Trying to Make Sense of Fantasy Football Rankings

Fantasy football rankings are the key to figuring out which players to target in your fantasy football draft, mid-season trades, free agent list and just about every other aspect of fantasy football.

Essentially, fantasy football rankings tell you which players are the top fantasy football performers based on their statistics. For example, on the New Orleans Saints, a player like running back Reggie Bush would have a high fantasy football ranking because he can catch passes, run, score touchdowns through the air and on the ground and even return punts and kickoff for touchdowns.

Conversely, somebody like Jacksonville Jaguars running back Fred Taylor might have a surprisingly low fantasy football ranking despite years of putting up good rushing numbers. Taylor runs for a good number of yards, but he doesn't score a lot of touchdowns. Touchdowns are huge when trying to figure out a player's fantasy football rankings. Taylor usually takes a seat when his team gets to the red zone or inside the 10-yard line, which hurts his fantasy football rankings. Why? Well that means he could run for 100 yards, but, depending on what type of scoring system is being used, he might only net 10 points.

Then again, a player that is used in only short yardage situations can register good fantasy football rankings even though he doesn't start. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Mike Alstott can be a good player, since the team uses him inside the 5-yard line when the team gets close to the end zone. On some game days, he will have only two carries, but both of them will be for touchdowns, which is a minimum of 12 points. It's a good way to boost your fantasy football rankings.

However, the most difficult fantasy football rankings to trust are the ones before the season starts. At that point, fantasy football rankings are based on last year's performances. That is where things can get tricky. Just because a player had a good year in 2006, doesn't mean he'll have a good 2007 season - and, consequently, a high fantasy football rankings number. There are lots of factors that could affect his performance, such as roster changes, coaching changes and whether he will be used in a different role this season.

That's why it is good to have some help figuring out fantasy football rankings, which is where Fantasy Football Starters.com comes in. This site will help with your fantasy football draft, in-season transactions and just about anything else. More importantly, we'll help you differentiate between fantasy football rankings that matter, and fantasy football rankings that have very little to do with picking up points and earning wins.

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