Fantasy Mailbag

Plenty of options available with No. 1 pick

By James Quintong, SI.com

Marshall Faulk has scored 57 TDs the past three years, despite missing two games each of those seasons. AP

Welcome to the first edition of the fantasy football mailbag for the 2003 season. I'll be around all year long to answer questions about roster management, waiver-wire picks, potential trades and just about anything else you fire my way.

This looks to be another exciting fantasy football season, especially with no clear-cut No. 1 pick and plenty of lingering questions and position battles just one week away from that new tradition, the Thursday night opener.

While many of you have already drafted teams, there are still plenty of others who will be going through the process this weekend, so our first question will start there ...

I have the first pick in a 10-team league. I have wavered between Williams and Tomlinson, and had all but decided on LT, but Faulk's performance against Buffalo caught my eye. If he is back to his old self, is his ankle too big a risk to take him with the first pick? -- Jason DePrima, Columbia, Mo.

Unlike past years, having the No. 1 pick isn't the most envious position in the draft this time around because there are at least five players who could be considered the best fantasy player on the board. And in Jason's case, he's struggling among three players, all of whom would be a fine pick at this point. You could also add Clinton Portis and Priest Holmes to the mix.

If you were going to pick Tomlinson, by all means, stick with the pick. The addition of David Boston will keep opposing defenses honest, which should open up more running lanes for LT, even if it comes at the expense of a few catches out of the backfield. It's really hard to go wrong with a workhorse back who sees the ball early, often and everywhere on the field.

Based on his past performances, not to mention his impressive outing last weekend, Faulk is a very tempting pick. He's definitely got the track record to be the stud fantasy back yet again. However, he also has a track record of missing time with injuries even while piling up the stats. He may be in the best shape in years, but with so many other similar "sure things" on the board, you may want to let someone else take the risk with Faulk.

I drafted Deuce and Jamal Lewis as my starting RBs and Emmitt, Moe Williams and Buckhalter as my backups. For this, I suffered in my D as I have the Bears. Should I try to work a trade? -- Brad Sorgi, Louisville, Ky.

At this point, no. Team defense scoring is so fluid and often hard to predict, especially on a week-to-week basis. You may not have gotten the Bucs or the Eagles defenses, but after the top five or so, the rest just seem to run together. Remember, Chicago had a highly rated fantasy defense just a couple of years ago. Besides, if the Bears don't do it for you, there are probably a few other defenses worth picking up off the waiver wire.

Many teams would kill to have McAllister and Lewis as starting running backs and there's no reason to break them up, especially with what you've got as backups. Buckhalter has some upside since he's got a good shot of taking over as the Eagles' No. 1 back. Williams will see the ball a lot early, but there's a good chance he gives way to Onterrio Smith sooner rather than later. As for Emmitt, he'll have his moments, but he hasn't been a reliable fantasy starter in years.

How much production can I expect from Anthony Thomas? My other RBs on my fantasy draft were Dillon and Hambrick. -- Valiant Abello, Bridgewater, N.J.

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While Brad has some nice running backs to deal with, Valiant here could use a little help. Dillon is a nice No. 1 back, but unfortunately both Thomas and Hambrick are better suited as No. 3 fantasy backs for now.

Thomas suffered a huge sophomore slump last year, averaging just 3.4 yards per carry in a season cut short by injury. He has run relatively well in the preseason, so there's a good chance he'll begin the season as the starting running back. Plus, the addition of Kordell Stewart may open up the running game a bit, although Slash could steal some scores at the goal line.

The Bears had hoped Adrian Peterson would push Thomas for the starting job, but he hasn't been impressive enough this summer to take over outright. Still, he'll see plenty of time in the backfield and will take away stats from Thomas, at least initially.

At this point, it's probably best to play the matchups when deciding between starting Thomas and Hambrick. At least both will get a good number of carries.

I had Chad Pennington as my QB, and since his injury have picked up Kelly Holcomb to replace him. The other QB is Matt Hasselbeck. I have been offered a trade -- Drew Bledsoe and Travis Taylor for Kelly Holcomb and Laveranues Coles. Given my other receivers are Hines Ward and Peerless Price, do you think this would be a good trade? It would leave me with Hasslbeck and Bledsoe at QB and Taylor, Hines Ward and Price at receiver. -- Brian Smith, Baltimore

This appears to be a prime example of how to sell high and take advantage of your strengths. Picking up Holcomb to fill Pennington's roster spot was a no-brainer, given that Holcomb was huge down the stretch but only now sealed a starting job. However, Holcomb has never played a full season, so there's no guarantee he'll keep it up over 16 weeks. Plus, the Browns still have Tim Couch as insurance and can turn to him quickly if things go wrong.

On the flip side, you get a veteran quarterback in Bledsoe, who should still put up big numbers even without Price, and you still have Hasselbeck around, so you've got two potential top-10 quarterbacks to choose from on a weekly basis.

Losing Coles only hurts your depth, and Taylor is as capable of that third wideout role given the way your roster looks. I'm surprised you didn't have to give up Price or Ward in the deal instead, but then again that might have been too much for the upgrade at quarterback.

I have a couple of Houston Texans players on my fantasy team -- Andre Johnson and Corey Bradford. Do you expect them to put up good numbers? I've been hearing good things about RB Tony Hollings could he see a lot of playing time this year. -- Ra-Shaan Nelson, Owings Mills, Md.

The Texans could produce decent fantasy prospects soon, but not right away. I like Johnson and Bradford a lot, provided David Carr can get them the ball. Unfortunately, the offensive line hasn't improved much from last year when it allowed Carr to go down a record 76 times. If Carr has time, both Johnson and Bradford can stretch the field and make big plays. But that's a big if. I wouldn't count on either of them to be regular fantasy starters for now.

The one Texan who might deserve a look as a regular starter is tight end Billy Miller. Given Carr's protection problems, Miller has become a great safety valve, so he'll likely still get the lion's share of catches.

Houston would like to get Hollings more snaps, especially given Stacey Mack's struggles this summer. However, it would be wise to break him in slowly, partly because of his surgically-repaired knee and partly because he's still learning some of the basics of playing running back, like pass blocking. Hollings was a defensive back when he was converted to tailback just before the 2002 season.

In my league, you can either run three RBs or three WRs. Which is the better three to go with, RBs or WRs? -- Jason, Cleveland

I'm in one league that does just that, and there's a tendency to go with three running backs because they score more points and more consistently than wide receivers. However, that means the top backs go off the board very quickly, leaving only a few teams who can start three runners on a regular basis. That also means decent wide receivers can be had a little later in the draft, or at least after the running back well dries up.

Remember, there's a huge dropoff in running back talent after the top 20 or so. But there are still plenty of decent receivers in the 25-40 range who are worth starting if you start three receivers.

Going with three backs or three receivers obviously depends on who's on your roster. If you have three top backs, say, Travis Henry, Stephen Davis and Jamal Lewis (what I had last year), then going with three backs is fine. But if you've got some iffy backs like Antowain Smith or T.J. Duckett as your No. 3, you might as well go with three receivers.

The one big plus about trying to start three running backs is that you do have a lot more flexibility in case of injury. If a back goes down, you should be able to switch two backs/three receivers easily without losing that much performance.

James Quintong is Fantasy Sports Producer at SI.com.