SBNation.com: All Posts by Michael Gallagher

Fantasy Football 2013: PPR Running Back Rankings Part 3

2013-05-18T12:00:06Z

It's time to focus on some deep leagues. If your league is competitive, chances are each of the 12 teams will draft at least five running backs, which means there could be at least 60 backs off the board. Most of these guys are just lottery tickets and nothing will ever come of them. However, that was the story with Alfred Morris this time of year. Yes, the chance of a Alfred Morris repeat is about as likely as an ALF movie in 2015, but it's certainly possible.

I'll be giving an update to these rankings next month, so predictably there will be a slew of changes coming. I combined the first and second parts to make it a little easier on you guys. Here we go:

Other rankings so far:

Quarterback

	Running Back	Comment
1	Adrian Peterson	His 1,322 rushing yards in the second half would have ranked seventh on the year
2	Doug Martin	TB's D should be better and Martin Scoreseasy will be a focal point; 49 receptions last year
3	Arian Foster	Slightly worried about the hamstring issues and Ben Tate
4	C.J. Spiller	C.J Thriller and his 6.0 YPC from last year should be extremely busy with a rookie at QB
5	Ray Rice	He was second among RBs with 61 catches, but Bernard Pierce is a threat for touches
6	LeSean McCoy	Chip and Eagles are going to run a ton, but Bryce Brown is still there
7	Trent Richardson	As long as he can avoid injury, he'll be an absolute workhorse with plenty of receptions
8	Steven Jackson	A perfect fit for the Falcons and should be a safe bet for 40 catches and 10+ TD if healthy
9	Matt Forte	Receptions should come in bunches with Marc Trestman calling the shots
10	Marshawn Lynch	The receptions won't be there, but Seattle is going to score a ton of points this year
11	Jamaal Charles	Andy Reid turned LeSean McCoy into a stud and should do the same with JC
12	Alfred Morris	He ranked second in rushing yards and rushing TDs
13	Chris Johnson	An improved offensive line has to help his cause and his schedule is nice
14	Reggie Bush	If not for the concern of injuries, Bush would crack the top 10 of PPR rankings
15	Darren McFadden	Ditto
16	DeMarco Murray	Cowboys were 31st in rushing last year and hopefully that changes for Murray's sake
17	David Wilson	Yards are going to be there, but Andre Brown should vulture some scores
18	Darren Sproles	Sean Payton says he'll run more, which could end up dropping Sproles' 75 receptions
19	Chris Ivory	He looks to be in line for a featured gig and nobody can call him a sleeper at this point
20	Stevan Ridley	Shane Vereen's 18 touches in the two playoff games is a bit scary, especially with Ridley's fumbling issues
21	Lamar Miller	He says he's rushing for 1,500 yards; talk is cheap, but the opportunity is there
22	Montee Ball	Remember when Joseph Addai was a beast? Montee could be that guy
23	Maurice Jones-Drew	It's tough to count on a guy with injury concerns while on a terrible offense
24	Frank Gore	He turned 30 this week and with his 2,226 career touches, the end is near
25	Le'Veon Bell	Huge opportunity for him to get tons of touches for the Steelers

	Running Back	Comment
26	Ryan Mathews	Chances are someone in your league will be reaching for him and there's still some upside
27	Vick Ballard	He's in front of Donald Brown and the Colts are going to score points this year
28	Jonathan Stewart	DeAngelo Williams likely to be cut in June, but J-Stew was terrible down the stretch with a 3.3 YPC in the last eight games
29	Isaiah Pead	A disastrous rookie year isn't enough to give him plenty of sleeper appeal
30	Rashard Mendenhall	The Cardinals were dead last in rushing last year and playing the Niners and Seahawks twice doesn't help
31	Bernard Pierce	If Ray Rice goes down, Pierce would be a top-five back
32	Shane Vereen	He saw more touches late in the season and could be in a timeshare with Ridley
33	Bryce Brown	One of the best pickups in fantasy leagues last year and fits Chip Kelly's stretch-play style
34	Eddie Lacy	The receptions won't be there and the Packers' rushing attack has been a wasteland for years
35	Giovani Bernard	BenJarvus Green-Ellis isn't a starting-caliber NFL back, but Bengals focusing on aerial attack
36	Ben Tate	If you draft Arian Foster, Tate is a must 'cuff
37	Fred Jackson	His 3.8 YPC is small potatoes to Spiller's 6.0
38	Andre Brown	Not a stretch to think he can score 10 TDs
39	Zac Stacey	The Rams backfield will be one of the most watched position battles in training camp
40	Mikel LeShoure	He's an interesting handcuff for those that take the plunge on Bush
41	Mark Ingram	Sean Payton fixing to run more and Ingram might get 250 touches
42	Michael Bush	Not a great fit with Trestman's offense; merely a handcuff
43	Daryl Richardson	Even though he had a 4.8 YPC, his numbers trended down as the year progressed
44	BenJarvus Green-Ellis	No thanks
45	Ahmad Bradshaw	He's unlikely to be a starter on whatever team he signs with
46	DeAngelo Williams	He'll be cut and picked up by some team
47	Marcel Reece	He proved to be a PPR beast in November with 23 catches and 270 receiving yards
48	Danny Woodhead	Third down looks to be his for San Diego and Ryan Mathews is far from safe on first and second down
49	Christine Michael	The Seahawks must like him a lot to take him and push Robert Turbin down the depth chart
50	Joseph Randle	He's having thumb surgery could cost him time with the Cowboys, but PPR upside will be there for OK State product

