2010 Place Kicker Draft Rankings

A good kicker can mean the difference between a win and a lose. Obviously, you will want to find the kicker that kicks the most field goals. But the difference between a great kicker last year and a average kicker isn't that great.

Last year, Nate Kaeding had the most Fantasy Football points with 146 while the average for a decent kicker was 120 points (this is relative because different league score FGs differently).

Your going to find that you can get a place kicker with a good matchup on most weeks. Good matchups for a kicker are matchups against either very week defenses or against strong team defenses that hold teams from scoring TDs.

In any event, you should never select a kicker before the 15th or 16th round of a typical 18 round fantasy football draft.

Dynamic offenses like NO are likely to move the ball down the field often. Even when they don't score a touchdown, they are often in the position for an easy field goal.

Of course, accuracy counts for a great deal. That's why I have Mason Crosby so far down the list. Great offense, but he missed 9 FGs last year or about a 75% accuracy.

Every year, there is a team that will have the capability of moving the football but also seem to fizzle out near the goal line. I have Robbie Gould ranked that high for this very reason. I think Chicago will be able to move the ball, but Matt Forte and Jay Cutler will struggle to convert the TDs in games this year.

Rank	Kicker	Team	Bye
1	Garrett Hartley	NO	10
2	David Akers	PHI	8
3	Stephen Gostkowski	NE	5
4	Nate Kaeding	SD	10
5	Jay Feely	ARI	6
6	Robbie Gould	CHI	8
7	Mason Crosby	GB	10
8	Rob Bironas	TEN	9
9	Ryan Longwell	MIN	4
10	Dan Carpenter	MIA	5
11	Matt Prater	DEN	9
12	Lawrence Tynes	NYG	8
13	David Buehler	DAL	4
14	Jeff Reed	PIT	5
15	Matt Bryant	ATL	8

2010 Team Defense Draft Rankings

When it comes right down to it, I see many people drafting a Team defense way to early on in a lot of fantasy football drafts. Any time you see the Jets Defense go off the board before the 12th round, what you should be saying is "Yeah, more decent WR and RB picks for me.

The truth of the matter is, I've found that any time that I pick a defense in the middle rounds thinking that I got one of the best, it almost always backfires on me.

You go into the season only thinking about how good the defense is. Unfortunately, the defense can fall apart with injuries or your opponent beats you heads up with a defense he just picked up that has a good matchup.

If you ride one defense for the entire year during your fantasy season, the best that you will do is on average about 2 to 3 points per week better than the 10th - 12th best defense. This means that you are not gaining a lot of advantage, except maybe the one or two games that you can steal against your opponent with a huge game from the defense.

Case in point - in two of my three drafts I picked a defense at the end of the draft. I then found out that Chicago's Defense is playing at home against the Detroit Lions. Chicago has done well at home against the Lions and usually gets up by a couple of TDs early. This leads to more chances at sacks, fumbles and interceptions. Also, Chicago is a threat to score on the special teams as well. I then dropped my drafted defense and picked up the Bears.

Rank	Defense	Team	Bye
Team 1	New York Jets	NYJ	7
2	Philadelphia Eagles	PHI	8
3	Green Bay Packers	GB	10
4	Minnesota Vikings	MIN	4
5	New Orleans Saints	NO	10
6	Pittsburgh Steelers	PIT	5
7	San Francisco 49ers	SF	9
8	New York Giants	NYG	8
9	Cincinnati Bengals	CIN	6
10	Baltimore Ravens	BAL	8
11	Dallas Cowboys	DAL	4
12	Oakland Raiders	OAK	10
13	Chicago Bears	CHI	8
14	Miami Dolphins	MIA	5
15	Washington Redskins	WAS	9

2010 Tight End Draft Rankings

Tight End is usually the one pick that is easiest to determine when you need to draft. Don't ever waste a pick in the first 4 rounds on one, even Antonio Gates or Dallas Clark.

I would expect that one or both of these Tight ends will be snatched up in the early to mid 5th round. This is the ideal time to get one of the elite Tight ends, if you are inclined to do so.

What you must avoid is missing out on the elite TEs and trying to compensate by drafting the best available TE left. If you are starring down the barrel of having to pick up Chris Cooley or worse, you might as well wait until the 9th or 10th round to get your first tight end.

If you don't get an elite Tight End in your draft, make sure that you have an adequate backup. Kellen Winslow and Tony Gonzalez should still be available later on in case you are in a pinch.

