Posted by Moishe Steigmann | Aug. 14 at 03:12 PM

Wonderful -- thank you! I think that I'm missing something, though. In customizing rankings, how do you account for significant league variations in starting line-ups (i.e., staring 2 TEs, 4 WRs, 2 QBs, etc.)? Or, do I need to manually from your Excel spreadsheet? I find that those factors would significantly adjust rankings... Thank you!

Posted by Moishe Steigmann | Aug. 14 at 03:26 PM

I do, by the way, know to create auction profiles and adjust the number of position players expected to be taken and purchased above the minimum; but, that seems like nothing more than speculation.

Posted by IAN ALLAN | Aug. 14 at 04:32 PM

@Moishe: If you're in a league that starts 4 wide receivers (rather than 2), that increases their value. If you were in a league that started 3 kickers, that would make them viable players to consider in the first 3 rounds. To address these issues, tinker with the numbers of players in the custom rankings area. For example, if you're in a 12-team league where you start 2 WRs, say that you want 30 to go for more than the $1 minimum in an auction. If you're starting 4 WRs in a 12-team league, than you change that 30 number to 50, and it makes the receivers move up in the overall. Play with those numbers until you get an overall that fits your system and how you think the owners in your league might draft.

Posted by Moishe Steigmann | Aug. 14 at 11:04 PM

Thanks, Ian. That's what I have done for the years that this system has been available. I have found, though, that it requires a lot of speculation; I didn't know if there were something more precise. No worries, though: I have been manually adjusting things on the Excel spreadsheet each year to account for league specifications. I guess I was just looking for a shortcut... :)

Posted by KEVIN WEAKLAND | Aug. 15 at 12:34 AM

my God I really have to say I disagree whole heartily with your cheat sheets #1 overall pick. I know Foster had a good year last season but c'mon one good season does not qualify him as the overall #1. I've been doing fantasy football since 1987 and the #1 overall should be the guy who is going to score the most fantasy points. Along those lines I have to say do you seriously believe that anyone in the NFL is going to score more fantasy points than Vick? If you feel absolutely compelled to make it an RB then I'd go back to your last years assumption and put AP there. I've been with you guys all these years but I think someone over there needs to rethink the cheat sheet

Posted by ANDY RICHARDSON | Aug. 15 at 01:31 AM

Kevin- I don't agree. I want the best team and would rather have Foster and the QB I would get later than Vick and the RB. As for Peterson, I will take the guy with the better offense, line and team around him, who will catch a lot more passes, too.

Posted by KEVIN WEAKLAND | Aug. 15 at 01:41 AM

Hmmm well I remember some years where the team that had Cumminham or Young took it all why because they scored more fantasy points than any other player and I think the same will happen with Vick this season. He had some monster games last season. I know everyopne says until he gets injured but if I have Vick for 13 or 14 games and a decent backup I believe I will come out way ahead. As far as your other point you know Rice left the Vikings and AP will catch a lot more passes now that he is gone and McNabb is the QB over there. Don't get me wrong I love Foster had him on my team last season and I might be wrong but I believe that not since Barry Sanders and Emmit Smith have played has an RB repeated back to back in rushing titles or fantasy points. I also notice that you have Forte as a top 5 RB which is valid in a PPR league but there are maybe as many as 10 better RBs in a standard format. I can only think of one season where Forte has ended up as a top 5RB in fantasy football standard format. It sounds like I'm picking the cheat sheet apart and maybe I am but it just seems to me that there are some glaring mistakes.

Posted by John Evans | Aug. 15 at 06:38 AM

Kevin...the #1 overall player should be the player who should be drafted first, not the player with the most points. If that was the case the entire 1st round would be filled with QBs. Sorry, but that makes no sense. BTW. Ian, I am a Saints fan. Arrington has been hyped for years as a guy who is going to come in and take someone's job. The problem is that he is extremely injury prone, and quite frankly he isn't as good as anyone ahead of him. He ISN'T a speedster. The player that he is most like is Marques Colston. But Colston is just as fast, much larger (Arrington is shorter and much thinner), uses his body much better, and has excellent report with Brees. As of right now it is about a coins flip chance that he will be cut. Roby has done much more, and also plays special teams. BTW...Henderson isn't going anywhere. Payton loves him...and Henderson is in some of the best shape of his career. I don't think that Henderson is better than Meachem or Moore...but he continues to be listed as the #2, as he has been for the past few seasons.

