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What type of fantasy owner are you when it comes to receivers? Three roster starting spots are vital on a given week, and you need to plan accordingly. But do not be one of those owners that has drafts to have limitless options. You do not want to have six or seven receivers on your fantasy roster. Draft to fulfill needs and draft strong but try to keep your wide receiver depth at five. That way you are not being burden with too many tough decisions for your third receiver starting spot on Sunday. If you have to pick out of four receivers to select for your third starting spot on Sunday, that’s just a 25 percent chance of picking the right guy.

I’d rather have to make that decision between three guys. You can analyze the matchups better and should make more of an appropriate decision. Nothing is worse than having one of your bench wide receivers go off on a given weekend. It just creates more of an indecisive move for you the following week. Automatically inserting that receiver the next week causes a tailspin of inputting the wrong receiver as he puts up a dud performance. Stick with your guns and limit your options. You’ll get a better result and if worse comes to worse, do a proper trade to upgrade instead of working with poor depth.
Here are updated wide receiver rankings for August 23rd.

1. Calvin Johnson
2. AJ Green
3. Dez Bryant
4. Larry Fitzgerald
5. Julio Jones
6. Brandon Marshall
7. DeMaryius Thomas
8. Andre Johnson
9. Randall Cobb
10. Reggie Wayne
11. Victor Cruz
12. Roddy White
13. Mike Wallace
14. Torrey Smith
15. Hakeem Nicks
16. Danny Amendola
17. Dwayne Bowe
18. Eric Decker
19. DeSean Jackson
20. Jordy Nelson
21. Marques Colston
22. Steve Smith
23. Antonio Brown
24. Pierre Garcon
25. Mike Wallace
26. Wes Welker
27. Greg Jennings
28. TY Hilton
29. Cecil Shorts
30. Golden Tate
31. James Jones
32. Stevie Johnson
33. Michael Floyd
34. Miles Austin
35. Tavon Austin
36. Lance Moore
37. Chris Givens
38. Josh Gordon
39. Sidney Rice
40. Anquan Boldin
41. Emmanuel Sanders
42. Alshon Jeffrey
43. Mohamed Sanu
44. Kenny Britt
45. Brian Hartline
46. Rod Streater
47. Reuben Randle
48. Santonio Holmes
49. Brandon Gibson
50. Jacoby Jones
51. Justin Blackmon
52. Andre Roberts
53. Malcolm Floyd
54. Darrius Heyward-Bey
55. Brandon LaFell
56. Denarius Moore
57. Riley Cooper
58. Ryan Broyles
59. Kenbrell Thompkins
60. Aaron Dobson
61. Cordarrelle Paterson
62. Robert Woods
63. Greg Little
64. Kendall Wright
65. Keenan Allen

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To start off the tight end position in fantasy football has never been deep. This off-season and extending into the preseason we are seeing an inordinate amount of first string tight ends take a seat due to injury. That brings up a new dilemma that fantasy owners are not use to. A tight end is supposed to be durable and typically we’ll see maybe one or two dot the injury list that has any fantasy relevance.

When injuries mount that leave the opportunity for someone to step in. Don’t look now but the tight end position continues to be filled with youth. Due to the brute nature of the position, some of these tight ends currently on the injury report might be limited once on the field. After all they’re non fantasy impact is to also block edge rushers in running formations, and pass protect if called upon too.

Here are some tight ends with injury bugs that you need to be on high alert of.

Age Concerns/Risks
Jason Witten- Witten is a bruiser for punishing would be tacklers in the open field. His sure hands and route running have been outstanding with quarterback Tony Romo. Often tight ends can play through injuries and keep their presence on the football field. Witten did that last year, but one has to wonder how the return year from those nagging injuries will affect him. He is 31 and a down year could be looming. The Cowboys drafted Terrence Williams out of Baylor and are loaded at wide receiver this season. Dallas also drafted Gavin Escobar with a high second round pick in this year’s past draft.

