Fantasy Tip of the Week – RB Rankings

By Chris Goudey

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The key position you need to focus on to have a championship fantasy football team is running back. Running backs are the core of almost any winning team for two reasons: They usually score the most points of any player, and they are normally the most reliable players. In almost every league I draft, I will take RBs with my first two picks because they are that important. In my previous article, I gave you a breakdown on what your overall draft should look like, but this article will focus strictly on which RB you should target and when.

The Big 3
Larry Johnson, Kansas City
After taking over for the injured Priest Holmes midway through last season, all LJ did was set the league on fire and become the most dominant player in fantasy. With Holmes either not playing or on the bench this year, Johnson has a shot at breaking the single-season rushing record if he can stay healthy. He is the clear No. 1 pick.
Shaun Alexander, Seattle
The reigning league MVP should put up similar numbers to last year, and if you have the No.2 pick, you should feel lucky to grab such a great player. Alexander is the most consistent RB to come along in years, and he plays on a good team, so he should be churning out the yards late in games to close them out.
LaDanian Tomlinson, San Diego
I would say at least 75 percent of fantasy drafts this year are going to have LJ, Alexander and LT going in the top 3 spots. Tomlinson was the top-rated RB going into last year, and while he had a good year he has been passed up by the top two. San Diego might struggle this season, so LT might not have as many rushing opportunities as the other two, but he is a much better receiver than LJ and Alexander, so if your league counts receptions and/or receiving yards, you can’t go wrong with him.

The Next 3
Edgerrin James, Arizona
As I stated in my last article, the top 7 picks in my mind are the big 3 RBs, Peyton Manning and these next 3 RBs. These three RBs aren’t in any particular order, so be happy to get any one of these guys if you’re in the 4-7 slots in the first round. The Edge moves to the desert of Arizona and should continue to be a top-flight producer even though he moves away from the high-powered of offense of Indianapolis. Arizona actually might have as good a passing game as Indy this year, with Kurt Warner at QB and top 10 receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin to take the focus off of James. The Cardinals also have a very good offensive line, so Edge should be just as good as he’s ever been.
Tiki Barber, NY Giants
No back has more heart than Tiki, and the past two years he has turned into a premier RB. His production is close to that of the top 3, but the only reason he is grouped lower is because of his age. Tiki is 31 this year, and most RBs really start to lose it once they hit the big 3-0. As I said, Tiki has a ton of heart and will always do everything he can to get on the field, but this should really be his last top-level year. If you’re drafting in a keeper league, I’d move Tiki down in your rankings.
Clinton Portis, Washington
Portis is the one back I really see making a noticeable improvement this year, and the reason is that the ‘Skins have hired former KC offensive coordinator Al Saunders. Saunders was the engineer of KC’s running game for the past few years and turned Priest Holmes (and Larry Johnson last year) into a fantasy force. The plan is to use Portis exactly the way Holmes was used the past few seasons, so if he can stay healthy Portis could put up top 3 numbers. The only X mark on Portis’ resume is he does get nicked up a lot, so make sure you draft Ladell Betts, his backup, in a middle-to-late round.

