Royal put together a huge rookie season. He had 91 receptions, and over 900 receiving yards. He followed that with a miserable sophomore campaign, in which he only totaled 300 receiving yards. Royal is fast, great in the slot, and can make people miss in the open field. Which is also why hes so deadly in the return game. Proclaimed offensive genius Josh McDaniels will find a way to get Royal involved in the offense. Look for him to put up numbers that mirror his rookie campaign.