Last year, when Benson resembled the closest thing to an actual fantasy option as he ever has, I was pleasantly surprised. One less running back by committee in the league is good for everybody. You could start the guy as your #2 back and not be the laughing-stock of your league. I wished him the best.

News out of Austin, TX has Benson being tossed out of a bar, accusing the tossers of racism and splitting people’s lips, allegedly. Apparently, Benson’s side of the story hasn’t been told, and he’s waiting for the “appropriate time” to share it.

Assuming no suspensions are handed down by the NFL and depending on where you pick in your draft, look to target Benson in the 3rd round. If Roger Goodell decides to flex his authoritative muscle and Benson ends up sitting for a few weeks, I wouldn’t pick him any higher than 6th round.

What does this have to do with fantasy sports? Nothing.

I just hate Matt Millen. And so should you.

   There are many kinds of drafts (i.e. auto-pick, online, auction, snake, etc). The best draft to have is a LIVE one, with everyone there to celebrate the holiday season together.  But there is a Grinch lurking right behind the door, waiting for your draft to end to swoop in and diminish all the time, energy and loving care you put into crafting your team.  Why would you ruin this holiday by making it pointless?

   That Grinch waiting to kick down your door is rampant waiver wire movement.

   Your fantasy season does not begin Week 1, it begins the minute the first owner is on the clock.  Nay, it ends when the last second expires from the season prior’s championship game (hopefully with you hoisting a big fat trophy over your head, tears streaming down your face, hugging your significant other and realizing the deal you made with God now beholds you to name your firstborn son LaDanian). But I digress. 

"Ummm, yeah. Maurice Peyton Miles Alge is a family name."

   You pick your team from the entire pool of players (unless it’s a keeper league) and begin anew.  Leagues with no restrictions on waiver moves, or dare I say unlimited moves (I just threw up in my mouth a little bit), makes the draft irrelevant.  When you can pick up and drop players willy-nilly it gives no consequence to the draft.  When your team turns out crappier than you thought when you called their name out on draft day, you should be punished.  Craptastic owners should not be able to replace their entire team with waiver wire fodder.

   Not only does it make the draft pointless, it doesn’t reward the people who drafted good teams.  The owner who took a leap of faith in the 5th round, picking a rookie who blows up doesn’t get the props (that’s short for PROPERS) he deserves. Waiver wire weasels are just playing the match ups week to week.  That isn’t fantasy football, it’s just betting the odds.

   Waivers are a necessity, though.  If you are battling bye weeks, or in the unfortunate situation when your star players breaks himself (i.e. Steve Slaton ’09, Tom Brady ’08, Shaun Alexander ’06, Curtis Martin ’05, Marshall Faulk ’02, Edgerrin James ’01 – Oh, looky there, folks. I owned 5 out of 6. Lucky me!).  Every year, there are stand out players who perform well left undrafted.  Our league gives everybody four offensive and four defensive waivers (four defensive since we use Individual Defensive Players, we don’t suck).  Use them wisely, kiddies.  If you draft well, you shouldn’t need much more than that (we’ve been around for 11 years and we’ve had one champion go an ENTIRE SEASON with no waiver moves. That’s FANTASY BALLS.).

   It’s no fun when you have people picking up people one week and tossing them back to the wire the next.

   Show some respect for the draft.

   The running back who wins the starting gig is worthy of being picked between rounds 3 and 5.

   Even though “Fat” Albert is going to get most of the headlines leading up to the start of the season, pay attention to that “other” story and draft accordingly.

   Yes, there are fewer running backs out there that will get enough touches to influence your week to week totals than there are quarterbacks and receivers.  I am not arguing that.  And sure, for the most part, the top couple running backs drafted do not disappoint (unless your name is Matt Forte).  But once you’ve used that precious first or second overall pick on that stud running back you’ll be left lacking at another position and there is always the chance you just drafted the next Forte of ’09.  

   Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, and Peyton Manning are the safest (and highest scoring) players in fantasy football. What’s the point to fantasy football?  To avoid social interaction with real human beings To outscore your opponent, week in and week out.  Common sense tells you to build your team around players who will score the most points and do it consistently.  That means you take on of those three quarterbacks if you are lucky enough to be picking at the top of the first round because you will not find that caliber quarterback in the later rounds.  

"Draft me in the first round or I will audible you to death!"

