Empty the Bench

You can lock into your first-round and second-round running backs and hope they stay healthy, keep their jobs and produce at a high level for 16 straight weeks regardless of the matchup. That’s something you can do. And if you choose such a path, well, good luck with that. For the rest of us who have actually played in a fantasy football season before the backup running back stable is an essential part of our fantasy roster that we know will, more often than not, define our season. I almost always draft one or two backup running backs before filling out the rest of my starting lineup (aside from kickers and defense of course, which I don’t usually draft at all). Successful fantasy football teams are built around consistent, predictable point production and a deep RB pool is an irreplaceable foundation for that.

It’s said that making plans is a good way to see God laugh. There are few places where it’s more evident than in a fantasy NFL league. Football is a violent sport where the potential for injury to any player exists every practice and every game. Unfortunately, even premier backs face gauntlet defenses and constant injury risk throughout the season. Each year backups and relatively unknown backs, directly or indirectly, change the fortunes of all fantasy teams. That’s why we need to back our studs up and have backup plans for them. Once again, ETB has you covered with some of the most notable handcuffs and platoon situations. These are players who have major upside that you can buy on the cheap in most drafts. We won’t be covering the Maurice Jones-Drews of the world here because he’s obviously in a platoon worth investing in. His ADP is so high that there’s not much chance for a massive return on your investment. We will be covering guys like Kolby Smith, Mike Bell and Lorenzo Booker.

Platooners to Invest In:

DeAngelo Williams, Panthers

The plan right now is to have Williams split carries with DeShaun Foster, who was thoroughly unimpressive in 2006. There’s a good chance that could change in the next two months. The Panthers installed a new zone-blocking scheme that fits Mr. Williams’ skill set perfectly, mirroring the scheme he ran in at Memphis to great success. He’s also an elite physical specimen who has Stud RB written all over him. I love DeAngelo’s ability to cut a play back and make something out of nothing. His speed allows him to turn the corner like few others and his ability to make guys miss is incredible. You’ll want to invest in this young man.

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David Stern’s minimum-age restriction for players hoping to enter the NBA Draft is discriminatory. As Andrew so eloquently stated in ETB’s All-Youngin’ Team article, “what other employer could get away with banning qualified applicants of legal age based on the specific date of their birth?”

Having said that, there have been some colossal busts over the years before Stern put the kabosh on going straight from high school to the pros. The good people at Winning the Turnover Battle took the time today to name their Top 10 High School to NBA Busts. Take a look at the whole article, but here’s just two excerpts, purposely chosen to dog on ETB’s two flagship franchises:

7. Korleone Young: 1998, 40th pick by the Pistons

When your high school coach describes your decision to declare for the NBA draft as “a total surprise”, more often than not that is a bad sign. Nonetheless the Pistons used the 40th pick on Young, and their payback has been nonexistent. Young appeared in only three games for the Pistons and has since played in Canada, Australia, China, Russia, Israel, and Italy.

6. Ndudi Ebi: 2003, 26th pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves

Ebi was an intriguing shot blocking prospect when he came out in 2003 and to this day he is still just that, a shot blocking prospect. The sting of the Ebi pick is amplified by the fact that it was the Wolves first selection in the first round after the Joe Smith debacle that cost them five picks. Ebi appeared in only 19 games for the Wolves and has since signed with the Mavs, who may be hoping to pull off a reclamation project similar to the one they were able to pull off with former high school to NBA flop DeSagana Diop.

Check out the other eight players to make their list here.

The Cleveland Cavaliers won the Eastern Conference in 2007, so they’re the team to beat next season, right? They’re the team that East GMs should scrutinize and dissect this summer, then tweak their roster accordingly to better match up with when the ball drops on the 2007/08 season. “The Cavs are the blueprint for success in the East,” and it’s up to every other team to make the adjustments.