Antonio Gates- Fantasy owners now sort of expect what type of stats they’re going to get out of Gates nowadays. He is right there on the bottom part of the top ten fantasy tight ends, and is on the lower end of ten to twelve team leagues for a starter. The Chargers offensive woes have not helped, and they still have done little to surround Gates with viable receiver options.

Tony Gonzalez- His phenomenal season was out of the ordinary, as fantasy owners were waiting for the string of weeks of Gonzalez to come back to Earth to happen. They didn’t, and may not this year either with how explosive Julio Jones and Roddy White are opposite each other. Teams have to pick their poison, and right now it’s with Gonzalez.

Heath Miller- The injury woes of the Steelers have put their 2013 season in jeopardy before it even starts. Plagued by tailback, wide receiver, and tight end injuries, Big Ben, is going to have a heck of a time maintaining his own health. Miller’s return is unknown, but for now Matt Spaeth will be Big Ben’s primary target.

Dennis Pitta- Pitta’s injury was one of the first high profiled injuries of training camp and dealt a big blow for the Ravens offense. Anquan Boldin became a beneficiary of Joe Flacco as the season wore on, but if it were not for the zone Flacco was in, Boldin would have been near useless. A large majority of catches by Boldin were from precision passes from Flacco, while Pitta had the ability to get open and was Flacco’s main primary target during the entire season. Now the Ravens will look at Ed Dickson and newly signed Visanthe Shiancoe to fill Pitta’s shoes.

Fred Davis- The Redskins are one of the few teams that have an arsenal at their disposal and do not need an elite tight end. Davis has never lived up to his billing and now is more of a situational fantasy worthy tight end. Even though he is coming off injury, Washington’s offense is not going to garner him more attention. They’ll keep things the way they were running it last year. A lot of running plays and pistol formations for RG3.

Scott Chandler- Chandler was the Bills old quarterback in Ryan Fitzpatrick’s main threat besides Stevie Johnson. After Chandler returns from injury will have to see who either EJ Manuel or Kevin Kolb figures to target the most in the Bills offense and at tight end. Right now any Bills tight end should be on the waiver wire until further notice.

Rob Gronkowski- The Patriots are know that they have to position Gronk back slowly this go around, as another blow to his arm is going to be even harder to return from. The time table for his return has not been announced, which makes the drafting of him in high rounds risky. He should be back at some point in September, and his replacement Zach Sudfeld should be a representable fill-in minus the touchdowns for those weeks.

Dustin Keller- Keller’s blown out knee was a major blow to the Dolphins. In action in preseason, Ryan Tannehill had already hooked up with Keller on a nice touchdown pass a week prior. Someone is going to have to fill that void, and Miami may have to platoon the position until someone stands out. Charles Clay or last year’s third round pick, Michael Egnew, figure to try and snare a few passes in absence of Keller.

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An ever-growing vital position is at tight end for fantasy football owners. The cream of the crop is a dandy with high caliber players that would even complement a wide receiver one statistically. After that it becomes a notorious crap shoot. Do you settle for a primary red-zone target or one that heeds yards but is non-existent in the red zone. It’s a gamble some take if they see higher value in a wide receiver two or key depth at other positions.

But if you look at the teams that succeed for fantasy playoffs it’s becoming more and more evident that they’re securing the twelve to sixteen lock points every week with a non roller-coaster tight end. Sure they’re paying the draft pick price for it. But when you scan a waiver wire for tight end value it’s just as pitiful at any point of the year.

The tight end position is invaluable, and here are updated tight end rankings after week two of the preseason.

