Each year, owners look to dabble with the Bronco RBs due to Denver’s run-friendly scheme and the fantasy goodness their backfield tends to generate. But 2008 is a particularly tricky year to get a read on this situation because much has happened in the last few months and the pecking order is currently very unclear and extremely volatile.

Here are some recent developments worth noting:

● Travis Henry, who will turn 30 this season, badly pulled his hamstring last week while running 100-yard dashes in workouts and hasn’t suited up since. He also took a substantial pay cut this off-season just so he could stay in Denver. Triple bad vibes anyone?

● Selvin Young pledged to rush for 2,000 yards this season, claiming that injury is the only thing that can hold him back.

● Ryan Torain, a 6’1” 222-pound back coming off a Lisfranc injury, was drafted in the 5^th round and is viewed as an ideal fit for Denver’s zone running game.

● Underrated veteran bruiser Michael Pittman signed a one-year deal with the Broncos to add depth to their backfield and presumably to catch some passes.

Throw in the fact that the shifty Andre Hall is still on the roster, and you have one ugly situation brewing in Denver. Who will be the “starter” come Week One? Who will get the goal-line carries? Who will be cut in training camp? Who’s the handcuff to whom? All of these are relevant questions, but unfortunately nobody has the answers right now.

However, you could make the argument that Young and Pittman figure to be the most productive backs in 2008 with Torain possibly making a late-season cameo. After all, it’s a long shot that Henry can stay healthy and keep his nose clean, and frankly, he looked lost in Denver’s scheme last year after storming out of the gates early on. I have this creeping suspicion that he’s on his way out unless he has the training camp of his life.

Ultimately, my opinion really doesn’t matter because Mike Shanahan will determine his depth chart in training camp and presumably during the preseason. But personally, I anticipate Young and Pittman having the most value of this entire crew. Yet don’t overlook the fact that this could spiral into a full-blown RBBC in 2008, in which we see a different guy excel each week. In other words, you’ll either have to grab 2-3 of these guys or none of them on draft day. The call is yours. Just be prepared for yet another a roller-coaster ride, courtesy of Shanahan.

My expert-league draft didn’t go exactly as I had planned. The competition was fierce, the RB crop got picked clean early, and I really slept on grabbing a backup QB. Fortunately, I landed a few studs at QB, WR, and TE, so I expect to be competitive.

This league is a no-PPR, no-waiver format, which means my team won’t change all season and my players won’t get any credit for receptions. I can’t post the entire draft because I was asked not to, but here’s a look at my team with some random thoughts. Also, this is the order in which I drafted them from the #12 spot.

Peyton Manning – I passed on Brady for Peyton because Harrison will be back and the Colts will be deadly in 2008.

Terrell Owens – TDs, TDs, TDs was my thought process with #81.

Jonathan Stewart – Carolina’s going to pound the rock all season long behind their beefed up O-line and I cornered the market on the Panther backfield with DeAngelo later on.

Plaxico Burress – If Plax can simply get healthy, ample TDs and plenty of big plays seem inevitable with a confident Manning throwing him the ball.

Julius Jones – I’m drinking the Julius Kool-Aid because Holmgren is hell-bent on getting Seattle’s running game humming in 2008 and Jones has to be a new man after leaving Dallas.

Kellen Winslow – This soldier has more value than Gates and Witten in my opinion because of his run-after-catch skills and his frequent targets in the red zone.

Javon Walker – This is a huge gamble due to his suspect knee, but JaMarcus has to throw to someone and Curry is a dog.

DeAngelo Williams – Insurance pick for Stewart, who’s coming off turf-toe surgery.

Nate Burleson – With Branch coming off a torn ACL and Engram ticked off with management, Burleson could be sneaky good based on his opportunity.

Vincent Jackson – I loved what he did in the 2007 postseason and Rivers actually made some large strides last season.

NYG Defense – Sacks anyone?

Sidney Rice – Sure, Berrian was brought into to be a big-play threat, but I’m intrigued by Rice’s size and sticky hands.

Dominic Rhodes – This was a hunch-based pick, as I suspect Addai will get hurt in 2008 due to his obvious softness.

Maurice Morris – Insurance pick for Jones, who’s never really carried a massive load in his career.

Ben Utecht – Sleeper alert since Cincy must get some production from their TEs in 2008.

Shaun Alexander – This late, why not?

Limas Sweed – My rookie man-crush figures to make an immediate splash in the red zone due to his physicality and size, something Hines and Santonio lack.

Joe Flacco – I’m an idiot for not adding a solid backup for Manning, but I like Flacco a lot and Baltimore’s going to use plenty of three-WR sets.

Jason Elam – Kicking in a dome for half the season will make him that much more accurate.

Drew Carter – In case Walker goes down, the field-stretching Carter could help.

Pierre Thomas – I’m not buying Deuce coming off double-knee surgery and Pierre blew up in Week Seventeen last season when given a chance.

Sebastian Janikowski – In a best-ball format, having two kickers seemed like a good idea.

Clearly, my stable of RBs is undesirable, but drafting a pair of RBs with your first two picks doesn’t always guarantee a championship. With that said, I bucked the trend in hopes that Manning, Owens, Burress, and Winslow can be weekly beasts for me. If Carolina and Seattle can get their running games turned around, I’ll be sitting pretty.

