Quarterbacks

12. Jacob: The only non-Daily member of the league is loaded with SEC talent, but he might come up short at QB. Chris Leak is being pushed by freshman Tim Tebow, Brent Schaeffer played JUCO ball last year, and Mark Sanchez might never see the field. There could be some awful weeks here if Leak struggles at all.

11. Ambinder: There is way too much faith being put in Drew Stanton. You know you’ll get a few great weeks from the Sparty, but likely a few miserable ones, too. And with Mitch Mustain probably riding the pine for a bit and Bret Meyer posting average numbers, this unit might undo an otherwise solid roster.

10. Holman: This unit did get a boost today when Jeff Tedford announced Nate Longshore as his starter … though Joe Ayoob is ready at the drop of a hat. Drew Weatherford tossed 18 interceptions last year, so Kevin O’Connell might eventually be the guy. The loss of Sam Keller’s starting spot at Arizona State hurt.

9. Rosen: Alex Brink is probably going to carry this group, because Kyle Wright has been inconsistent as a collegiate QB and Matthew Stafford isn’t ready yet. This is a decent group this year, but could be a special group next year.

8. Bob: The bonus here for Bob is the amount of rushing yards and TDs Pat White will rake in. That’s good because he barely throws at all, and until he does he can’t be considered a great fantasy QB. Ben Olson was named UCLA’s starter, so he’ll be valuable and the Caleb Hanie add might end up being a nice one.

7. Kyle: There appears to be more faith in Curtis Painter here than I’m willing to show – including a Week 1 start. In all likelihood, the success of this unit will come down to John Beck’s numbers and if Colt McCoy can hold onto the Texas job. Painter is like a crummier version of Pat White – he’s a decent runner but hasn’t shown the ability to throw.

6. Sharad: This is definitely a strong unit, with Paul Smith and Zac Taylor having the potential to be excellent spot starters throughout the year. The only problem with having Brian Brohm as the starting QB is that Louisville rushed for like 458 touchdowns last year, so the ground game is the big stinky cheese there right now.

5. Naweed: The prediction here is that Chad Henne ends up starting less than half the weeks of the season. Naweed’s strength is in his depth – Jordan Palmer and Brett Ratliff could put up huge fantasy numbers this year to complement the steady Henne. The biggest challenge will be picking the right guy each week.

4. Schick: Troy Smith is going to put up a Heisman candidate type of season if everything goes right, so his presence alone pushes this unit toward the top of the rankings. There’s not much after that – JaMarcus Russell is good for a few weeks but remains inconsistent and Dustin Grutza is being pushed by four others at Cincy.

3. Weber: Rudy Carpenter’s unanimous win in the Arizona State race was a big boost for Weber, as was picking up Drew Tate in the 12^th round of the draft. Still, Kevin Kolb is the go-to-guy here and will likely start the majority of the weeks against lesser competition … meaning big points.

2. Burke: Brady Quinn’s Heisman campaign is already in full effect, and that means that the senior will be winging the ball all over the field in Charlie Weis’s offense. He’ll probably outscore much of the competition week in and week out. If need be, Shaun Carney is a serviceable backup.

1. Brady: You’ll be hard pressed to outscore Brady at the QB spot when Graham Harrell and Texas Tech are playing. Add in Jeff Ballard and John David Booty and there really was no question who had the best quarterbacking crew in the league. Should he choose to, Brady might be able to upgrade at RB by dealing someone at QB down the line.

 

Running Backs

12. Bob: Ugh. Albert Young could be a fantasy star – he better be as a first-round draft pick. But behind him there is a truckload of uncertainty. Lynell Hamilton is almost guaranteed a trip or two to the school nurse. Meanwhile P.J. Hill and Michael Goodson are fighting for playing time. This unit could move up if everything falls right.

11. Naweed: Sept. 30 will be tough when James Aldridge is the only RB of Naweed’s four that will actually be playing. This unit needs a healthy and effective Darren McFadden – otherwise there’s a lot of pressure on Kevin Smith and Ahmad Bradshaw, or the need for Notre Dame to blow people out so Aldridge gets cheap TDs.

10. Brady: Will Chauncey Washington hit the field at 100 percent as USC’s lead rusher? Is Tyrone Moss going to finally live up to his potential when he gets back on the field? Is DeMyron Martin a viable enough option on a terrible team? Brady needs some good answers to those questions.

9. Weber: Another unit that could seriously leap its way up the rankings if everything goes right. Right now, Michael Bush’s ridiculous numbers are the only certainty – Jonathon Stewart has the potential to excel, as does Lorenzo Booker. Whether either of them does will drive this unit.

8. Sharad: Like Rosen’s QBs, this is a unit that could be absolutely unbelievable next season. For now, Steve Slaton will carry the fantasy load. Chris Wells or Antonio Pittman will need to pitch in, because Ray Rice’s fantasy game is severely limited by Brian Leonard’s stardom.

7. Schick: Someone needs to figure out a way to score TDs here. Kyle Bell is a good starter every week, and Micah Andrews could turn out to be special at Wake Forest. But Ken Darby scored just three times last year and Mike Hamilton plunged across the goal line once.

6. Kyle: Adrian Peterson’s health will determine whether this ranking is too high or too low. If he’s the Heisman candidate Oklahoma needs him to be, then Kyle will be successful. If not, there’s not a ton to be optimistic about from Keegan Herring, Thomas Brown and Javon Ringer – all nice picks, but far from stars.

5. Jacob: The All-SEC team is pretty strong. Kenny Irons and Rafael Little provide a solid 1-2 punch, while Arian Foster and BenJarvus Green-Ellis each could be nice additions to the backend of the rotation. If Green-Ellis solidifies the Ole Miss running game and Foster doesn’t get the usual Tennessee RB treatment (i.e. splitting carries with four other guys and a water boy), this will be a very good group.

