1) Last year’s studs rarely are this year’s studs – Jacksonville’s Maurice Jones-Drew led the NFL in rushing. This season, he’s holding out…possibly even into the season. Hardly first-round material unless it’s resolved fast. Adrian Peterson is coming off an ACL tear in week 17. While he’s vastly ahead of schedule in his recovery, will he be the same player in week one as he was last season’s week one?

2) Even the best QBs rarely repeat a particularly good year – but the elite ones will always deliver. Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, even Cam Newton should all be high-scoring fantasy players worthy of round one picks. What I’m talking about is don’t expect Matt Stafford to repeat his breakout year, although he should still be a top-ten fantasy QB. Just don’t expect quite the same big numbers in consecutive seasons from anyone…there always seems to be some variance.

3) Don’t even BOTHER drafting a kicker…from one season to another, kickers’ FP output seems random. Last year’s top kicker is rarely this year’s one, and with kickers the swings are even wilder than other positions. Instead, use that last spot to draft a sleeper. You can ALWAYS pick up a kicker off waivers just before the first game and you’ll have that last guy on the bench. Someone will eventually need to go but more often than not, it’s someone OTHER THAN the last guy you drafted. Unless there are 2 active kicker spots, in which case it’s a good idea to grab both – just do the math for your league. If there are more kicker spots open than teams in the NFL, you’ll have an advantage over those that didn’t get two. Depends on your league’s setup and rules

4) Don’t bother drafting Mike Shanahan-coached running backs. Nothing against Mike, but he uses running backs like paper towels…uses them, throws them aside when a cleaner one is ready. After Terrell Davis, he’s gone through lots and throw a dart to figure out who winds up the better fantasy player. Best just to avoid them all.

5) If you don’t get a top-6 or so QB, wait a few rounds and draft a second-tier guy. He’ll do better than you might think – after Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Rodgers, Newton, and possibly Phillip Rivers and the Manning brothers and Stafford, lots of teams have second-tier QBs that often score nearly as many FP as the big guys, or the difference isn’t worth picking them 4 or 5 picks higher. I’d take a Big Ben in round 6 or a Matt Ryan in round 5. Don’t neglect sleeper QBs either, like Chad Henne due to circumstance or a T.J. Yates in case Matt Schaub gets injured again, you just hit the jackpot. Trade bait if nothing else…but don’t count on trading to improve your team because guess what: ALL FANTASY OWNERS ALWAYS OVERVALUE ALL THEIR PLAYERS.

5a) Same for Tight Ends. The Elite ones will go in rounds 2-4, then there’s generally a bit of a lull before the “others” go – simply because of the perceived difference in numbers. Sure, it might be a good idea to get a Gronk in round 2, but again, he’s got a very high bar to reach again, and are a difference of 500 yards and 5 TDs really worth a 2nd round pick, where a 7th round pick could get you a Brandon Pettigrew? Maybe, maybe not.

6) This may be the most overlooked AND most important thing of all – READ THE LEAGUE RULES. Compare what QBs, RBs, WRs get for the same yardage gained, and how many FP for a TD. Usually it’s 4 for QBs, 6 for RBs and WRs. I won two leagues in two different seasons because I had noticed they had 2 QB spots and a hybrid QB/WR/RB spot. So my first 5 picks were QB, QB, WR, QB, RB. I picked up DeMarco Murray midway through the year and his big second half carried me to a championship, so you’ve gotta stay alert for the waiver wire. Sometimes others will waive players they have, not knowing they’re about to see a huge uptick in action. Keep an eye on that.

7) Keep in mind some players 2nd or 3rd on the depth chart that may be playing behind injury-prone guys – see the Schaub example above. Trent Richardson’s main backups may fall into this category, depending on his knee. Ryan Matthews of the Chargers, Jahvid Best of the Lions…injury-prone. So it’s a good idea sometimes to go ahead and draft a durable backup late rather than getting a fragile producer (Dez Bryant) early.

This is by no means all-inclusive, but it’s a general guide. Know your positions, know the scoring rules for your league. Draft with those rules in mind and consider the entire team as well. Offensive players on a team with a poor rush defense won’t see as many snaps as those on a team with a good defense.

Weeden, the team’s second first-round draft pick this year, should greatly benefit from being on the field with their first first-round selection, Trent Richardson, selected at #3 overall.

Weeden’s abilities aside, Richardson’s presence would have helped McCoy or any other QB they put out there. Richardson has been touted, correctly I think, as the best RB prospect since Adrian Peterson. While that remains to be seen, it does mean that enemy defenses will be forced to honor the threat, and that translates into better opportunities for Weeden in the play-action passing game as well as helping to keep things balanced offensively in general. A young QB’s best friend is a great left tackle, and that’s the ONE thing the Browns already have in Joe Thomas. A strong running game is a close second.

Dec 24, 2011; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Mike Wallace (17) attempts to get away from St. Louis Rams safety James Butler (37) during the first quarter at Heinz Field. Mandatory credit: Vincent Pugliese- US PRESSWIRE

In other news, Mike Wallace and the Pittsburgh Steelers remain at an impasse. The restricted free agent has yet to sign his tender, in the area of $2.75 million non-guaranteed for 2012, and wants a long-term guaranteed deal. Steelers’ GM Kevin Colbert said “Mike knows where things stand. The next step for him really is to report and to sign his tender, and until that happens, there won’t be anything else. And if that happens, nobody knows where it will go from there. So that’s where it is and has been, and hopefully it comes to an end sooner rather than later because it will be good for us, but it will also be good for Mike.”

