2013 Fantasy Football Dynasty League Rankings

By: Jared M Smola 

QBs

1. Aaron Rodgers, Packers

Rodgers already has 5 seasons of 3,900+ yards and 28+ TDs to his name. And he's still only 29 years old. Even if Greg Jennings leaves via free-agency, the Packers are loaded at WR with Randall Cobb, Jordy Nelson, and James Jones.

2. Cam Newton, Panthers

Newton seemed to get over his sophomore slump in the 2nd half of the season. He was fantasy's #1 QB over the final 10 weeks. Unlike other running QBs like Robert Griffin and Michael Vick, the 6'5, 248-pound Newton has proven durable. He's played in 31 of 32 possible games so far.

3. Drew Brees, Saints

Brees just recorded his 7th straight season of 4,300+ yards. He's topped 5,000 in 2 of the last 3. Brees is 34 years old but is the type of guy who could still play another 4-5 seasons. HC Sean Payton's new contract is excellent news.

4. Matt Stafford, Lions

He tossed for 4,967 yards and 20 TDs in a "down" year. Stafford's 10th-place fantasy finish is his floor over the next decade. The guy doesn't turn 25 until February.

5. Andrew Luck, Colts

He set an NFL rookie record with 4,374 passing yards. And he did it with a subpar o-line and mediocre pass-catching corps. Luck is as good as advertised.

RBs

1. Adrian Peterson, Vikings

He's coming off the most impressive season by a RB in NFL history. And AP could be even better next year as he continues to leave that ACL injury in the dust. Peterson turns 28 in March. But after this last season, we wouldn't put it past him to dominate well into his 30s.

2. LeSean McCoy, Eagles

McCoy struggled with injuries and an inconsistent supporting cast in 2012. The Eagles are headed in a new direction after firing Andy Reid, but Shady will remain the focal point of the offense. He doesn't turn 25 until July.

3. Ray Rice, Ravens

4 straight 1,600+ yard seasons. And Rice will still be only 26 years old for the 2013 campaign.

4. C.J. Spiller, Bills

He set career-highs across the board in 2012 -- on the strength of 6.0 yards per carry and 10.7 yards per catch. With Chan Gailey gone and Fred Jackson clearly in decline, Spiller's workload should only grow from here. The guy is just 25 years old.

5. Doug Martin, Bucs

Here's a young, well-rounded RB playing in a run-first offense. Martin finished 3rd at his position in fantasy points in his first NFL campaign. Get used to seeing him up there.

WRs

1. Calvin Johnson, Lions

The NFL's new single-season receiving yardage record-holder is still only 27 years old. He's just now entering his prime. Johnson should be the 1st pick in start-up dynasty leagues.

2. A.J. Green, Bengals

He gets a slight edge over Julio because he's been more durable and reliable from game-to-game. Green has averaged 1,191 yards and 9 TDs in his first 2 NFL seasons. And the best is yet to come.

3. Julio Jones, Falcons

We still think Jones has more upside than fellow 2011 draftee A.J. Green. He's more explosive and is in a better situation (QB, OC).

4. Dez Bryant, Cowboys

The light bulb finally flicked on in the 2nd half of 2012. And the results were spectacular. Bryant was fantasy football's #1 WR over the final 8 weeks. He'll be a regular in the top 5 for the next 5-6 seasons.

5. Demaryius Thomas, Broncos

He's just as talented as the 3 guys directly ahead of him on this list. The only issue for Thomas is figuring out who will chuck him the rock when Manning hangs up the cleats. But it might not matter -- he was a stud in 2011 even with Tim Tebow under center.

TEs

1. Jimmy Graham, Saints

Graham's 2012 included a league-high 14 drops and a lingering wrist injury. He still managed to finish as fantasy's top TE. With Drew Brees chucking him the rock -- and HC Sean Payton back to run the offense -- Graham's upside remains limitless.

2. Rob Gronkowski, Patriots

Gronk missed 5 games in 2012, but still recorded his 3rd straight 10+ TD campaign. The 23-year-old now owns an insane 38 career scores across 43 contests. A matchup nightmare, Gronk will remain a fantasy building block for years to come.

3. Aaron Hernandez, Patriots

Age, supreme talent, and a supercharged offense are all huge pluses. Injuries have proven to be the only downside - he's yet to play a full season. At just 23, however, we're confident that we haven't seen the best from Hernandez yet.

4. Kyle Rudolph, Vikings

Rudolph led all TEs in red zone targets (14), tying for 2nd in TDs (9) in 2012. He's built a fine rapport with Christian Ponder and should continue to develop his game between the 20s.