Potential, Potential, Potential
I will rank these guys in order of preference, with a note about each. Remember, once the top 7 are gone you can start to pick these guys and feel just fine about it. If you are at the end of the first round (pick 8 or later) go ahead and draft a RB here and then assuming it’s a snake draft (where you’ll pick near the beginning of the 2nd round), take the next best RB. There are no QBs or WRs who are as good a value here as having two good RBs.
Steven Jackson, St. Louis – Look for Jackson to have a career year this year due to two things: Marshall Faulk is now out for the year (and possibly his career), and new coach Scott Linehan wants to focus on the run.
Rudi Johnson, Cincinnati – Rudi has slimmed down and wants to take a step up to the top level of RBs. He has been very productive and reliable thus far, but the only drawback to him is that he isn’t much of a receiver and the Bengals love his backup, Chris Perry.
Kevin Jones, Detroit – I probably have him ranked a lot higher than most other experts, but I really think Mike Martz will do wonders with him. He sees him as his next Marshall Faulk and is going to do everything he can to get him the ball. If Detroit can get decent QB play out of Jon Kitna (or Josh McCown), KJ is going to be a stud.
LaMont Jordan, Oakland – After having watched Jordan play in college and play behind Curtis Martin for a couple of years with the Jets, I knew he’d be a great player if given the opportunity. He got that shot last year with the Raiders, and much like Kevin Jones just needs good QB play to turn him into a star.
Ronnie Brown, Miami – With Ricky Williams heading to Canada to do whatever it is Ricky does, Brown gets his shot as the lead RB for the Fins. Coach Nick Saban has big plans for Brown and needs him to be the complement to the passing game he is trying to implement with Daunte Culpepper. There’s a reason Miami took him so high in the draft last year, and this year we’ll see why.
Julius Jones, Dallas – JJ could be a superstar if only Bill Parcells would let him. Parcells seems to have a soft spot in his heart for Marion Barber III and plans to give him more carries than he should. Watching Jones in his rookie year I saw a lot of the same things Walter Payton brought to the table and thought he would be incredible in his sophomore season. This is a situation to monitor closely in the preseason. If Jones looks like he’ll get 25 carries per game, I’d rank him even higher. If not, he stays here or moves down if Barber gets more carries.
Cadillac Williams, Tampa Bay – Cadillac had a great rookie year and is very tough. The only reason I have him this low is the presence of Michael Pittman and the fact that Williams is a little on the smallish side. He is a great runner, but I have a feeling he’s going to be injury-prone once he takes a lot of pounding.
Brian Westbrook, Philadelphia – Westbrook is like Tomlinson-lite. If you’re in a league where receiving is important, Westbrook moves to the top of this group. With the departure of Terrell Owens, coach Andy Reid has stated he plans to run the ball a lot more and Westbrook will be the beneficiary, IF he can stay healthy.
Willis McGahee, Buffalo – McGahee is just as talented as those above him, but he has a lot of question marks coming into this year. His primary problem is lack of good QB play. Without a good passing game, teams are going to stack eight in the box and shut Willis down. If JP Losman can take some pressure off McGahee, then he can return to the level he was at going into last year.
Domanick Davis, Houston – Davis has potential to move to the top of this list, but like the others here he has issues to overcome. The first issue is he is currently injured and is a question mark to begin the season. The second is lack of a passing game, much like McGahee. If David Carr can get a solid connection going with Andre Johnson and new WR Eric Moulds, then Davis should be a top-10 guy.
Jamal Lewis, Baltimore – Potential, potential, potential. Every year Lewis is ranked highly, and every year except one he has not lived up to it. He’s either been hurt or in jail and now he has competition in Mike Anderson. Lewis has the skills to be a top-3 guy but he is really a question mark this year.
Reggie Bush, New Orleans – He will probably be overvalued in your drafts and will go much higher than he should. There happens to be an All-Pro back already in the New Orleans backfield going by the name of Deuce. He’s going to take a lot of the carries Bush should get, but like Westbrook Bush will be much more valuable in a league with receptions and/or a big emphasis on receiving yards.

The Rookies
All of these guys are in similar situations, currently the backup but with poor performance or injury by the starting RB, they could shine:
Laurence Maroney, New England
Joseph Addai, Indianapolis
DeAngelo Williams, Carolina
LenDale White, Tennessee
Keep an eye on their situations during the preseason and try to grab them in a middle round if it looks like they’ll help you. These are also guys to grab as backups to the main guy. I often like to grab a tandem of guys, and then I’m guaranteed to have the starter every week.

