The debate rages on about who is the best weapon in football. Is it the flashy quarterback who lofts deep touchdown passes or is it the dynamic backfield option that always seems to have the ball in his hands? For that matter, what about that receiver that always seems to be doing some type of end zone dance? In what follows we will attempt to answer the question of who is the most valuable fantasy player at each position in our weekly column dealing with the Player Rater Tool.
What is Player Rater tool you ask? It is an emotionless, statistically driven model that takes into account your leagues rules and tells you which players are performing at the highest level. For the sake of the analysis that follows, here are the “rules” that we will be using.
Four Points: Touchdown Pass
Four Points: Rushing or Receiving Touchdown
One Point: Per 25 Yards Passing
One Point: Per 10 Yards Rushing or Receiving
Three Points: Per Field Goal
One Point: Per Extra Point
You can click on the following link to find the actual
Player Rater Tool if you want to input your own league’s scoring system.
QUARTERBACK
70.8 points -
Jay Cutler
Cutler has thrown for eight scores with totals of 300, 350 and 284 yards passing in three Broncos victories.
69.6 points -
Philip Rivers
Rivers leads all quarterbacks with a 124.8 QB Rating and nine touchdowns (three each week). He has also thrown for 627 yards the past two weeks.
62.8 points -
Aaron Rodgers
Rodgers hasn’t thrown an interception in three games and is averaging a robust 265.3 yards per contest for the Packers.
59.9 points -
Drew Brees
Will have to succeed without weapons
Marques Colston and
Jeremy Shockey for the time being. He has only five scores in three games but has thrown for an amazing 980 yards.
55.6 points -
Donovan McNabb
Already injured, he should play on after completing two thirds of his passes with five scores and one interception in three weeks.
55.0 points -
Tony Romo
He has thrown for at least 260 yards in each outing this season, though he has thrown at least one interception in each of his last six games.
53.6 points -
Kurt Warner
Averaging 250 yards and two touchdowns per game over three outings, Warner has been held to under 200 yards passing twice.
51.1 points -
Brett Favre
He has completed a tremendous 70% of his 90 pass attempts this season, though he is averaging, for him, a poor 215.3 yards per game (239.6 for his career).
50.5 points -
Eli Manning
Playing a consistent, safe game so far, Eli has tossed only one interception in three games after averaging 18 the past three seasons.
50.0 points -
Jon Kitna
Currently dealing with a wonky knee after a poor effort against the Niners (146 yards, one score). He has already thrown five interceptions on the year.
RUNNING BACK
57.8 points –
Michael Turner
Who said this guy couldn’t handle the load? Not only does he lead the NFL in yards (366) and rushing scores (five – tied with
Ronnie Brown), he is also averaging 6.2 yards per carry.
57.2 points –
Marion Barber
The Barbarian is averaging 21 carries and three receptions a week on his way to scoring five times (four rushing, one receiving).
53.2 points –
Frank Gore
Gore is averaging 20 carries, 95.7 yards an one rushing touchdown a week in the Mike Martz era. He has also caught 13 passes for 125 yards in the passing game.
52.2 points –
Reggie Bush
Bush leads the NFL with 26 receptions which have led to 250 yards and two touchdowns though he is still struggling a bit on the ground with 152 yards and a score (3.6 YPC).
48.9 points – Matt Forte
Forte is fourth in the NFL with 304 yards on the ground and he has also racked up and impressive 13 receptions for 105 yards and a score in his first three NFL games.
46.5 points –
Ronnie Brown
Early in the year one huge week (four touchdowns rushing, one passing) can vault you to the top of any ranking system. He carried the ball 17 times for just 48 yards in Weeks 1 and 2.
43.5 points –
Marshawn Lynch
Lynch has four scores, with at least one each week, though his YPC is a pedestrian 3.6 so far.
42.7 points –
Julius Jones
Jones is third in the league in rushing yards (312) after racking up 267 yards the past two weeks, during which time he scored twice. Jones could lose looks with the return of
Maurice Morris.
41.1 points –
Adrian Peterson
Peterson is second in the league with 340 rushing yards, though he is dealing with a hamstring injury that limited him to just 77 yards in Week 3.
40.7 points –
Brian Westbrook
Hopes to be able to play this weekend despite an ankle injury that limited him to five carries and 12 yards in Week 3. He has already scored five times despite just 207 total yards of offense.
WIDE RECEIVER
42.3 points –
Santana Moss
Moss has 19 receptions for 276 yards and three touchdowns. That’s five straight games with a score for the effective “Moss.”
40.7 points –
Anquan Boldin
Boldin has scored four times over the past two weeks, and dating back to last season he has scored seven times in his last five games.
