One of the things I like to do to prepare for fantasy football season is to go through each team and review where I've ranked that team's position players. It's one thing to rank the QBs, then rank the RBs, etc, etc. But when you do that, sometimes the rankings don't mesh when you look at them team by team. A little reflection can go a long way.
For example, sometimes I'll end up ranking WRs highly while at the same time I'm predicting the QB will stink. Well, how would that work?
Or, I'll rank the RB as a top pick while I'm really down on the WRs. Can a RB really be great without at least one solid WR?
This type of analysis helps me to do a sanity check on my own rankings. Since I've just completed my preseason rankings, I'm going to critique myself. First up...the NFC South. By the way, any reference to draft ranking (for example "#4") refers to their ranking within their position, not overall.
Atlanta - I like Ryan, Turner, White AND Gonzalez, which makes me wonder just how good all of them can be at the same time. Maybe I'm going overboard. Do those four potential fantasy studs mean that the WR2 (Jenkins or maybe Douglas) is also a potential fantasy steal? Gonzalez is certain to draw coverage, which means the WR2 should have chances, but on the other hand Gonzalez may BE the effective WR2. Could go either way. I'm probably too optimistic with this team.
Carolina - I'm way down on Williams -- thinking that teams will focus on him and force the Panthers to throw -- and I have Smith as a Top 20 but not Top 10. Stewart shows up too, though I'm still up in the air on how much they'll use him. I'm down on Delhomme though, which might be too pessimistic if I really do think they'll be throwing. So...which way is it? Hmm. If I really think the Panthers will take to the air, then I need to give Muhsin Muhammad a look.
New Orleans - Brees is "da man" and I have two WRs (Colston and Moore) in the Top 25. That makes sense. I'm touting Bush for his pass-catching skills but I'm not a big fan of Thomas. It all fits together as long as I'm right on the Saints air-powered offense.
Tampa Bay - I'm down on everybody here. Rookie QB Freeman doesn't even make my rankings and I've sent Bryant tumbling down the WR rankings. Forget it. Two RBs sit at #24 and #36 and I don't see how either one would move up unless one gets hurt. My rankings fit together assuming that everybody sucks. It's not likely that EVERYBODY will suck though, so somebody has to have value. Maybe I need to move Ward up.