	Running Back	Comment
51	Kendall Hunter	The Niners backfield is among the deepest in the league
52	Jonathan Dwyer	If Bell flops, Dwyer could sneak in and get 200 carries
53	Roy Helu	It's the ALF show, but at least Helu can catches a few passes should Morris go down
54	Montario Hardesty	Trent Richardson's workload makes him a candidate to get hurt this year
55	Pierre Thomas	No more Chris Ivory means he could get a ton of work with Ingram going down
56	Jonathan Franklin	Lacy isn't a lock to be the starter and Franklin can catch some passes
57	Ryan Williams	Even though he has talent, Williams can't catch a break
58	Denard Robinson	He's getting snaps QB, which could buoy his value in deeper leagues
59	Isaac Redman	He had 19 catches and 244 receiving yards in limited time last year
60	Ronnie Hillman	Hillman could get lots of catches on third down with room to grow into earlier down work
61	Mike James	A sneaky handcuff for Doug Martin owners
62	Shonn Greene	Still waiting for the report to emerge that his feet are actually made of lead
63	LaMichael James	He and Kaepernick would be a lot of fun, but just no opportunity
64	Toby Gerhart	A lot of people were hoping Gerhart could have some short-term value last year
65	Rex Burkhead	Green-Ellis isn't a lock to keep the goal-line work
66	Marcus Lattimore	He gets a nice bump in dynasty leagues and could be Frank Gore's protege
67	Rashad Jennings	Was absolutely horrible with MJD went down and has fallen off a cliff
68	Willis McGahee	Surgery and a lot of miles on the tires is not a good look for Willis
69	Andre Ellington	Cardinals got a couple young backs as insurance to their oft-injured duo atop the depth chart
70	Knile Davis	A bruising back could get some TDs in a perfect world, but don't count on it
71	Stepfan Taylor	No bonus for having a similar name as Stefan Urkel
72	Kerwynn Williams	An under-the-radar player to watch with the Colts backfield not completely solidified
73	Kenjon Barber	Once DeAngelo Williams is out of town, Barber could be cutting upfield for the Panthers
74	Daniel Thomas	Looks like Lamar Miller is lapping Thomas for touches
75	DuJuan Harris	He had three months worth of buzz, then the NFL Draft happened

Fantasy Football 2013: PPR Running Back Rankings Part 2

2013-05-17T19:42:21Z

We're back with part two and as important as it is to get yourself one or two studs, cleaning up late in the draft on running backs can go a long way. By the time November comes around, it's usually a case of the haves and have nots for running backs in fantasy leagues. If you're lacking a back and looking to acquire one as your fantasy trade deadline approaches, there will be a target on your back that even Tim Tebow could hit.

Personally, I've always made the upside factor a huge part of how I will rank the the backup runners. That means teams with productive offensives and/or having injury-prone starters will be intriguing teams to target in fantasy drafts.