Unfortunately, that kind of thinking doesn’t always work out so well. Look at the Detroit Pistons: after the Miami Heat beat them in the 2006 ECF and eventually won the title, Detroit’s offseason moves and focus were largely based around coming back and beating the Heat, specifically Shaquille “I’ll do anything for a buck” O’Neal. Their bench was stacked with big men who could come in and, if anything else, give six hard fouls on Shaq and make him earn his points on the free-throw line. The only problem is that Miami didn’t make it out of the first round, and that extra surplus of big men proved mostly superfluous against the more athletic Chicago Bulls and, especially, Cleveland Cavs.

Now it seems the New Jersey Nets are adopting the same way of thinking as Detroit did last year. In today’s New York Post, Nets GM Ed Stefanski says that he does not intend to reopen talks of trading Jason Kidd to the Lakers for a package headed by Andrew Bynum (the right move) and that he is intent on resigning Vince Carter (a bad, bad move) because, in his estimation, they would have beat the Cavs if VC had a better series. So, of course, that means they could have won the NBA Finals then, right?

“Right now we are happy with how we ended the season,” Stefanski said. “You always want to win a championship, but with the health issue and Richard getting back healthy and (Nenad) Krstic coming back, and hopefully we can do something with Vince (who can opt out of his contract). We feel good about our nucleus. Can we add to it? There’s nothing in the works.”

The Nets are expected to sign Carter, because the Nets were close to knocking off the Cavs in the second round. The Nets believe if Carter had a better series, they would have won it. Carter likely won’t sign unless he’s assured Kidd is coming back.

One problem with that line of reasoning: Vince Carter is not a winner. Period. He is just not a winner, and if you’re pinning your championship hopes on him, you’re going to ultimately end up disappointed. Again, and again, and again. Sure, Carter is a fantastic regular-season scorer and even has been known to turn in a strong playoff performance every now and again. I’d only spend the kind of money he’s going to demand, however, on someone I feel 100% confident will come up big during crunch time in crucial postseason situations. Sorry, that’s just not Vince.

The other thing is that you simply can’t go into next season focusing on the Cavs’ wildly improbable playoff run to the Finals. All the credit in the world to them, really. They’re the only team in the East that did what they had to do (at least until June 7). But while some people have gone overboard with predictions that LeBron would now be in the NBA Finals, guaranteed, for the next 10 seasons or whatever, we’re going to hold off just a little bit on anointing this very-average Cavs squad the permanent Kings of the East for now. They still have holes–plenty of ‘em–not to mention a middling head coach and *no* picks in next Thursday’s draft. None.

The Cavs are the 2007 Eastern Conference Champions. If I’m a GM in the East, however, I’m not overthinking that fact too much when it comes to deciding how and where to improve my team. I’m not taking the “Detroit vs. Miami Approach” to my roster because history has an uncanny way of repeating itself.

Ohio State center Greg Oden is the #1 overall pick in next Thursday’s 2007 NBA Draft. Easy, done, next, Sonics, you’re up. But before it’s all said and done, Kevin Durant still might have a shot at leapfrogging Oden and coming off the board first.

The big man is still recovering from a broken right wrist, apparently, and a May physical revealed a bulging disk in his back. That, and according to reports trickling out of Portland, the 7-footer was somewhat underwhelming during his workout for the Blazers, alternately missing gimme lay-ups, gasping for air, and even apologizing to coach Nate McMillan about his play:

“I think I could have done a whole heckuva lot better,” Oden said. “I should have been more prepared, that’s how I feel about it, myself.”

Even though Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard said Oden “didn’t play his best basketball,” he said the workout did nothing to hurt Oden’s standing with the Blazers. The team knows what Oden can do on the court, Pritchard said, and the workout — even with a couple of missed layups and tuckered lungs — is merely a portion of their evaluation process. “We’ve watched tons of film on this kid, so we know who he is basketball-wise,” Pritchard said. “And it was really refreshing to see a kid say, ‘I know I can do better in this workout.’ He is a kid who is tough on himself, and I like that about him.”

Oden admitted that much of his showing was due to an initial case of nerves. When Oden walked into the gym wearing Blazers practice gear — a gray T-shirt and black shorts — he was startled. The sideline was filled from baseline to baseline with people, ranging from owner Paul Allen and newly named team president Larry Miller, to the entire Blazers scouting staff. Along the back wall of the gym, were the five Blazers players and team personnel.