The Best Of The Rest
All of these guys have issues: age, uncertain playing time or just not as good as what they once were. These should be guys you target as your third back. These are in preferential order.
Cedric Benson, Chicago — assuming he wins the job over Thomas Jones
Tatum Bell, Denver — assuming he wins the job over Ron Dayne
Chester Taylor, Minnesota — I like him as a sleeper
Warrick Dunn, Atlanta — bound to breakdown sometime and has T.J. Duckett to share carries with
Reuben Droughns, Cleveland – has the job but just isn’t that great.
Willie Parker, Pittsburgh – Good for yards but not for TDs.
Deuce McAllister, New Orleans – Moves way up if Bush doesn’t sign soon but will still be a decent 3rd RB for your team even if he splits time.
DeShaun Foster, Carolina – Productive when he plays but has injury issues and DeAngelo Williams to deal with.
Frank Gore, San Francisco – Splits carries with Kevan Barlow but should take over the starting job by the end of the year.
Dominic Rhodes, Indianapolis – Will start out with the job but Joseph Addai is more talented.
Thomas Jones, Chicago – Will probably lose his job to Benson, but if he starts he moves up to a top-15 guy.
Fred Taylor, Jacksonville – Avoid if possible, but he has a shot to be productive. He’s just so unreliable.
Ahman Green, Green Bay – How the mighty have fallen. He was a top-two RB two years ago and is now fighting to stay on the field and to keep his job. Age, a bad offense and Samkon Gado are his problems.
Ron Dayne, Denver – Will probably back up Bell, but should he get the job he moves up to the top 15. Denver always gets great RB production. I’d draft the Bell-Dayne tandem and hope for the best.
Curtis Martin, NY Jets – Stay away. Stay far away. He’s half the player he once was and will get picked much earlier than he should.

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Handicapping The Chase Field

By Bill Kiser

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went to its present championship format two years ago, the thinking was that the “Chase for the Championship” would rivet race fans to their televisions for the final 10 races of the season.

But the public’s attention hasn’t so much been drawn to those final 10 races, but to the 10 races leading up to the Chase.

The “Chase for the Chase,” as some media have coined it, has seen the top 10 in the NASCAR
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Nextel Cupstandings change drastically from race to race, with drivers in the top 10 one week and on the outside looking in the next.

According to NASCAR’s computations, 34 drivers are mathematically in contention to make the Chase for the Championship; realistically, the number of drivers who have a chance entering next week’s Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is not half that.

And even sitting in the top 10 in points — heck, even in the top five — at this point of the season won’t ensure a driver a spot in the final 10 come September.

There’s historical precedent backing that up — last year, Elliott Sadler was third in points entering the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway and was considered locked in for the Chase.

But Sadler and his No. 38 Robert Yates Racing team slumped badly down the stretch, falling 10 spots in the point standings and ultimately failing to make the Chase.

With six races left in the “Chase for the Chase,” only two drivers — points leader Jimmie Johnson and No. 2 Matt Kenseth — appear to be near-locks to make the final 10.

Beyond that, however, things are still very much up in the air — only 188 points separate third through 12th place in the Nextel Cup standings.

Here’s a quick look at how I believe the “Chase for the Chase” is stacking up, followed by my picks to make the Chase for the Championship.

99.9 PERCENT THERE: Jimmie Johnson (first in standings), Matt Kenseth (second in standings, 97 back of Johnson).

THEY’RE IN, BUT …: Jeff Burton (third in standings, 318 back of Johnson), Kyle Busch (fourth in standings, 39 points behind Burton), Kevin Harvick (fifth in standings, 19 points behind Busch), Mark Martin (sixth in points, six points behind Harvick).

ON THE FENCE: Kasey Kahne (seventh in standings, 42 points behind Martin), Denny Hamlin (eighth in standings, one point behind Kahne), Jeff Gordon (ninth in standings, two points behind Hamlin).

NEEDS SOME HELP: Tony Stewart (10th in standings, 35 points behind Gordon), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (11th in standings, 15 points behind Stewart), Greg Biffle (12th in standings, 29 points behind Earnhardt).

