Pre-season Rankings 2012 (#9-10)

I want to preface my rankings this season by reflecting on last year's power rankings compared to the final rankings.  Granted, management of a team is just as important, if not more important, than drafting, but I thought it was interesting to see more-or-less how accurate my rankings were.

Pre-season Rankings 2011:
1. Spider Pig
2. Rainbow Warriors
3. JohnKasay#1
4. what's poppin slime (The Debbinator)
5. aaronisyourdaddy
6. Terrific Tortoises
7. JUSTINA OWNS
8. RelientK
9. odoyle RULES
10. THE Pain Train

Final Standings 2011 (based on the regular season):
1. aaronisyourdaddy
2. JUSTINA OWNS
3. Rainbow Warriors
4. odoyle RULES
5. Spider Pig
6. JohnKasay#1
7. The Debbinator
8. Terrific Tortoises
9. RelientK
10. THE Pain Train

Final Standings 2011 (based on playoffs):
1. JUSTINA OWNS
2. Spider Pig
3. aaronisyourdaddy
4. JohnKasay#1
5. odoyle RULES
6. Rainbow Warriors
7. The Debbinator
8. RelientK
9. Terrific Tortoises
10. THE Pain Train

I'd say I missed the mark big time on Justina (undervalued) - she proved me way wrong - I didn't fully appreciate how well Megatron, Rice, and Forte would do.  The mark was missed a little less so on myself (undervalued), Aaron (undervalued), and David (overvalued).  I partly attribute the Aaron and David discrepancy to their big trade (which was basically Aaron trading Arian Foster for David's Aaron Rodgers).  As for my undervaluing, maybe I just have low self-esteem.  But overall, I'd like to think my pre-season rankings were reasonably accurate.  I mean, I nailed it on Gabs, right?  Sorry, Gabs.

Anyways, moving forward, I plan on publishing this year's rankings in installments, just to make it fun for myself and a little less overwhelming to read (as my draft analysis probably was).  So for the next 5 days, I'll publish two teams in the rankings, from the worst to the best.  Whether or not you agree with me, these are my thoughts and I'm sticking to them.  Enjoy!

9. The Debbinator

QB

Drew Brees

Philip Rivers
RB

Matt Forte

Willis McGahee

Ben Tate

Rashard Mendenhall
WR

Wes Welker

Steve Smith

Jeremy Maclin

Malcolm Floyd

Santana Moss
TE/K/DEF
Aaron Hernandez

Tony Gonzalez

--empty-- (Like it matters)

Philadelphia Defense

I think David went all wrong with his draft this year.  I can't get excited about any of his RBs, his WRs aren't bad, but I think have mostly either passed their prime or won't be reaching their potential, and I'm not keen on either Brees or Rivers.  Hernandez's stock may rise, but I don't think that's enough for David to be a real threat.

10. Terrific Tortoises

QB
Eli Manning
Jay Cutler
RB
Chris Johnson
Ryan Mathews
Jonathan Stewart
Beanie Wells
Roy Helu
WR
Andre Johnson
Percy Harvin
Eric Decker
Darrius Heyward-Bey
Doug Baldwin
TE/K/DEF
Jimmy Graham
Dan Bailey
San Francisco Defense

David was hoping to climb out of the bottom, but unfortunately, I'm not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.  Even if Chris Johnson does a lot better than he did last year (which I think he probably will), Ryan Matthews has a big question mark next to his name.  Eli Manning is a great QB in the NFL, but unfortunately that doesn't always translate well to fantasy land.  Outside of Andre Johnson, I'm not too impressed with David's WRs.  Some have potential, but potential doesn't win games (yet).  Jimmy Graham is his brightest hope, with the entire San Francisco Defense not too far behind.  I don't know about you, but if my defense was my 2nd (ok, maybe 3rd) most reliable source of points, I would be a bit concerned.  We'll see if that first round pick was used wisely.