Part 1 was yesterday, but in the interest of simplicity, I just threw it on here to make it a one-stop shop for those of you that missed it. We'll be back with Part 3 tomorrow. Here we go:

Other rankings so far:

Quarterback

	Running Back	Comment
1	Adrian Peterson	His 1,322 rushing yards in the second half would have ranked seventh on the year
2	Doug Martin	TB's D should be better and Martin Scoreseasy will be a focal point; 49 receptions last year
3	Arian Foster	Slightly worried about the hamstring issues and Ben Tate
4	C.J. Spiller	C.J Thriller and his 6.0 YPC from last year should be extremely busy with a rookie at QB
5	Ray Rice	He was second among RBs with 61 catches, but Bernard Pierce is a threat for touches
6	LeSean McCoy	Chip and Eagles are going to run a ton, but Bryce Brown is still there
7	Trent Richardson	As long as he can avoid injury, he'll be an absolute workhorse with plenty of receptions
8	Steven Jackson	A perfect fit for the Falcons and should be a safe bet for 40 catches and 10+ TD if healthy
9	Matt Forte	Receptions should come in bunches with Marc Trestman calling the shots
10	Marshawn Lynch	The receptions won't be there, but Seattle is going to score a ton of points this year
11	Jamaal Charles	Andy Reid turned LeSean McCoy into a stud and should do the same with JC
12	Alfred Morris	He ranked second in rushing yards and rushing TDs
13	Chris Johnson	An improved offensive line has to help his cause and his schedule is nice
14	Reggie Bush	If not for the concern of injuries, Bush would crack the top 10 of PPR rankings
15	Darren McFadden	Ditto
16	DeMarco Murray	Cowboys were 31st in rushing last year and hopefully that changes for Murray's sake
17	David Wilson	Yards are going to be there, but Andre Brown should vulture some scores
18	Darren Sproles	Sean Payton says he'll run more, which could end up dropping Sproles' 75 receptions
19	Chris Ivory	He looks to be in line for a featured gig and nobody can call him a sleeper at this point
20	Stevan Ridley	Shane Vereen's 18 touches in the two playoff games is a bit scary, especially with Ridley's fumbling issues
21	Lamar Miller	He says he's rushing for 1,500 yards; talk is cheap, but the opportunity is there
22	Montee Ball	Remember when Joseph Addai was a beast? Montee could be that guy
23	Maurice Jones-Drew	It's tough to count on a guy with injury concerns while on a terrible offense
24	Frank Gore	He turned 30 this week and with his 2,226 career touches, the end is near
25	Le'Veon Bell	Huge opportunity for him to get tons of touches for the Steelers

	Running Back	Comment
26	Ryan Mathews	Chances are someone in your league will be reaching for him and there's still some upside
27	Vick Ballard	He's in front of Donald Brown and the Colts are going to score points this year
28	Jonathan Stewart	DeAngelo Williams likely to be cut in June, but J-Stew was terrible down the stretch with a 3.3 YPC in the last eight games
29	Isaiah Pead	A disastrous rookie year isn't enough to give him plenty of sleeper appeal
30	Rashard Mendenhall	The Cardinals were dead last in rushing last year and playing the Niners and Seahawks twice doesn't help
31	Bernard Pierce	If Ray Rice goes down, Pierce would be a top-five back
32	Shane Vereen	He saw more touches late in the season and could be in a timeshare with Ridley
33	Bryce Brown	One of the best pickups in fantasy leagues last year and fits Chip Kelly's stretch-play style
34	Eddie Lacy	The receptions won't be there and the Packers' rushing attack has been a wasteland for years
35	Giovani Bernard	BenJarvus Green-Ellis isn't a starting-caliber NFL back, but Bengals focusing on aerial attack
36	Ben Tate	If you draft Arian Foster, Tate is a must 'cuff
37	Fred Jackson	His 3.8 YPC is small potatoes to Spiller's 6.0
38	Andre Brown	Not a stretch to think he can score 10 TDs
39	Zac Stacey	The Rams backfield will be one of the most watched position battles in training camp
40	Mikel LeShoure	He's an interesting handcuff for those that take the plunge on Bush
41	Mark Ingram	Sean Payton fixing to run more and Ingram might get 250 touches
42	Michael Bush	Not a great fit with Trestman's offense; merely a handcuff
43	Daryl Richardson	Even though he had a 4.8 YPC, his numbers trended down as the year progressed
44	BenJarvus Green-Ellis	No thanks
45	Ahmad Bradshaw	He's unlikely to be a starter on whatever team he signs with
46	DeAngelo Williams	He'll be cut and picked up by some team
47	Marcel Reece	He proved to be a PPR beast in November with 23 catches and 270 receiving yards
48	Danny Woodhead	Third down looks to be his for San Diego and Ryan Mathews is far from safe on first and second down
49	Christine Michael	The Seahawks must like him a lot to take him and push Robert Turbin down the depth chart
50	Joseph Randle	He's having thumb surgery could cost him time with the Cowboys, but PPR upside will be there for OK State product