“There were a lot more people than I expected,” Oden said. “I see the whole gym lined up looking at me like this (arms crossed, eyes squinted), and I’m like, ‘Oh, God.’ My heart started beating fast… I thought I would miss my first layup.”

It’s hard not to like this kid already. The basketball world has built Greg Oden, the potential NBA franchise cornerstone, into a near mythological figure who’s already one of the best big men in the league before even stepping onto a professional court. The truth is, however, that Greg Oden, the person, is a 19-year-old teenager dealing with his maturation into an adult on a stage that most of us couldn’t possibly fathom. I know, I know–his growing pains are soon going to be assuaged by millions of dollars in his bank account. That’ll surely help.

But this is still a teenager we’re talking about! Can you imagine the expectations and hype and buzz in that practice facility yesterday as you walked onto the court for–that’s right–a workout? Not a real practice, certainly not a real game. Every pair of eyes squarely fixated on you, assessing you, grading you, undressing you (kidding on that last one, though Zach Randolph was in attendance).

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- The Sports Agent Blog is hosting the 45th Carnival of the NBA, where you can take an around-the-court glimpse at some fantastic NBA writers and websites. ETB is happy (and grateful) to be a part of it.

- Speaking of the Sports Agent Blog, they make sure everyone understands that Peter Vescey is still a very uncredible source and that Rashard Lewis will become a free agent on July 1.

- Despite his confession that he felt he was nothing more than the “darkhorse” candidate for the job, Reggie Theus was named the new head coach of the Sacramento Kings. Solid hire, but will the Kings improve much on their 33-49 record of last season regardless of who’s behind the bench?

- Complete Sports does a bang-up job of looking at some of the top prospects in next week’s NBA draft and comparing them to guys already established in the league.

- The most hyped Chinese import since chop suey, Yi Jianlian, is a surefire lottery pick. We’ve heard Boston and Minnesota as possible landing spots, but how about Philadelphia? With three first-round picks and a high second-rounder, they certainly have the ammunition to trade up and grab him.

- For the record, we’re big fans of blockbuster trades, especially in the NBA. I know, who isn’t. We were downright giddy when ETB fave Iverson was moved to Denver (not so giddy that it was to Denver, however), and now, with all these Kobe/KG/Rashard/etc rumors gaining more and more steam, we’re sincerely hoping that at least one of them actually happens. Big-name player movement is good for the league, and some headline-grabbing trades just might make up for that “2007 NBA Finals.”

- The Ghosts of Wayne Fontes are fed up with all these silly, pointless mock drafts. So, naturally, here’s the Ghosts of Wayne Fontes mock draft through #15.

- If you’re in the Toronto area next week, Ryan McNeill (Hoops Addict), Franchise (RaptorsHQ.com), and Chris Clarke (End of the Bench) invite you to join them for a little NBA Draft Party at the Harbour Sports Pub on June 28.

- Kobe Bryant is doing everything possible to force a trade. One thing that might help the cause is agreeing to a pay cut, because that mammoth contract makes it difficult.

- More on Yi Jianlian because outside of paid NBA writers and the ever-expanding blogging community, a lot of casual basketball followers still don’t know what all the fuss is about and why he’s going to be a top-10 pick.

- The hopes and dreams of NBA fans the world over were dashed when Manuchar Markoshvili, Artem Zabelin, and Rafael Hettsheimeier were among those to withdraw their person from consideration in the 2007 NBA draft.

- Tank Johnson, the Chicago Bears defensive lineman guilty of storing Iran’s arsenal of weapons in his basement, ate enough junk food during his 60-day jail sentence to, well, feed Iran. All those beef sticks, and honey buns, and sausage blocks, and cheese spreads were in addition to the three meals provided each day. Wow.

- Daunte Culpepper will likely need a job very soon, and the New York Jets have been badly burned in the past when starting QB Chad Pennington went down with an injury. 2 + 2 = 4.

- Strip clubs hard up for cash are aghast that Pacman Jones has been formerly charged with two counts of felony coercion for that Las Vegas strip-club shooting. If he serves any jail time, where oh where will all the money come from now? Pacman alone is a nightly $10k industry for pete’s sake!