The Steelers signed fellow WR Antonio Brown to a 5-year $42 million dollar contract but only about $8 million is guaranteed, so it’s not the chops-buster that many fans seem to think it is for Wallace. It’s no secret that Wallace is one of the league’s best downfield threats – if not the biggest of all these days. He just doesn’t get caught from behind and one would have to think Big Ben has been lobbying behind the scenes for somehow signing him, but if so, they’ve kept everything within the organization and private…just as it should be.

This looks similar in some ways to the now-resolved Chicago Bears/Matt Forte situation. Forte was an RFA as well, but knew at some point he would have to sign with his team. As an extreme measure, Wallace could possibly sit out until week 10, when he MUST report or lose a year of accrual towards becoming an unrestricted free agent. Vincent Jackson did that in 2010.

The Steelers have made it clear that they don’t wish to trade Wallace and have a first-round tender on him – meaning if another team signs him, the Steelers will receive a first-round pick in the 2013 draft from the signing team and league rules is where the $2.75 million figure comes from.

The Seattle Seahawks signed 38 year old shameless self-promoter Terrell Owens, which says a lot about how Pete Carroll feels about the wideouts he’s got now. All of them have some issues – Sidney Rice can’t stay healthy, Braylon Edwards is a career underachiever, and Mike Williams has shown flashes of the talent that made him a top-ten pick of the Detroit Lions during that run where the Lions were legally obligated to draft WRs with their top picks. Consistency is Williams’ Achilles Heel.

One notable remaining free agent is Plaxico Burress. It’s interesting that Carroll signed the 38 yr old Terrell Owens over 37 yr old Burress, but Plexiglass is reportedly asking for too much money…especially for someone who has been out of the league for several years. Owens himself couldn’t find a team last year and is the NFL’s second all-time receiver in most categories behind the apparently un-catchable records of a fellow from a small college in Mississippi named Jerry Rice. Fans sometimes mix up his college state with the name of the QB Rice used to hook up with TO school the rest of the NFL. Just remember “Joe Mississippi” is what you say only to delay yourself from rushing the passer in flag football. Montana was the man…Matt Flynn’s prowess has yet to be resolved. Terrell Owens and Jerry Rice were once teammates ages ago in San Francisco when Montana’s successor and a Hall of Famer himself, southpaw signal-caller Steve Young, was under center.

Lastly, there was a much-ballyhooed scrum at the Jets’ scrimmage yesterday afternoon. What wasn’t widely mentioned was that there were actually several. While fights break out in training camp between a couple of people pretty much every year with every team, the fact there was more than one on Monday doesn’t speak well for Rex Ryan’s control over his team. One fight is going to make a coach angry, and Ryan let them know of his disapproval. Therefore, others decided to fight.

Rex screamed at the team: “Save it for Cincy – WE’RE ALL WE’VE GOT!” The Jets and Bengals play Friday night.

Nov 20, 2011; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson (28) is taken off the field following an injury during the first quarter against the Oakland Raiders at the Metrodome. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-US PRESSWIRE

The brightest star of the Minnesota Vikings just got a bit dimmer.

According to as of now sketchy reports, the All-Pro running back was arrested in Houston, TX for resisting arrest Saturday morning. One would assume he was arrested for something to begin with BEFORE he resisted it. However, no news on what he did is out at the moment. Reminds me of an age-old question:

What came first: the chicken or the egg?

Apparently this time, it’s the video camera. Word is that the incident was caught on video surveillance cameras. Peterson was at a night spot with some family members and his girlfriend when some police officers arrived near closing time. As the story goes, Peterson simply wanted a glass of water before leaving and was refused and told to go ahead and leave. Some unknown words were exchanged, but the video reportedly shows Peterson walking towards the exit with a bouncer when several police ATTEMPTED TO TACKLE PETERSON FROM BEHIND.

Others joined in an piled on to take him down. Peterson sits in jail, charged ONLY with “resisting arrest.”

Now, I’m no attorney, but being assaulted and sucker-tackled by a mob of angry cops for obeying their instructions seems a bit far-fetched to me. Furthermore, how can one be charged with resisting arrest and no other crime? To me, that implies he had broken some law and did not cooperate with police when they tried to apprehend him for said still-currently unnamed illegal activity.

Just going on the information available, it sounds to me like the police wanted to be bullies (big shocker there), picked on a black man, and had no idea who he really was. They’d have charged him with a crime by now if he had committed one.

I think the cops got caught abusing a very high-profile individual and are trying to make things up as they go along.

Sure, the NFL has its’ share of scofflaws – Pac-Man Jones comes to mind in recent years. Aqib Talib of the Bucs. Numerous pot and DUI arrests are common in the offseason as well, and a couple of rookies always seem to get arrested just before the draft. Are you reading this, Alfonzo Dennard?

The early signs point to Peterson being “Clubbing While Black” and I for one would love to see what Houston police come up with to explain why they gang-tackled a man who simply wanted a glass of water before leaving the place.

Stay tuned, this should get a whole lot more interesting….