Fantasy Football 2013: PPR Running Back Rankings Part 1

2013-05-16T19:42:49Z

Once again, youth reigned supreme in the world of running backs. Well, that and Cyborg AD-28000 had one of the best seasons in the history of football. The running-game landscape continued its trend of being less prevalent to the passing counterpart, but this year's crop does seem to be a little deeper than last year.

As mentioned in the first sentence, the youth movement continued and teams are becoming more inclined to take their chances on a rookie in the draft. Quite frankly, it makes too much sense not to. Young backs will have cheaper contracts to allow teams to use their cap space elsewhere and it's obviously a plus to not have a guy that has been getting tackled 1,000 times by 250-pound freak athletes over the past three years. Last season, C.J. Spiller, Alfred Morris, Doug Martin, Trent Richardson and Stevan Ridley were five of the top 11 fantasy backs and were still on their rookie deals.

This year, there are going to be a slew of rookies that could have their chance to shine right off the bat. Montee Ball headlines the group and he'll be off the board in the first 40 picks of any league that matters, but the crop can run pretty deep.

Conversely, you might find that I'm a little bit lower on most of the older backs. Steven Jackson not withstanding. There are just too many concerns with older backs and all those miles on the tires make it all the more likely their production goes down or they get hurt.

We'll be back tomorrow with part two, but here is how I rank the top 25 backs for PPR leagues. Obviously, these are subject to many changes:

Other rankings so far:

Quarterback

	Running Back	Comment
1	Adrian Peterson	His 1,322 rushing yards in the second half would have ranked seventh on the year
2	Doug Martin	TB's D should be better and Martin Scoreseasy will be a focal point; 49 receptions last year
3	Arian Foster	Slightly worried about the hamstring issues and Ben Tate
4	C.J. Spiller	C.J Thriller and his 6.0 YPC from last year should be extremely busy with a rookie at QB
5	Ray Rice	He was second among RBs with 61 catches, but Bernard Pierce is a threat for touches
6	LeSean McCoy	Chip and Eagles are going to run a ton, but Bryce Brown is still there
7	Trent Richardson	As long as he can avoid injury, he'll be an absolute workhorse with plenty of receptions
8	Steven Jackson	A perfect fit for the Falcons and should be a safe bet for 40 catches and 10+ TD if healthy
9	Matt Forte	Receptions should come in bunches with Marc Trestman calling the shots
10	Marshawn Lynch	The receptions won't be there, but Seattle is going to score a ton of points this year
11	Jamaal Charles	Andy Reid turned LeSean McCoy into a stud and should do the same with JC
12	Alfred Morris	He ranked second in rushing yards and rushing TDs
13	Chris Johnson	An improved offensive line has to help his cause and his schedule is nice
14	Reggie Bush	If not for the concern of injuries, Bush would crack the top 10 of PPR rankings
15	Darren McFadden	Ditto
16	DeMarco Murray	Cowboys were 31st in rushing last year and hopefully that changes for Murray's sake
17	David Wilson	Yards are going to be there, but Andre Brown should vulture some scores
18	Darren Sproles	Sean Payton says he'll run more, which could end up dropping Sproles' 75 receptions
19	Chris Ivory	He looks to be in line for a featured gig and nobody can call him a sleeper at this point
20	Stevan Ridley	Shane Vereen's 18 touches in the two playoff games is a bit scary, especially with Ridley's fumbling issues
21	Lamar Miller	He says he's rushing for 1,500 yards; talk is cheap, but the opportunity is there
22	Montee Ball	Remember when Joseph Addai was a beast? Montee could be that guy
23	Maurice Jones-Drew	It's tough to count on a guy with injury concerns while on a terrible offense
24	Frank Gore	He turned 30 this week and with his 2,226 career touches, the end is near
25	Le'Veon Bell	Huge opportunity for him to get tons of touches for the Steelers

Fantasy Football 2013 Quarterback Rankings

2013-05-13T20:28:19Z

If you thought QB was deep going into drafts last year, this year is going to make a 12-team league seem like a six-man. In an already loaded crop, tons of quarterbacks broke out and the majority of them figure to stay around. Colin Kaepernick, Robert Griffin III, Russell Wilson and Andrew Luck all provided big enough jolts to fantasy roster to help tons of owners win titles. One of the big question marks moving to next season is how defenses will adjust to the pistol. If the blueprint is out, then that could spell trouble for three of those four QBs mentioned. Owners really shouldn't overreact to this prospect of defense catching up and there's no reason to bump down players that run the ball more.

