Summer of Favre

This summer, there has been one story line - Brett Favre. Unlike a normal summer, in which we hear sugar-coated training camp stories from various teams, Favre has dominated every Sports Center broadcast, every SI article, and even water-cooler conversations at the office. Those looking to catch some training camp news and perhaps identify a sleeper or two (myself included) are frustrated at having our interests put on the back-burner for an absolute circus in Green Bay.

While I haven't taken the time to create a comprehensive ranking sheet for the skill positions, I will mention a few players I like for each position in this posting, and I'll be working on a top-12 team defense/special teams ranking list and have that up in the near future. Hopefully, as we're getting closer to prime drafting time, I'll have completed a ranking system for each position (top 25? not sure). I'll keep you all updated with that.

Also, once the season begins, I will have at least one weekly posting with my picks of the week and probably a brief, fantasy oriented, sit/start column, also weekly. The summer may have been a little slow, but we'll be fully ramped up into the regular season here in no time.

PLAYERS I LIKE FOR VARIOUS REASONS

QB

1) Carson Palmer, Cincinnati- Sure, lots of people like Carson Palmer. I get the feeling though, after a season that didn't live up to lofty fantasy expectations last year, and all the CJ madness after the season, that he will be slightly under-valued. If you can snag him with a 4th or 5th round pick, you'll be getting a great value.

2) Donovan McNabb, Philadelphia- He's not the most popular guy given his past couple seasons, but he had a solid finish last year (4 games, 7 TDs, 1 INT). While he still has mediocre receivers, the offense is built around Brian Westbrook (who should also have a monstrous season if he remains healthy). I think Donovan is probably near the bottom of the top 10 QBs this year, but might be able to be had with a later pick in some drafts because of his injury history

3) Alex Smith, San Francisco- He certainly can't get much worse. Moreover, if Mike Martz can turn Jon Kitna into a top 5 fantasy QB, there's hope for Alex. I consider him a risky QB2 selection with upside.

4) Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay- He's been the real victim out of the Brett Favre fiasco, so he has karma on his side. Also, I can't help but thinking of what happened with Joe Montana and Steve Young. The kid has no track record, other than the game against Dallas last season, but he could be a worthwhile QB2 in deeper leagues.

RBs

1) Brandon Jacobs, New York Giants- I liked him last year, and still like him this year. He's good... when he plays.

2) Marion Barber, Dallas- I wasn't too keen on him early in the off-season, but it sounds like with Julius Jones leaving town, it'll be the Marion Barber show with a much smaller dose of Jones (Felix). He could be a TD machine this season, given how potent the offense is.

3) Frank Gore, San Francisco- He was a border-line bust last year. However, Martz knows how to build an offense around a versatile RB (See: Marshall Faulk, 1999-2002) and while the O-line is young, I would anticipate some improvement in their play.

4) Jamal Lewis, Cleveland- He'll be steal if he repeats or improves upon last year's numbers.

5) Rashard Mendenhall, Pittsburgh- The new version of the Old, TD-Vulturing Jerome Bettis.

WRs

1) Vincent Jackson, San Diego- Chambers will open up the field for Jackson as he improves.

2) Chad Johnson, Cincinnati- Hopefully he'll be the NFL version of Kobe Bryant and light up the stat-sheet after looking like a moron the entire off season.

3) Santonio Holmes, Pittsburgh- The progression of the Ward-Holmes tandem is paralleling that of the Harrison-Wayne tandem in Indy; it's just a season or two behind.

4) Patrick Crayton, Dallas- He should benefit greatly from the departure of Terry Glenn, and there should be plenty of TDs to go around in Dallas.

TEs

1) Chris Cooley, Washington- Jason Campbell's development is coming along nicely.

2) Ben Utecht, Cincinnati- He was stuck behind Dallas Clark in Indy and should be a big factor underneath for the Bengals as their starting TE.

3) Jeremy Shockey, New Orleans- Another weapon for a pass heavy offense. And their defense didn't get much better, so they should continue to throw the ball a ton. Shockey has always been talented, and now should be more motivated.