Need To Know

What Might Have Been
Look for Boldin and Burress to put up bigger numbers

IT'S EASY to figure out who led the league in receptions, yards and TDs. What fantasy owners want to know is who has the potential to rack up big numbers in the season ahead. One way to get a fix on that potential is to see which receivers had the most catches nullified by penalties last year. Another is to look at which receivers had the most passes thrown to them. Anquan Boldin ranks high on both lists, making him worthy of a nudge upward on your draft board. Plaxico Burress is a sleeper candidate; in his second season with the Giants, he'll be more familiar with quarterback Eli Manning.

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TELLING NUMBERS

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KICKERS with active streaks of four consecutive 100-point seasons: JASON ELAM, Mike Vanderjagt and Adam Vinatieri. Josh Brown, Shayne Graham, Jeff Reed and Matt Stover have scored 100 points in each of the last three seasons.

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WIDEOUTS who had more than 1,000 receiving yards as a rookie since 1986 (Anquan Boldin, Michael Clayton, Joey Galloway, Terry Glenn and Randy Moss). The rookie with the best chance this year is the Packers' Greg Jennings, who had 1,259 yards as a senior at Western Michigan. In Green Bay's thin receiving corps, he should quickly become one of Brett Favre's favorite targets.

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SEASONS in a row in which at least one rookie running back has rushed for 1,000 yards. Over that time 24 rookies have hit the 1,000-yard mark. This season's best bets are Reggie Bush of the Saints, DeAngelo Williams of the Panthers and Joseph Addai of the Colts.

THE BEST THEY CAN BE
A handful of teams opened training camp with a relatively unproven starter penciled in at running back. Each of those backs has had some success in the NFL, however. Here's how each performed in his best career outing.

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