Fantasy Football Draft Preview

It's that time of the year again; the time that average Joe's get to live out their dreams of becoming the next Wellington Mara or Al Davis (before Davis became the Archie Bunker of the NFL). Obviously Fantasy Football is not a part of our culture, you'd be hard press to find an office in the country that doesn't have some sort of fantasy football league every fall.

I'm no different, I love the last weeks of the preseason because it normally means my drafts are coming up. that being said here are some important points, trends, and players to look at going into your drafts.

• Beware of Michael Turner...seriously - You've heard it all off-season, beware the curse of 370. I don't know what it is about the 370 carry mark but it does something to backs. Looking at the 27 backs in NFL history who have reached the mark of 370, only two ('03 Ladainian Tomlinson and '85 Walter Payton) matched or exceeded their Touchdown mark of the previous year. I'm not saying Turner is going to have a down year, I'm just saying I've got 4 other running backs ahead of him.

• Just because Brett Favre is a Viking, don't expect the production of other Vikings to significantly increase - Look, obviously the receivers are going to get a bit better looking now that a decent QB is in town, but if Favre has another horrible stretch run those receivers are going to fail you right when you need them most. Maybe look at them a few picks higher, a round higher at most. And Adrian Peterson can't be ranked higher than 1.

• DeAngelo Williams should be mentioned with the top fantasy backs - Jonathan Stewart is still bothered by the Achilles injury that shortened his '08 season. Williams is a great back to start with, but if Stewart is bugged by injury throughout the year, look for Williams' numbers to only improve from last years bust out season.

• This is the year of the Wide Receiver - Forget the tried and true method of drafting Running Backs with your first two picks, this year you have to get a receiver early, because the drop off after the first two tiers (Moss, Fitzgerald, Wayne, A. Johnson, C. Johnson, Wayne, Colston) is drastic.

Happy Drafting everyone!

It Has Begun!

You know a lot of people were making the joke that it wouldn't really be football season without a Brett Favre story. Well a few weeks ago everyone got their punchline, but it seemed like that was it. Well now there's a whole years worth of jokes and punchlines to be made, but who's going to be laughing?

In case you've been living in a shanty in a remote village in China, you've heard that Brett Favre signed with the Minnesota Vikings earlier today, a contract worth somewhere between $10-$12 Million.

People had to know this was coming, they had to know that Favre was going to find a way to get on to the field this year, that he was going to find a way to play against the Packers this year.

Favre joining the Vikings makes the NFC North the most insteresting quarterback division in football. Every team has a story behind center this year.

• Vikings - No explanation needed.

• Bears - The rebirth of Jay Cutler or The decline of Jay Cutler

• Lions - Can Stafford return the Lions to the top of the divison? or at least get them a win?

• Packers - Was last year an fluke or is Aaron Rodgers the real deal?