5. Vernon Davis, 49ers

VD's stock sunk with Colin Kaepernick under center. But a full offseason with the kid should do him wonders. He remains one of the league's most freakish athletes.

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Article Source: 2013 Fantasy Football Dynasty League Rankings

Two Weeks into the 2012 NFL Season

By: Steven Hawkins

The NFL is back and with two weeks already in the history books there is a lot to discuss. It is a glorious time for fans simply because things never go according to plan. The New England Patriots lost their first home opener in Tom Brady's career on Sunday with a 20-18 defeat at the hands of the Arizona Cardinals (who have surprised many by starting the season 2-0). The New Orleans Saints have struggled out of the gate (or should I say out of the Bounty Gate) and have lost their first two games. Since 2006 only five teams, or 14%, have started 0-2 and made the playoffs. The Green Bay Packers have already lost as many games in 2012 as they did in 2011 (one) while reining MVP Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense can't seem to find their stride. The Philadelphia Eagles have bucked all conventional wisdom and have turned the ball over nine times in two games and have managed to win both.

However the seemingly biggest topic of debate and discussion among fans and experts alike is the San Francisco 49'ers and their claim to the title of “the best team in the NFL”. Many seem willing to crown the 49'ers Super Bowl Champions already and with good reason. The 9'ers look to be the NFL's most complete team. They have returned all 11 starters on defense and look as fierce and as dominant as last season. Alex Smith continues to improve as a quarterback and is resurrecting a career that was once left for bust after he was the 1st overall selection in the 2005 draft. Last season many considered Smith a "game-manager"; essentially a quarterback incapable of leading his team to victory, instead he minimizes mistakes and allows the defense to hold down the opposition. Through two games this season Smith appears to have a greater grasp of the offense and the 49'ers are averaging five points more a game than they did a season ago. Is Smith still a game manager?

What's more impressive about the 49'ers start is perhaps who they've beaten and how they've done it. The first victory was a convincing 30-22 defeat of the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. In week two the 49'ers handled another NFC North team, the Detroit Lions, 27-19 at home on Sunday Night. Both of those teams made the playoffs in 2011.

The 49'ers made the NFC Championship game last season before losing to the eventual Super Bowl Champion New York Giants. Many believe a return to that game looks like a certainty … at least entering Week 3. Therein lies the beauty of football nothing is certain and no one can predict the future.

Things To Know About Football Goals

By J Smithers

One of the most popular games around, football continues to be played by many people and at various levels too. Whether this is professional or semi-professional, a considerable number of amateur players participate in the beautiful game every single day. When playing football, there are many accessories which are required in order for a person to participate fully. Wearing shin pads enables for this part of the body to be given protection when it is needed most, as does wearing goal-keeping gloves because this will help to minimize any pain after a shot is struck.

Although people who play football will occasionally use their personal possessions as a goalpost, all footballers prefer to play with real goalposts; especially as this will stop a group of people from arguing about whether a particular shot was a goal or not.

There are a considerable number of goalposts which can be bought, with each set of goalposts adapted according to the environment which it will be in. A popular choice is full size football goals. Not only do they enable a semi-professional or professional team to practise their shooting, but Sunday league players also prefer to use full-size goalposts as well. During training or when practise matches are being played, choosing a mini goal will allow for players to get their required workout but on a smaller space.

When playing indoors, the size of the pitch might not be large enough to support a full size goal. This is especially true when a 5 a Side game is being played. When participating in 5 a Side football, choosing a suitable net is highly recommended. This is because a sporting hall or venue can have a 5 a Side goalpost.

If a goalpost is needed so that it can be used on several pitches rather than one, many good goalposts have wheels. As it is very easy to move and with several wheels found on each goalpost, choosing these particular goalposts will provide a value for money service because they can be used for a considerable number of games.

With many goalposts to choose from, any game of football will benefit from a high-quality structure which will withstand any shot which is struck against it. As competitive prices are charged for a goalpost, many of them could be purchased at the same time without a team or company's budget being exceeded at any point.

Have you already found the right Football Goals for your kids to play? You can find a good set of these equipment in the internet today. You can also add a set of Garden Slides if you have some spare dough.

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2011 Super Bowl NFL Odds and Preview For the New Orleans Saints to Win it All Again

By Jimmy Reilly

The toughest thing to do in the NFL is to win back to back Super Bowls especially with the NFL being as balanced as it ever has been. The New Orleans Saints won the 2010 Super Bowl by playing balanced football as a team, making big plays, staying a healthy at the right time and a little Cajun luck so before making your NFL Picks to win the 2011 Super bowl, find out if the Saints can repeat.

