Fantasy Clicks: An SI Special

Author:: SI Staff
Publish date:: Jun 11, 2009


	Recent Fantasy Clicks 6-10-09: Where Fantasy Eagles Dare Fly 6-08-09: Marathon Men Take Over Petco Park 6-05-09: Mr. 300 Goes To Washington 6-03-09: Just Shooting The Bayou Brees 6-01-09: Angels and speed demons in SoCal 5-29-09: Fantasy foxes invade the desert 5-27-09: A Study In Jungle Karma 5-25-09: M&M Boys' A-list production 5-22-09: It Was A 20-to-1 Shot, Doc 5-20-09: SI's Bout with NFL Mock Madness 5-18-09: Tigers making most of split personality 5-15-09: Chris Davis ... Built For Fun 5-13-09: Not Favre From Over? Ugh! 5-11-09: Prince Albert's Great American Day 5-08-09: Manny's Suspended Animation 5-04-09: The Man Of Steal Rides Again 4-29-09: Dangers of RB Overpopulation 4-27-09: It's All About The O's 4-24-09: The New Falconer 4-22-09: Fantasy Breakdown Of NFL Sked 4-20-09: The Utlimate Fantasy Catch-22 4-17-09: Cyclist Of The Century 4-15-09: NFL Slices Of Heaven, Part II 4-13-09: All Hail The Check-Swing King 4-10-09: Welcome To Adventureland 4-08-09: NFL Slices Of Heaven 4-06-09: Opening Night Revelations 4-03-09: Draft Night Revelations, Part II 3-30-09: Draft Night Revelations, Part I 3-27-09: Draft Rules To Live By 3-23-09: Catch A Rising Star 3-20-09: Look Out For Pick No. 1 ... and 24 3-18-09: PVR Perfect 3-17-09: Don't Forget About Me 3-13-09: Welcome To Spring Break 3-12-09: LT2 Losing His Charge 3-11-09: Sudden Impact 3-09-09: Hip, Hip ... Hurry Back, A-Rod 3-06-09: Revenge Of The Cyst 3-05-09: A Disappointing Deadline Day 3-04-09: Cosmic Charlie 3-02-09: Aces In The Hole 2-27-09: Depth Perceptions 2-23-09: NFL Combine Revelations 2-20-09: Designated Long Drivers 2-19-09: The Brady Hunch 2-16-09: Seeking Sweet Relief 2-13-09: Sneak peek at an MLB mock draft 2-12-09: Boozer's Snoozer Of A Season 2-11-09: Impossible to ignore 2-9-09: The Secret Life of A-Rod 2-6-09: Pick of the 2B litter 2-5-09: Time for a fantasy bailout 2-4-09: Another winged wonder? 2-2-09: Super Bowl Revelations 1-30-09: Super Bowl Clicks 1-29-09: Aussie Re-Open 1-27-09: Fire sale! 1-26-09: Tim Lincecum vs. the world 1-23-09: The can't-miss kid? 1-22-09: Rip off! 1-20-09: No consolation prizes 1-19-09: Championship Sunday Revelations 1-16-09: Into the great wide open 1-15-09: Chickens, a King and free throws 1-13-09: Grab your Skates 1-12-09: Divisional Playoff Revelations 1-09-09: Playoff horse of a different color 1-07-09: Rocky Mountain Low 1-05-09: Wild Card Revelations 1-02-09: Playoff-A-Palooza

An SI Special


Adrian Peterson: Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

Fantasy Football is always in season, and with the debut of the SPORTS ILLUSTRATED's Fantasy Football manual hitting newsstands, it's right in the forefront of many SI writers' minds, including mine. We're proud to say that it's the best-looking, most informative and most useful issue of its kind ever published. Go run out and grab a copy. To help get you in the mood, here's a preview of the top five players at each position:

Running Backs
1. Adrian Peterson, Vikings
2. DeAngelo Williams, Panthers
3. Maurice Jones-Drew, Jaguars
4. Steve Slaton, Texans
5. Michael Turner, Falcons

