As an avid and longtime Fantasy Football players who has been in or running leagues back through 1987 while then using the USA Today, I have seen many changes, some good and many bad in this industry, the good part is the amount of information on the internet, the bad part is the amount of information on the internet.
Here are the top players and top busts.
Top 5 Players
1. Aaron Rodgers-This is about as no brainer as possible, with this throwing prowess, weapons and running ability he is about the safest pick there can be no matter what your scoring format. Also if he is on your team you are allowed to perform his touchdown dance wherever you are after every score.
2. Tom Brady-He is coming off an incredible season, added a top receiver in Lloyd, got his BFF back as well in Josh McDaniels while also having a very shaky running game led by two running backs who could not even be the #1 options in their college offense. There are only 2 times you would want to bench him and that is on a bye as well as any game where he plays the Ravens.
3. Arian Foster
Top 5 Busts
1. Cam Newton-Remember all these questions he brought with him to the NFL, they are still there and will come to the forefront this year. He benefitted from abnormal amount of rushing touchdowns that has never happened from a QB in back to back years. Please take a look at his passing statistics in the 2nd half of last year, less than 200 yards per game average, hell he had worse passing stats than the non training camp, sitting around drinking beers before getting a call from the Raiders Carson Palmer. His #1 target is an aging WR who history says will not come close to last year’s production.
2. Maurice Jones Drew-There are not many running backs who have sat out most if not all of training camp while the team has also implemented a new system and finished in the top 20. Actually it has never happened and will not start with MJD.
3. Trent Richardson-He has now had 2 knee surgeries, not taken a down in a game and will be expected to run against 8-9 man fronts and excel? He may have special talent but there are very few historical running backs that have that kind of talent. Brandon Weeden is in way over his head and will kill his production.
4. Steve Smith-He is coming off a huge comeback year but age is creeping in as well as the limited passing game that the Panthers displayed in the 2nd half of the year. This is also the age where you see injuries start to come more often especially with the luck he had last year avoiding any major issues.
5. Adrian Peterson-He is a machine, maybe in great shape but very rarely does a RB come back to full strength less than one year off a major ACL surgery. His doctors have recommended that he avoid any cuts while running at this stage, while he is ignoring that advice, I will be avoiding him in all of my drafts.
Winning a league is roughly 75% luck, just like the office pick ’em contests where the women who picks by animals she loves usually wins. So good luck and be sure to visit our Fantasy Football forum.