Early Pre-Season Rankings

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Fri Apr 30, 2004 5:43 am

Hey folks, we've been hard at work on the first issue of Fantasy Sports Magazine and are busy fine-tuning our rankings. An abbreviated look at our rankings is currently online at www.fantasysportsmag.com, but I thought I'd post them here to see what everyone thought about them. Keep in mind, we're tweaking them constantly and they will be revised before the magazine hits the newsstands (heck, they may even be changed in the next hour or so, that's how diligent we are ), but we're looking to get some chatter going and I figured what better way than to post some very early pre-season rankings.

QUARTERBACKS
1. Daunte Culpepper Min.
2. Peyton Manning Ind.
3. Matt Hasselbeck Sea.
4. Donovan McNabb Phi.
5. Michael Vick Atl.
6. Brett Favre G.B.
7. Aaron Brooks N.O.
8. Trent Green K.C.
9. Marc Bulger St.L.
10. Steve McNair Ten.
11. Tom Brady N.E.
12. Chad Pennington NYJ
13. Jake Plummer Den.
14. Jeff Garcia Cle.
15. Rich Gannon Oak.
16. Jake Delhomme Car.
17. Brad Johnson T.B.
18. Tommy Maddox Pit.
19. Byron Leftwich Jax.
20. Eli Manning NYG

RUNNING BACKS
1. Priest Holmes K.C.
2. LaDainian Tomlinson S.D.
3. Ahman Green G.B.
4. Clinton Portis Wash.
5. Deuce McCallister N.O.
6. Jamal Lewis Bal.
7. Shaun Alexander Sea.
8. Edgerrin James Ind.
9. Ricky Williams Mia.
10. Fred Taylor Jax.
11. Marshall Faulk St.L.
12. Stephen Davis Car.
13. Kevan Barlow S.F.
14. Travis Henry Buf.
15. Domanick Davis Hou.
16. Rudi Johnson Cin.
17. Corey Dillon N.E.
18. Tiki Barber NYG
19. Brian Westbrook Phi.
20. Marcel Shipp Ari.

WIDE RECEIVERS
1. Randy Moss Min.
2. Marvin Harrison Ind.
3. Torry Holt St.L.
4. Terrell Owens Phi.
5. Chad Johnson Cin.
6. Hines Ward Pit.
7. Steve Smith Car.
8. Anquan Boldin Ari.
9. Laveraneous Coles Wash.
10. Joe Horn N.O.
11. Koren Robinson Sea.
12. Amani Toomer NYG
13. Darrell Jackson Sea.
14. Derrick Mason Ten.
15. Andre Johnson Hou.
16. Santana Moss NYJ
17. Jimmy Smith Jax.
18. Peerless Price Atl.
19. Plaxico Burress Pit.
20. Chris Chambers Mia.

TIGHT ENDS
1. Tony Gonzalez K.C.
2. Todd Heap Bal.
3. Jeremy Shockey NYG
4. Shannon Sharpe Den.
5. Alge Crumpler Atl.
6. Randy McMichael Mia.
7. Boo Williams N.O.
8. Kellen Winslow Jr. R
9. Daniel Graham N.E.
10. Marcus Pollard Ind.
11. Bubba Franks G.B.
12. Jim Kleinsasser Min.
13. Billy Miller Hou.
14. Freddie Jones Ari.
15. Itula Mili Sea.
16. Dallas Clark Ind.
17. Desmond Clark Chi.
18. Mikhael Ricks Det.
19. Antonio Gates S.D.
20. L.J. Smith Phi.

KICKERS
1. Mike Vanderjagt Ind.
2. Jeff Wilkins St.L.
3. Jason Elam Den.
4. David Akers Phi.
5. Ryan Longwell G.B.
6. Matt Stover Bal.
7. John Carney N.O.
8. Adam Vinatieri N.E.
9. John Kasay Car.
10. Josh Brown Sea.
11. Sebastian Janikowski Oak.
12. Morten Andersen K.C.
13. Joe Nedney Ten.
14. Aaron Elling Min.
15. Shayne Graham Cin.
16. OIindo Mare Mia.
17. John Hall Wash.
18. Paul Edinger Chi.
19. Martin Gramatica T.B.
20. Billy Cundiff Dal.

DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS
1. Baltimore
2. New England
3. Tampa Bay
4. Tennessee
5. Philadelphia
6. Kansas City
7. Buffalo
8. St. Louis
9. Carolina
10. Miami
11. Dallas
12. Denver
13. Pittsburgh
14. Jacksonville
15. San Francisco
16. Indianapolis
17. Washington
18. NY Giants
19. Cleveland
20. Green Bay

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Fri Apr 30, 2004 7:08 am

JerseyPaul, I accidentally deleted your post. I was going to reply and instead of typing it in the message box, I typed right over your original post. My apologies and feel free to re-post your thoughts. Sorry again.

[ April 30, 2004, 01:08 PM: Message edited by: Tom Kessenich ]

JerseyPaul · Post by **JerseyPaul** » Fri Apr 30, 2004 9:26 am

Originally posted by Tom Kessenich:
JerseyPaul, I accidentally deleted your post. I was going to reply and instead of typing it in the message box, I typed right over your original post. My apologies and feel free to re-post your thoughts. Sorry again. Sigh, thought it was pretty good.

Bottom line, I don't think competitors will or should share their thoughts on rankings and value in this forum. You're much more likely to get disinformation than true information.

Those that do the research will reap the rewards. No point in educating the lazy.

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Fri Apr 30, 2004 9:29 am

It was a good post and I apologize again.

It's possible nobody will reveal their true thoughts about players, but it can't hurt to try and get some chatter going and I figured one good way to do that was post some rankings and let everybody go at 'em.

As far as your Favre comment about how your friend said he's not looking good so far in minicamp, I covered the NFL for nearly a decade and I rarely put much stock in what transpires in minicamps. We'll know about Favre and his health during training camp and the pre-season. When I think about minicamps, I'm reminded of what the late Fritz Shurmur said. When asked about how important he thought minicamps were, Fritz said: "You can't learn much from a bunch of guys running around in their underwear."

Fritz was one of the best.

JerseyPaul · Post by **JerseyPaul** » Fri Apr 30, 2004 11:03 am

LOL..

Tom, my story about my friend and Favre and how his hand looked really bad was apocryphal. It was just an example of disinformation. But now that I see how good I am at it, expect more information posts

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Apr 30, 2004 11:08 am

JP, remember you're talking to cheeseheads here, so don't mess with Favre stories! Seriously, he said during the first day of camp that his thumb is exactly the same as it was at the end of last season and he was surprised that it didn't improve over time. He said he still can't bend it fully and it will likely remain that way forever. He's throwing without the splint, but he said he's keeping the splint close by.

More importantly, he showed up for camp with a seven day facial growth. For Packer fans, that means he's in game shape already.

We love the guy here, even with that occasional duck pass.

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Fri Apr 30, 2004 4:43 pm

JP, you could make a very good case that minicamps are all about misinformation or rather information that ultimately proves meaningless. Allow me to share another example from my beat writer days:

Several years ago there was a WR with the Packers who was the star of minicamp. The guy caught everything thrown his way, made all the DBs look bad and looked like he was a real player. This WR's name? Allen DeGraffenreid.

Never heard of him? Well there's a reason for that. Once they put the pads on in training camp and the DBs started knocking him around, the guy couldn't get catch anything. He didn't get past the DBs in coverage and had heavy legs and failed to make plays in traffic. He soon became a victim of the waiver wire.

Like I said, I don't put much stock in minicamp stories -- fact or fiction.

JerseyPaul · Post by **JerseyPaul** » Sat May 01, 2004 5:58 am

Actually, I prefer spinning the truth. For example, my favorite football information source writes the following about Steven Jackson, the Rams new RB:

"Most scouts agree that Jackson is the best overall talent coming out of this year’s draft at the running back position, and the fact that he was the first at his position taken supports that contention."

Now what do the Rams know about Marshall Faulk that we don't? Are we going to be looking at a RBBC in St. Louis? It will cost them a bundle in rookie money to sign him. They are not going to have this guy sit on the bench. I think this pushes Faulk well into the 2nd round.

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Sun May 02, 2004 5:09 am

Disinformation and spin aside, I think Faulk is going to be one of the most interesting players in the draft this season. Do you pass on him fearing that once again he's going to miss time (possibly considerable time) during the season? Or do you take the chance on him knowing that when he's on the field he's still capable of winning weeks for you? Throw in the age factor and he's a guy who will pose some interesting questions this year in my opinion.