   The same can’t be said for running backs.  In our league, three of the top five running backs were not drafted in the first round when most owners believe it is absolutely essential to get a top back.  Chris Johnson went near the end of the second round, I drafted Ray Rice in the eighth round and Jamaal Charles went undrafted and was a key free agent pick up for a play-off team.  These three players finished first, fourth and fifth respectively in our league and I’m sure all were top ten in most every other league.  Here’s the catch though;  CJ’s average draft position (ADP) last year was 12, Rice’s was 69, and Charles’s 158.  I’m not trying to convince you that running backs are not important to winning championships.  Of course they are.  But well-prepared and savvy owners can pluck top scoring running backs in later rounds.     Sure you might have been the guy who had Maurice Jones-Drew or Adrian Peterson last year, but maybe your the poor schmuck that blew that early pick with Matt Forte (ADP 4).  Unlike running back diamonds in the rough, top scoring, automatic producing (“YOU’RE MONEY, BABY!”) quarterbacks do not exist in the later rounds.  Let everyone else in your league wonder what you’re doing by passing on running backs early.  Take Brees, Rodgers, or Manning and breeze into the playoffs.  Draft running backs with good situations later on. You might find the next Ray Rice or Jamaal Charles and then you can ride them AND your stud quarterback to a title. 

    YOU’RE LIKE A BIG F*CKING BEAR! MIX IT UP! SCREW CONVENTIONAL WISDOM!

   Fantasy football players of the world! Demand more out of your fantasy football experience!          

   Start utilizing individual defensive players (or “IDPs” as the kids call ‘em nowadays) and ride the snake like Jimmy Tango!          

   Our league did away with drafting entire team defenses in 2007, and have drafted individual defensive players (IDP) ever since. We start one linebacker (middle or outside, doesn’t matter), one defensive lineman (tackle or end, doesn’t matter) and one defensive back (corner or safety, doesn’t matter). This is good for multiple reasons:

   It adds more rounds to our LIVE draft. Any excuse to make Draft Day longer is a good thing. To all you guys that rush people through draft and complain when you use all your allotted time on your 15th round pick, SCREW YOU. Draft Day comes but ONCE A YEAR. Savor it. You’ll have plenty time to rush home and finish spackling the wall or sweeping out the garage or cleaning out the gutters 364 other days of the year.    

   Prepping for draft becomes ESSENTIAL. Which DBs return kicks? Which get more tackles? Which get more interceptions? An interception, fumble or sack is equivalent to a touchdown for an offensive player in our scoring system. Our league is all about punishing dummies that can’t draft. We’ve got all sorts of rules to punish the village idiot. Play your cards right, and your linebacker could very well make up for your second running back crapping the bed.   

   Cuts down on dumb luck. This goes back to punishing morons. Drafting team defenses is like drafting and playing all the Dolphins running backs. Any idiot could draft the Dolphins running backs and know that they are going to get a pretty kick ass performance out of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams wildcatting it up and down the field. In our league, nothing ventured, nothing gained. It makes you say, “Yes, I know that the Ravens are going to field a great defense this year, but I’m putting money on Terrell Suggs to have an amazing season. He’s my starting DL.”   

   Starting more players mean more games are more meaningful. Unless you go ahead and start Jonathan Vilma (LB) , Roman Harper (DB) and Will Smith (DL) all from the Saints (which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing), chances are you just became interested in more games. Instead of having a potential 5 – 7 meaningful playoff match-ups per weekend, you’ve now got more players playing in more games. It’s a win-win.   

   Chances for big point swings. We score interceptions, forced fumbles, fumble recoveries, sacks, safeties and defensive touchdowns equivalent to an offensive touchdown. Imagine the perfect storm. It’s Week 2, Monday Night Football. The 49ers have the Saints backed up on their own eight yard line. Drew Brees takes the snap back to the 3 yard line, Patrick Willis breaks through and hammers Brees from the blindside. Brees coughs up the ball and Willis gobbles it up, rumbling into the end zone for a defensive touchdown. Good lord, Willis just got a sack, a force fumble, a fumble recovery and a defensive touchdown. Your starting running back would have to score 4 touchdowns in the game to accomplish what Willis did IN ONE PLAY. Awesome.   

   How else can I draft Lions players and not get laughed at? Hey, Louis Delmas (DB) is the real deal and legitimate starter on your fantasy roster.  

One of the lone bright spots from another dismal season of being a Lion's fan.

   The biggest question every year in fantasy football is who will be the first pick in the draft.  For as long as I can remember, it’s been a given a running back fills the top spot (except for some weirdo years where we can snort in derision at brand new owners that don’t know any better).  But why is that?  Quarterbacks consistently score the most points on a team.  Why not seriously talk about a QB at #1?  For that matter, why couldn’t a wide receiver score just as many points as a running back?

   Simply put, running backs get it done.

   In my favorite league, the top two picks of the ’09 draft were Adrian Peterson and Maurice Jones-Drew, in that order. Just so happens, in terms of fantasy points, those two ended up being the second and third best running backs. The two owners/managers with them ended up facing off in our Super Bowl.  Coincidence?  Hell, no. (For some insight into our league, the highest scoring RB was Chris Johnson, who lasted until the third round because people were afraid of the dreaded two-running back system. Stupid LenDale White).

"Purple Jesus be thy name."

