No. 8 Skippastate
Team Owner - Jon Schwartz
Last year's record - 7-6
Overall Record - 10-15
Preseason Rank last year - No. 3
Final Rank last year - No. 4
Best Player - WR Lee Evans
Worst Player - RB Kregg Lumpkin
Make or Break player - WR Lee Evans
Best draft pick - WR Javon Bouknight,
Round 3 pick 16
Worst draft pick - QB Darrell Hackney, Round 2 Pick 16
We now enter the top half of the league mathematically, and in the
commissioner's office's opinion, the third tier. These teams should definitely
be vying for playoff spots, but I still would consider them long shots to be
the best the team in the league.
The four-year path of Skippastate should bring home
to the lowliest of schools right now. After two years of looking like a team
that would never compete, the Ragin Kazins had a great season last year and made the
semifinals. At one time it thought that Skippastate
was built for that season, but they've come back with another competitive group
for 2003.
You've got to like the receivers and rushers Schwartz has assembled, especially
since in the past he's often stepped on his dick on his backups. This is a deep
group, with only RB Craig Lumpkin unlikely to be a viable option. Grant may see
his numbers fall now that Julius Jones is back, but I think Rich Alexis is set
to have a big fantasy season. Knight was a very nice pickup, he's a darkhorse candidate for a MFFL all American.
At WR, the news about Lee Evans has been all positive, a great sign for Skippastate. With Wisco's
schedule, he has the potential to be in that 1,500 yard range again. BJ Johnson
is the only receiver on this roster that isn't a No. 1, but I think he's
getting a little too overlooked this season and will put up his best numbers to
date. Chris Collins had a subpar junior year, but
he's still Manning's go-to guy. Bouknight was great
as a freshman.
Quarterback is the concern area for Skippastate. Lorenzen should be strong, but I'm really skeptical about
Rich Brooks. I think
You have to mention the special teams here also, because Nugent and Kstate D will probably give Skippastate
a couple wins.
I think in Schwartz's case, Lee Evans really is going to make or break his
season. If he replays his junior season, Skippastate
could further erase their previous stigma by winning the Non-Mich.
No. 7 - UPU
Team Owner - Arun Gopal
Last year's record - 7-6
Overall Record - 13-12
Preseason Rank last year - No. 4
Final Rank last year - No. 7
Best Player - RB Steven Jackson
Worst Player - RB Ademichenobi Echemundo
Make or Break player - RB Joseph Addai
Best draft pick - WR Jason Terry, Round 6 Pick 9
Worst draft pick - RB Joseph Addai, Round 2 Pick 10
These rankings are pretty much outdate with the recent rash of practice
injuries. How these nagging injuries affect teams, and
the quality of their red shirt pickups will have a major impact on things. But
I'm going to stick to the rankings I originally concocted.
UPU, runnerup in the perennial underachiever squad,
will feature a thin but strong at the top line of rbs,
a deep WR core and an unpredictable but potentially explosive group of qbs.
Rix and Manning are both coming off subpar years and looking to rebounds, and Vincent Young
looks like a good candidate to be the next guy that sits on UPU's
bench for three years before playing.
At RB, Steven Jackson is a very good shot at making first team all American. He
will be joined in the backfield by Joseph Addai, who
Nick Saban thinks will be great if he stays healthy.
The other guys are Brian Calhoun, whose really good
but probably a backup in
I love the WRs UPU has assembled though. It wasn't
Crap Thorpe's fault that people picked him two years ago, way too early. Now
he's a jr and ready to be
the big scoring WR at FSU. Devard Darling is very
good, but will his offense be good enough to get him points? Lightfoot looks
like the new go-to guy for Andrew Walter, and Terry will probably score just
about any time
With Virginia Tech defense, UPU is always going to be near the top of the
league in that category.