- Windy City Gridiron prefers not to publish rants, but can’t help themselves after reading ESPN’s John Clayton claim that the Indianapolis Colts are ushering in a new era of offensive-minded football that leads to Super Bowl championships.

- The Dallas Cowboys defense was dominating at times last year, and then it seemed like the gears stopped turning, the players stopped tackling, and the other team started scoring (even the Lions put up 39 on ‘em). Blogging the Boys analyzes five theories about what suddenly went wrong.

- Who does ESPN’s Mark Schlereth think has the NFC North’s best offense and defense? Does anyone really care what Schlereth thinks?

- Donovin Darius, released last week by the Jacksonville Jaguars, is getting up there in NFL years and is still recovering from pretty big injuries, but he’s very capable if/when healthy. One possible landing place for him is with the Carolina Panthers.

- There’s sooooooo many Cincinnati Bengals arrests to keep up with, so Larry Brown Sports has done us all a favor by ranking the most memorable, from “best” to “worst.” WR Chris Henry’s June 14, 2006, arrest for buying alcohol for three underage females takes the top spot.

- Former All-Pro Center Kent Hull makes the most obvious assertion of 2007. Gee, ya think?

- Minnesota Vikings Brad Childress makes a list, but obviously didn’t check it twice: “Troy [Williamson] has great hands,” he said.

- Fed up with the play of his White Sox, Ozzie Guillen apologizes to fans, says the team is a joke, and asserts that we thought he was a good manager when the team was winning. No, Ozzie, we actually never thought that.

- Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Ian Snell wants to clear the air: he was done cooking, for chrissakes, and was simply cleaning out the edge of the burner. What’s the big deal?

- Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks on signing Juan Gonzalez to a two-year, $24 million deal back in 2002: “Juan Gonzalez, for $24 million, after he came off steroids probably… we just gave that money away.”

- Elijah Dukes, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays outfielder who impregnated a 17-year-old girl on his step-grandmother’s living room sofa, calls into a sports talk-radio station and confirms that his mother never smoked crack, but he knows how much it costs in “the hood.”

- You could say the Detroit Tigers’ collective bats are coming alive; as a team, they’re batting an outrageous .333 so far in the month of June.

- Pedro Martinez is still officially a Major League pitcher. No, really. He’s throwing bullpen sessions now, should be facing real batters in practice in a few weeks, and succumbing to another significant injury in about a month.

- This is probably nothing new to Washington Nationals fans (all seven of you), but one of these guys–we can’t pinpoint exactly who it is–has a nasty, filthy habit of chewing gum during live broadcasts. Loudly. Can someone in management please ask him to stop?

- Frank Thomas is trying. Oh, lord, how he is trying.

- 2006 National League Manager of the Year Joe Girardi is being mentioned as a strong candidate to fill the same position for the Baltimore Orioles. He may have been/still is stalling in hopes of taking over for Joe Torres in New York, but a managerial job is a managerial job.

- Johan Santana is back on track, throwing just 92 pitches (!!) last night against the Mets in a complete-game shutout win, 9-0. Oddly enough, however, he did it while only recording one strikeout. “I wasn’t even trying to strike anybody out. I didn’t even get to two strikes,” Santana said. “I’ll trade my strikeouts for all those kind of outs right there because it’s quicker.”

While the first-round picks are certainly critical, barring injury you’re going to get a contributor there. Savvy second-round picks are where the experienced and prepared fantasy owner begins to separate himself from the casual player. In all likelihood, you’ll be looking to lock up a quality RB 2 in this round and ETB has your back. As promised, here are the more difficult rankings of guys involved in platoons, aging fan favorites and some up and comers. Like I said yesterday, make sure to keep checking back as we’ll be updating these lists regularly and with increasing frequency as camps break and the NFL season draws nigh. Apologies for not going past the top 30 here, but we’ll get there.