Rank	Tight End	Team	Bye
1	Antonio Gates	SD	10
2	Dallas Clark	IND	7
3	Jermichael Findley	GB	10
4	Vernon Davis	SF	9
5	Jason Witten	DAL	4
6	Brent Celek	PHI	8
7	Visanthe Shiancoe	MIN	4
8	Chris Cooley	WAS	9
9	Owen Daniels	HOU	7
10	Kellen Winslow	TB	4
11	Tony Gonzalez	ATL	8
12	Dustin Keller	NYJ	7
13	John Carlson	SEA	5
14	Heath Miller	PIT	5
15	Zach Miller	OAK	10

2010 Wide Receiver Draft Rankings

Every year its a crapshoot with the Wide Receivers. Outside of the top 12 Wideouts on this list, I can't guarantee that any one player is going to do well.

Within the first 5 rounds, you really should get at least one of these 12 WRs. After that, I suspect that these 12 players will be gone.

After that, the key is to hedge your bets by getting a lot of wide receivers during the middle of your draft. Players like Hines Ward and Terrell Owens have routinely slipped past the first 8 rounds and become a great bargin.

Basically, if you don't see a Running back that is higher on your board and you don't need or can't get a highly rated QB or TE, you should select the best Wide Receiver you can find. Odds are that a couple of them will pan out for 7+ points a game.

Rank	Wide Receiver	Team	Bye
1	Andre Johnson	HOU	7
2	Randy Moss	NE	5
3	Reggie Wayne	IND	7
4	Miles Austin	DAL	4
5	Roddy White	ATL	8
6	DeSean Jackson	PHI	8
7	Calvin Johnson	DET	7
8	Larry Fitzgerald	ARI	6
9	Brandon Marshall	MIA	5
10	Marques Colston	NO	10
11	Greg Jennings	GB	10
12	Anquan Boldin	BAL	8
13	Wes Welker	NE	5
14	Steve Smith	NYG	8
15	Chad OchoCinco	CIN	6
16	Mike Sims-Walker	JAC	9
17	Michael Crabtree	SF	9
18	Steve Smith	CAR	6
19	Donald Driver	GB	10
20	Dwayne Bowe	KC	4
21	Robert Meachem	NO	10
22	Pierre Garcon	IND	7
23	Johnny Knox	CHI	8
24	Eddie Royal	DEN	9
25	Hines Ward	DEN	9
26	Braylon Edwards	NYJ	7
27	Santonio Holmes	NYJ	7
28	Hakeem Nicks	NYG	8
29	Kenny Britt	TEN	9
30	Lee Evans	BUF	6
31	Percy Harvin	MIN	4
32	Mike Williams	TB	4
33	Santana Moss	WAS	9
34	Mohamed Massaquoi	CLE	8
35	Malcolm Floyd	SD	10
36	Jeremy Maclin	PHI	8
37	Laurent Robinson	STL	9
38	Kevin Walter	HOU	7
39	Louis Murphy	OAK	10
40	Mike Wallace	PIT	5
41	Austin Collie	IND	7
42	Dez Bryant	DAL	4
43	Derrick Mason	BAL	8
44	Terrell Owens	CIN	6
45	Devery Henderson	NO	10
46	Jabar Gaffney	DEN	9
47	Bernard Berrian	MIN	4
48	Vincent Jackson	SD	10
49	Roy Williams	DAL	4
50	Early Doucet	ARI	6

2010 Quarterback Draft Rankings

Every year there seems to be some debate about the overall importance of the Quarterback. I have said in the past that you should always select a Running Back in the 1st round of your draft. More and more I see this being not always the case when you have a late first round draft pick.

I have Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees both being viable late first round picks. This is especially true if you are able to snag a great RB like either Steven Jackson or DeAngelo Williams in the early 2nd round.

After that, I would shy away from picking another QB in the first 2 rounds. Your best bet is to try to wait for the 4th round and see if one of the following three QBs are still available: Matt Schaub, Tony Romo or Phillip Rivers.

That being said, you are not going to want to left without one of the top 7 QBs in my rankings above unless you can load up with quality RBs or WRs.

If you get stuck without one of these quarterbacks, I would suggest taking Kevin Kolb and either Carson Palmer or Joe Flacco. The odds of one of these three having a great year is pretty high.

For those people who are still on the Brett Favre train, I wouldn't count on it. The first thing I would like to point out is the short term concerns with the Vikings WRs. Sidney Rice is out at least six weeks and Percy Harvin has been back and forth with his migranes. Add this to the fact that Farve has already been having problems with his ankle and I think he will take a major step back this year.

A couple of quality backup QBs that I see for your fantasy team this year are Donovan McNabb in Washington and Matt Stafford in Detroit.