FORGET IT: Kurt Busch (13th in standings, 122 points behind Biffle), Carl Edwards (14th in standings, 69 points behind Busch), Casey Mears (15th in standings, 57 points behind Edwards), Brian Vickers (16th in standings, 51 points behind Mears), Jamie McMurray (17th in standings, 46 points behind Vickers), Ryan Newman (18th in standings, eight points behind McMurray), Clint Bowyer (19th in standings, 16 points behind Newman), Elliott Sadler (20th in standings, 29 points behind Bowyer).

KISER’S PICKS: Johnson, Kenseth, Burton, Busch, Harvick, Martin, Kahne, Gordon, Stewart, Earnhardt.

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WagerWeb Writer

Sports Can Unite

By Sean William Toth
WagerWeb.com Contributing Writer

It seemed just like yesterday, didn’t it? Billions and billions of people got together on this planet, set aside their differences, found common ground and “harmoniously converged” for what unfortunately was all too short of a time.

No, I’m not talking about the latest Kitaro concert tour. I’m referring to the 2006 World Cup tournament in Germany. The same thing has happened on a regular basis over the years in the Olympics. Many, many diverse cultures have been gathering and participating in friendly competitions with very very few outbursts of hatred and intolerance.

I play quite a bit of backgammon online. I’m probably borderline an online backgammon addict … 15-20 games a day. But I rationalize it is by saying to myself, “I guess I could have much worse addictions.” I enjoy playing people from all over the world.

Backgammon is very popular in countries I never thought it would be … such as Bulgaria. Who would have guess that? But there are literally thousands and maybe even tens of thousands of Bulgarians playing backgammon online right now as you read this! It doesn’t seem to be very popular among the Asian populations. Every once in a while I’ll play somebody that has a Japanese flag next to their name or sometimes China, but other than that, I see very few people from Asian countries on any of the four sites I play on. Interesting, eh?

Whatever game or games you enjoy playing, chances are that there are web sites where you can play among thousands of people from anywhere in the world any time of day. I highly recommend it. You get to meet and chat with people from all over the world, sharpen your skills in that particular game, and you learn the world’s flags very quickly … which may not seem very interesting, but believe me it is once you get into it. People are usually very friendly and are usually open to talk about their culture, language, politics, etc. Many times, the backgammon game becomes secondary and we find ourselves chatting away (I can’t wait until we are able to actually talk by voice!).

The greatest thing about that I have learned from the hundreds of conservations I’ve had with people from all over the world is how much alike we all really are. You wouldn’t think that by the way each country’s “leaders” and media carry on about how different we are, how hostile many countries are towards each other … blah, blah, blah, you know the dialog.

I would say I have had 400-500 conversations with people since I’ve been playing online, and of those I have probably only have had 10 or so hostile conversations. Even from people in countries that are not particularly fond of Americans. I was surprised at first, but have learned that people know that most average Americans are not bad people. I was pleasantly surprised how many people realize that the United States is a good country with many truly good people, but a country that is going through a very difficult identity and political time right now. To the few hostile players I meet, I just try and be as friendly as possible with the hopes that they will calm down and maybe they’ll see that we aren’t all the snobs that are gung-ho militarily … in fact, quite the opposite. Maybe they will change their minds, maybe they won’t, but I try and put out that fire before it gets out of control because you never know whom you’re talking to.

Anyway, I was playing a person from Israel a few days ago on a web site that has a very large Middle Eastern population on it (backgammon originated in the Middle East and is still extremely popular there). I asked how things were going where he was. “Not good,” he replied. I don’t know what I was expecting him to say … I knew the answer to that. We chatted for a while about what is currently going on in his part of the world and the U.S. response.
I was surprised, though I don’t know why, that many Israelis including him thought that his government is really overreacting.

By the way, you can find out quite a bit of things by just observing things on such web sites. For example: Since the beginning of the increased hostility in the Israel/Lebanon border, I have noticed the number of players on this particular Internet backgammon site from Israel has not changed much while the number of players from Lebanon has gone from scarce to almost non-existent. In fact, the only person I’ve played a backgammon game with a Lebanese flag by his name was currently stuck in Germany while there on business!