Yesterday: RBs 1-11

12 Travis Henry: This is probably a little low for Henry after he came back from the dead last season, but I’ve been burned by Mike Shenanigans far too many times. Henry has a history of fumbling and Michael Edward Shanahan has a history of benching talented fumblers. Of course, the Denver rushing attack is a perennial juggernaut that seems capable of opening big enough holes for a microwaved corpse to rush for 1,000 yards. Henry has three seasons of 1,200+ yards and 9+ TDs under his belt, so if he stays on the field all year in this system a season of 1,400 total yards and 10 TDs looks like strong estimate. A downhill runner with decent strength and quicks, Henry should fit the Bronco’s system very well. Keep in mind that Henry didn’t become the Titans’ full-fledged starter until week 5 last year and that Vince Young stole a bunch of opportunities in the red zone, so there’s some very nice upside here.

13 Rudi Johnson: This is another guy you could make a case for anywhere after the 6th pick. Johnson is the clear-cut back in an offense that could lead the NFL in points, but he still has a limited upside. Johnson won’t be very active in the passing game, he’s at the age when RBs with his volume of carries typically start wearing down and he lacks the ability to score from long distance. Johnson also only averaged a meager 3.8 YPC last year and the Bengals were in the bottom third of the league in rushing attempts, something that doesn’t figure to change if they can’t get their defense in order. However, as far as consistency goes there are few RBs out there in Rudi’s class. He’s played in all 16 games for the last three years and had about 1,400 rushing yards to go with exactly 12 TDs in each of those seasons. His knees still cause me some concern, but Johnson is a low to the ground runner with nice strength.

14 Brandon Jacobs: Jacobs is my pick to be this year’s Frank Gore. His height and upright rushing style could make Jacobs and injury risk, but Eddie George got away with it for a few years. I love the combination of speed and size this guy has and RBs who figure to get a bulk of the carries between the 20s and on the goal-line are few and far between. He’s proven to be a very capable back in short yardage situations, but his track-star speed makes Jacobs a threat to score from anywhere on the field. I’m not an Eli Manning fan, but there’s no way Mr. Ed Jr. doesn’t improve this season. The retirement of Tiki Barber opens up a massive opportunity both in terms of carries and in the passing game and I expect to see Jacobs replace at least 80% of that production. Brandon is being severely undervalued in drafts and pre-rankings right now. He’s not a first-round pick, but don’t miss the boat in the mid-to-late teens.

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Yay! Another underwhelming campaign by the Minnesota Timberwolves, another NBA offseason, and another opportunity for the rumor mill to zero in on Kevin Garnett and the chance he will finally be moved outside of the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

For once, however, we’re willing to halfway buy into the current speculation getting legs around the Web. According to Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald, Celtics front-office “guru” Danny Ainge confirmed that he has at least spoken with T’Wolves GM Kevin McHale about acquiring the talented forward:

Celtics director of basketball operations Danny Ainge acknowledged yesterday that he has talked with the Minnesota Timberwolves about a potential trade for Kevin Garnett. Ainge refused to comment about a published report that had the Celts shipping Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff, and the fifth pick in next week’s NBA draft for the All-Star forward.

Ainge added that based on conversations and calls from other teams, he has not heard a proposal that would make him part with the No. 5 pick. “A lot of people attempt to make trades for that pick that are one-sided,” he said. “So there’s nothing going on for the pick yet.”

Unfortunately for Ainge and the Celtics, they’ve done a poor job of masking their disappointment at free-falling down to five in the draft lottery. Teams know that while Ainge will get over it and take the best player available if they hold onto the pick, they have an increasingly disgruntled superstar in Paul Pierce who has no interest in any more seasons devoted to “rebuilding.” Pierce wants the team to move the pick for a proven veteran, and Ainge does not want to deal with a potential Pierce trade-demand headache (though ETB feels Pierce is the one who should be traded while his value is still high).

As for the Garnett trade rumor… who knows. Kevin McHale is not a good GM, and we have doubts that he’d be smart enough to swing a deal that we’ve been calling for for some time now (and we’re certainly not the only ones). The theorized proposal above seems like a good one for Minnesota: you acquire a future every-year All Star in Jefferson, a young kid with all kinds of upside in Green, an expiring contract from Ratliff, potentially Yi Jianlian with the #5 pick, and a total bonehead in Telfair.

