Written by Ryan Lester, LestersLegends.com

I wrap up my NFL Rookie skill position breakdown with the top Tight Ends.

Brandon Pettigrew, Detroit Lions – I’m not sure how much he’ll contribute as a Rookie Tight End, but he is definitely the one to target in dynasty leagues.  Not only is he an exceptional blocker, he has good hands.  Every young QB needs a safety valve and when Matthew Stafford gets his feet wet, the bit 6′5″ TE out of Oklahoma State will be just that.  Pettigrew caught 42 passes for 472 yards last year despite missing four games.

Richard Quinn, Denver Broncos – Quinn will mainly be utilized for his blocking ability.  It’s puzzling why he went so early, and to a team with Tony Scheffler, Daniel Graham and Jeb Putzier.  New England values Tight Ends and H-Backs so perhaps Josh McDaniels is trying to borrow that philosophy.  There is some speculation that Scheffler will be dealt. 

Jared Cook, Tennessee Titans – Here’s another team with a glut of Tight Ends.  Bo Scaife recently signed his one-year franchise tender and they have veteran Alge Crumpler.  Cook was a big play TE at South Carolina catching 73 passes in his three years for 1107 yards (15.2 ypc) and 7 TDs.  He’s a big target (6′5″, 240) that should develop into a solid TE in a couple years.

Chase Coffman, Cincinnati Bengals - Chase capped off an extremely productive collegiate career with 90 receptions for 987 yards and 10 TDs.  He finished with 247 receptions for 2659 yards and 30 TDs.  He could easily slide into the starter role for the Bengals and is my pick for most productive Rookie TE.

Travis Beckum, New York Giants - Beckum was limited to six games last year, but he averaged 68 receptions for 942.5 yards and 5.5 TDs his previous two years.  He’ll be used in two Tight End sets with Kevin Boss, but doesn’t offer much fantasy value initially.  Quality pick by the G-Men though.

Shawn Nelson, Buffalo Bills – Buffalo had a need for a pass-catching TE and Nelson should fit the bill.  He caught 53 passes last year for 557 yards and 3 TDs.  He averaged 514 yards per season in his stellar four years at Southern Miss. 

Cornelius Ingram, Philadelphia Eagles - It may take a year or two for Ingram to make an impact, but the potential is there.  He had 34 receptions for 508 yards and 7 TDs in 2007.  Great athlete, but is recovering from an ACL injury that cost him all of last year for the Gators.

Written by Ryan Lesters, LestersLegends.com

Some reasonably available players to assist you in the Strikeouts category.  Realize that some of these will come with high ERAs & WHIPs because if a Pitcher has low numbers in those categories and a good K total, they’re already spoken for.

Scott Richmond, Toronto Blue Jays – Scott had a great week for the Jays going 2-0 with 13 Ks, a 2.08 ERA, and 1.23 WHIP.  His K/9 ratio was 9.0 and his K/BB ratio was 2.6.  Scott is 3-0 on the year with 20 Ks,  a 2.70 ERA and 1.29 WHIP.  He’s one of baseball’s best kept secrets as he’s owned in just 4.8% of ESPN, 34% of Yahoo, and 44% of CBS Sportsline leagues.

Doug Davis, Arizona Diamondbacks - Doug Davis also had a strong week going 1-1 with 12Ks, a 3.45 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP.  His K/9 ratio was 8.3 and his K/BB ratio was 3.0.  On the season he’s been a little snake-bitten (pun intended) with a 2-3 record, 27 Ks, a 2.91 ERA, and a 1.18 WHIP.   He’s owned in 5.4% of ESPN, 24% of Yahoo, and 31% of CBS Sportsline leagues.

Adam Eaton, Baltimore Orioles – Eaton falls into the category of helping in Ks and not much else.  Last week he went 1-1 with 11 Ks, a 4.72 ERA and 1.20 WHIP.  His K/9 ratio was 7.4 and his K/BB ratio was 2.75.  On the season he’s 1-3 with 21 Ks, a 7.17 ERA, and 1.73 WHIP.  He is owned in 0.5% of ESPN, 1% of Yahoo, and 1% of CBS Sportsline leagues.  I recommend you leave it that way

Koji Uehara, Baltimore Orioles – Eaton’s teammate Uehara is a little more attractive.  He went 0-1 with 11 Ks, a 3.46 ERA, and a 0.85 WHIP.  His K/9 ratio was 7.6 and he did not issue a Walk.  On the year he’s 2-2 with 19 Ks, a 4.50 ERA, and 1.13 WHIP.  He’s owned in 5.9% of ESPN, 20% of Yahoo, and 49% of CBS Sporsline leagues.  He got hit with a liner in last night’s start so I caution you that he could miss a start or two.

