NFL fantasy player rater

By Ray Flowers, Fanball.com, Special to SI.com

Despite missing two games with broken bones in his face, Anquan Boldin has still managed to reach the end zone 10 times. Chris Keane/Icon SMI

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 ass
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

Quarterback

Kurt Warner -- 206.2 points

Though he lost his streak of double-digit TD games at eight in Week 11 (he threw just one) he managed to throw for 395 yards, his fourth straight effort of at least 320 yards.

Drew Brees -- 202.1 points

Brees is still throwing for tons of yards (325.1 per game) but he has just six touchdowns the past four weeks.

Jay Cutler -- 201.2 points

Cutler has thrown for 268 yards a game and 11 scores at home while tossing for 298.4 yards per game and eight touchdowns on the road.

Philip Rivers -- 185.7 points

After four-straight outings with at least two touchdown passes, Rivers laid his first egg of the season in Week 11 against the Steelers.

Aaron Rodgers -- 178.6 points

Of his 15 touchdown passes, Rodgers has connected for 10 scores on third down with nine in the first half and six after halftime.

Donovan McNabb -- 177.2 points

He may not know when the game will end, but he is still doing a fine job while on the field though the interceptions are starting to mount (five in the past three weeks).

Peyton Manning -- 176.6 points

Peyton has thrown for at least 220 yards, with at least 21 completions and two touchdowns in each of his past four contests.

Brett Favre -- 163.0 points

Favre has been at his best late in games this season with a 99.7 QB rating and seven touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

Matt Cassel -- 150.5 points

After his huge Week 11 (400 yards, three TD), Cassel is averaging 220 yards passing per game, more than Eli Manning (207.9) and Ben Roethlisberger (199.0).

Eli Manning -- 147.8 points

He has kept the mistakes to a minimum with only seven interceptions and two lost fumbles, though he has failed to throw for 200 yards since Week 5.

Running back

Clinton Portis -- 149.9 points

He wasn't supposed to play in Week 11 because of a bum knee but he gutted it out for 15 carries and 68 yards. He has only 28 carries for 119 yards in his last two games.

Adrian Peterson -- 147.5 points

For the first time in six weeks AP was limited to fewer than 20 carries as he rushed the ball 19 times for 85 yards against the Bucs, ending a four-week run of at least 110 yards on the ground.

Frank Gore -- 143.9 points

Gore has caught 10 passes the past three weeks while rushing for at least 94 yards in each outing.

Marion Barber -- 140.2 points

Barber is averaging 77.9 yards per game on the ground this season, though that number dips to 64.3 against the NFC East.

Matt Forte -- 137.9 points

The rookie is fourth in the league in carries (205), though it might be argued that the load is starting to wear on him given that he has rushed for fewer than 75 yards in three of his last four games.

Thomas Jones -- 137.3 points

Jones has gone from one touchdown on the ground in '07 to scoring eight times over the Jets' past six games.

Brandon Jacobs -- 135.0 points

Battling a tender knee that certainly hasn't restricted his massive production the past three weeks (316 yards, five touchdowns).

Michael Turner -- 134.2 points

Three straight weeks of at least 25 carries has produced an average of 105 yards per game with three rushing scores.

Chris Johnson -- 123.0 points

Is the rookie run finished? Thirty-one carries the past two weeks has produced just 72 yards without a touchdown.