Quarterbacks
1. Drew Brees, Saints
2. Aaron Rodgers, Packers
3. Peyton Manning, Colts
4. Philip Rivers, Chargers
5. Kurt Warner, Cardinals

Wide Receivers
1. Larry Fitzgerald
2. Andre Johnson
3. Randy Moss
4. Greg Jennings
5. Anquan Boldin

Tight Ends
1. Tony Gonzalez
2. Antonio Gates
3. Jason Witten
4. Chris Cooley
5. Anthony Fasano

Kickers
1. Jason Elam
2. Garrett Hartley
3. David Akers
4. Stephen Gostkowski
5. Lawrence Tynes

Defense/Special Teams
1. Steelers
2. Giants
3. Chargers
4. Vikings
5. Jets

Trendspotter

Now take a look at who's in and out in this week's edition of Fantasy Fad Watch, with an early eye toward trends you need to know for Fantasy Football '09:


	IN	FIVE MINUTES AGO	OUT
Must-Have RB	Steve Slaton	Michael Turner	LaDainian Tomlinson
Hot Fantasy QB	Donovan McNabb	Tony Romo	Jay Cutler
Best Sleeper TE	Anthony Fasano	Dustin Keller	Todd Heap
Favre's Halo Helps ...	Bernard Berrian	Jerricho Cotchery	Donald Driver

Back to the Diamond

*debuted the following season

As expected the Nationals took San Diego State's Stephen Strasburg with the first pick of baseball's amateur draft. After what's expected to be a tough negotiation, Strasburg will likely be thrown right into the big-league fire and will fly off the waiver wire in fantasy leagues that don't allow ownership of amateur players. He'll become the ninth college pitcher of the draft era to go straight from campus into the majors. Here's how the first eight fared in their first years:


Pitcher	College	MLB Team	Draft Year	Games	W-L	ERA
Darren Dreifort	Wichita State	Dodgers	1993*	27	0-5	6.21
Jim Abbott	Michigan	Angels	1988	29	12-12	3.92
Eddie Bane	Arizona State	Twins	1973	23	0-5	4.92
Dick Ruthven	Fresno State	Phillies	1973	25	6-9	4.21
Pete Broberg	Dartmouth	Senators	1971	18	5-9	3.47
Burt Hooton	Texas	Cubs	1971	3	2-0	2.11
Steve Dunning	Stanford	Indians	1969*	19	4-9	4.96
Mike Adamson	South Carolina	Orioles	1967	3	0-1	8.38

This week's fantasy dream line

Sunday, June 7, 2009 vs. MilwaukeeAtlanta Braves AB R H RBI 3B HR TB BB
Chipper Jones 4 2 4 5 1 2 12 1

American (and National) League Idols

It hasn't been a stellar year for rookies, especially on offense. But the season is far from over, and so are these races, but at this point here are my top five picks for Rookie of the Year in each league.

American League
1. Josh Outman, Athletics 4-0 3.17 ERA 1.17 WHIP 49/24 K/BB
2. Rick Porcello, Tigers 6-4 3.98 ERA 1.30 WHIP 36/20 K/BB
3. Nolan Reimold, Orioles .280/.330/.561 7 HR 16 RBI 0 SB
4. Elvis Andrus, Rangers .273/.330/.400 3 HR 12 RBI 9 SB
5. Alfredo Aceves, Yankees 4-1 2.59 ERA 1.07 WHIP 24/6 K/BB

National League
1. Colby Rasmus, Cardinals .269/.235/.469 7 HR 23 RBI 1SB
2. J.A. Happ, Phillies 4-0 2.98 ERA 1.08 WHIP 34/18 K/BB
3. Dexter Fowler, Rockies .254/.349/.400 3 HR 13 RBI 11 SB
4. Omir Santos, Mets .277/.300/.436 3 HR 18 RBI 0 SB
5. Sharion Martis, Nationals 5-1 5.04 ERA 1.35 WHIP 28/29 K/BB