The SAC Awarded Top Pre-Season Honor

HONG KONG – Michael Saclarides has been tabbed as the front runner in the 2008 edition of Meg Gangum’s Preseason Rankings.  Brendon Cleary and Jason Mangum round out the top 3, in a very deep and talented field.  “It’s a great honor to receive the #1 ranking in such a competitive league as the Fools,” Sac says using a phone card outside a local 7 eleven.   

Meg Gangum's Preseason Rankings:

1. Sac           91

2. Cleary    89

3. Mase      88

4. Drew       87

5. Mirt        85

6. Stew     84

7. Meg       83

8. Fulge     81

9. Teague 80

10.  Teal    75

11. Wiley 74

12. Carp  70

The scale is based on the standard grading system of the following:

93-100 A

85-92  B

77-84  C

70-76  D

69>      F

Bolstering the reign of Sac’s perch on top of the rankings are 2 undervalued WR’s in the draft due to suspension.  Steve Smith and Brandon Marshall were taken with the 29^th and 53^rd overall picks respectively.  Granted Smith is out for 2 games, but Marshall’s suspension was reduced to 1 game and by week 3 the Sac will have 3 elite WR’s without using a 1^st or 2^nd round draft pick to get them.  With those picks Sac selected 2 top tier RB’s as Peterson (2^ndoverall in most mock drafts) fell to 5, and MJD was available at 20.  Dallas Clark should see nothing but increased production with the loss of Ben Utecht, and Shanahan will give Cutler plenty of opportunities to be successful and put up good numbers.  The only question mark lies at the utility position, where there is a crowd of unproven #2 WR’s along with a decent option in Anthony Gonzalez, although a #3 WR.

The rest of the field isn’t too far behind and there are plenty of good teams that can bring home the championship.  Brendon Cleary celebrates a strong finish in baseball with a great kickoff to the football season.  Clinton Portis and Marion Barber highlight an impressive roster of dynamic players.  Sidney Rice and Kenny Watson are two sleepers that could have a big impact and a healthy Anquan Boldin should bounce back and benefit greatly from Warner as the starting QB.

The Mase appears to be focused and ready to put an end to his recent fantasy struggles.  A draft day trade provided the Mase with a lot of depth as he received 7 picks within the first 5 rounds.  There is some concern with the RB situation as Warrick Dunn and Ray Rice could steal some carries from Graham and McGahee, but this team is absolutely loaded at WR including the TE in Gates who might as well be another WR.   There is some question to Chad Johnson’s health, but he says he is ready to go for week one and you have to like his dedication to the game.  Fri, Aug 29Geoff Hobson, of Bengals.com, reports Cincinnati Bengals WR Chad Johnson has legally changed his name to Chad Javon Ocho Cinco. 

Rookie Drew Davis checks in with the #4 ranking after a very solid draft.  A very deep bench with some promising players in Matt Forte, Jabar Gaffney and Brandon Stokely.  Another team that is stacked at WR as Chris Chambers has a good chance to repeat his numbers from his prime days in Miami.  Also, Jason Witten could lead all TE’s in fantasy points for the 2^nd year in a row.  Fred Taylor is a little iffy as long as Jones-Drew stays healthy.

The Commish, a.k.a. the Mirt Man, rounds out the top 5.  This manager will have more up and down weeks than any other manager.  Big time play-makers at every position could lead to some HUGE weeks, but also provide some low scoring weeks because of the inconsistency to players such as Lee Evans, Santana Moss, and even Larry Johnson coming back from an injury with a suspect line.  Great, deep bench with several running backs that could make an impact throughout the season and/or provide excellent trade bait (so in this case OR considering the manager we’re dealing with here).   Nevertheless, Chris Perry and Chris Johnson are 2 exciting players that really have a chance to emerge as a big time fantasy threat. 

