Fantasy Football Preview

With the NFL season starting up in less than 3 weeks, many fantasy football leagues will be having their annual drafts within the next few weeks. With the lockout this summer many fans were more focused on if there will even be a season and not focused on scouting for their fantasy teams. There are some players that I believe that you should draft above others and some I wouldn’t touch at all.

Take 'em

-Josh Freeman-QB-Tampa Bay- In most leagues you can get Freeman as your backup QB in or around the 10^th round. Freeman should excel in his second full year of starting. Last year he was 7^th in ESPN fantasy points as a first year starter. Look out for Freeman in the later rounds.

-Matthew Stafford-QB-Detroit- If Stafford can stay healthy he is a top 10 QB in fantasy. He has the weapons, led by Pro Bowl WR Calvin Johnson and second year TE Brandon Pettigrew. It’s risky to take Stafford seeing as how he has only played in 13 games in his first two seasons but there is also a high reward. Take him as your backup if he is there in the 8^th-10^th rounds.

-Adrian Peterson-RB-Minnesota- He should be the #1 overall pick in every league in my mind. He is the most consistent back and should get a larger role this year without Sidney Rice in the mix and Donovan McNabb getting set up in the new system. If he is there for you at any pick, take him.

-Beanie Wells-RB-Arizona- With the loss of rookie Ryan Williams to a season ending injury Wells will have an increased role in the Arizona offense. The Cardinals offense should also be relying on him to take the majority of plays to get Kolb acclimated to the new offense.

-Percy Harvin-WR-Minnesota- As you can tell I like Minnesota skill players. With Rice leaving and a new experienced QB coming in with Donovan McNabb look for Harvin to live up to his hype.

Leave ‘em

-Peyton Manning-QB-Indianapolis- Manning is still one of the top QB’s in the league but his neck injury may force him to miss the start of the season and who knows how long he may be out. I wouldn’t take him as one of the Top 5 QB’s, but if he is there in the 3^rd round jump on it.

-Kevin Kolb-QB-Arizona- It took an injury in week 1 to knock Kolb out of the starter role in Philadelphia last year but there is no way he should be your starting QB in fantasy. Take him as a mid-round backup but it will take him time to get accustomed to the new offense in Arizona and their OL is terrible.

-Brandon Lloyd-WR-Denver- Lloyd is still a good 2^nd to 3^rd WR, but I would not want him as my #1. He was one of the top receivers in the game last year but I don’t believe that he will match these numbers this year.

-Miles Austin-WR-Dallas- Like Lloyd, Austin is a good WR, but he will have receptions and valuable fantasy points taken away by 2^nd year Cowboy Dez Bryant. I’d take him as a #3 or a #2 if you have good RB’s on your team.

-DeAngelo Williams-RB-Carolina-Not only he is going to be splitting carries with Jonathan Stewart, but he has lingering injury concerns. I wouldn’t take him in the first three rounds.

These are just my opinions on these ten players but I believe that they will be accurate come the end of the season. And just remember if you aren’t happy with your draft day you can still contend with good trades and waiver pick-ups like Michael Vick and Arian Foster were last year.