40.1 points –
Brandon Marshall
Marshall leads all receivers with 24 receptions and is second with 321 yards despite seeing action in just two games, as he has gone over 150 yards in both outings (166 and 155).
37.3 points –
Larry Fitzgerald
After a slow start (three receptions for 31 yards), Fitzgerald has been money the past two weeks with 13 receptions for 262 yards.
37.3 points –
Greg Jennings
Jennings has 373 yards receiving to lead the league, though he still hasn’t had the chance to do an end zone dance yet.
35.6 points –
Calvin Johnson
Dating back to last season, Johnson has caught at least four passes in six of his last seven games.
33.3 points –
Reggie Wayne
After scoring in back-to-back weeks, Wayne was held off the score sheet in Week 3, as he caught just three passes for 74 yards. Dating back to last season, he has scored six times in his last nine games.
31.4 points –
Chris Chambers
Chambers is one of only two receivers with four touchdowns this season (Boldin), a shocking level of production for a guy who has only six receptions total.
31.3 points –
Terrell Owens
After back-to-back 85-yard efforts, Owens was brutal in Week 3 with two receptions for 17 yards in his worst effort since Week 5 of last season.
29.9 points –
Plaxico Burress
After 10 receptions for 133 yards in Week 1, his production has basically halved itself in each of the last two weeks with five receptions for 81 yards, followed by three receptions for 45 yards in Week 3.
TIGHT END
27.3 points –
Jason Witten
Witten shrugged off concerns about his shoulder with his second straight seven-reception effort in Week 3. Overall, he has 273 yards receiving, which is 105 more yards than any other tight end.
24.8 points –
Tony Scheffler
Scheffler is second at the position with 168 yards receiving and is tied for first with two scores for the Broncos.
23.0 points –
Anthony Fasano
Fasano has scored in two straight games and has caught at least three passes in each of the Dolphins' three games this season.
22.7 points –
Antonio Gates
Gates has scored twice in three games, though he has only 10 receptions on the year. Dating back to last season, the once great Gates hasn’t had a 75-yard effort in eight games.
17.7 points –
Bo Scaife
He had a 105-yard effort in Week 1. He then completely disappeared in Week 2 with one catch for six yards. In Week 3 he caught only three passes for 26 yards but one went for a score.
16.9 points –
Tony Gonzalez
Given the lack of NFL level performance at the quarterback position for the Chiefs, Gonzalez has done pretty well in the early going with 15 receptions and a score.
16.8 points – John Carlson
The rookie is tied with Fasano for second in the league in yards by a tight end (168), but there is a chance he could lose some looks with the expected return of
Deion Branch and
Bobby Engram.
16.0 points –
Dante Rosario
After seven receptions for 96 yards and a score in Week 1, Rosario has only three receptions and 24 yards the past two weeks.
15.6 points –
Kellen Winslow Jr.
Winslow was held to two receptions for 14 yards in Week 3 and has averaged just 38.7 yards per game through three weeks after averaging 69.1 yards per outing last season.
15.1 points –
Chris Cooley,
Jeremy Shockey
After an invisible first outing (one catch for seven yards), Cooley has caught at least five passes for 70 yards each of the past two weeks. This is the last you will see of Shockey for a long while, as he is expected to miss 4-6 weeks due to a sports hernia operation.
KICKER
35 points –
John Carney
A perfect 9-for-9 on kicks, Carney is 5-for-5 on kicks of 20-29 yards.
30 points –
Nate Kaeding
Kaeding made six extra points in Week 3 and hasn’t missed a single one of his six field goal attempts this year.
30 points –
Ryan Longwell
Longwell is 9-for-10 on the year with a long kick of 53 yards this season.
29 points –
Olindo Mare
Mare is 4-for-4 on kicks of 30-39 yards, 1-for-1 on kicks of 40-49 and 1-for-1 on 50+ yard kicks (it was a 51-yarder).
29 points –
Joe Nedney
Nedney has already missed two kicks in the 40-49 yard range after missing just two of 23 attempts at that distance the previous three seasons.
28 points –
Mason Crosby
Crosby is 10-for-10 on PATs this season and has made all 58 pointafters in his 19 career games.
28 points –
David Akers
Akers has converted all 16 of his kick attempts this season, including 6-for-6 on field goal attempts.
28 points –
Matt Prater
Prater hasn’t missed a kick in 18 attempts this season, and he has already nailed a kick of 52 yards.
27 points –
Jason Elam
Elam is 6-for-6 on kicks with four of his attempts coming in at under 30 yards in distance.
26 points – John Kasey
Kasey is a perfect 7-for-7 on field goal attempts, including 4-for-4 on kicks when the Panthers are behind.