As far as draft strategy goes, it's really the same as it's been. Most owners in competitive leagues probably won't really have the luxury to take a QB in the first two rounds. Running back remains thin and getting your hands on an elite receiver can go a long way -- especially in PPR leagues.

	Quarterback	Comments
1	Aaron Rodgers	Had a 'down' year, but still led QBs in passer rating last season
2	Cam Newton	Outstanding second half: 17 TDs, 394 rushing yards and a 94.2 passer rating
3	Drew Brees	Sean Payton is back. Brees' completion percentage dropped from 71.2 in 2011 to 63.0 last year
4	Tom Brady	A lot to love about Danny Amendola, but no Wes Welker will hurt
5	Matthew Stafford	Megatron and an NFL record 727 attempts. Has to cut down on TOs, though
6	Russell Wilson	A YPA monster. His 9.44 in December is just ridiculous. Oh and Percy Harvin helps
7	Colin Kaepernick	He was the focal point of offense and he has tons of weapons this year
8	Robert Griffin III	As long as you get a solid backup, RG3 is worth the risk in the middle rounds
9	Peyton Manning	Terrific last year, but easy to be gun shy about drafting a 37-year-old QB
10	Matt Ryan	He was great in September and December, but just average in between
11	Andrew Luck	Had 10 TDs in December, but losing Bruce Arians could limit him early
12	Tony Romo	Romo got paid and he has a ton of weapons. Safe, lower-upside QB1
13	Eli Manning	It all comes down to Hakeem Nicks staying healthy, which isn't good
14	Michael Vick	Everyone will be watching Chip Kelly's offense and Vick seems to fit with big upside
15	Ben Roethlisberger	No more Mike Wallace, but still going to be a pass-first offense
16	Joe Flacco	He and Jim Caldwell hit it off and they shouldn't miss Anquan Boldin much
17	Jay Cutler	The Cutler-Marshall connection isn't going to slow
18	Philip Rivers	He's a disaster and didn't even come on strong in December like he usually does
19	Ryan Tannehill	Only one INT in December was big for the rookie; Mike Wallace helps, too
20	Carson Palmer	Larry Fitzgerald can make an average QB a bit above average
21	Jake Locker	He can make plays, but a 56.4 completion percentage is unacceptable considering a lack of a vertical passing game
22	Matt Schaub	He and Andre Johnson were number two on first down completions; it's still a run-first O
23	Josh Freeman	Even though he made strides last year, TB's improved D could mean less shootouts
24	Sam Bradford	Tavon Austin should inject some new life into their O and no more S-Jax
25	Andy Dalton	A.J. Green is a weapon and the Bengals still don't have a solid run game
26	Alex Smith	The game manager could be used more in Reid system
27	Geno Smith	Hey, why not?
28	Brandon Weeden	Led the NFL in turnovers and the Browns didn't add any real receiving threats
29	Christian Ponder	He fell apart with no Percy Harvin down the stretch and it's AD's show
30	E.J. Manuel	There will be too many growing pains to take a chance on him in his rookie year
31	Matt Flynn	If he has success, that would suggest Denarius Moore would be a monster
32	Blaine Gabbert	Can't throw under pressure at all, which is kind of a problem in the NFL

Hitters with Opportunities

2013-05-09T21:57:32Z

Fantasy baseball is unlike any other fantasy sport for a lot of reasons. One of those is that opportunity doesn't necessarily lead to production. A played can get 1,000 at-bats, but they still have to do something with them. In fact, if they don't do anything it will hurt your fantasy team -- unlike receivers dropping balls in fantasy football or players getting minutes in basketball.

If fantasy owners are aware of players squandering ABs, then the braintrusts of the MLB organizations are likely mulling over the possibilities. If they haven't pulled the plug on a player from everyday at-bats yet, they're probably willing to stick with him. Today we're going to examine which players have been letdowns and their ownership in fantasy leagues is low, but that could change since they're getting regular playing time.

