Top Five Players for Your Fantasy Football Team - Noah Weber's Blog

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Top Five Players for Your Fantasy Football Team Stuck

Posted on August 21, 2012 at 09:06 AM.

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(PHOTO CREDIT: ESPN.COM)

The NFL season is only a few weeks away, and that means it�s time to start getting ready for your fantasy league. Consider using your first pick on one of these top-five fantasy stars:

5. Aaron Rodgers

Depending on your scoring system, a quarterback should either be a top priority or a mid-round pick. If passing TDs are worth 6 points, it might be worth jumping on one of the elite QBs at your first opportunity. If passing TDs are worth only 4, you can probably take your chances on the second tier of signal callers. That is, unless you can draft Aaron Rodgers.

Regardless of whether his touchdowns are worth 4 or 6, Aaron Rodgers throws a LOT of them. And he does it every week. Rodger�s ability to spread the ball around the field is second to nobody in the league, and the fact that the Packers are a good team all around allows them to be more dynamic in their offensive approach. If you are committed to getting the best QB available, seize any opportunity to add Rodgers to your team.

4. Calvin Johnson

Receivers don�t typically generate the same type of consistent week-to-week scoring volume that running backs do, and therefore are usually a lower priority than those backs. That being said, when receivers DO have big games, they often have HUGE ones. Furthermore, the disparity between the elite receivers in the league and the rest of the pack, and the fact that there are only a handful of truly reliable #1 fantasy receivers anywhere in football, means that those top targets are extremely valuable commodities. The most valuable of those commodities is unquestionably Calvin Johnson.

Not only did Megatron lead the league in receiving yards, but his 16 touchdowns were second only to the man who had the single greatest receiving season for a TE in the history of the game. Johnson�s 105.1 yards a game also made him the only player to crack the century mark in that category. Those two numbers mean that Megatron owners were treated to an average of over 16 points a week. That�s RIDICULOUS for any wide receiver. If your pick comes around and one of the next three guys isn�t still around, pick Calvin Johnson and rest assured that the best wide receiver in football plays for you.

3. Ray Rice

Ray Rice has quietly become the workhorse for one of the perennially most successful teams in the NFL. After three productive seasons in his first three years in the league, Rice blew up in 2011. He was the top yards-from-scrimmage leader in all of football, and added 12 TDs to boot. The fantasy football world has taken notice, and Ray Rice is now universally regarded as one of the top backs in the league.

Despite some questions about his durability and tendency to fumble in big games, Rice is projected top 4 in just about every single fantasy league on earth. If you have a top four pick and he is there, you�ll know what to do.

2. LeSean McCoy

There are guys who can put up points, and guys who can put up points quickly. LeSean McCoy is most certainly the latter. After decent campaigns in 2009 and 2010, McCoy put up a monster season in 2011, generating almost 1,700 yards of total offense and scoring 20 total TDs. His numbers, combined with the impressive manner in which he earned them, has made LeSean McCoy one of the top three fantasy picks in just about any league.

Quite simply, there is no other player in football who is as capable of scoring on ANY play. McCoy is blazingly fast, but more importantly, he might make the most impressive and effective cuts of any player to ever play the game. When a player can get stuffed on an up-the-middle run play, hop three yards to the right, and go outside for a 90-yard touchdown, you probably want them on your team. As I mentioned earlier, he�ll go quickly, so unless you have the number one pick, you better take LeSean McCoy if he is on the board.

1. Arian Foster

After coming out of nowhere to win the NFL rushing title in 2010, Arian Foster could easily have been the top fantasy pick last season. However, he came into the season with a nagging hamstring injury that scared some fantasy owners away, and he ended up dropping several spots in a lot of leagues. He DID miss the first game of the season, but afterwards he returned to amass almost 1,800 yards of total offense and score 12 total TDs. These numbers made Arian Foster an amazing pick at anywhere beyond the number one position, and also ensured that Foster would not likely fall beyond that number one position again this time around.

The honor of the first pick can be a heavy burden for any fantasy player. Some seasons there is an undisputed #1 and the choice is very easy. Other years, the first pick is more of a gamble. Although arguments could be made to the contrary, I believe this year is one of the easier ones. If you have the number one pick in your league, don�t waste anybody�s time. As soon as the clock starts, draft Arian Foster.

So that�s my top five. You probably want to tell me what an idiot I am and how wrong I will be, but you�ll need to wait a few months to be any more of an expert than I am now. In the mean time, sound off on the following:

WHO DO YOU THINK WILL BE THE NUMBER ONE FANTASY PLAYER FOR 2012?

Noah Weber is a regular sports blogger for Operation Sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @gobluenoah

Comments

# 1 Beastly Wayz @ Aug 21

Watch out for The Madden Curse on Megatron, if something can stop CJ it will be The Curse, Lord knows DB's can't see him....

# 2 McNutted @ Aug 21

Tom Brady will have a monster year. If you are going by standard scoring you have to put a QB at top. Sorry to say they outscore every other posistion.