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Here’s a look at my 2011 fantasy football kicker rankings.
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1.  Nate Kaeding, San Diego Chargers:  I’m expecting a much better showing out of Kaeding this year.
2. Sebastian Janikowski, Oakland Raiders: Seabass tied for the league in FGs made last year and finished second in points.
3.  Stephen Gostkowski, New England Patriots: So far so good, but I can’t trust him as the #1 again.
4.  David Akers, San Francisco 49ers:  The move to the Bay Area scares me a little. The Niners offense is simply not as explosive.
5.  Mason Crosby, Green Bay Packers:  Super Bowl Champs could have an even better offense in 2011.
6.  Rob Bironas, Tennessee Titans:  I can see them moving the chains under Hasselbeck, but coming up short. Enter Rob Bironas.
7.  Neil Rackers, Houston Texans:  Somehow I don’t think the Texans will be as effective in the red zone.
8.  Nick Folk, New York Jets:  One of three kickers with 30+ PATs and FGs last year.
9.  Alex Henery, Philadelphia Eagles:  He may not be Akers, but he’s in a great spot.
10.  Josh Brown, St. Louis Rams:  Tied Seabass for most FGs last year.
11.  Dan Carpenter, Miami Dolphins:  Scoring TDs could be an issue in Miami.
12.  Lawrence Tynes, New York Giants:  Not a flashy pick, but a solid one.
13.  Adam Vinatieri, Indianapolis Colts:  Kicking for the Colts (and indoors) has it’s perks.
14.  Matt Bryant, Atlanta Falcons:  The Dirty Birds should be even better this year.
15. David Buehler, Dallas Cowboys:  Hartley’s injury opens the door for Buehler.
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Also check out:

• 2011 Fantasy Football QB Rankings
• 2011 Fantasy Football RB Rankings
• 2011 Fantasy Football RB Rankings - PPR
• 2011 Fantasy Football WR Rankings
• 2011 Fantasy Football TE Rankings
• 2011 Fantasy Football DEF Rankings
• 2011 Fantasy Football IDP Rankings

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Brandon Lloyd’s Mock Draft Central ADP puts him at 15. Yahoo! has him at 16. Those rankings are absurd considering he led the NFL with 1448 receiving  yards last year. Lloyd was also tied for fourth with 11 touchdowns. He was the highest scoring receiver in non-PPR leagues.
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There are reasons for the low rankings though. For starters, Lloyd averaged 338.6 receiving yards over his first seven seasons. His high mark prior to last year was just 733 yards. He had 15 touchdowns before last year, with a high of six. If it were his magical third year in the league, the skepticism would be minimal. But a player that breaks out at 29 has to raise a few questions.
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Especially a player that saw his pass-happy coach (Josh McDaniels) given the boot and run-first/defensive-minded John Fox taking over. One of the Broncos’ priorities will be adding a running back once free agency hits. If that runner is DeAngelo Williams, coupled with Knowshon Moreno and running quarterback Tim Tebow, the passing game is sure to take a back seat to the ground attack.
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Plus, Lloyd didn’t exactly finish the season strong averaging 68.6 yards in Denver’s last seven games last year after posting a 107.6 average through the first nine games.
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However, Lloyd did play well with Tim Tebow. He caught four passes for 79 yards and a score in Week 15 against the Raiders. He followed that up with five catches for 11 yards against the hapless Texans secondary. He finished the year off with five catches for 73 yards and a touchdown against the Chargers.
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That strong finish keeps him 25 though. I think he’s a decent WR2, but I won’t be willing to make him a top 15 fantasy wide receiver pick. Not with those question marks.
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What’s your take on Brandon Lloyd?
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Also check out:

• 2011 Early Fantasy Football QB Rankings
• 2011 Early Fantasy Football RB Rankings
• 2011 Early Fantasy Football WR Rankings
• 2011 Early Fantasy Football TE Rankings

Rashard Mendenhall owners got a bit of bad news when Pittsburgh Coach Mike Tomlin named Isaac Redman as the short-yardage back. While it isn’t an ideal situation, I wouldn’t write off Mendenhall as a legitimate WR1.

In fact, some of the other RBs that have similar ADPs like DeAngelo Williams, Pierre Thomas, LeSean McCoy, Beanie Wells and Shonn Greene could also find themselves yielding the goal line touches as well.

Mendenhall had 1108 yards on 242 carries for a solid 4.6 yards per carry. He also added 25 catches for 261 yards and a score. I believe it’s that versatility that will keep him on the field inside the five. Maybe he loses a few one-yard plunges from Redman, but it shouldn’t be enough to drastically sway your opinion about Mendenhall.

