Fantasy Football Friday

A quick update on the BBV Fantasy League before getting to some fantasy-related links: right now there are 8 players in the league, so we have room for 2-4 more people, if anyone else is interested. I'm going to lock the league on Sunday, so if I don't get a few more responses by then, it will just be an 8-team league. If anyone else is interested, e-mail me at cjmulrain@yahoo.com.

Starting next week, I'm going to give my own fantasy preview of the AFC & the NFC (with a special focus on the NFC East, since it's the division I know the best). For now, though, here's some fantasy related links:

• In it's "32 Questions" series, ESPN's Tristan Cockroft looks at whether Brandon Jacobs is a true "#1 fantasy running back." His answer is yes. I'm torn on Jacobs as a fantasy back - when he's healthy he gives you monster numbers, but he always gets banged up and will probably miss a few games. Add to that the emergence of Ahmad Bradhsaw (who I believe will replace Derek Ward and then some), plus the Giants having a number of shiny red zone toys (Kevin Boss, Ramses Barden, maybe even Travis Beckum), and I question whether Jacobs will put up the type of numbers to justify picking him as high as he's likely to be picked. I'll discuss this more in my NFC East fantasy preview, but I'll say I'd be cautious about taking Jacobs in the first round.
  
• KFFL's William Pillar provides a fantasy preview of a guy we're all very familiar with: Jeremy Shockey. His take is that Shockey is worth the risk to take with a late-round pick, and I agree completely. We all have our opinions on Shockey, but despite everything he's a very talented player on a pass-happy team with possibly the best statistical passer in the game today. If he stays healthy (and wears some stickum), he could have a big season. And let's face it: beyond a few big names there's not much fantasy depth at tight end, so if Shockey is still sitting there in the last few rounds, you could really get a steal with him. 
• Yahoo! Sports has an article about "safe" wide receivers (guys who had 100+ balls thrown their way last year, at least 1 red zone attempt per game, and have the same QB returning this year), and then analyzes some other aspects of drafting WR's. One interesting tidbit that goes against some conventional wisdom is that a top receiver with a bad QB is possibly more valuable than one with a good QB, b/c a bad QB will lock onto his top guy, while a good QB will read through his progressions and spread the ball around. With that in mind, someone like Calvin Johnson becomes even more valuable than he already was. The article also lists DeSean Jackson as a WR to avoid, which is fine by me.