The younger brother of the commish, also known as the Stewwwwmaker*, is ranked #6 coming into the season.  The stew man drafted 2 of my personal faves for this year in Marshawn Lynch and Jericho Cotchery.  The elite core of players should stabilize the Stew’s season, but there are many concerns at the bottom of the depth chart.  Many situations such as the Ravens and Dolphins backfield are a bit muddled,  but if certain things pan out,  the Stewwwmaker* could surge up the leader board. 

Meg Gangum inserts himself 7^th in the rankings before the start of the season.  He is extremely excited to have L.T. for the first time but knows there is work to be done to finish the year with a championship.  There are a lot of risk/reward picks for the Meg’s team (DeSean Jackson, Kevin Smith) who the Meg will be patient with early on.  However, if they can’t get it done Mr. Gangum will have to look elsewhere for production.  He is very excited with the potential of Nate Burleson, Alge Crumpler and Marvin Harrison.  A healthy Marvin Harrison is critical to this team.  After an injury plagued 2007, Meg is hopeful that Harrison can return to his status of the previous 8 seasons of 80+ catches, 1000+ yds, and 10+ tds. 

The other rookie in the league this year ranks #8.  Zach Fulginiti is a highly touted prospect, dominating every level of amateur fantasy leagues on his way up to Fools.  Peyton Manning and Terrell Owens lead this top heavy team into the season.  With the last pick in the draft, he was able to snag 2 starting RB’s back to back in rounds 3 and 4.  Parker and Maroney will be the key to this team.  Both are big time factors in the success of the Steelers and Patriots but it remains to be seen how much they will factor in to fantasy scoring.  Goal line carries and 3^rd down backs could limit each player’s production.  A healthy Todd Heap should have a great year in Baltimore’s offense and Jennings should have another fantastic year with a lot of touchdowns.  If 20+ carries is a possibility for Selvin Young, this team could compete for a championship. 

Teague, also known as Tim Lincecum’s #1 fan, logs in at #9.  There are several players I love on this roster.  Mike Martz will utilize Frank Gore much to the same way as he did with Marshall Faulk.  While getting in the end zone might be a little tough, Gore should make up a lot of production with an increase in receptions.  Bowe and Turner could have big years but the fact that their teams are so bad scares me a little.  This team would be a lot higher had it not been for the demotion of Ronnie Brown. 

The teal, currently quarterbacking on ESPN right now against Fresno State, is #10.  Marred by his lack of WR’s, desperately needs impact years from some of them.  Big games are highly possible from all, but consistency is going to be a big concern.  Tom Brady and Brian Westbrook anchor this team but if one were to go down, this team would be in big time trouble.  Look for the Teal to be actively pursuing a trade before the season starts. 

Roll Tide.  The man known as lost, but not quite as lost as his Clemson Tigers looked Saturday night.  Wiles, the #11 team in the rankings looks to have a tough time in defending his championship.  Similar to Teal’s WR’s, the Wiles RB’s are in some arduous situations.  All of the RB’s split carries and none of them may start.  Moss and Edwards highlight a solid receiving core and Brees should have a big year with the addition of Shockey in that offense.  It remains to be seen whether or not Wiley can overcome his congested backfield situation to defend his title.

Last but not least, we have Mr. Anna Carp at #12.  Great draft picks in Kevin Curtis and Bobby Engram.  With a light schedule early, they should really put up some big numbers.  In all seriousness though, I love the backfield in Steven Jackson and Ryan Grant.  Those 2 guys should get 85% of the carries week in and week out.  Outside of the backs, Anderson is solid, Burress is good, and Shockey should have a huge year as Brees loves throwing to the tight end.  It has been rumored that the Kevin Curtis and Bobby Engram picks were the result of one too many scotch on the rocks. 

In closing, please note that these are merely “preseason rankings” and have no indication of where teams will finish.  We all know there is no chance I would ever finish as low as 7. 

Questions and comments can be e-mailed to Meg Gangum at [e-mail]

Meg Gangum

Senior Writer

Yahoo! Sports Journal