NFL fantasy player rater

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

Adrian Peterson has been a one-man offensive machine for the Vikings in scoring touchdowns in six consecutive games. Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

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

Quarterback

Drew Brees -- 250.9 points

Still piling up the yards (at least 265 yards in nine of 10 games), Brees has thrown for six touchdowns the past two weeks (against three interceptions).

Kurt Warner -- 245.6 points

Over the past three games the turnover issues that have long plagued Warner have returned (five interceptions, two lost fumbles).

Jay Cutler -- 233.8 points

Cutler has thrown for at least 300-yards in three of the past five weeks and in two of those efforts he has thrown for at least 350-yards (Weeks 10 and 13).

Aaron Rodgers -- 230.7 points

With better numbers than Favre so far (2,897 yards, 20 TD, 10 INT), Rodgers has done a masterful job in his first season under center full time.

Philip Rivers -- 214.7 points

Though he has a career-best 23 touchdown passes, Rivers has been unable to generate a single scoring toss in two of the past three weeks.

Donovan McNabb -- 209.1 points

Rebounded in a huge way from his awful Week 12 effort (two interceptions, 59 yards resulting in a benching) to throw for 260 yards and four touchdowns against the Cardinals.

Peyton Manning -- 199.6 points

In five November games, the Colts went 5-0 as Peyton tossed nine scores and only three interceptions.

Matt Cassel -- 191.4 points

Despite the recent success, Cassel has just 13 touchdown passes in 12 games against 10 interceptions for the Patriots.

Brett Favre -- 189.7 points

Over his last four games he has thrown for only five touchdowns but he has also limited the mistakes with just two interceptions.

Tony Romo -- 187.9 points

Despite the missed time, he is actually working on the best effort (per game) of his young career throwing for an average of 284 yards and 2.3 touchdowns per outing.

Running back

Matt Forte -- 177.0 points

The 1,012 rushing yards are great, but he also leads all backs with 48 receptions and four receiving scores.

Thomas Jones -- 176.9 points

Jones is up to 1,088 yards, his fourth consecutive quadruple digit effort, and he has been particularly effective of late, averaging 121.8 yards per game the past four weeks.

Adrian Peterson -- 176.5 points

The NFL rushing leader with 1,311 yards, AP has gone for at least 80 yards in six-straight games with six touchdowns in that time.

Michael Turner -- 173.9 points

So much for wearing down with a heavy workload. Turner has 24 or more carries in seven of the past eight games (98.3 yards per game).

Clinton Portis -- 169.5 points

Portis is banged up and has been held to under 70 yards rushing in three of the past four weeks, though he is still averaging 102.3 yards per game.

Marion Barber -- 159.6 points

Limited by the injured toe to just 10 carries and 32 yards in Week 13, Barber is 130 yards from his first 1,000-yard season.

DeAngelo Williams -- 158.7 points

Over the past five weeks he has scored nine times on the ground while rushing for more than 100 yards four times.

Frank Gore -- 156.0 points

Gore has been held to less than 100 yards of total offense in each of the past two weeks (32 and 89 yards), though he is averaging 106.6 yards per game on the year.

Steve Slaton -- 151.4 points

In two of his last three outings he has rushed for at least 130 yards and scored a touchdown (three total).

Chris Johnson -- 150.5 points

After three disappointing weeks (118 yards), Johnson busted loose for 125 yards and two scores against the hapless Lions.

Wide receiver

Anquan Boldin -- 144.9 points

Is coming off his worst game in seven weeks with just five receptions for 63 yards in Week 13, numbers that most receivers would love to call their own.

Larry Fitzgerald -- 139.5 points

It's up to 11-straight games for Fitz grabbing at least five passes, though he has only one game of 85-plus yards in five weeks.

Greg Jennings -- 133.7 points

Three straight weeks with an end zone dance for Jennings, who has also grabbed 16 passes for 192 yards the past two weeks.