This is the lowest preseason ranking UPU has ever had, but they've been a
disappointment the last two years. If one of those two qbs
get things rolling and Addai
is the man in LSU, UPU will be a factor in the
No. 6 Vernons School for Commandos
Team Owner - Mike Kazin
Last year's record - 5-6-1
Overall Record - 10-11-2
Preseason Rank last year - No. 6
Final Rank last year - No. 10
Best Player - QB Cody Pickett
Worst Player - WR Kendrick Jones
Make or Break player - WR Derek Abney
Best draft pick - RB DonTrell Moore Round 1 Pick 6
Worst draft pick - WR Kendrick Jones Round 5 Pick 6
Kazin is another third-tier team, one that figures to
contend for a playoff
spot, but is unlikely to be a title contender. Kazin
appears to be in a good
situation at QB, with Cody Pickett leading the way. Considering the
offseason turmoil at
stats, but he will surely be a quality starter, and Gino Giuliani and Kyle
Orton are quality backups.
At RB, Kazin will need DonTrell
Moore to be an All American, which isn't out
of the question, but might be a little premature for the sophomore. Even
though Gerald Riggs impressed during spring practices, he will still split
carries with Ced Houston and
touchdowns with Jabari Davis. Jason Wright
might be a quality all-purpose back this year, but he also might be the
second-coming of Damien Anderson (good one year, and then crappy the next
year when
Northwestern's schedule). Art Brown's injury hurts, but Kazin
might come out
the better for it, depending on who he drafts to replace Brown.
Kazin's WR situation is one of the worst in the
league. Trading Roy Williams
and expecting Derek Abney to return 6 TDs and capably
replace him might be a
buy Microsoft stock at $120/share mistake. Not only did this trade weaken
his WR unit, but Art Brown won't help the Commandos and division foe TJ Berka
is the better for it. After Abney, things get worse. Wes Welker will likely
catch a lot of passes, but its unlikely that any Texas Tech WR will surpass
850 yards or 6 TDs. Brandon Middleton is the best
player on Houston, but how
many points can he score when Houston is losing 42-3 on a weekly basis?
Kendrick Jones appears to be a pick for the future, though even a pick like
this is questionable, as he was little more than a special teams
standout
last year on an average
Nate Kaeding looks to be
one of the league's best kickers again, even if
ability to kick 6-point field goals. USC's defense
will create a lot of big
plays and Louisville plays one of the easiest schedules in football, so
there will likely be a couple of shutouts in the cards.
No. 5 - Happy Valley University
Team Owner - Dan "Nightshift" Williams
Last year's record - 8-5
Overall Record - 13-11-1
Preseason Rank last year - No. 8
Final Rank last year - No. 6
Best Player - RB Kevin Jones, Jr. Va Tech
Worst Player - WR Troy Williamson, So., So. Carolina
Make or Break player - Roydell Williams, WR, Tulane
Best draft pick - Eric Shelton, 3rd pick of 2nd rd
Worst draft pick - Williamson, 17th pick of 3rd rd
The self-proclaimed "Second most-dominant team in the league", HVU kicks
off the 2nd tier of teams, those who look a little bit more like title
contenders than teams ranked 6-8 right now.
The clear strength of this team is its running backs, which are probably
the best in the league in both quality and depth. Assuming Greg Jones is back
to full speed (and it sounds like he is), he and KJ will put up huge point
totals almost every week. Perry is a very good no. 3, and
HVU loaded up on ACC quarterbacks, which probably isn't a bad move since
there aren't any great ACC defenses to stop them. Durant, McBrien
and Schaub seem pretty interchangeable.
HVU's receivers are also pretty
interchangeable, but that's not really a good thing. Cotchery
won't have a better year than he did last year, especially since guys like
Richard Washington and Tramain Hall are in the mix. Meanwhile,
Parrish (who is hurt) is fighting with about 9 other h.s.
AA's for playing time, and Williamson plays for South Carolina, which is happy winning
14-10 if it can. Roydell Williams is the X-factor --
HVU really needs him to have a year like he did in 2001.
Billy Bennett and So. Miss give
HVU good special teams, so basically it comes down to the wide receivers. The Fighting
JoePas are in good shape everywhere else, but if the
receivers are as mediocre
as they appear to be, Nightshift's title hopes might be finished.
