Talking NFL

The purpose of the Fantasy Football regular season is identical to that of the NFL regular season.  As Parcells used to say, it’s all about getting into the tournament.  Anything can happen in the playoffs, just make sure your team gets there.

So what’s the number one key to getting your team to the tournament?
STUDS.  A stud is a player that outscores his nearest competitor in that position by a wide margin, ensuring he’ll make a huge difference on your team during the duration of the season (i.e. he racks up points the way Justin Timberlake nails A-list actresses).

Let’s take a look back at the biggest studs of the 2006 season:

1) Running Back - LaDainian Tomlinson, (Chargers):  

Last year, LT was the consensus # 3 pick in nearly every fantasy football publication, behind Larry Johnson and Shawn Alexander.  LaDainian proved just how wrong the experts were by having his best year yet, piling up 1,815 yards rushing and a record 31 total TDs last season.  In a standard fantasy scoring system (6 pts TD, 1 pt per 20 yds, bonuses after 100+ yds), LT outscored the second ranked running back (Larry Johnson) by a stunning 106 points for the season!  How you liking those preseason rankings now?

2) Quarterback - Peyton Manning, (Colts):

This fall, Peyton will go into his 10th season, and yet again will be ranked the #1 QB for fantasy football.  He tossed for just under 4,400 yards and 31 TDs last season (he also rushed for 4 TDs, twice the number Michael Vick did, although that doesn’t mean he can run like Vick.  Just that he can stretch that 6′ 5″ frame over the goal line when needed).  In leagues that award QBs 6 points for TDs, he outscored Drew Brees by 57 points, and Tom Brady by 93 points for the season.

3 & 4) Wide Receivers - Marvin Harrison & Reggie Wayne, (Colts):

Staying with the Colts, Manning threw over 2/3rds of his touchdown passes to these two gentlemen.  Harrison had the slight advantage with 12 TDs & 1366 yards receiving, but if you snagged Wayne (9 TDs & 1310 yds) you weren’t exactly hurting either.  Each receiver hauled in over 140 fantasy points for the year (149 & 142, respectively).

Now while the point differential over their nearest competitor (Terrell Owens at 133) wasn’t nearly as pronounced, if you take averages into account, you see the advantage to having one of these wideouts.  The next eight WRs after the Colts duo average out to 117.75 points for the year, compared to 145.5 for Harrison & Wayne.  In a 10 team league, that gives you a huge advantage.

5 & 6) Defenses - Chicago Bears & Baltimore Ravens: Defenses usually don’t come into play until the 2nd half of the draft, but if you took a chance with an earlier pick on one of these teams, you were handsomely rewarded!  Each team racked up points in different ways; the Bears had a knack for defensive & special teams touchdowns (led by Devin Hester), scoring 9 during the season. Meanwhile the Ravens put pressure on the QB (60 sacks), which led to them making throws that were easy to pick off (28 INT’s).

In a standard defensive scoring system, the Bears amassed 293 points, with the Ravens just behind them at 282.  Compare that to just 236 points for the 3rd highest defense (the Patriots), and you see how big an advantage having one of these 2 defenses would have been for your team.

So the point of all this is to show just how much of a premium you should place on getting at least one stud on your team.  If you can get more than one, you’ll have a tremendous edge over your competition.

Naturally, the follow-up question is:  Who will the fantasy studs be in 2007?  Tune in next time to find out, grasshopper!

NFL, Fantasy Football, Studs, big tease