Scott Olsen, Washington Nationals - Scott pitched much better this past week going 1-1 with 10 Ks, a 2.31 ERA, and 1.63 WHIP.  His K/9 ratio is 7.7 and his K/BB ratio is 2.5.  On the year he’s 1-3 with 20 Ks, a 6.08 ERA, and 1.73 WHIP.  Even when he pitches well, that WHIP is killer, which probably justifies leaving him in the free agent pool.  Speaking of which, he is owned in 0.8% of ESPN, 3% of Yahoo, and 17% of CBS Sportsline leagues.

Dave Bush, Milwaukee Brewers – Bush was solid last week going 1-0 with 9 Ks, a 3.55 ERA, and 0.95 WHIP.  His K/9 ratio was 6.4 and his K/BB ratio was 2.25.  On the year he’s 1-0 with 18 Ks, a 4.50 ERA, and a 1.27 WHIP.  He is owned in 3.8% of ESPN, 22% of Yahoo, and 49% of CBS Sportsline leagues.

Today on Espn Peter Gammons will interview Alex Rodriguez.  You can view a sneak peak at Deadspin.  By looking at the sneak peek it looks like ARod is taking the honest route which I think is a good idea.  He could have always stuck to his guns and said the test must have not been right and everyone would have known he was lying.

It’s interesting he chose Peter Gammons and ESPN when it was SI that broke the story.  Personally, I think he chose ESPN because he can get the interview on his terms and we all know that ESPN is here to report the news they choose to and not report everything.  I mean how can they come out and ask ARod the really hard questions if they have a multi million dollar deal to televise their games.

Anyone think someone at ESPN had the ARod story and chose not to break it because they knew another news outlet would do it?

Obviously right now Barry Bonds is the most hated player in baseball history.  Now that Arod has tested positive for steroids, this could change.  Here are a few things that could make ARod hated more:

1. He plays for the NY Yankees!
2. If anyone thought there was a top player that was clean, we thought it was ARod.  He has done a great job tricking us.  Everyone new Barry was guilty.
3. He is not clutch and his all time numbers will probably be some of the best ever.  Personally, that makes me hate him more then Barry.
4. He was the first 100 million dollar man.  He will probably make double what Barry made during his career.
5. He is a baby
6. Joe Torre, someone you can’t help but like, called ARod “A-Fraud” in his new book.
7. The famous swatting glove incident against the Red Sox.
8. The possibility that he cheated on his hot wife with Madonna.  Has anyone seen Madonna lately?  She looks terrible.

What else am I missing?

I have been inspired by a recent Bill Simmons podcast and have decided to give you my top twenty players to draft in fantasy football if you held your draft today. At this point in the nfl season we know who is good, who is bad, who is hurt and who is missing the whole freaking season (Tom Brady I’m talking to you!). So let’s just say that you and nine friends all wish to do the 2008 fantasy football draft all over today (just before week 7). Well… my name is Brandon Schrey and here is who you should pick and why.

1) Marion Barber: 700 combined yards and 6 tds

2) Clinton Portis: 643 yards rushing (leader) and 6 tds

3) Adrian Peterson: 563 yards rushing and 3 tds

4) Reggie Bush: 239 rushing, 361 receiving and 8 total tds (3 PR)

5) Matt Forte: 459 rushing, 206 receiving and 5 tds

6) Drew Brees: 1993 yards and 12 tds through 6 weeks

7) Frank Gore: 524 rushing, 196 receiving and 6 tds

Ladainian Tomlinson: 405 rushing, 124 receiving and 4 tds

9) Brandon Jacobs:447 rushing and 4 tds

10) Michael Turner: 597 rushing and 6 tds

11) Maurice Jones-Drew: 301 rushing, 184 receiving and 5 tds

12) Ronnie Brown: 336 rushing, 107 receiving, 7 tds and 1 passing td

13) Brian Westbrook: 194 rushing, 94 receiving and 6 total tds

14) Greg Jennings: 653 receiving and 4 tds

15) Brandon Marshall: 521 receiving and 3 tds

16) Larry Fitzgerald: 546 receiving and 5 tds

17) Chris Johnson: 381 rushing and 2 tds

18) Marshawn Lynch: 319 rushing, 91 receiving and 4 tds

19) Stephen Jackson: 348 receiving, 243 rushing and 1 td

20) Roddy White: 566 receiving and 3 tds

This post was originally written by Brandon Schrey over at the Brandon Schrey Report.

No need to panic in this first bye week of the fantasy football season…we’ve got you covered.

