FANTASY PREVIEW

OK, so I'm in preparation mode for my 2006 Fantasy seasons. Notice I said seasons, not season. I'm in 4 different leagues. It's embarassing, I'm an addict, but I have no excuses for you. I love football, and I will pretty much spend the next 6 months thinking about little else... (sorry honey!). My leagues are pretty diverse. I'm in a 12 team keeper league, a 12 team annual league, a 4 team joke league and a 2 team All-Star league. Those last two leagues might seem silly, but I'm telling you, they are FUN. Each team is basically made up of complete dominators, and it's a matter of playing the waiver wire well and getting lucky. I spend far more time & energy on the Keeper League, because there are a lot more bragging rights at stake, but I take them all seriously. Too seriously, I'm sure.

Here are my Top Ten rankings/thoughts, by position, on this upcoming season. Additionally, I'm going to list a 'Sleeper' or two for your benefit...

QB

Peyton Manning
Donovan McNabb
Matt Hasselbeck
Carson Palmer
Jake Delhomme
Tom Brady
Daunte Culpepper
Eli Manning
Drew Bledsoe
Kurt Warner

Sleepers: Steve McNair (could be exactly what Baltimore has needed forever if he can stay healthy), Jon Kitna (the only reason Kitna isn't still the starter in Cincy is because Carson Palmer is a future Hall of Famer, plus he'll be in Mike Martz's system, throwing to GOOD receivers), Phillip Rivers (it may seem like a stretch to have a first year guy as my sleeper, but with safety valves like Gates and Tomlinson to dump the ball to, you just never know).

RB

Shaun Alexander
Mr. Larry Johnson
Ladainian Tomlinson
Clinton Portis
Rudi Johnson
Tiki Barber
Edgerrin James
Cadillac Williams
Ronnie Brown
Brian Westbrook

Sleepers: Chester Taylor (an already good O-line is bolstered by the arrival of Pro-Bowler Steve Hutchinson from Seattle).

WR

Chad Johnson
Steve Smith
Randy Moss
Terrell Owens
Torry Holt
Chris Chambers
Larry Fitzgerald
Anquan Boldin
Marvin Harrison
Hines Ward

Sleepers: Reggie Brown (yes, I'm a homer, but everything I hear about this guy indicates that he's headed for a 1000 yard season), Kevin Curtis (don't be surprised if he takes over as the #2 in St. Louis), Matt Jones (with Jimmy Smith out of the way in Jax, this former QB looks to take the roll of go-to-guy for Byron Leftwich.)

TE

Antonio Gates
Todd Heap
Tony Gonzalez
Jeremy Shockey
Alge Crumpler
Jason Witten
Randy McMichael
L.J. Smith
Jerramy Stevens
Heath Miller

Sleeper: Eric Johnson. This guy can flat out play. I expect him to lead the Niners in receptions this year, unless he gets injured. Again.

DEF

Carolina
Chicago
Pittsburgh
Jacksonville
Indianapolis
Seattle
Tampa Bay
New York Giants
Baltimore
Philadelphia

Sleeper: Minnesota. With a stellar defensive backfield and a solid front 7, they will have an improved defensive season. Also, I expect their running game to eat up a lot of clock and put their opponents in a bind where they need to pass into the teeth of this defense at crucial points in the game.

Kickers

Neil Rackers
Adam Vinaieri
Mike Vanderjagt
David Akers
Jason Elam
John Kasay
Lawrence Tynes
Josh Brown
Jeff Reed
Jeff Wilkins

Sleeper: I'd like to take this moment to say that I think we should do away with the PAT. If there even needs to be an extra point try, teams should be required to 'go for two' at all times. As for sleepers, I have no idea. Janikowski maybe? I'm pretty sure his numbers will be up, at least.


Ok, that's it. Those are my thoughts. Take 'em or leave 'em. Go Eagles!


-The Camp Guy