By Ray Flowers
January 5, 2010 2:30pm CST

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
Six 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

359.0 points - Aaron Rodgers
As amazing as he was, how flipping nuts is it that he had three fewer TD passes than Favre (33 to 30)? No one in Green Bay is complaining about 4,434 yards, 30 scores (plus five rushing) and seven interceptions though.

326.4 points - Drew Brees
Set the all-time record with a 70.6 percent completion percentage and produced a fourth straight season of at least 4,300 yards and 26 scores as a Saint.

312.5 points - Matt Schaub
The NFL leader with 4,770 yards, Schaub finished one score short of 30 in a remarkable effort in which he finally appeared in all 16 games.

310.7 points - Peyton Manning
Ho-hum. Another run at the MVP award seems certain after 4,500 yards and 33 touchdowns despite two part time efforts the final two weeks.

300.6 points - Brett Favre
Shocking. How he posted a career best QB Rating (107.2) and basically halved his previous best in the interception category (from 13 to seven) is amazing.

299.8 points - Tony Romo
You might hate the guy, but the bottom line is that the numbers are always there. Only threw for 17 yards less than P. Manning (4,483) while tossing 26 scores.

298.3 points - Tom Brady
Broken bones and all, Brady was still terrific with 4,398 yards and 28 touchdowns for the Patriots.

297.3 points - Ben Roethlisberger
A Steelers' record 4,328 yards highlighted a fantastic season that included a 100.5 QB Rating.

293.2 points - Philip Rivers
The AFC leader with a 104.4 QB Rating, Rivers tossed a mere nine interceptions against 28 scores.

277.9 points - Jay Cutler
The league leader in interceptions (26), Cutler still threw for 27 scores and 3,666 yards, totals only 12 quarterbacks reached.


RUNNING BACK

346.9 points - Chris Johnson
The 2,006 yards, 50 receptions and 16 scores are phenomenal, but is anyone worried about the 408 touches?

289.9 points - Adrian Peterson
Had his lowest yards per game mark (86.4) but 18 touchdowns and a doubling of his effort in the passing game (43 catches) makes that a moot point.

272.5 points - Maurice Jones-Drew
Didn't wear down at all as the featured back scoring 16 times, with 53 receptions and 1,391 yards.

252.1 points - Ray Rice
From mid-round selection to fantasy force seemingly overnight. Rice rushed for 1,339 yards (5.3 YPC) while catching 78 passes.

230.6 points - Frank Gore
Only 229 carries, but still 1,120 yards, 13 overall scores, and 52 receptions.

230.0 points - Thomas Jones Shockingly efficient. The past two years he has scored 27 times while rushing for 2,714 yards -
staggering totals really.

216.5 points - Ricky Williams
Best season ever for a 32-year-old back? You can make the argument with 1,121 yards rushing and 13 total scores.

211.8 points - Ryan Grant
Back-to-back seasons of 1,200 yards, he doubled his scoring total from five to 11 touchdowns.

199.3 points - Joseph Addai
The exact opposite of SJax, all his value was in his scores (13 combined touchdowns, only 828 rushing yards).

197.8 points - Steven Jackson
Only the four touchdowns kept him from a massive fantasy season (1,416 yards rushing, 51 receptions).


WIDE RECEIVER

211.9 points- Andre Johnson
For the second straight year he went over 1,500-yards (1,569), and for the second straight year he led the league.

204.4 points- Randy Moss
Takes plays off, but the numbers are always fantastic (83 receptions, 1,264 yards, 13 touchdowns).

197.8 points- Miles Austin
Can you believe that he actually led the NFC in receiving yards (1,320)? Add in 11 scores and you can make an argument that he was "the" waiver-wire pickup of the year.

190.4 points- DeSean Jackson
Tied for 25th in the league with 63 receptions, he was still a point producing machine with his blazing speed and open field moves as he scored 11 times.

187.2 points- Larry Fitzgerald
Set a career best with 13 scores in his third straight effort of at least 95 catches.

186.4 points- Reggie Wayne
With 100 receptions and 10 scores, Wayne hit the magic marks for the second time in three seasons.

181.5 points- Roddy White
Only Falcons' receiver ever to catch at least 80-passes for 1,000-yards in three straight years.

179.2 points- Sidney Rice
Someone loves them some Brett Favre. Rice more than doubles his yardage total from his first two seasons in the league finishing with 83 catches for 1,312 yards.

175.9 points- Brandon Marshall
A malcontent who simply produces on Sundays, Marshall has now posted 100-receptions in three straight years.

171.8 points- Vincent Jackson
Bettered all his marks from last season despite playing in one fewer game. Caught 68 balls for 1,167 yards and nine scores for the Bolts.


TIGHT END

174.5 points- Vernon Davis
Tied the NFL record for scores by a tight end with 13 (Gates). Finished two catches short of 80 and 35 yards short of 1,000.

171.7 points- Dallas Clark
Got his 100 catches, went for 1,106 yards and 11 scores. Not bad Mr. Clark.

163.7 points- Antonio Gates
Led all tight ends with a career best 1,157 yards in a terrific rebound effort after an injury filled 2008.

145.1 points- Brent Celek
No one saw this coming. His 76 catches and eight scores made him one of only four tight ends to reach both marks.

122.7 points- Tony Gonzalez
For the seventh straight season he caught at least 73 passes (83) leaving him one short of an even thousand in his storied career.

122.6 points- Visanthe Shiancoe
Lost 30 yards from his '08 effort but scored four more times (11).

119.1 points- Kellen Winslow
Three times in four years he has caught at least 77 passes for 875 yards (he had 77 and 884 this season).

115.0 points- Jason Witten
For all the disappointment he caught 94 passes for 1,030 yards, though the two scores do take some of the luster away from his tremendous pass catching numbers.

114.9 points- Heath Miller
Destroyed his previous career bests of 48 catches and 566 yards by finishing with 76 for 789.

109.2 points- Greg Olsen
Career bests of 60 catches, 612 yards and eight scores still left us all wanting more didn't it?


KICKER

146 points- Nate Kaeding
Didn't miss one of 23 kicks under 40-yards this season.

139 points- David Akers
Only missed one of 21 kicks under 40-yards this season.

132 points- Ryan Longwell
Only missed one of 17 kicks under 40-yards. This will be the last of under 40-yard references this week.

129 points- Mason Crosby
Had a 79.5 percent field goal rate as a rookie, it dipped slightly to 79.4 percent last year and then down to 75.0 percent this year.

126 points- Lawrence Tynes
Tied a career-high with 27 field goals (2005) though he bested his previous high in points by one (126).

125 points- Stephen Gostkowski
Converted all 47 PATs and made seven kicks over 40-yards.

122 points- Matt Prater
Converted his last seven field goal attempts to end the year with an impressive 85.7 conversion rate.

122 points- Jay Feely
Made 30 field goals, his highest totals since hitting 35 in 2005.

122 points- Jeff Reed
Led the league with 15 field goals made in 16 attempts from 30-39 yards.

118 points- Rob Bironas
Converted 15 kicks over the 40-yard mark, tied for the league lead (Sebastian Janikowski).


Ray Flowers is Managing Editor for Fanball.com Owners Edge and RotoTimes.com. His work can be found weekly, exclusively at the home of fantasy football: Fanball.com.