Posted by Brian Pedersen | Aug. 15 at 06:57 AM

Never feels right drafting a guy like Foster who I picked up in the 5th round last year with the #1 overall pick. Don't see much difference this year between picks 1 and 14 to be honest.

Posted by Moishe Steigmann | Aug. 15 at 11:11 AM

Ian and FFI: one more question. I know that you create your statistics by projecting team totals and assigning percentages to players. What is/are the most determining factor(s) in creating your rankings? Team... coaching staff... coaching philosophy... talent of players... something else? In other words, add Adrian Peterson, for example, to the Packers. How do you go about changing projected totals: because AP is there, his numbers automatically go up and Rodgers, Finley, WRs automatically go down, for example, or, to take another possibility, does that Packers #1 RB automatically get X% and then later adjusted up or down for personnel? Thanks again for all your great work!

Posted by Travis Billman | Aug. 15 at 01:12 PM

I gotta get this off my chest . . . to those who say (as Kevin did) "if I have Vick for 13 or 14 games and a decent backup I believe I will come out way ahead": The ONLY way you'll come out ahead is if the games that Vick misses AREN'T the last 3 games of the year! If Vick plays lights out for 13 weeks and you go undefeated, then gets injured and you have to play Kyle Orton during the fantasy playoffs, what good are you? Congrats on winning the regular season and getting bumped in the playoffs, you and the 2007 Patriots can cry yourselves to sleep together. IMO, Vick is more likely to get knocked out due to a gradual physical breakdown and miss the remainder of the regular season, than just miss a few games in the middle of the season. The argument that the total points of Vick for 13 games and a "replacement-level" backup for 4 games trump any other QB is pointless if the 4 games are during the fantasy playoffs.

Posted by KEVIN WEAKLAND | Aug. 15 at 03:00 PM

I'll just make a few final comments and then I will leave this alone. I've been a loyal customer of FFI since 1987 and I swear by you guys. I consider this the very best source for fantasy football information. That being said in most seasons I would agree it is typically an RB that you would want to draft first however there are those seasons where a QB will stand head and shoulders above the rest of the crop and I believe this is one of those years. I think we could all agree that in most FFL formats QBs score most points. Personally I believe without a doubt in my mind that there is no doubt in my mind that Vick will be the highest scoring NFL player this season. Based on last years performance and the improvements on his team overall. I mean last season he had games that just carried the fantasy team that owned him almost outscoring the opposing team single handed and I can remember Randall Cunningham doing that and I can remember Steve Young doing that. I just believe that he will have this kind of impact and I question weather this was even considered when putting the rankings together. Sometimes you just see momentum carry over from one year to the next. Its like I can see Blount being this years version of Foster and in the past I could see Nicks jumping up into that top class of WRs. I have been doing alot of mocks and telling people about Tolbert who will prove to be a monster this season. I doubt Mathews will ever see the goal line and Tolbert may actually end up getting the bulk of the carries and I was saying that at the end of last season when he came in and took advantage of the situation. You know sometimes you just got to take a good look at what is happening with an open mind. Now consider this lets say you're in a 12 team league and if you are drafting #1 overall it will be a long time before that next pick snakes back to you and by that time the top 5 QBs will be off the board. You can still pick up a couple of good RBs in rounds 2 & 3 because this year good RBs are deep. The point differential will be significantly more if you draft a QB like Vick #1 and that next tier of QBs than it will if you draft a Foster or AP or whoever you think is the best RB in round #1 compared to the RB you would get in round #2. I would say it could be as much as a 3:1 ratio. Note to Travis my friend you are assuming that everyone does a playoff. Well our league doesn't do a playoff, we go 17 games head to head and that's it, we do not cut our season short in other words, we simply play it all the way through.

Posted by KEVIN WEAKLAND | Aug. 15 at 04:46 PM

Somehow you guys forgot to include Wes Welker in your Yardage + TD cheat sheet so where do you see him at for this scoring system I'm guessing someplace right around #20 what say you?

Posted by KEVIN WEAKLAND | Aug. 15 at 04:48 PM

oops sorry my mistake I just found him

Posted by Chuck Heim | Aug. 18 at 06:59 AM

I have bought your magazine every year for 21 years and always did me right.Why ohh why did you not print the magazine this year.I guess I'll have to get some other magazine.I guess you guys made your money and now you couldn't care less about loyal fans of you magazine.Go rot in hell you greedy a-holes.