Rank	Quarterback	Team	Bye
1	Aaron Rodgers	GB	10
2	Drew Brees	NO	10
3	Peyton Manning	IND	7
4	Tom Brady	NE	5
5	Matt Schaub	HOU	7
6	Tony Romo	DAL	4
7	Phillip Rivers	SD	10
8	Eli Manning	NYG	8
9	Kevin Kolb	PHI	8
10	Carson Palmer	CIN	5
11	Joe Flacco	BAL	8
12	Matt Ryan	ATL	8
13	Jay Cutler	CHI	8
14	Brett Favre	MIN	4
15	Mark Sanchez	NYJ	7
16	Donovan McNabb	WAS	9
17	Kyle Orton	DEN	9
18	Chad Henne	MIA	5
19	Vince Young	TEN	9
20	Matthew Stafford	DET	7

2010 Running Back Draft Rankings

Running back is almost always going to be your most important positions to fill in the draft. My quick rule of thumb for any year is that you should always draft 2 running backs in the first 3 rounds of your fantasy football draft.

The lone exception to this rule is when you get stuck with one of the last first round picks. If you do not have the chance to get one of the top 7 runningbacks on this list, you should really think about drafting one (or possibly two) of these four players: Drew Brees, Andre Johnson, Aaron Rodgers or Randy Moss.

If these players are all gone in the second round, look at getting one of the next five RBs on the draft board.

When it comes to drafting your 3rd running back, don't wait too long. You are always going to need a solid 3rd RB in case one of your top 2 go down. Joseph Addai is a solid RB that has fallen into the 5th or 6th round in a couple of drafts that I have been in. Also, it wouldn't be a bad idea to test the waters with one of the rookie RBs like Jahvid Best or CJ Spiller.

Arian Foster is one of the Fantasy running backs that has been on the rise in most leagues I've seen. I have to say that I am not convinced from what little I have seen of him. He clearly has the number 1 spot because Steve Slaton is both hurt and can't hold onto the ball. Pass on him unless you can get him in the 6th round or later (doubtful).

The sleeper that I like for this year is Thomas Jones, who moved offseason to the Kansas City Chiefs. Hard to say that he's a sleeper though, because he rushed for 1400 yards last year. I think that Jamaal Charles was a flash in the pan last year. A lot of his scoring plays were screen passes that went the distance and he didn't fare much better than Larry Johnson last year when rushing.

A good rule of thumb is to always have four starting runningbacks. Its usually easy to snipe a RB lilke Jerome Harrison from Cleveland in the late rounds.

Also, you can hedge your bets by selecting one of the quality backups like Jonathan Stewart or Ricky Williams.

Rank	Running Back	Team	Bye
1	Chris Johnson	TEN	9
2	Adrian Peterson	MIN	4
3	M. Jones-Drew	JAC	9
4	Ray Rice	BAL	8
5	Steven Jackson	STL	9
6	Frank Gore	SF	9
7	Michael Turner	ATL	8
8	DeAngelo Williams	CAR	6
9	Cedric Benson	CIN	6
10	Rashard Mendenhall	PIT	5
11	Ryan Grant	GB	10
12	Ryan Matthews	SD	10
13	Shonn Greene	NYJ	7
14	LeSean McCoy	PHI	8
15	Felix Jones	DAL	4
16	Beanie Wells	ARI	6
17	Ronnie Brown	MIA	5
18	Thomas Jones	KC	4
19	Joseph Addai	IND	7
20	Jonathan Stewart	CAR	6
21	Matt Forte	CHI	8
22	Ahmad Bradshaw	NYG	8
23	Jahvid Best	DET	7
24	Arian Foster	HOU	7
25	CJ Spiller	BUF	6
26	Knowshon Moreno	DEN	9
27	Justin Forsett	SEA	5
28	Michael Bush	OAK	10
29	Fred Jackson	BUF	6
30	Pierre Thomas	NO	10
31	Cadillac Williams	TB	4
32	Clinton Portis	WAS	9
33	Brandon Jacobs	NYG	8
34	Marion Barber	DAL	4
35	Reggie Bush	NO	10
36	LaDanian Tomlinson	NYJ	7
37	Jamaal Charles	KC	4
38	Willis McGahee	BAL	8
39	Donald Brown	IND	7
40	Correll Buckhalter	DEN	9
41	Chester Taylor	CHI	8
42	Ricky Williams	MIA	5
43	Laurence Maroney	NE	5
44	Jerome Harrison	CLE	8
45	Steve Slaton	HOU	7
46	Albert Young	MIN	4
47	Leon Washington	SEA	5
48	Darren Sproles	SD	10
49	Tim Hightower	ARI	8
50	Kevin Smith	DET	7