Shallow

Michael Brantley- It doesn't make any sense that Brantley isn't 100 percent owned. He is hitting .301 with a respectable OPS of .745 considering he only has one HR this year. The Indians' bats are heating up, but they might be going south in the next two games against Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer. Brantley should be owned in all leagues.

Andrelton Simmons - Simmons spent some extra time with Justin Upton in practice to work on his swing and it's paying some huge dividends lately. In the past week, he's slugging .840 and boasts a .440 batting average. He moved up to the second spot in the lineup and he's had some success there. In his 20 ABs in the two hole, Simmons hit .400 and struck out just once. Justin Upton hasn't been able to get guys on base in front of him, so maybe Simmons is the answer. He should continue to get plenty of ABs and has huge upside.

Marcell Ozuna - He tore up the minors this year with a monster triple-slash line of .316/.355/.684 and hit five bombs over 42 ABs at AA. Ozuna wasn't really expected to get a huge amount of chances to hit with the Marlins. The Marlins as a team don't really give all over their players five at-bats in a game and Ozuna was expected to platoon, but he hasn't slowed down at all. Ozuna should be busy this weekend with the Marlins taking on two lefties in Ryu and Capuano while also getting Matt McGill on Friday.

Jedd Gyorko - He was one of the hottest names in spring training and he's finally coming around. Gyorko has 28 ABs so far in May and he's made good on them with a great OPS of 1.081. The Padres scored five runs from Monday to Wednesday. The Padres rank a respectable 12th in ABs in May as a team and their offense isn't as bad as we've usually seen. His eligibility at 2B and 3B

Standard

Dan Uggla- He ranks second in the NL in strikeouts and he finally cleared the Mendoza line on Wednesday for the first time since April 10. Uggla is a nightmare to own some of the time and he's hands-off material in leagues that punish for strikeouts, but since he punches in bunches. He could be coming around. Uggla has 11 hits in his last six games, so it's not a bad idea to pick him up and ride him out for a few days.

Zack Cozart - It's hard to believe that someone getting regular ABs with Joey Votto behind him can't do anything with them. Despite a lot of people dropping him, Cozart really hasn't been that bad. He only had 19 Ks in his 129 ABs and his five homers ranks third among MLB shortstops. Of course, his .217 average explains a lot and as long as he's still getting chances to hit, owners needing a shortstop might want to stick with him.

Seth Smith- Smith is getting regular ABs now that the A's are banged up in the outfield. He's been racking up the ABs and over his last 10, he averaged 4.8 per game. Of course, he did have an eight-AB game in that marathon against the Angels, but it's still a big number. He's been batting in the two spot and should put up numbers that are worth starting just about all leagues while Coco Crisp and Chris Young are on the mend.

Deep

Adeiny Hechavarria - The Marlins are going to miss Donovan Solano for a while with a broken wrist, so there will be plenty of chances for the taking at the top of the lineup.Hechavarria hit leadoff and in the two hole for the last two games. The Marlins aren't going to put up big numbers, but this guys could be worth watching.

Robbie Grossman - Another guy that is at the top of the lineup of a bad team. Grossman has been given a vote of confidence with Rick Ankiel out of town. He also hasn't even had a day off since he was called up. The 23-year-old is getting it going with a .367 OBP in May, but the three runs in that span aren't exactly encouraging. He can steal a little bit and is a nice low-end option for owners that are waiting for their injured OF to return.

Fantasy Football 2013: Value for First Round Picks

2013-04-26T20:36:14Z

The 2013 NFL Draft was something like we’ve never seen. Nine of the first 11 picks were players that will be battling in the trenches and we only saw one offensive backfield player taken in the first round. That player, E.J. Manuel, was a bit of a reach by Buffalo considering their numerous holes on both sides of the ball and may actually subtract overall value on the fantasy landscape (more on that later). Only three receivers were also taken, so the lack of offensive skill position players may have left the world of fantasy football unfulfilled. Rounds 2 and 3 should have plenty of action with a litany of teams needing to add depth to their running back and wide receiver corps, so die-hard fantasy owners will want to tune in on Friday night.

Everybody loves rookies. If you’ve had success in fantasy football over the past few seasons, there is a very good chance that you rode a rookie to a fantasy title. Obviously, last year was a prime example with the three-headed monster of Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III and Russell Wilson providing essentially must-start numbers through majority of the season. Let’s not forget about Doug Martin, Alfred Morris and Trent Richardson finishing the season as RB1s in fantasy leagues, as well. While that season was a bit of an anomaly, two years ago players like Cam Newton, DeMarco Murray, Julio Jones and A.J. Green turned huge dividends for fantasy owners.