1. Jimmy Graham
2. Rob Gronkowski
3. Jason Witten
4. Tony Gonzalez
5. Kyle Rudolph- Expect Rudolph to expound on last year’s statistics. He will assuredly be a top fantasy tight end surpassing the old veterans Witten and Gonzalez.
6. Vernon Davis
7. Owen Daniels
8. Antonio Gates
9. Jermaine Gresham- The wake up call has come for Gresham, and I think he will respond even with the drafting of Tyler Eifert. Before another tight end being brought it was a detractor for players currently on the roster. Teams are mixing it up more with two tight ends that are versatile. Gresham should continue to be fine and is still young enough to blossom into an even better fantasy tight end.
10. Greg Olsen
11. Jermichael Finley
12. Ed Dickson – Familiarity is often a quarterback’s best friend. Gone is Anquan Boldin and Dennis Pitta to injury. Insert Dickson who lacks the skillset of Pitta but has been and will be a viable option for Flacco once again.
13. Brandon Myers
14. Jordan Cameron- While the preseason hype is on Sudfeld, I believe it has more to do with the Patriots lore than anything else. Cameron has been the big surprise. The display and show he has put on is not going to end once the regular season comes. He’ll continue to do damage and be a safe keep as your TE2 or legitimate depth there as well.
15. Martellus Bennett – With the injuries plaguing and surround the tight end position, Bennett has climbed up the middle tier tight end position rankings. Now he needs to showcase that last season was not a one year wonder.
16. Brandon Pettigrew
17. Dwayne Allen
18. Zach Sudfeld
19. Jared Cook
20. Charles Clay
21. Marcedes Lewis
22. Rob Housler
23. Delanie Walker
24. Heath Miller
25. Scott Chandler
26. Fred Davis
27. Zach Miller
28. Jacob Tamme
29. Jeff Cumberland
30. Brent Celek
31. Tyler Eifert
32. Anthony Fasano
33. Zach Ertz
34. Jordan Reed
35. Tony Scheffler

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Did you hold your fantasy draft back in June or July and now are left staring at a roster you believe to be the best possible? There can only be one hype man of your team and that’s you. By week one you may find yourself needing to upgrade. Rankings by your fantasy league via rotisserie stats are meaningless. Pay attention to weekly rankings here.

After the second week of the preseason here are where the running backs rank.

! Denotes On The Rise
^ Denotes On The Decline

1. Adrian Peterson
2. Doug Martin !- Owners and soon-to-be draftees worry not. Martin did not sustain a concussion on his knee to the head in week two of the preseason.
3. Jamaal Charles
4. Marshawn Lynch
5. Arian Foster ^- Foster has not let little nagging injuries in the past few seasons deter his fantasy success. One can escape a couple of times, but the injury bug is calling Foster’s name. Precautions seem to be the main reason he is missing preseason. For fantasy owners Foster is the top ten back that has the most question marks.
6. CJ Spiller
7. Ray Rice
8. LeSean McCoy
9. Alfred Morris
10. Chris Johnson
11. Trent Richardson
12. Stevan Ridley
13. Ryan Matthews
14. MJD !- MJD is quickly falling out of the top tier of fantasy backs. As we’ve seen with top fantasy backs of the past, once the fall begins, the drop descends rather quickly from fantasy relevancy.
15. Matt Forte
16. Frank Gore
17. Darren McFadden
18. David Wilson !- The Giants just have a knack for having that steady backfield. Manning’s had Tiki Barber, Brandon Jacobs, and Ahmad Bradshaw who have all been fantasy studs at one point or another.
19. Steven Jackson
20. Lamar Miller
21. DeMarco Murray
22. Andre Brown
23. Reggie Bush
24. Chris Ivory
25. Vick Ballard
26. BenJarvus Green-Ellis ^- Green-Ellis’s biggest impact for fantasy owners were his mauler runs for six in the red zone. Still Ellis was an every down back that could provide chunks of yards to those plungers. Giovanni Bernard has been electric in games and in practice. Carries will be taken away from Ellis slowly but surely, and likely a higher fashion of split carries than Ellis has seen in quite awhile.
27. Darryl Richardson
28. Rashard Mendenhall
29. Darren Sproles
30. Le’Veon Bell
31. Mikel Leshoure
32. Bryce Brown !- The fast pace expected from the Eagles has to come with movement of backup players at key positions. Running back is at the top of the list as the Eagles will do all they can to protect Vick’s health.
33. DeAngelo Williams
34. Eddie Lacy
35. Ronnie Hillman
36. Giovani Bernard
37. Mark Ingram
38. Shane Vereen
39. Ben Tate
40. Jonathan Stewart
41. Bernard Pierce
42. Montee Ball
43. Fred Jackson
44. Jonathan Dwyer
45. Ahmad Bradshaw
46. Danny Woodhead
47. Joseph Randle
48. Isaac Redman
49. Jacquizz Rodgers
50. Fred Helu
51. Donald Brown
52. Mike Bush
53. Mike Goodson
54. Pierre Thomas
55. Alfonso Smith
56. Joique Bell
57. Jonathan Franklin
58. Denard Robinson ^- Each year there is a new wrinkle unfolded by franchises to muster yards on the football field. Robinson’s use as a Jaguar should be one of the more curious developments in the early weeks of the season. This will not be like the Pat White experiment Miami tried. Robinson will get direct carries from the backfield as he has in the first couple weeks of preseason and at Michigan last year.
59. Knile Davis
60. Daniel Thomas