“They’ve been waiting for an excuse to kill and displace Lebanon ever since they were forced to pull out of there in 2001,” he said. He also said that many people in Israel feel the same way, but no media in any country is reporting that. Now that right there says quite a bit, doesn’t it? Do you know how big of a difference that could make if they were reporting that even occasionally?

He was right, I spend quite a bit of my waking and sleeping hours listening and/or watching many different politically themed shows, and nowhere in the mainstream media did I hear anything even remotely reporting that. Once again, I had to go to the Internet to find anything reporting the news from that part of the world from that perspective. I found several Internet-based radio stations and blogs that gave me many perspectives I never would have gotten from the big “monster media scoundrels.” Once again, the media resources we have become so dependent on over the past 100 or so years failed again. But what is perhaps most frightening is that I had time and initiative to seek these “alternative” news sources. Many people in many countries either won’t or can’t do this and thus form an opinion based on many different unreliable news sources with many different opinions and agendas. And chances are millions of people are doing the same thing … and I’m a firm believer that a mass of misinformed people is more dangerous than any arsenal of nuclear weapons.

So many times over the past 50 years, the big media outlets have intentionally lied and misled the masses in many different countries and cultures. But we as humans still continue to get their vital information from the same sources.

However grim that might sound, there are many reasons to hope. People are really beginning to take notice and, most importantly, action! People are now noticing that the mainstream media is often owned by billionaires and the reporters are millionaires, both of which have many interests to protect and are quite intimidated by “‘state-sponsored information sources.” How can a very select few amount of people who are not interacting and have very limited exposure with the general populous (with very few exceptions, but there are exceptions) profess to know what the masses need to know?

While most Internet-based news resources are experiencing exponential growth and have since the “rebirth” of the Internet in the mid-1990s, more traditional media outlets are falling all over each other trying to keep their ships from sinking. Instead of actually becoming more reliable and accurate, they are trying everything but that. They are catering to people on the go by making podcasts available; they are putting blogs on their sites, but restrict them greatly (which defeats the purpose of the whole reason why blogs exist and have gotten as big as they are); they have even put out web sites and media players making them look as though they are independent, but with a little investigating many of those sites and players are backed by big billion-dollar multinational new corporations. (i.e., NBC is owned by General Electric, Winamp media player is owned by AOL, etc.).

Don’t get me wrong, the big media companies still have their place in our world. They have access to the masses unlike anybody, else and they do use that to do plenty of good things. But they are having to compete with truly independent media, even single person blogs, and that (along with other things) is forcing them to straighten up! The two things keeping them afloat is access and money. That’s what their “ships” consist of now. Will they stay alive in these “turbulent waters?” We the people will decide that! And as long as they realize that, they should be OK. But the days of their total dominance are gone.

If you want to learn a lot on the Internet, go to one of the many free web sites that allow anybody to type in a media name, and the web site will tell you who owns them and what alliances that media source has … I promise you will be amazed and you will feel very empowered!

But again there is reason to be optimistic! The will of the people all over the world are speaking out! And the big trend now is to get their information on any topic from other sources other than the big media companies, and that is truly revolutionary! That is why web sites like Inspin are experiencing incredible growth! When I have talked to other people from Inspin, you can hear the excitement in their voice. Those of you who have been with Inspin from the very beginning have seen the web site grow so much in a short amount of time.

The greatest thing about Inspin is that you’re not getting your sportsinformation from a highly paid talking head with a “Ken Doll persona.”. But you are getting it from somebody that could be your neighbor … somebody whom you can relate to. And advocating the things that sports advocates and creates is something that I deem very important if we are going to survive. I don’t feel as though I’m above anybody because I do that … I feel honored and privileged for the opportunity to do this for the better!

So next time somebody tells you that sports is just a distraction from the real issues that affect us in life, ask them how often every weekend millions and millions of people from all different walks of life get together, put all their political and philosophical differences aside and root … root … root for the same team! (or at least the same outcome to an event) And hold on … football season, where tens of millions of people get together all over this great country is right around the corner.

WagerWeb Writer