The NFL season is almost over and the 2011 fantasy football season has been over for a few weeks. Before this season is forgotten and we move on to baseball, I thought I would take a look back and see how the first round should have gone. All of my rankings will be based on standard scoring and a ten team draft. My rankings are largely on how well they performed in weeks 14, 15, and 16. I don’t think week 17 should be a playoff week because so many of the star players are being rested. Otherwise, I would have to rank week 17 scoring leader, Matt Flynn, on this list. Also, it will be based on a few strategies I have developed;  many of which are simple things. Don’t draft a kicker until the last round (unless you’re doing an auction) and take a defense in the last few rounds. Others can be more risky. Unless you’re getting a great deal, don’t take a quarterback too early; same with a tight end. I got Gronkowski in round 13 in my 14 team draft. Sometimes they work. Sometimes they don’t.

1. Ray Rice – Rice led all running backs and receivers in points scored this season. He posted an impressive average of 15 points in weeks 14-16. If you were lucky enough to play your championship game in week 17, he got you 31 points. That was versus a tough Bengals run defense.

2. LeSean McCoy – He finished 2nd among running backs and receivers in points scored and 1st in touchdowns. Even though he only put up 4 points in week 16, he finished with an average of 16 points per game in weeks 14-16.

3. Arian Foster – Foster scored the 5th most points among running backs and receivers, which is pretty impressive considering that in three games he had zero attempts. Darren Sproles led all running backs with 86 catches for 710 yards, but Foster did more with his catches. Foster had an impressive 11.6 yards per catch and 617 yards. He will likely be your number 1 pick next year.

4. Maurice Jones-Drew – MJD finished the season with 249 points. He was the only threat on the Jaguar’s team this season. As a result, he never had less than 8 points in any game and finished by scoring double digits in his last nine games. At a time in the season when many backs start to get run down, MJD got stronger, posting an insane 22 point average in weeks 14-16.

5. Calvin Johnson – The first receiver on the list. I know many of you would put Rodgers, Brees, or Brady here, but that is not my style. Megatron didn’t have the most receptions or targets this season, but did have more yards and touchdowns than any other receiver. Johnson had a terrible week 14, but averaged 17 points in weeks 14-16. If you add his 30 points in week 17, this jumps to 20.5.

6. Aaron Rodgers – Rodgers scored the most fantasy points this season, even though he didn’t play in week 17. In the 15 weeks he did play, he averaged 25.7 points per game. Sounds pretty good, but you can get similar production from the next four quarterbacks on my list. Rodgers’ touchdown to interception ratio(45-6) is what separates him from the others, including an incredible week 16 performance against the Bears. In that game he threw five touchdowns and zero interceptions.

7. Marshawn Lynch – Lynch made it rain skittles for the Seahawks in weeks 9-16. In those weeks, he never touched the ball less than 22 times per game. In that stretch, he averaged almost 19 points per game; not far from his 17 point average in weeks 14-16.

8. Rob Gronkowski – I know I said to wait on a tight end, but Gronkowski is the exception. Only five receivers had more yards but none of them found the end zone as many times. Jimmy Graham was the only tight end close to being on the same level as Gronkowski. They were the only two to have over 1,000 yards and double digit touchdowns. Gronkowski was the only one to have over 200 fantasy points. If you add the point totals of the 3rd and 4th ranked tight ends, they only scored 17 more points. He was 15th in overall scoring; that’s better than Vick, Roethlisberger, Turner, Welker, and Lynch. I would have ranked him higher had it not been for his 6 point average in weeks 15 and 16.

9. Jordy Nelson – Nelson outperformed the Packer’s number one receiver in every category, except targets. Even though he only had 1 more catch than Greg Jennings, Nelson had 314 more yards and 6 more touchdowns. His 15 receiving touchdowns were 3rd best in the NFL. Calvin Johnson was the only receiver to have more touchdowns, but he had 62 more targets than Nelson. Whether you played your championship game in week 16 or 17, Nelson did his part to help you win. In those two weeks he had 15 catches for 277 yards and 5 touchdowns.

10. Drew Brees – Brees broke many records this year and had the second most points this year. He was your NFL leader in completions, yards, and passing touchdowns. He threw for over 300 yards 13 times and had at least 3 touchdowns in 9 games. The only thing that stopped me from ranking Brees higher were his 14 interceptions.

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