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The calendar days are narrowing to September and the inevitable kickoff of the 2013 NFL season. Brigades of quarterbacks flying off the board in round one and two can be halted, as signal callers in your fantasy drafts are prevalent to be as deep as ever. Head back to your old ways of waiting on a quarterback as it looks to be a safe-bet this season. A fantasy starter and dependable point producer can likely be found in mid-round drafts.

Be sure to protect your quarterback with a safeguard backup. Injuries derail teams on the field and that cannot even protect the fantasy worlds of rosters. Here is the latest installment of fantasy quarterback rankings.

! Denotes Rising
^ Denotes Declining

1. Drew Brees
2. Aaron Rodgers
3. Matt Ryan
4. Matthew Stafford
5. Tom Brady
6. Cam Newton
7. Colin Kaepernick ! The trade for Jonathan Baldwin gives Kaepernick more of a promising threat than last year’s developing first round pick in Jenkins. Look for Kaep to produce as a top five quarterback quickly this season, and sustain it.
8. RG3
9. Peyton Manning
10. Andrew Luck
11. Tony Romo
12. Russell Wilson ^ The praise for Wilson is never-ending, but the ridicule seems to be impossible from the media and fans. I’m not impressed with the way the Seahawks offense has functioned in preseason. Even in their rout of the Broncos the over all ending was inflated. Wilson is a winner and so is Seattle, but I believe Wilson’s fantasy value will drift towards Eli Manning’s, Big Ben’s, and Joe Flacco’s. All winners but mediocre fantasy football quarterback options.
13. Joe Flacco
14. Andy Dalton ^ Cincinnati is one of those quiet teams that are good that no one wants to publicize. Besides AJ Green and the Law Firm many people would have are hard time to ascertain other names on the Bengals roster. Give Marvin Lewis credit. He has kept the Bengals relative and that was with quick transgressions of transforming the team. No team has went from an out with the old (Palmer, TJ Housh, Ocho Cinco, C. Benson and many others) and revamped on defense and offense without multiple years of losing as well as the Bengals.
15. Eli Manning
16. Carson Palmer !- It’s obvious that the Cardinals are going to attack to their strengths offensively. That will likely not be in the backfield with extracted former Steeler Rashard Mendenhall trying to supplant numerous young running backs. Palmer has a great set of receivers and an offensive minded head coach in Bruce Arians that will make Palmer fantasy relevant.
17. Ben Roethlisberger ^- It’s sad to see but Big Ben appears to be descending into the Philip Rivers stage of his career. He has resembled what most franchises want out of a young quarterback but has also paid the price. His nimbleness in the pocket is declining and so are his weapons. The Steelers have a conundrum to figure out at receiver and running back, as Roethlisberger will be without Mike Wallace, Plaxico Burress, and Heath Miller for a time period. This spells trouble as the make shift offensive line has been atrocious in the preseason.
18. Matt Schaub
19. Ryan Tannehill !- Miami is a team that is likely a year away from turning the corner as a playoff contender again. To blow past those expectations Tannehill can defy that by uprooting his own lofty goals for 2013. Do not forget it is Tannehill that led the Dolphins to a fourth quarter comeback victory over Seattle and Russ Wilson last year.
20. Mike Vick ^- He has the starting job now but the pressure is as high as the last row atop the Eagles stadium. Vick’s in a make or break season running a new system offense. It looked pretty in college for Chip Kelly, but the NFL is a different ball game where speed is neutralized. Last year Oregon’s first opponent was Arkansas State. Chip Kelly will learn first hand and unfortunately Mike Vick is his first test at this at quarterback.
21. Philip Rivers ^- At this point Rivers may need a new organization that he can grow with as San Diego seems absent minded at protecting Rivers.
22. Christian Ponder
23. Brandon Weeden !- You have to be pleased with Weeden’s progression in preseason. His play has been shined upon from the media conglomerates for his standout performances. I won’t get carried away just yet. This is the same quarterback that had cannon deep ball plays in several games last year, only to have hiccups on other drives. A quarter of play is one thing but can Weeden play four complete quarters?
24. Josh Freeman
25. Alex Smith
26. EJ Manuel
27. Jake Locker
28. Jay Cutler
29. Sam Bradford
30. Blaine Gabbert
31. Mark Sanchez
32. Matt Flynn