Sadly, that’s not going to happen this year due to the dearth of talent and the low supply of TD scorers was accentuated by all those big uglies going off the board in the first round. That said, let’s take a look at the magnitude that the 2013 rookie class could have in fantasy football. These players will be listed based on how I’d project their average draft position to be:

You can follow me on Twitter @MikeSGallagher for all sorts of sports stats and analysis:

Tavon Austin - WR: The Rams wisely moved up eight spots to get the most lethal playmaker in this year's draft. They arguably had the least talented skill positions players heading into the draft with Steven Jackson, Danny Amendola and Brandon Gibson heading out of the Gateway to the West. In fact, those players accounted for 46.8 percent of the Rams offense last year.

Austin is extremely likely to fill the void left by Danny Amendola. Amendola averaged 5.7 receptions game and was targeted 9.2 times in 11 contests while even battling through injuries in at least three of those 11. Even though Chris Givens did come on a bit down the stretch with 7.2 targets per game, he and Brian Quick are hardly going to be the solution to the Rams’ offensive woes.

Sam Bradford still has to improve and his 6.72 yards per attempts ranked 26^th in the league. It’s not entirely his fault and he should have much better protection with Jake Long taking over at tackle. What’s more, the Rams were just 26^th in the league in yards after catch, which should be alleviated by the addition of Austin.

There is a whole like to like about Austin in fantasy – especially in PPR formats. The Rams are going to face numerous amounts of solid, blitz-happy defenses, so the three-step drops for Bradford and plays like a bubble screen to Austin figure to be mainstays in their offensive system. Although, it’s a little premature to draw comparisons to Percy Harvin, who is a YAC monster and is arguably the best open-field player in the game, but Austin is a tremendous fit for St. Louis. He ran a 4.34 at the combine, but ran an unofficial 4.25 and his speed on tape certainly has the look of a sub-4.3 guy with the way he separated from defenders. The West Virginia product was one of the fast risers in the draft for a reason, he’ll have WR2 upside and is someone to target in the early second half of your drafts at this point.

DeAndre Hopkins – WR: It was fairly obvious that the Texans were going to go with a receiver with their 27^th pick. They’ve had the best receiver in the AFC over the past decade and Andre Johnson has won multiple receiving-yard titles even without a productive complementary piece on the other side. Hopkins certainly makes a lot of sense as a guy that can line up at flanker to cover the tight end on the strong side of the formation. AJ will see double-team coverage for most of the game, so if Hopkins can learn how to get open, he has a shot to crack 50 receptions with the Texans.

Furthermore, despite Andre Johnson staying healthy last season, let’s not forget he missed nine games back in 2011. Hopkins hardly has the imposing physical skills as Johnson, but he has OK size at 6’1" and has shown the skills to catch the ball in traffic. He makes sense as a player that has upside at the end of a 10-team bench and also a handcuff-type guy for those taking the plunge on Andre Johnson.\

Cordarrelle Patterson—WR: The Vikings, like the Rams, took a massive hit in the play-making department with the loss of Percy Harvin. Yes, the addition of Greg Jennings is going to help Christian Ponder, but comparing Jennings to Harvin is like comparing a Justin Verlander to Jarrod Parker – who is dead last in ERA (catering to the audience right now). Ponder really struggles at getting the ball down the field and in the last four weeks of the fantasy season (Week 13-16), he had a pathetic 5.4 yards per attempt and completed just 58.3 percent of his passes.

Secondly, there is some guy named Adrian Peterson that is the engine, transmission, axles, wheels and steering wheel of the Minnesota offense. Despite the aforementioned struggles of Ponder, the Vikings were still able to win the last four games of the regular season. While there isn’t going to be an overhaul to their game plan, their opponents will be loading up the box to stop him again, so the deep balls could be there for a guy like Patterson. The Tennessee product ran a 4.42 and with a 37-inch vertical at 6’1" he fits the bill of a home-run hitter.

If Greg Jennings stays healthy, Patterson’s upside isn’t going to be all that high and he’s not someone that’s worth targeting in 10-team or even most 12-team leagues. If Jennings does get hurt, CP84 could make for a hot pickup, though.

