Top Fantasy Football Players at Each Position

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Top Fantasy Football Players at Each Position

Top Fantasy Football Players at Each Position
Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Fantasy football, the most popular of all fantasy sports to play and the numbers grow every single year. It’s no longer called the Dungeons and Dragons for jocks due to its popularity in mainstream culture, with the show “The League” which is going into their fifth season that starts up September 4 on the FX network.

As for a league themselves, there are so many good players that perform year in and year out. With that, there are athletes every single year that disappoint either from poor performances weekly or the freak Week 1 injury and it makes a team crumble like poor cement. That being said, it also seems that there are a few players that seemingly come out of nowhere and light it up either as a controversial rookie one year like Cam Newton or they are thrust in the spotlight due to an injury to the starter like Larry Johnson for Priest Holmes.

For most positions, the top-rated person almost seems like a man among boys at their position, especially if some of them have an encore or even improve on their numbers from 2012. For the big-money positions such as quarterback, running back and wide receiver, the number-one player should be a shock to nobody at all. If somehow you can land one or two of these guys, you might win your league’s championship with certainty, provided they stay healthy all season long. Without further ado, here are the top players at each position and good look to all of you playing in the 2013 season.

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Quarterback: Aaron Rodgers

Quarterback: Aaron Rodgers
Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Aaron Rogers, the Green Bay Packers signal caller since 2008, has put up 4,000 yards and at least 28 touchdowns in nearly every single year he has been at the helm. Besides that impressive feat that would put him likely in the top-three quarterbacks, Rodgers can also take off and run if he has to and has scored at least a couple rushing touchdowns with at least 200 yards of rushing. As a result of this, he is the highest-rated quarterback in almost every fantasy football league.

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Running Back: Adrian Peterson

Running Back: Adrian Peterson
Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

Adrian Peterson in 2012 was nothing short of amazing as he was only eight yards short of the single-season rushing yards mark of 2,105 that was set by Eric Dickerson. What’s more impressive than that is the fact he came back from a brutal ACL tear late in 2011 and never missed a beat at all. This year, he is even more motivated to break the record since. Besides the 2,097 rushing yards that “All-Day” had last year, he also had 40 catches for 217 yards as well with an awful quarterback in Christian Ponder. Peterson will likely go number-one overall in the majority of drafts, as he should with the numbers he had last season.

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Wide Receiver: Calvin Johnson

Wide Receiver: Calvin Johnson
Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Speaking of records, Calvin Johnson broke one last year with 1,964 receiving yards on 122 catches, which is an amazing feat to say the least. Johnson is a man-child out there; he is his own type of wide receiver as he stands 6-foot-5 and weighs in at 239 pounds. It’s like a tight end frame with giant soft hands and has a speed wide receiver’s body. With his giant frame and leaping ability, “Megatron” can beat even triple teams sometimes with virtual ease. With the Detroit Lions adding a weapon like Reggie Bush, Calvin Johnson should warrant less triple teams and punish teams even more than last season.

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Tight End: Jimmy Graham

Tight End: Jimmy Graham
Crystal LoGiudice-USA TODAY Sports

Jimmy Graham is simply a freak athlete who has taken the NFL by force the last two seasons and has emerged as one of the best tight ends in football for the New Orleans Saints. It doesn’t hurt to have Drew Brees, one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL throwing you the ball either. Graham is a huge target standing at 6-foot-7 and weighing in at 265 pounds. This former power forward for the Miami Hurricanes basketball team only played one year of college football but impressed the Saints enough to take him in the third round of the 2010 NFL draft. In the last two seasons, Graham has had no less than 85 catches and almost 1,000 yards in both years. With Sean Payton returning to coaching duties this year, this could only yield huge benefits for the 26 year old.

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Kicker: Greg Zuerlein

Kicker: Greg Zuerlein
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Greg “The Leg” Zuerlein has lived up to his nickname to say the least as he has drilled a 60-yard field goal for the St. Louis Rams. What also helps Zuerlein in his kicking duties is that half of his games every year are played inside the Edward Jones Dome and the possibility to play in more domes annually doesn’t hurt either, or at least mostly climate-friendly stadiums. In one game besides that 60 yard attempt he made, he also hit from 58 and he also attempted 13 field goals over 50 yards all season long, which are NFL records. Not bad for a rookie in the league last season. The future is looking bright for “The Leg” as far as kickers go.

7 of 7

Defense: San Francisco 49ers

Defense: San Francisco 49ers
Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

What else can be said about the defending NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers defense, but wow. They are a mostly young and hungry defense that is extremely opportunistic to say the least and aren’t shy to lay the lumber and force a lot of turnovers and even more three and outs. They had 38 team sacks, with 19.5 of them alone coming from Aldon Smith. They also had 14 interceptions. This defensive unit will only get better as they play more and more games together under defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.