4. Rosen: Darius Walker and Brian Leonard are a steady, effective 1-2 punch that will help Rosen compete every week. It remains to be seen if Chris Markey can handle the load at UCLA. After that, the highly-touted C.J. Spiller has to battle through James Davis and Reggie Merriweather on the Clemson depth chart.

3. Ambinder: There aren’t too many holes in this group – Tyrell Sutton is a fantasy star in the Northwestern spread offense. The only complaint is that there isn’t another huge scorer potentially behind him. Especially with Spiller’s arrival, Davis’s numbers won’t go higher than last year, and probably the same for Tarrion Adams and Wynel Seldon, who have competition.

2. Holman: Mike Hart’s success this season will dictate if this unit is good or great. Jamaal Charles was a great get in round two, Amir Pinnix will probably nail down the No. 1 spot at Minnesota (mostly because there’s no one else) and Shannon Woods being named the starter at Texas Tech is huge.

1. Burke: I had myself lower when I sent this list to Brady and he told me I should be No. 1 in the running back ratings, so who am I to argue with that? Marshawn Lynch’s is a Heisman candidate, Curtis Brown was a steal in round three and the two C-USA backs (Marcus Thomas and Joseph Doss) could quietly put up well over 1,000 yards and double-digit TDs.

 

Wide Receivers

12. Weber: Ted Ginn needs to explode or this unit is in trouble. There’s a chance that Mario Manningham puts up big numbers, but he was inconsistent last season. Behind those two, there might not be enough passes to go around for Vidal Hazleton at USC. Johnny Harline was an excellent late addition – he provides steady numbers.

11. Kyle: Dorien Bryant and Joel Filani provide a very solid 1-2 for this group – though questions remain about the Purdue passing game, and Filani has several other talented WRs around him at Texas Tech. Kyle needs Sam Shields to get into the Miami passing game early and often, because Kenny McKinley will be watching Sidney Rice catch TDs at South Carolina.

10. Holman: Calvin Johnson is a phenomenal talent, but he just hasn’t scored a whole lot and he receives more attention than he’d like from defenses. And with Derrick Williams coming back from injury, Mike Thomas playing for a mediocre Arizona team and Steve Breaston never living up to expectations, there could be some terrible fantasy weeks here.

9. Sharad: Rhema McKnight’s ability to stay healthy and get Brady Quinn to throw him the ball instead of looking for Jeff Samardzija is the key. Jason Hill will score a bunch, so there’s a legit No. 1 receiver. Marcus Monk is disappointing most of the time at Arkansas (trust me, I have him in the other league) and Malcolm Kelly has to figure things out with a new QB at Oklahoma.

8. Schick: DeSean Jackson was a nice pick, but he’s not necessarily a No. 1 fantasy WR. Schick is going to have to hope that Earl Bennett can still excel sans Jay Cutler, or that Limas Sweed takes off the Texas offense. He basically knows the numbers he’ll get from Robert Johnson.

7. Burke: Brady again lobbied to move this unit up the rankings, but without a true No. 1 receiver, I’m going to keep them in the lower half. There are a lot of good, veteran pieces that will definitely see the ball. But unless one of Todd Blythe, Johnnie Lee Higgins, Dallas Baker or Johnny Walker emerges a star, then this will be a nice, solid unit but nothing spectacular.

6. Ambinder: The ballsy first WR pick of Percy Harvin could’ve doomed this unit, but it’s still strong – especially since it looks like Harvin might get some serious minutes at Florida. Mike Walker has to stay healthy, because he and Aundrae Allison are capable of being a good fantasy duo. Steve Smith is solid, but won’t top the numbers he had last year with Dwayne Jarrett, Patrick Turner and all those freshmen lurking.

5. Bob: Another solid, but not yet spectacular group. Greg Carr has the potential to be a stud – he had an impressive freshman year last season – but he needs Drew Weatherford to get him the ball. Dwayne Bowe, Terrence Nunn and Shaun Herbert will probably all be around their 2005 numbers.

4. Jacob: Dwayne Jarrett alone makes this unit worthy of a top-half ranking. Add in the steady Nate Swift and the potentially great-down-the-road Patrick Turner and there’s a lot to work with here. Mohamed Massaquoi could be very good or he could be Tim Massaquoi and put up 30 catches and 3 TDs.

3. Brady: There is ability at all four roster spots here – Mario Urrutia might be poised for a monster season, and if he does deliver, look out for this group. James Hardy, D’Juan Woods and Jordy Nelson are all the clear No. 1 targets on their respective rosters and will bring in a plethora of fantasy points.

2. Naweed: Jeff Samardzija + Jarrett Hicks = a WR duo that will outscore just about everyone this year. Deon Butler is a perfect addition as a No. 3 guy – he won’t dominate, but he’ll score if Naweed needs to play him. Mike Jones is sort of an unknown quantity, but there doesn’t need to be much behind the top two.

1. Rosen: There are four studs here. Sidney Rice might be the best college fantasy WR. Rudy Burgess is a perfect fantasy player because he plays WR and RB and gets the ball 15-20 times a game. And Vincent Marshall and Chansi Stuckey will see the majority of their teams’ passes thrown their way.

 

Kickers

12. Ambinder

11. Bob

10. Holman

9. Schick

8. Weber

7. Brady

6. Burke

5. Kyle

4. Naweed

3. Jacob

2. Rosen

1. Sharad

 

Defenses

12. Sharad

11. Ambinder

10. Burke

9. Jacob

8. Kyle

7. Weber

6. Naweed

5. Schick

4. Holman

3. Brady

2. Rosen

1. Bob