No. 4 - Bovine University
Team Owner - Jeff Phillips
Last year's record - 9-3-1
Overall Record - 18-6-1
Preseason Rank last year - No. 13
Final Rank last year - No. 1
Best Player - QB Chance Harridge
Worst Player - WR Terry Richardson
Make or Break player - WR Carlos Perez
Best draft pick - Brandon Miree, Round 5 Pick 16
Worst draft pick - Quincy Wilson, Round 2 Pick 18
Well, here are your two-time defending champions from Bovine. The last two
years they've been vastly underrated, but this year I have them in my top tier
(which incidently is the top 5 teams, which I think
should be the ones vying for best team in the league).
Look through Phillips draft, I don't think there are any great picks or any bad
picks, every pick was just very solid for the spot the guy was picked. I had to
choose someone as worst pick, so I chose
Anyway, what I do think was better-than-great was Jeff's trade to get Chance Harridge. Harridge is a guy we'll
have to watch the very smallest screen in a bar with a lot of satellite dishes
to ever see. However, if you do see that game, and you happen to be playing
against Bovine, he's probably going to score three to five touchdowns. You will
end up hating Air Force and the team they are playing. Anyway, I expect Harridge to be competing for league POY, and I think Kaz got an anal bludgeoning in that trade.
As if that wasn't bad enough, I also have Bovine with my top rated RB in Darren
Sproles and my top rated WR in Reggie Williams.
I don't believe that's enough to make a team great (check bannat
last year, with the third highest scoring qb and
second highest scoring rb he
finished dead last). Unlike AESUCI, Bovine does have the supporting cast to win
the title. But three other teams have enough depth to move past him in my
rankings.
The other three rbs have not had any great seasons
yet, but they could all have great seasons in 2003. Houston is still sharing
the ball at Tenn, but Miree
really came on towards the end of last season and everyone seems to think
Quincy Wilson won't miss a beat from the Avon Man, so who am I to disagree.
At WR, I doubt Richardson will be ready to score consistent fantasy points this
year, so that means Stovall or Perez will have to elevate their game. Perez has
slowly moved up the ladder at UF each year, but I'd be slightly worried he will
be surpassed by more talented receivers. Stovall could be a great one, but he
could be hindered by Notre Dame's offense. If the bye weeks aren't perfectly
aligned for Bovine this year, the WR position could cost them in the playoffs.
The defense and the kickers are adequate, which Bovine has gotten by with the
last two years.
So I think this team will be very dangerous. And if Bovine can win three
straight titles in their first three seasons, it will be a fantasy
accomplishment I've never heard of anyone approaching.
No. 3 -
Team Owner - T.J. Berka
Last year's record - 6-6-1
Overall Record - 12-12-1
Preseason Rank last year - No. 7
Final Rank last year - No. 8
Best Player - RB TA McClendon
Worst Player - WR Craig Chambers
Make or Break player - RB Bobby Purifoy
Best draft pick - Auburn defense Round 5 Pick 11
Worst draft pick - Chris Chambers, Round 6 Pick 12
This is kind of a surprise to most (including myself) that Jesusass
made it up this high. Let me lead off unconventionally by saying that this team
would have been at least two spots lower if it weren't for Berka's
picks of Jared Siegal and Auburn Defense. They were
far and away the top available at both positions on my board, and just under
the very top. They boosted JAU's defense and special
teams from average to possibly the best in the league.
After that, Jesusass is led by four great players and
has four or five question marks after that who will determine their ultimate
fate. To me, it would take something really unexpected for JAU not to get great
production out of QB Rod Rutherford, RBs Cedric
Benson and TA McClendon and WR Roy Williams. After that, there are depth
questions at every position. In fact, some of the info that has been written
about practices since I made the rankings probably would have knocked Berka's squad down a few spots.