From Boston’s standpoint, they acquire one of the best forwards in the game and… that’s it. I don’t know. The Celts would likely be fielding a starting lineup of Delonte West, Pierce, Ryan Gomes (or Wally Szczerbiak), Garnett, and Kendrick Perkins, with Tony Allen (if healthy), Rajon Rondo, and Allan Ray coming in off the bench. Is that enough to push Boston into legitimate contention in the East? We’re not so sure. But then, we’re equally not so sure this trade will ever go down, period. After all, we’re talking about Ainge and McHale here.

ETB had a conversation the other week about MLB closers, and we came to a general conclusion that the Detroit Tigers’ all-time leader in saves, Todd Jones, is very likely the “worst good closer” in baseball. Surprisingly effective, among the league leaders in saves, but probably has the most underwhelming stuff in the majors when it comes to closers.

You don’t see many of these guys succeed by just throwing strikes and hoping for the best. Okay, that’s a little unfair and oversimplifying what Jones brings to the table when he takes the mound. He’s got nice movement on his curve, some decent off-speed pitches, and, well, he throws strikes, something a lot of pitchers–closers or otherwise–frequently struggle with. For the season, he’s 1-3 with a 5.86 ERA, 17 saves (out of 21 opportunities), and just 14 strikeouts in 27.2 innings. Hitters are batting a collective .304 against him thus far; not exactly the kind of numbers you’d expect to see from a guy ranked in the top 10 for saves in all of baseball. Are you comfortable with him as your fantasy team’s primary closer? Didn’t think so.

Boy howdy, does this guy know how to create drama. Case in point: last night, Jim Leyland brings him on in the ninth inning with the Tigers up 9-5 on the lightweight Washington Nationals. Jonesy then quickly takes his team on his trademark rollercoaster ride, yielding three runs before facing Dmitri Young with no outs and two men on. To his credit, his closer mentality then took over: he fanned Young, forced Austin Kearns into a fielder’s choice, and got Ronnie Belliard to ground out, preserving the 9-8 win for Detroit. Despite the win, afterwards Jones was frustrated and fed up:

Jones didn’t accept the ready excuse for his difficult inning, saying he was perfectly ready to pitch. But he wasn’t happy, either, complaining about the way he thinks he’s perceived. “I’m sick and tired of everybody poking fun at me, or whatever,” he said. “I’m trying to get three outs every night. It’s not a laughingstock, it’s somebody’s career. I’m trying to get outs whenever I can. I’m a grown man. I know how to get outs. And everyone wants to make fun of me.”

Todd, you seem like a good guy, a good teammate, and despite what some of your stats might indicate at the moment, you’re a good pitcher, too. There’s a very simple way to end the jokes, or the poking fun at you, or whatever it is you call it: simply help reduce the heart-attack rate in the metro Detroit area by firmly closing the door on the opposing team at a minimum 90% of the time you get the opportunity to do so.

It’s widely understood that Peter Vecsey has been afforded incredible leeway to fabricate rumors and stir the controversy pot. Anything he “reports” should always be taken with a grain of salt, so until this potentially devastating development in Rashard Lewis’ impending free agency gains more traction elsewhere, remember: this is a Vescey Report. Proceed with caution.

In today’s New York Post, Vecsey claims that Lewis’ agent, Tony Dutt, may have screwed up paperwork that would allow Lewis to opt out of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent this summer. File this one under the “Oops, My Bad” Department:

According to a lawyer privy to the language in Lewis’ contract, in order to void his obligation to the Sonics in 2007-08 and 2008-09, he had to do it in writing and deliver it personally or by registered mail either on the date of his team’s last game (regular season or playoffs) or on June 1, 2007 . . . whichever was later. Fastened to that stipulation is a five-day grace period; hence, June 5 was the cut-off date.

Late May reports (AP/ESPN) out of Houston, where Lewis lives in the offseason, quoted Dutt saying he’d officially alerted the Sonics in writing on Friday, May 25 (or maybe Saturday, May 26) his client had opted out.

