Note: Ages are accurate as of midseason 2010.

What’s interesting about this position is how watered down it is. Because so many backfield are utilizing two (even three) players in a rotation, the number of clear studs is low. And while there are more players these days than usual who do have some value now due to a fairly large role, they’re still in situations that prevent major fantasy production. We’ve also seen fewer legitimate developmental prospects at the position and a lot of players who are kind of in limbo, with little long-term potential and even questionable short-term potential.

I’ll start off this section with the (surprisingly few) players who are clearly slam-dunks for those in keeper leagues: Adrian Peterson (Min, 25), Steven Jackson (Stl, 27), Chris Johnson (Ten, 24), Maurice Jones-Drew (Jac, 25), and Ray Rice (Bal, 23).

It's probably a little early to proclaim Ray Rice as a legit fantasy stud for the long-term, but the guy was incredibly impressive in 2009 – and he's very young

These five players are clearly the cream of the crop, and with youth on their side. Rice may not be a legit top-5 overall RB over the next few years, as the [...]

It’s been a fairly quiet and pretty anticlimactic free agent period so far. The one thing I’ve learned over the years about free agency is that its impact is pretty top-heavy, and overall overrated – at least when it comes to fantasy football. There are usually 3-4 major moves that have big impacts, and there are always a few moves that appear to be under-the-radar, yet wind up being key. But for the most part, the excitement some people feel in March and April dwindles down to next to nothing come September.

That said, I still have some thoughts on what’s gone down the last 5-7 days or so, and here’s a quick review. If you’re interested, we are keeping up on all the moves each day with our 2010 Free Agent Tracker.

The Chester Taylor signing by Chicago still boggles my mind a little bit. I understand you can never have too many quality veterans like Taylor, but let me put it this way: I don’t think he would have been much better than a healthy Matt Forte behind that terrible [...]

It’s been a hectic day. Just after wrapping up the 90-minute podcast with Adam Caplan and Greg Cosell, I went right to the first expert draft of the year. This is for Fantasy Sports Magazine, always the first draft of the year. I won this league last year, and I’m trying to repeat.

The scoring here is very typical, so all you need to know is that it was a PPR league. I drafted 3rd. I’ll list the whole draft in a reply post, and Adam Caplan, who also participated in the draft. But here’s my drafted team in the order in which the players were selected.

Matt Forte – Picking 3rd, I figured he’d be my pick, with AP and MJD going 1-2. Forte was actually the #1 fantasy back in a PPR league last year, and I see no reason why his production won’t be as good or even better with Jay Cutler on the team.
Steve Smith – Not a particularly gutsy or great pick, but I’ve always loved Smith and I’m always [...]

As the draft quickly approaches, we’re trying to bang out as much of the magazine writeups as we possibly can, and I’ve just completed about the top-50 RBs. Of course, the draft will change a lot of things, so it’s hard to rank any player for certain. We have also not yet plugged in projections, which can change things once you see the raw numbers. But I do have some rankings and comments on the top-50 guys now, and I’m pretty comfortable with this list, knowing it’s very early.

So here’s what I got at this early stage.

1. Adrian Peterson, MIN – Has to be top dog this year given youth and talent but more action in the passing game would be nice.

2. Michael Turner, ATL – Carried the load all season with great effectiveness in run-heavy offense and was money near the goal so a no-brainer.

3. Maurice Drew, JAC – Major jump in receptions key for 3rd straight strong season and now he truly carries the load plus Holt will help their shaky team.

4. Matt Forte, CHI – Addition of Cutler should help them move the ball and create more opportunities for the slick and productive runner and receiver.

5. LaDainian [...]

Okay, here’s my spin on the big trade from yesterday.

First up, for the Bears. It’s always a risk to mortgage your future for any one player, but unless Cutler implodes off the field, this move has little downside for a franchise and fan base that has been without an elite passer since WWII. I’m big on building a team, or at least an offense, from the QB position up, and the Bears now have immediate credibility on the offense. They now have something to truly hang their hat on offensively, and they haven’t had that for a long time.

We get access to tidbits of information all the time, and one thing we heard late last year was that the Bears had come to the realization that Kyle Orton wasn’t the answer. He’s not bad, but unless you have the 2000 Raven defense on the field with him, he’s just not good enough. He’s limited as a passer, particularly his ability to hang in the pocket and deliver the ball down the field for big plays. I saw several times last year when WR Devin Hester was open deep, yet Orton couldn’t get him the ball. The Bears really had no [...]