At QB, Mills is the man at PSU, but I'm not sure how reliable a
At RB, Lynell Hamilton or Bobby Purifoy
virtually has to win a starting rb
job for Berka. Latest thing I read said Hamilton, the man who turned down
WR is another tenuous position, with Winslow having turf toe. That's one of
those injuries that when a great player has 400 yards and 2 tds
in a season you always here, "he was hampered by turf toe all
season." Craig Chambers is unlikely to be a starting WR at
At the same time, you could see how if Hamilton and/or Purifoy
won starting jobs, Winslow came back healthy, McNeal wins the
No. 2 - Ed Martin University
Team Owner - Raphy Goodstein
Last year's record - 5-8
Overall Record - 5-8
Preseason Rank last year - No. 5
Final Rank last year - No. 9
Best Player - RB Frank Gore
Worst Player - WR Andre Thurman
Make or Break player - WR Tony Johnson
Best draft pick - QB B.J. Symons Round 3 Pick 3
Worst draft pick - Andre Thurman, Round 3 Pick 13
Strife has already struck Ed Martin U, a team that was known for poor luck last
year, when Andre Thurman was ruled academically ineligible for the season. I
don't think Thurman was that great to start with, but this really puts the
pinch on Raphy's balls. He is really going to need
Tony Johnson to step up as well as Newsome and Edwards to perform as expected.
However, this is still a team worthy of being considered No. 2 in the league,
because they do have those top 2 wrs, plus three
great running backs and at least two good quarterbacks. The trio of Gore,
At quarterback, the duo of Josh Fields and B.J. Symons should be more than
adequate, even if Chris Leak doesn't start a game this year from
The kicking game is adequate, with two Ylimeni
of Oregon State and Trey DiCarlo of Oklahoma
both on high scoring teams. Trading the
I don't think the Thurman news is bad enough to consider it a major blow to
EMU's title hopes (I have a feeling Raph will be
checking his trade routes by tomorrow morning), but you have to wonder if the
fantasy football gods are yet to accept our confident little friend.
No. 1 - Yellow Sub
Team Owner - Chris Bowman
Last year's record - 7-5-1
Overall Record - 11-13-1
Preseason Rank last year - No. 1
Final Rank last year - No. 5
Best Player - QB El Roberson
Worst Player - WR Chris Hale
Make or Break player - RB Kejuan Jones
Best draft pick - RB Richard Hall Round 7 Pick 6
Worst draft pick - QB Charlie Whitehurst, Round 2 Pick 9
Concluding our preseason countdown (tomorrow will be preseason unit rankings
and projected AA teams), Yellow Sub gets the nod for best team in the league on
paper before the season starts for the second year in a row. Last year they
never lived up, but this squad is even better.
Firstly, there's more star power with Roberson firmly
established as one of the league's best QBs. Bowman
waited way too long to use this fantasy stud last season, but I doubt he'll
repeat the mistake. He should rush for over 1,000 and throw for over 2,000
barring injury, and he will also score a fair amount from beyond the 50.
Backing him up is Charlie Whitehurst, who is serviceable but I think Chris
could have done better in the middle of the second round (see Rasheed Marshall). Ingle Martin looks like he'll either get
the job at
At RB, Anthony Davis has been very consistent for two years, and I think he'll
do more of the same. He should be a 16-20 point guy on average I think. Whalen
started with a bang last season but couldn't sustain, but I expect him to look
more like the Staley clone he was supposed to be. Kejuan
Jones is sitting No. 2 on the depth chart now, but Works is a small back and it's unlikely Jones won't at least score a bunch of TDs. I think Hall was a steal, I
won't be surprised if he equals Demarco McCleskey's
numbers at Cinci last year.
The WR position is just as stacked, it's almost Grandstaffian.
Standeford and Woods make an awesome one-two punch,
and Fred Gibson is no slouch as a third receiver. He is looking to rebound from
a sophomore slump. I talked to some BYU people (net people) about Hale, and
they basically said "every year our fans pick someone who they start
hyping as this unbelievable young receiver, and it never pans out." They
said they thought the Christianson brothers would have better numbers.
Kicking game may be a bit of a question, because those Grammaticas
are always volatile and Medlock is UCLA freshman I
know little about. Defense will be good with
In fantasy football, your window of opportunity never quite closes like it does
in the NFL. You can always reload with great scouting and strategy, no matter
when you pick. But if Bowman's squad, which will probably lose its top four
players next season, doesn't at least sniff a league title or overall title, it
will be pretty disappointing for the Subs.