Here are some potential bye week replacements that could be on your waiver wire right now for Week 4.

Running Backs:

Correll Buckhalter, Eagles: Not much good news out of Philly these days on Brian Westbrook, so Buckhalter has a good chance to be the featured back this week. Chicago’s run defense is fourth in the NFL, so Buckhalter’s value won’t be on the ground as through the air  when QB Donovan McNabb finds him in the flat or on a screen.

Steve Slaton, Texans: It was only a matter of time because Ahman Green’s inability to run the football effectively would cost him his job. Slaton has big play potential (18 carries, 116 yards, TD last week) and will get around 14-20 touches against Jacksonville. Even though the Jaguars can be stout on the run, they have given up 108.0 yards this year (ranked 17th), so Slaton is a good option.

Fred Jackson, Bills: St. Louis is going to have their hands full with Buffalo’s two-back attack, and Jackson has flex-play potential. He will be used as a receiver and change-of-pace back, which gives Jackson a chance to score against the league’s 30th-ranked pass defense.

Read the rest of this entry »

Championship fantasy football teams need their share of star quarterbacks and running backs.

But so many owners forget about drafting and obtaining star wide receivers, and it costs them the chances to be really good.

Trophy-winning, rub-it-in-every-other-owners-face, trash-talking and kiss-my-rear-end good.

So now I’m here to help you navigate the world of fantasy WR’s and why you must draft them high, and get the right ones.

I am in a 12-team dynasty keeper league that continues to be the rage of friends and co-workers. We keep 17 players each year, and draft five before the season begins. This allows the savy owner to build their franchise without concerns of losing their rookie, double-secret pickup in Week 17.

When I started out, my receivers weren’t very good. My first receivers (in 2001) were Laveranues Coles, Antonio Freeman, Todd Pinkston, Santana Moss, Darnay Scott, Dez White, Ed McCaffrey and Terance Mathis. While have eight WRs when you have a 22-man roster? Exactly. I was decent back then, but didn’t win the title. My starters (Coles, Moss and McCaffrey) were good enough because I had Corey Dillon, Curtis Martin, and Anthony Thomas (in Chicago).

As the year’s went by, I could never get over the top. I came close, but never quite had enough. As my RBs aged and retired, I filled in with rookie RBs, but my QBs (Drew Brees, Donovan McNabb) seemed to play well enough to keep me in the hunt for a championship.

My first decision was to look at the teams that were putting up big numbers from week to week. My surprise: great WR play.

No one can win without two solid wideouts, no matter how you look at it…(well, having Peyton Manning and LaDainian Tomlinson could help…)

First, I picked up a number of WRs through trades and waiver wires in 2004 (Plaxico Burress, Andre Johnson, and TJ Houshmandzadeh). I used those players to enhance other parts of my team.

I went after my first big WR deal, obtaining Reggie Wayne in 2005, who is one of my franchise pillars today. He was first WR that really broke out and could be used each week, along with Burress. That stabilized my WR so I could focus on RB and QB. But I still couldn’t win in the playoffs.

2006 was a turn point year. I traded Bress away for a first round pick, which landed me Jay Cutler, who is now my starter. More importantly, I grabbed Mike Furrey and Leon Washington…those moves allowed me to make my biggest deal yet.

With my eyes on getting another big WR to fill the WR/RB flex role, since I only had Brandon Jacobs and Corey Dillon, I went out in 2007 and obtained Terrell Owens using Furrey and Washington as main center pieces.

Later in the season, I finally dealt my first pick ever McNabb to a rival for Brandon Marshall. And now I knew that I had enough to win.

And the rest is history.

Last year, I went on to win the league championship. I had four amazing receivers (Wayne, Burress, Owens and Brandon Marshall). Remember when I had eight okay ones in 2001? The difference is that now I can use the other four roster slots on sleeper RBs that could become stars at any moment (aka Ryan Grant).

Even though I traded Burress this year to get RB Kevin Smith, I realize that receivers are really the key to any elite fantasy football team. There are too many backs-by-committee, so having solid starting WRs is the only way to guarantee points on the board.

Owens and Wayne are going to give you around 100 yards and a touchdown each week. You can’t expect that out of your RBs.

My advice is to draft at least one stud receiver, and then trade for another. Identify the best receivers by looking at scoring trends, comparing height vs red zone touchdowns, and injuries in their career. Then go after those wideouts you feel could start every week, no matter who they play.

Even in traditional leagues, you can draft one, and obtain the other. It’s picking smartly that give you leverage. Grab that backup QB to the superstar in Round 18. Take the sleeper RB with your last pick.

Those choices might open the door to that big name wideout that could equal championships for many years to come.