Look, everyone knows fantasy football season is fast approaching. You might as well set your draft board, yes? I've decided that I will spill my knowledge and reasoning for picks, so that others might one day benefit. So this will be at least a few series long. I'm going to start with first round picks, the place where your draft can't be made, but it can be destroyed. Shaun Alexander and LaDainian Tomlinson say hello.
My first round rules are pretty core: My order of preference is RB-WR-QB, but my RB pool is often quite shallow simply because running backs can reach the thin line between "proven" and "past their prime" so fast that it's hard to tell. In the first round, I'm looking for my running back to have an established track record of recent goodness, be under 29, and have no competition for his job. Ergo, my first round looks like this:
Chris Johnson, Maurice Jones-Drew, and Adrian Peterson top my list. Why MJD over Peterson? Less competition for snaps is part of it, but also the fumbling problem makes me feel a bit uneasy. All three of these guys have multiple great seasons under their belt and meet my age requirements for a first round pick. After that you have the small questions tier: Steven Jackson, Ray Rice, and Frank Gore. Jackson has all the tools but is stuck on a bad offense that will likely be passing a lot, which can make the difference between a 12/51/TD day and a 20/90/TD day. Rice has all the tools and skills, along with the youth, but he's only done it one season. If you'd like to know why that matters, Kevin Jones, Joseph Addai, and Matt Forte would like to have a word with you. Finally, Gore is terrific and looks to be on a good team, but his injury history really scares me. There is one thing worse than having a first round pick with a bad situation: a first round pick that can go down for the season on any snap.
Andre Johnson is, of course, a safe first-round play this year. As is Drew Brees. I'd probably slot them both under Steven Jackson, in that order. After that, it feels like there is a lot more risk this year than usual at the back of the first round. Lots of running backs down there have the same problem Rice has: only one good season. Rashard Mendenhall, Jamaal Charles, and Shonn Greene fall under this umbrella. The normally dependable wideouts like Larry Fitzgerald and Reggie Wayne have a reason or two for you to doubt them, and even Tom Brady is coming off a really bad season.
After that first eight, it gets really tough for me. If you had me fill out 10, I'd probably give you Aaron Rodgers and either Fitzgerald or Roddy White. Remember kids, safety comes first in the first round.
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If you still want to get in on BRB's own wacky fun-time league, The Jonathan Wells Memorial League, which forces you to chase awful players, there is still at least one spot left. We could have up to three if enough people want in. I'm capping it at 14.
What say you BRB? Who are your top 10 picks?
CBSSports.com is an SB Nation partner and paying sponsor of the SB Nation football communities. This post is one of a series of sponsor endorsed posts related to the CBSSports.com Fantasy Football Commissioner League.