It’s not like Mendenhall struggled inside the five last year as six of his rushing touchdowns came from four or fewer yards, with the seventh coming from seven yards out. His lone TD reception was from eight yards out. That’s eight TDs inside the ten yard line in the 13 games he started.

Redman may have the size (6’0″, 230 lbs), but he’ll have to prove he can handle the punishment around the goal line. You may want to lower your expectations for Mendenhall, but this news doesn’t budge him out of the #9 ranking I give him (click to see my 2010 RB rankings).

Also check out:
- Week 1 QB Rankings
- Week 1 RB Rankings
- Week 1 WR Rankings
- Week 1 TE Rankings
- Week 1 K Rankings
- Week 1 DEF Rankings
- Week 1 IDP Rankings

Image courtesy of Icon SMI

Mark Clayton never quite made the splash everybody was expecting him to in Baltimore. Things did not look good when Baltimore acquired Anquan Boldin. Then the acquisition of T.J. Houshmandzadeh sealed his fate. Obviously going from a playoff team to a 1-15 team is not good for your chances of winning, but will the move be good for his fantasy value?

I’m in the camp that thinks it will. For starters he doesn’t have much competition in St. Louis. Laurent Robinson, Danny Amendola, Mardy Gilyard, and Brandon Gibson aren’t exactly the who’s who of NFL wideouts. My guess is Clayton will eventually force start opposite of Robinson and Amendola to the slot.

Clayton won’t have a lot of time to build a rapport with Sam Bradford, but it shouldn’t take long for the two former Sooners to get on the same page. You won’t want to use him the first couple of weeks as he gets used to the system, and potentially will be matched up with Nnamdi Asomugha in Week 2. After he gets by Washington in Week 3, it should be smooth sailing for a few weeks (Seattle, Detroit, San Diego, Tampa Bay).

Clayton represents a low risk, but he could end up paying dividends. If you have question marks at WR, it wouldn’t hurt to give Clayton a shot.

You can also check out my Week 1 Rankings:
Week 1 QB Rankings
Week 1 RB Rankings
Week 1 WR Rankings
Week 1 TE Rankings
Week 1 K Rankings
Week 1 DEF Rankings
Week 1 IDP Rankings

Written by Eric Stashin of www.rotoprofessor.com

When Glen Coffee suddenly retired, it looked like the 49ers would be left with little behind star running back Frank Gore.  Less then three weeks later, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Not only did they bring Brian Westbrook into the mix, but sixth round pick Anthony Dixon has emerged from obscurity.  While a lot of his impressive preseason statistics came against marginal NFL players, at best, it still is hard to overlook.

He led the NFL with 300 rushing yards (Michael Bennett was second with 236). He led the NFL with four rushing touchdowns.

Then again, he had 20 more carries then any other running back, at 74.  When you have that big of a lead in carries, it’s easy to out rush the competition by such a great margin.

Despite coach Mike Singleton telling Comcast Sports Net California that, “When you have a guy like that, there’s going to be a role”, it’s impossible to think the role is going to be anything too special at this point.

With the options that the team has in front of him, it’s going to take a lot for Dixon to get regular touches.  Granted, Westbrook certainly is an injury risk, but even if he were the primary understudy to Gore would you expect him to develop into usability?

Gore has played in 14 or more games each of the past four years, only once having less then 1,100 yards during that span (1,036 in 2008).  He’s a workhorse, and should remain to be the main man in San Francisco.

Coffee, as the primary backup to Gore in 2009, got just 83 carries for 226 yards and a touchdown (plus 11 catches for 76 yards).

An impressive preseason is nice, but Dixon just isn’t likely to make an impact in 2010.  Don’t bother getting caught up in any attention he may be receiving.  There are much better options that should be available to you.

Keep an eye on him, just in case, but there certainly is no reason to be making a move right now.

What are your thoughts of Dixon?  Is there any chance he develops into a usable option in 2010?  Why or why not?

Make sure to check out Rotoprofessor’s 2010 rankings:

• Top 25 Quarterbacks
• Top 40 Running Backs
• Top 60 Wide Receivers
• Top 20 Tight Ends
• Top 15 Kickers

You can also check out my Week 1 Rankings:
Week 1 QB Rankings
Week 1 RB Rankings
Week 1 WR Rankings
Week 1 TE Rankings
Week 1 K Rankings
Week 1 DEF Rankings
Week 1 IDP Rankings