Both days, bordering Memorial Day weekend, were cited by Dutt. He was unsure. But it sure wasn’t April 18, when the Sonics’ season ended in a rout by Dallas. And it sure wasn’t within the predetermined June 1 to June 5 time limit. If this argument is accurate, Lewis has forfeited colossal leverage.

Yikes. Now, let’s be honest: one way or the other, Lewis is guaranteed to make just over $10 million for each of the next two seasons if he’s “forced” to stay in Seattle. If this is simply a Vecsey non-issue, he’ll earn somewhere in the neighborhood of $12 – $14 million for the next four or five years. The moral of the story is that Rashard Lewis is going to be seriously paid.

And while he may be ready to move on, sticking around with the Sonics may not be the worst thing in the world, as he, Ray Allen, Chris Wilcox, and potentially Kevin Durant would make good things happen on the court. They wouldn’t be that far off from competing with the West’s big boys, at least on paper.

Still, if Dutt indeed messed this one up, he’s going to have one less client to worry about, and the words “ah, nuts!” will be heard echoing around a five-mile radius of his office.

**UPDATE** Via TrueHoop: “ESPN.com has looked into this and it appears that Lewis and his agent, Tony Dutt, did not “mishandle” the paperwork for his ETO (Early Termination Option) and he is indeed a free agent starting July 1.”

Oh, happy day. I participated in my first fantasy football draft of the season tonight (way too early, I know) and I’m already super psyched for the season. I ended up with a core of Frank Gore, Reggie Bush, Brandon Jacobs, Antonio Gates and Vince Young- Madden Curse be damned. As any experienced fantasy footballer will tell you, championships are won in the trenches with quality running back play so I’m extremely pleased with my squad right now. Then again, if you don’t feel comfortable with your team in the hours after a draft then something is wrong. With draft season starting, it’s time for ETB to start ranking and re-ranking players starting with those all-important running backs.

Today we tackle the elite running backs who are likely to fly off the board in your draft’s first round. For my money, these are also the top 11 picks out there. Sure, you could go with a QB or WR in the first round. You could also draft a closer or mediocre center in the third round of your baseball or basketball draft, too. I don’t advise it. Tomorrow we’ll get into some of the more sticky situations: guys involved in platoons, aging fan favorites, up and comers and the necessary handcuffs (kinky, no?). Make sure to keep checking back as we’ll be updating these lists regularly and with increasing frequency as camps break and the NFL season draws nigh. Let the debates begin Rudi Johnson, Travis Henry and Peyton Manning fans.

Tomorrow: RBs 12-22

1 Ladainian Tomlinson: He’s pretty good. I guess. Seriously though, if Tomlinson doesn’t go first in your league it’s time to make some new friends.

2 Steven Jackson: A lot of people worry that he’ll lose TD opportunities to the new weapons in St. Louis (Bennett, McMichael). Not me. Jackson won’t catch nearly as many balls, but this offense should roll all season long and he’ll get all of the goal-line chances. An absolute joy to watch, Steven may be the most gifted back in football. He has sprinter speed on the outside, pounds it inside well and should have no competition on the depth chart. The dude posted 2,334 total yards and 16 TDs last season. That’s sick. With a top pick all you want is a productive foundation that you can set in your lineup every week and forget about and S-Jax will fit the bill.

3 Frank Gore: Every year during draft season it’s extremely important to not chase last year’s stats. Gore had a monster 2006 seemingly out of nowhere and as a third-round pick he was the steal of the year. I finally like the direction that San Francisco is going on offense and Gore’s freakish skill set simply can’t be ignored. Alex Smith should be greatly improved this season, I’m a believer in the talent of Vernon Davis out wide and there’s little reason that Frank the Tank can’t repeat or improve upon his 2006 numbers.

4 Larry Johnson: The workload he’s endured over the last few seasons makes injury a serious concern, but there’s no doubt Johnson is a stud and the focal point of this offense. If Brodie Croyle is named the starter over Damon Huard there could be an adjustment period and the loss of a couple of Pro Bowl offensive lineman is going to hurt. Still, it’s hard to ignore a guy with 37 TDs in his last 32 games. In all likelihood Johnson will carry your squad all season long.

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