In case you missed it, we put up our initial projections on Friday. It’s really early in the game and there’s a ton of uncertainty, but I thought it would make for an interesting post to submit some of the rankings that I’m most intrigued by and offer some reasoning behind them.

I’m sure anyone looking at these projections has some questions or comments, and if you do on any of these players listed below feel free to chime in and I’ll do my best to address them.

Aaron Rodgers at #1 – I think it’s the right thing to do because of his running ability. That’s an element for fantasy he really has over the other elite players at the position. 115 rushes and 9 rushing TDs over the last two years is nothing to sneeze at. And I feel a heck of a lot better about the OL, which was the only concern for Rodgers in 2009. He did get in a funk last year, but after seeing him work himself out of it, he’s now officially elite in my eyes.

Kevin Kolb at #10 – It was a very tough call between and Jay Cutler for that 9th spot. [...]

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 [...]

We knew that was coming, so now the question is, where will LaDainian Tomlinson end up? We know he wants to keep playing, so he’ll be in the league. So where do we start?

We start with the good teams because to LT it’s all about the ring.

That’s why I think he’d be willing to accept a complementary role on a good team, and what better player to work behind than Adrian Peterson? That’s right, I think LT in Minnesota would be great for both parties (that is, assuming the Vikes lose Chester Taylor).

If the Vikings lose Chester Taylor, grabbing LT for the 2010 season would make a lot of sense for them.

If the Vikings do lose Taylor, they’ll need a #2 back. They’ll need a guy who can excel in short yardage (check), catch the ball well (check), pass protect (check) and carry the load for a few games if Peterson gets hurt (check). It would be great if that guy didn’t fumble (check). Especially if Brett Favre returns, why wouldn’t LT want to play for the Vikings? He’s all about the ring, and one could argue that if the Vikes had just dropped the ball 5 times and [...]

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 [...]