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Points, points, and more points are how fantasy leagues are going nowadays. I, myself still enjoy the more standard type of point system leagues. As tweaks and more innovative ways to gain points accumulates you can sometimes have individuals in leagues side one way versus other league participants. It’s going to happen and many could argue that additional points are futile to capturing a team’s true value.

To assuage owners there are certain point structures that just never go away. The category of turnovers is often overlooked when owners draft, but not on game day Sunday’s. Monster runs after high profile fantasy quarterbacks took fantasy drafts by storm last year. Only to see quarterbacks such as Cam Newton and Matthew Stafford plummet from their draft day value with inconsistency throughout the season. Making matters worse was the fact that both quarterbacks saw a rise in their turnovers. Stafford threw nearly as many touchdowns (20) as he did in interceptions (17) last season. The year prior he had an onslaught season with 41 touchdowns and just 16 interceptions.

Stafford owners that drafted him were hit with the double whammy of ineffectiveness last season. The big decline hit Newton as noted above dramatically as well. His was in a different area of expected continued production. Defenses adjusted to his open field running ability and clamped down on his number one skill-set. His drop from fourteen rushing touchdowns to just eight was a decrease of thirty six fantasy points. Not to mention that his consistent production from 2011 was not dependable, as he had some rough weeks the first eight to ten games of the season.

Fantasy owners need to dig deeper and realize that just because teams are throwing more does not mean your fantasy quarterback is going to ride the gravy train of double digit fantasy points every week. Predicting which quarterbacks are going to decline from a statistical stand point is almost impossible. I don’t care how many websites have a lineup helper or not. Turnovers are an area I would focus on.

Many of us have been in leagues where the point differential for any given week win/lose is by the slimmest of points. Quarterbacks can be the biggest detriment if they’re having a rough week by compounding your possible fantasy points with turnovers. Last year twenty six different quarterbacks threw ten or more interceptions, and fifteen had four or more fumbles. That’s a substantial amount of negative points from your fantasy quarterback on a season.

Rest assured without proper protection from your quarterback in the turnover department you will lose one to two games a season because of it.

Football is at a time where the guessing game on which teams are going to air out the football is over. The majority of teams have game plans tailored on winning their games through the air. In fantasy football you have diagnose which teams are on bad teams that will derail their performance as the season goes on with turnovers. Unlike receivers and running backs that accumulate garbage points playing from behind, quarterbacks tend to see a rise in their turnovers from more forced throws.

Here are quarterbacks I’d monitor with watchful eyes for a high amount of turnovers in 2013.

1. Matt Stafford
2. Russ Wilson
3. Philip Rivers
4. Jay Cutler
5. Eli Manning
6. Cam Newton
7. Tony Romo
8. Carson Palmer
9. Mike Vick
10. Colin Kaepernick