Fantasy Football Q & A: May 14

Despite being a shade over four months away from opening night in the NFL it's never to early to start your preparation for the upcoming fantasy football season.

With the NFL Draft in the books and the majority of the free-agent's having signed contracts, it's safe to start taking a deeper look into teams depth chart's and projecting just how valuable specific players will be.

In fact, our staff has already started our 2009 positional rankings and stat projections for our yearly On-line Magazine that will release towards the end of June.

Right around the first week of May our mailboxes start to get flooded with eager fantasy owners needing information about certain players they either have in a keeper league or they are targeting this season, so we felt it would be ideal to address some of these questions to our audience. With that in mind we bring to you are May 14, 2009 edition of Bruno Boys Mailbag: Fantasy Football Q & A. 

As always, if you have a question about a player or draft strategy send an email to [e-mail] and we will give you all the advice needed to make you successful.

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QUESTION: Hey Bruno Boys... Hope the offseason is treating you well. I can't wait for your 2009 cheat sheet online magazine. Speaking of that, I was wondering your opinion on the following players: Aaron Rodgers, Greg Jennings,  Ryan Grant and Donald Driver?

I am a big Green Bay Packers fan and tend to draft with my heart. Thanks Again - Fantasy Man (Little Rock, Arkansas )

ANSWER: Fantasy Man... Thanks for the question and glad you are ready and waiting for our 2009 cheat sheet on-line magazine. Expect it to be released at the end of June, but in the meantime here is our thinking on the above mentioned players.

Aaron Rodgers: In standard scoring leagues Rodgers finished fourth at the quarterback position in '08 and should continue to mature in '09. In his first season as a starter, he had 32 total touchdowns and played like a grizzled veteran.

You want consistency from the QB position and Rodgers was just that. He scored double-digit fantasy football points in all but one game and had at least 15 fantasy points in 12 of those games.

Heading into this season you should target him as a QB1 and draft him towards the end of the fourth or early in the fifth round (standard scoring leagues).

Ryan Grant: Grant is one of the most difficult running backs to project from year to year. He used a superb finish in '07 to become a RB1 in '08 but let down all the owners who had expected big things out of him.

In fact, many of our staff writers have a different opinion on Grant moving forward and you can see first hand by checking out our 2009 Fantasy Football Running Back Forecast : NFC North article. My take is he will do enough to act as a RB2 , but like last year (four games under 4 fantasy points) expect some games in which he disappears.

Greg Jennings: I'll admit, we dropped the ball on our Jennings projection for '08. With Brett Favre out of Green Bay, I thought he would struggle and be a big play or bust option, but he made me eat crow. Jennings had 177 fantasy football points and finished fourth overall at the wide receiver position and he scored 7+ fantasy points in 14 of 16 games.

It's hard to project an increase in statistics in '09, as opposing defenses started focusing on shutting Jennings down towards the end of last year, but the fourth-year receiver will do more than enough to be a WR1 in all leagues. Expect somewhere around 75-80 receptions for 1,000-1,200 yards and 8-10 TD's.

Donald Driver: Every time you hear "Double D's" name pop up in fantasy football talk you instantly ask yourself if he has enough left in the tank to perform at high enough level to produce fantasy wise.

And just when you start to write him off Driver makes you think twice. Despite being 33 years of age, Driver had 124 fantasy points and finished the season as a WR2. He exceeded 1,000 receiving yards for the fifth straight year and his 5 TD's shows to us that Rodgers is targeting him around the red zone.

With the Packers having talented young wide-outs in James Jones and Jordy Nelson waiting in the wings you can expect Driver to see a slight decrease in targets but don't hesitate drafting him as a back-up and plugging him in when the matchup is right. 

Hope this helps and remember don't draft with your heart, as it usually burns your fantasy football squad.
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QUESTION: If for some reason Brett Favre comes out of retirement for the 200th time and joins the Minnesota Vikings does he possess enough fantasy football value to be a QB1? - Pablo (St. Cloud, Minnesota)

ANSWER: Pablo... I knew it wouldn't be long before we received a question about Brett Favre and I check my mailbox last week and it's flooded with Favre questions. If Favre does suit up for the Vikings or any team for that matter in '09 you can expect the typical roller coaster ride.

Some games he will make you look like a genius for plugging him into your lineup and other's he will make you want to throw the TV off your balcony. We know he is going to make his own decisions and force passes into traffic but regardless of that everyone is still drawn to his past success in the NFL.

Bottom Line, if he returns this season Favre will produce as a QB2. The Vikings have the weapons in Adrian Peterson, Bernard Berrian, Percy Harvin and Visanthe Shiancoe to make him look good but with Favre or not they will be a run first offense. Draft at your own risk!
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