Tyler Eifert – TE: It’s not every year we see rookie tight ends have big impacts in their rookie seasons. Antonio Gates remains the gold standard, but teams will have a tough time counting on rookies to handle their red zone targets. That’s especially the case for the Bengals. They have one of the best red-zone threats in the NFL with A.J. Green.

On the other hand, the Bengals were much more pass-happy than expected last year. They ranked seventh in passing TDs and 17^th in passing yards. That has a lot to do with A.J. ranking rankings fourth and 10^th in those categories, respectively, but Andy Dalton’s improvement is well charted and he might actually be the big winner here. Compared to his rookie season, Dalton improved in completion percentage by 4.2 percent, yardage by 271 yards and TDs by three. Quarterbacks tend to make sizable leaps in their third seasons and the tools for success are in place for the Red Rifle with the addition of the best tight end in this year's draft class.

As for Eifert, it’s going to be tough for him to be someone that makes a major splash in his rookie season. Comparatively, Coby Fleener was put in a similar situation. He had a target-demanding monster in Reggie Wayne and some competition for tight end targets with Dwayne Allen. The Bengals with Green and Jermaine Gresham should limit Eifert’s upside enough to keep him from standard-league consideration.

E.J. Manuel – QB: The Bills made the reach of the draft taking the Seminole QB with the 16^th pick. The Bills were a sexy pick to break through last year and one would have thought that getting a linebacker behind their impressive front D-line would have been a smart move. Not to mention they also ranked third in giveaways thanks to a below-average offensive line. But I digress. Manuel is purely a prospect and he’s been known to make his mistakes in games. On the big stage against Florida he threw three interceptions, completed just 54.5 percent of his passes and had a season-low 92.7 passer rating (college rating system, not pro). While Manuel’s cumulative numbers were impressive at the end of the season, taking on Murray State, Savannah State and Wake Forest the first three games inflated his stats. If you’re scoring at home, the ‘Noles won those games by a combined score of 176-3.

Manuel is too raw to have an impact and the Bills just brought in Kevin Kolb to handle the starting duties. However, Kolb hasn’t exactly been Cal Ripken when it comes to playing in games. He’s missed exactly half of Arizona games for a myriad of reasons, so it’s not too farfetched to think that Manuel will become the starter during the season. He’s also a much better runner than Kolb and could get some looks on goal-to-go situations. That idea would impact the value of C.J. Spiller, Stevie Johnson and Kevin Kolb. To be clear, Spiller should not be knocked down based on this pick.

Manuel is not on the radar in standard leagues.

Thanks for reading!

Mike Tolbert scoring at will on New Orleans and dancing the afternoon away

2012-12-30T21:05:26Z

Mike Tolbert has been a touchdown machine on Sunday with three TDs to go with 15 rushing yards on seven carries.

The three scores bring him to seven TDs on the season and he entered the day with 158 rushing yards.

Tolbert has been the goal-line back for the Panthers with Jonathan Stewart coming back and he's been about what they bargained for as they pulled him away from San Diego. He won't really have much fantasy value next year, even though DeAngelo Williams could be on the way out.

Speaking of DeAngelo, he's exploding on the scene in New Orleans. D-Will has 191 yards and two scores. The Panthers have an interesting decision to make on Williams with signing Stewart to a big deal in the offseason. Plus, they've also become a pass-first offense with new personnel and Cam Newton becoming a better passer than advertised in his second season with the team.

Cam Newton also took a beating today andhere's a picture of one of the hits.

Randall Cobb is inactive for Sunday's season finale

2012-12-30T20:08:03Z

Randall Cobb (ankle) is inactive for the season finale against the Vikings.

Cobb had a fantastic year with 80 catches for 954 yards and eight TDs in 15 games. Cobb also leads the league in all-purpose yards. He will still retain his lead on the season for all-purpose yards, barring Adrian Peterson hanging 300 yards on the Pack.

The Packers are getting healthier, though, with Jordy Nelson coming back from his hamstring injury and Greg Jennings maintaining his health. Aaron Rodgers has utilized Cobb quite a bit this year and he said he's "always open," but the loss of Cobb shouldn't have any noticeable impact as Rodgers looks to carve up a vulnerable Minnesota secondary.

James Jones should see still a lot of snaps on the outside with Greg Jennings likely to move into the slot on three-wide sets. Cobb should be considered questionable for the Packers first postseason game.