1 of 7

Top Fantasy Football Players at Each Position

Top Fantasy Football Players at Each Position
Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Fantasy football, the most popular of all fantasy sports to play and the numbers grow every single year. It’s no longer called the Dungeons and Dragons for jocks due to its popularity in mainstream culture, with the show “The League” which is going into their fifth season that starts up September 4 on the FX network.

As for a league themselves, there are so many good players that perform year in and year out. With that, there are athletes every single year that disappoint either from poor performances weekly or the freak Week 1 injury and it makes a team crumble like poor cement. That being said, it also seems that there are a few players that seemingly come out of nowhere and light it up either as a controversial rookie one year like Cam Newton or they are thrust in the spotlight due to an injury to the starter like Larry Johnson for Priest Holmes.

For most positions, the top-rated person almost seems like a man among boys at their position, especially if some of them have an encore or even improve on their numbers from 2012. For the big-money positions such as quarterback, running back and wide receiver, the number-one player should be a shock to nobody at all. If somehow you can land one or two of these guys, you might win your league’s championship with certainty, provided they stay healthy all season long. Without further ado, here are the top players at each position and good look to all of you playing in the 2013 season.

2 of 7

Quarterback: Aaron Rodgers

Quarterback: Aaron Rodgers
Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Aaron Rogers, the Green Bay Packers signal caller since 2008, has put up 4,000 yards and at least 28 touchdowns in nearly every single year he has been at the helm. Besides that impressive feat that would put him likely in the top-three quarterbacks, Rodgers can also take off and run if he has to and has scored at least a couple rushing touchdowns with at least 200 yards of rushing. As a result of this, he is the highest-rated quarterback in almost every fantasy football league.

3 of 7

Running Back: Adrian Peterson

Running Back: Adrian Peterson
Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

Adrian Peterson in 2012 was nothing short of amazing as he was only eight yards short of the single-season rushing yards mark of 2,105 that was set by Eric Dickerson. What’s more impressive than that is the fact he came back from a brutal ACL tear late in 2011 and never missed a beat at all. This year, he is even more motivated to break the record since. Besides the 2,097 rushing yards that “All-Day” had last year, he also had 40 catches for 217 yards as well with an awful quarterback in Christian Ponder. Peterson will likely go number-one overall in the majority of drafts, as he should with the numbers he had last season.

4 of 7

Wide Receiver: Calvin Johnson

Wide Receiver: Calvin Johnson
Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Speaking of records, Calvin Johnson broke one last year with 1,964 receiving yards on 122 catches, which is an amazing feat to say the least. Johnson is a man-child out there; he is his own type of wide receiver as he stands 6-foot-5 and weighs in at 239 pounds. It’s like a tight end frame with giant soft hands and has a speed wide receiver’s body. With his giant frame and leaping ability, “Megatron” can beat even triple teams sometimes with virtual ease. With the Detroit Lions adding a weapon like Reggie Bush, Calvin Johnson should warrant less triple teams and punish teams even more than last season.

5 of 7

Tight End: Jimmy Graham

Tight End: Jimmy Graham
Crystal LoGiudice-USA TODAY Sports

Jimmy Graham is simply a freak athlete who has taken the NFL by force the last two seasons and has emerged as one of the best tight ends in football for the New Orleans Saints. It doesn’t hurt to have Drew Brees, one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL throwing you the ball either. Graham is a huge target standing at 6-foot-7 and weighing in at 265 pounds. This former power forward for the Miami Hurricanes basketball team only played one year of college football but impressed the Saints enough to take him in the third round of the 2010 NFL draft. In the last two seasons, Graham has had no less than 85 catches and almost 1,000 yards in both years. With Sean Payton returning to coaching duties this year, this could only yield huge benefits for the 26 year old.

6 of 7

Kicker: Greg Zuerlein

Kicker: Greg Zuerlein
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Greg “The Leg” Zuerlein has lived up to his nickname to say the least as he has drilled a 60-yard field goal for the St. Louis Rams. What also helps Zuerlein in his kicking duties is that half of his games every year are played inside the Edward Jones Dome and the possibility to play in more domes annually doesn’t hurt either, or at least mostly climate-friendly stadiums. In one game besides that 60 yard attempt he made, he also hit from 58 and he also attempted 13 field goals over 50 yards all season long, which are NFL records. Not bad for a rookie in the league last season. The future is looking bright for “The Leg” as far as kickers go.

7 of 7

Defense: San Francisco 49ers

Defense: San Francisco 49ers
Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

What else can be said about the defending NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers defense, but wow. They are a mostly young and hungry defense that is extremely opportunistic to say the least and aren’t shy to lay the lumber and force a lot of turnovers and even more three and outs. They had 38 team sacks, with 19.5 of them alone coming from Aldon Smith. They also had 14 interceptions. This defensive unit will only get better as they play more and more games together under defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.


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