   The teams that won probably had a whole slew of studs powering their squads, right? More than just AP and MJD, right?  The runner-up (second place is only first loser, right?) had three elite wide receivers including top-scorer, Andre Johnson. The champ got by with Reggie Wayne, the seventh best wide receiver, and a rotation including such powerhouses like Greg Jennings (OK, he’s not bad, I lower my sarcasm level slightly, but the rest…ick) Braylon Edwards, Michael Crabtree, Austin Collie and Early Doucet.  Quarterbacks?  Not even top five, the sixth and eighth best duked it out.

   This alone should make the case to pick a running back first.  But there’s more.

   Get ready. Here comes STATS!

   In ‘09, 27 total points separated the top five quarterbacks, 15 total points separated the fifth from ninth.  A total of 20 points separated the top 12 receivers, another whopping 20 points separated the 12th from 21st.  The top two running backs were separated by 32 points! 20 total points separated the second from fifth running back and another 20 points separated the fifth from 13. That’s 72 points difference between 13 players!

   For those readers shouting back at me, “HEY, FATSO! The difference between the top 13 QBs and RBs is similar!”, I say, “HEY! Don’t judge me and my love affair with deep fried twinkies.” You only start one quarterback, there is more quality out there. To quote Ron Burgundy, “It’s science.”  Take it from me, I had the first and fourth ranked quarterbacks and all it got me was squeaking into the playoffs and a thorough first round beating.  If you’re lucky enough to own one of the elite running backs, you can at least pencil yourself into the playoffs.

   Do yourself a favor. Pick a running back in the first round.  Some yahoo will undoubtedly draft the top QB and WR, but that’s their loss.  There are enough QBs for the entire league to keep it close to even, more so for WRs.  Also, these positions ebb and flow during the season. While the same can be said for some running backs, that first pick will typically stay solid as a deep fried twinkie in my lower intestine.

"Mmmmm, deep-fried death."

   Part of the difficulty of having a successful fantasy football draft is staying sober throughout the whole ordeal keeping track of player movement. Every NFL offseason, key players in the world of fantasy change teams. It’s up to us, the avid fantasy footballers, to keep close tabs. Many big name players have had to pack up their video game system of choice and relocate. Thomas Jones (RB) has gone from the J-E-T-S (JETS. JETS. JETS.) to the Chiefs. Donovan McNabb (QB) is (gulp) a Washington Redskin. Brandon Marshall (WR) now swims with the Dolphins. Aaron Kampman (DE) joins him in the Sunshine State to play with the Jags.

   Now, I don’t care about those teams, I care about YOUR team. Gang, I’m here to tell you the SINGLE TOP OFFSEASON MOVE as it pertains to our fantasy teams.

"Five bucks says Leinart has no idea where he left his helmet."

   That player is Anquan Boldin. Finally granting Boldin’s wish, the Arizona Cardinals shipped him out of the desert to the Baltimore Ravens. The 6’1″, 217 lb receiver will now be the #1 option in the Raven’s budding passing game. No longer the “Robin” to Larry Fitzgerald’s “Batman”, it is time for him to be the man. If you draft him, expect elite, top 5 wide receiver numbers.

   Boldin’s arrival in Baltimore also impacts other Raven players. Think Terrell Owens going to Philadelphia in ‘04. A year before, sans Owens, McNabb passed for 3216 yards, 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. With T.O. in the mix, McNabb passes for 3875 yards. A nice increase for sure (650+ yard improvement), but the real dividends were paid in tuddies (31 touchdowns, 8 interceptions). You think Joe Flacco isn’t licking his chops at the prospect of DOUBLING his touchdown total from last year like McNabb did with Owens? Now with his shiny new toy to throw to this season, I can see Flacco hitting the 4000 yards and 31 touchdown passes. Thank you, Anquan!

   So, we’ve discussed what adding an elite receiver does to your QB, what about a running back? In ’03, Brian Westbrook had 117 rushes for 613 yards, 37 receptions for 332 yards. That’s 945 yards from scrimmage on 154 touches. Add T.O. a year later, Westbrook has 177 rushes for 812 yards, 73 receptions for 703 yards. Gang, that’s 1515 yards from scrimmage on 250 touches. The biggest jump came in the form of receptions and receiving yards for a great pass catching running back. Last season, Ray Rice had 78 receptions for 702 yards (VERY comparable to Westbrook), a great season catching the ball for any back. Add a legitimate #1 receiver in Boldin, we are looking at a MONSTER season for Rice. Already being touted in the top 5 of most mock drafts, I think Ray Rice is going to be the best running back in fantasy football ‘10. Anquan Boldin says, “You’re welcome!”

   Anquan Boldin going to the Baltimore Ravens is the BIGGEST and BEST offseason fantasy move in the NFL. Not just improving his value, it improves the other relevant fantasy options on the team. I expect a run to the Super Bowl for the Ravens. If you listen to me and draft any of the Ravens I mentioned, a fantasy football championship might be in the cards for you!

   Did you hear that?

   Everyone in the city of Baltimore, players and fans alike, just let out a collective “JACKPOT, BABY!”