Fantasy Football: Guide to Glory

Barrett Harger — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:49:36 -0400

Feel lost, confused, and unsure of how to play fantasy football? Why, you have entered to right place.

Just to prove that I actually know what I'm doing, I've had seven teams made the playoffs seven times, made the championship game five times, and won twice.

There were at least 10 players in each league (I would have made and won another if the commissioner of the league wouldn't have cheated).

Ok, so here is how it goes. Do not buy a billion magazines and believe everything they say, just use them as a guide or something to base things on, rather than obey it's every command.

Prepare! Make a list of player rankings by position first, not overall. It will get confusing. So once you got the rankings of players by position then decide what positions you need once your pick is up.

Stay away from: rookies that don't play RB, players moving to new teams, RBs who play on a team that cannot pass unless they are Adrian Peterson good, QBs who have yet to prove themselves, and inconsistent players.

Consistency is the most important thing in Fantasy Football.

RBs: Drafting a runningback high can really come back and kick your butt, so if you do, make sure it's LT, Peterson, Westbrook, or Addai. Runningbacks have been the elite players over the years but are steadily decreasing because of two backs systems.

That's not the only reason to stay away from them. Some of them have really bad injury problems, can have serious down years, and also every year there are 3-4 really good runners that come out of nowhere.

Last year, Earnest Graham, Ryan Grant, Justin Fargas, and even Michael Smith were able to produce well.

Get a top five Tight End: Seriously, draft Antonio Gates. Don't pick him in the first two rounds, but if you get him in the fourth round, it's a great investment. I have had him on almost all of my teams.

He is consistent and puts up pro-bowl receiver type of numbers that other TE's have not been able to do. Also, after about five or six Tight Ends are taken, it is a huge drop off. You might get a good TE, but they won't be Gates, Witten, Gonzalez, or Winslow.

On defenses, pay attention to the schedule of their opponents. Bad offenses can make defenses look good, therefore can give you big points.

The Jaguars have a better defense than the Broncos but if the Jags play Indy and the Broncos play Oakland who would you want to start?

RANKINGS

QBs: Brady, P. Manning, Romo, Brees, Palmer, Hasselbeck, D. Anderson, McNabb, Garrard, Roethlisberger, Rivers, Delhomme, A-Rod (if favre doesn't come back), Cutler, Bulger, Eli, Garcia, Schaub, Campbell. If these QBs are gone, you're screwed.

RBs: LT, Peterson, Addai, Westbrook, Barber 3.0, S. Jackson, W. Parker, R. Brown, J. Lewis, W. McGahee, F. Taylor, C. Portis, R.Grant, M. Lynch, E. James, M. Turner, Maroney, F. Gore, L. Johnson, B. Jacobs, R. Johnson, T. Jones, Jones-Drew, Bush, McAllister, S. Young, L. White, Chester Taylor, Justin Fargas, McFadden, Julius Jones, Felix Jones.

WRs: R. Moss, T.O., R. Wayne, Steve Smith (CAR), Braylon, Fitzgerald, Holt, Plaxico, Ocho Cinco, Boldin, B. Marshall, Colston, Roy Williams, TJ. Who's Your Momma, Joey Galloway, G. Jennings, Welker, Marvin Harrison, Roddy White, Hines Ward, D. Driver, Chambers, Calvin Johnson, Engram, Bowe, Branch, J. Walker.

Watch out for: Justin Forsett (RB,Seattle), Robert Meachem, Sidney Rice, Tedd Ginn, DeSean Jackson, Steve Slaton, Chris Perry, Troy Smith, Matt Jones, Jerome Simpson, Kevin Jones, Lamont Jordan, Chris Johnson, Ray Rice, DeShaun Foster, Nate Burleson, Drew Bennett, Reggie Brown, Muhsin Muhammad, Ernest Wilford, Bryant Johnson, Darrell Jackson, Limas Sweed, Visanthe Shiancoe, Dustin Keller, Leonard Pope, Mercedes Lewis,

GO FORTH, USE THIS KNOWLEDGE, LET IT BE YOUR SECRET WEAPON, CONQUER THE LANDS OF THOSE WHO APPOSE YOU, MAY THE HOLY CRUSADE COMMENCE!!

Darren McFadden the Next Adrian Peterson? Not Happening

Barrett Harger — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:19:37 -0400

A lot of hype has emerged about Darren McFadden entering the NFL. So far the big question everyone has had is with his character issues. He has gotten into multiple fights, one almost resulting in the loss of his big toe. Also he is said to have three children, all before entering the NFL.

After D-Mac experienced complete beat-downs from USC, he apparently doesn't like Trojans.

The real problem isn't as much of a character problem but rather the team that he is going to and how his playing style will be affected by being in Oakland. Many people compare him to Adrian Peterson who had a phenomenal year as a rookie in '07. Many people think McFadden will have similar success.

They are similar at a glance but Peterson has abilities that McFadden truly lacks. Both are big, strong, fast, and have "home-run hitting" ability. McFadden is slightly faster than Peterson and Peterson is a bit stronger than Darren, but one thing Darren doesn't have is the ability to turn corners quickly.

If there is a hole to hit, D-Mac will find it and exploit it. But in the NFL, many times those holes are not there and the runner must be able to create. He won't be able to do that.

The Raiders are not known for their offensive line, and a big problem running backs can have is the low success of the offense's passing game. If a team has a good runner but does not have a good passing game it makes it very easy for the defense to decide what to focus on. Larry Johnson suffered from this last year.

JaMarcus Russell will need to have at least a decent year to be able to keep the defenses honest, and I don't believe he will be able to do that. He has incredible arm strength and great size, but so does Daunte Culpepper, and he's looking for a job.

When the Raiders selected him No. 1 overall the first thing that came to my mind was...BUST! Leadership, intelligence, accuracy, mental toughness, competitive nature, and the ability to play at a high level in big games is what makes a quarterback.

JaMarcus Russell can't even correctly pronounce every other word he says. Plus they don't have great offensive minds coaching them and he doesn't have a high level receiving core.

Javon Walker is a very good player but he has no durability. And this offseason he got hurt off the field. Hurrah for Javon!!!

The Vikings did not have a passing game last year and Peterson still excelled. However, he did have two pro-bowl offensive lineman and Bryant McKinnie to lead the way. But much of sAdrian's success came from his ability to cut and "create."

Drafting Darren McFadden was not a bad pick, but the Raiders maybe could have used some others positions more. Justin Fargas had over 1,000 yards last year and LaMont Jordan was in the top three in rushing yards until he got hurt.

The problem is the Raiders are a mess and do not know exactly what they are doing. It doesn't matter how faithful a Raiders fan you are, your team's management stinks.

Here is another way to think of it...Randy Moss had worse stats than Bobby Wade in '06, while setting the receiving touchdown record the next year. If Randy Moss can't do a thing in Oakland, things aren't looking so bright for Darren.

Bleacher Report - Articles by Barrett Harger

Fantasy Football: Guide to Glory

Darren McFadden the Next Adrian Peterson? Not Happening