I’ll be participating in an expert league draft on behalf of FantasyGuru.com this weekend, so needless to say I’ve been spending a lot of time ruminating deeply about the upcoming season. The format of this highly competitive league is a “draft and done” style. No clever waiver wire pick-ups. No refuge from injuries. No savvy, well-timed trades. Each pick is crucial, which pretty much forces you to have a really firm grasp on how the season will unfold. Now, I don’t have a crystal ball to fall back on and that means I’ll have to rely on my gut feelings (and be right) to field a winning roster.

Here are some strategic tidbits and gut vibes that will be in the forefront of my mind:

I’m staying away from teams with shaky QB situations completely. I won’t be dabbling with any Bears, Niners, Ravens, Dolphins, Falcons, Chiefs, or Jets. I’m not about to put my fantasy fate in the hands of underachievers like Alex Smith, Rex Grossman, Brodie Croyle, and Chad Pennington. And I’m surely not about to trust unproven rooks like Matt Ryan, Chad Henne, and Joe Flacco. Of course, there are guys on these squads I might consider if I’m in a bind. But in general, bad situations behind center tend to drain all the fantasy value out of teams. And QB carousels are not conducive to team chemistry and rhythm on offense, which has a huge and highly negative impact on skill players.

I’m almost certainly grabbing a wideout with one my first two picks. I hate to do it because RBs still rule and steady QBs are becoming harder to find, but I’ve noticed in the last few years that reliable, stud receivers just keep going higher and higher in drafts. It used to be my sneaky strategy to load up on wideouts early and often to corner the market, yet now it’s the norm, which places me in a predicament if I don’t get a Reggie Wayne, an Andre Johnson, a Terrell Owens, or a Marques Colston.

I’m not touching Tony Romo with a ten-foot pole. Sure, it’s a widely accepted notion that he’s the next great thing. And Dallas’ offense will probably generate ample fantasy goodness yet again in 2008. But I get the feeling that he’s got some choke artist in him. And he markets himself as a golfer as well as a cultural icon. That chafes every fiber of my being. I’ll take a tried-and-true football player like Peyton Manning, Carson Palmer, Ben Roethlisberger, or David Garrard. They’re busy studying playbooks and figuring out ways to annihilate cover-2.

I’m giving Reggie Bush, Frank Gore, and Steven Jackson the benefit of the doubt for so-called down years in 2007. They’re all still very talented, in their prime, and capable of going bonkers at any time.

I’m passing on Larry Johnson because he exhibited zero special qualities last season and I watched every touch he had. Plus, I still can’t get over the vision of him folding like a cheap tent against the Colts in the playoffs. He can take his half-hearted, plodding running style to one of my opponents’ teams. I’ll be targeting guys with actual speed and game-breaking potential.

I’m securing myself an elite tight end. If I have to reach, I will. Jason Witten, Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates, Dallas Clark, Kellen Winslow, come on down. The fall-off after those guys is huge and I won’t be caught on the wrong side of that gaping chasm. After all, I’m playing to win.

I’m going all out for Florida defenses. I get the feeling Miami’s D will really ratchet up the pressure with Parcells in town. I believe the Jags’ secondary will emerge from the disaster that was 2007 and become a turnover machine. And I’m drinking the Tampa Bay Kool-Aid because the Buc D is unbelievably physical and I’ve got a man-crush on Tanard Jackson, who routinely destroys people over the middle and at the line of scrimmage.

I could go on for days, but my competition might read this. Hope the glimpse inside my head gets your creative juices flowing. 

I am in eight leagues right now and in exactly half of them, Carlos Quentin was on the free agency list. Early in the season, I understood that he wasn’t owned, because Jermaine Dye and Nick Swisher were everyday OFs and Jim Thome was the full time DH, which left only one job open, assumed to be for Jerry Owens when he returned from injury. Carlos Quentin had something to say about that, and he now is hitting just about .300 and he is tied for the AL lead in HRs with seven, which has relegated Owens to AAA.

The big question is how long will Quentin keep hitting? I’m sure he is owned in some leagues simply because he is hot and an owner is hoping to catch lightning in a bottle. I prefer to look to his previous body of work to make a more intelligent choice as to his chances.

The first area we will look at will be the power: Quentin played in Arizona two years ago and had over 150 ABs which resulted in 9 HRs, which was a HR about every 18 ABs, which is not bad for a younger player. In 2005, he was in AAA and he had a HR every 21 ABs, but in 2004 in A ball, he had a HR every 16 ABs. The power does not appear to be flukish.

We also have to look at his overall hitting as well, since he is hitting almost .300. Batting averages can be a tricky thing in the minors, so I prefer to look at a hitter’s discipline level of BB:K ratio. Right now, Quentin has 14 BB to 15 Ks, which is on par with his three minor league seasons where he was a tick under a 1:1 ratio. That leads me to believe that he will do quite well as a hitter in his major league career.

I am prepared to say that Quentin can continue the hitting level that he has had in April, so if he is a free agent, I would add him immediately. If you can pluck him in a trade without giving up much, that would be a good move as well.