The Saints come into the 2010-11 season equipped with all the tools to win it all again. It starts with the best passing offense in the league lead by Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees who has thrown for at least 4000 yards in five consecutive seasons and a plethora of explosive receivers in Marques Colston, Jermey Shockey, Robert Meachem and Reggie Bush.

To compliment their passing offense, the Saints also bring a balanced run attack to the table which makes them almost impossible to stop. They lost running back Mike Bell as he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles but they will have Pierre Thomas who was their #1 back last season amongst a backfield that saw 3 running backs get over 70 carries in 2009-10 seasons. This offense will once again create problems for NFL defenses especially behind the genius mind of head coach Sean Peyton who calls the plays and lead the league in total offense yards three out of the four years with the Saints.

The weakness of the Saints last year was definitely their defense although they made up all the yards they gave up by making big plays consistently throughout the season. The defense did improve under defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and Darren Sharper's big plays to bring a Saint team that was 22nd in the turnover the previous year to 3rd last season. The Saints pass defense was ranked 26th against the pass and 21st against the run but with the new addition of Alex Brown who came from the Chicago Bears and the draft pick of 309 pound Al Woods, the betting odds are safe to say they will be a much better defense this season.

Momentum and health means everything when contending for a Super Bowl and the Saints will have to deal with some adversity early in the season. Their defensive captain Darren Sharper will miss a few games due to a micro fracture knee surgery and coming off their first Super Bowl in franchise history will create a team hangover. Our expert NFL predictions project the Saints to win the NFC South but winning the 2011 Super Bowl will be a long shot as the NFL betting odds have the Saints at +1000 to win it all.

Go to http://www.jrtips.com/ to get winning NFL Picks and NFL Predictions for the 2010-11 NFL season.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jimmy_Reilly

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Out of Town Tournaments For Youth Football Teams

By Dave Cisar

Out of town youth football tournaments are an excellent end of season treat for many youth football teams. Pop Warner, AYF and other organizations have regional and national title programs that are the goal of many youth football coaches in those leagues.

When I played youth football, our team traveled to Las Vegas, Kansas City, Nashville and Atlanta to play in tournaments. It was a great way to see how we stacked up to competition outside Nebraska. I still can recall those memories, losing just one of those games in overtime in Las Vegas to an all-star team from California.

What are these tournaments like and as a youth football coach should my teams play in one? Coaching youth football means having a lot of influence on deciding to take these games or not.

There are more independent youth football organizations than Pop Warner and AFL combined and the independents play in various youth football tournaments throughout the USA. The tournaments vary in size and quality as does anything in life. That is one of the big advantages of the Pop Warner National Tournament, you know that the weekend will be a quality event and the rules will be enforced.

Most of these tournaments are done over the Thanksgiving Holiday and your team plays 2-3 games. Your football team is put in a bracket based on pre-set age and sometimes weight restrictions. Most tournaments have gone to unlimited weight with running back weights, with a few still having some total weight restricted divisions. The tournament host then puts teams into brackets based on record, perceived strength, historical league strength, coach preference, average age and sometimes average weight is considered as well. Most tournaments have very heavy restrictions as to verification of birth certificates and roster (no all-star teams) and most do weigh-ins the day of the games.

Back in my day, we lived in a different society and lived under different rules. We would play youth football teams from all over the country right here in Omaha at seasons end. The opposing players would stay in our homes during their stay.Our family made some life long friends through this process. I will never forget flying to Las Vegas in 1973, this being the first exciting plane ride for about 90% of our players.

Staying with families gave us a chance to bond with the other players and experience how they lived. In 1972 my team partner Joe Dukich and I got to stay with a black family in Kansas City and made some great friends. Of course in todays world, staying with families to get this type of experience and save money on hotel costs would be out of the question.

Since then, my personal youth football teams have played in tournaments in Iowa, Kansas, Omaha and Kearney Nebraska and Florida. Where we played had a lot to do with how much money we had available, as traveling costs a lot of money. Back when I played, we sold raffles and would go out in groups on Friday and Saturday nights to local bars and bowling alleys to sell tickets. Each player had a quota to sell and the coaches got sponsors as well, again a different era, different rules. But of course there were no lodging or food expenses back then due to the players staying with host families, so we didn't have to raise as much money.

My personal teams have not been able to play in the big Florida Thanksgiving tournaments based on several factors, one being money. The other is daylight savings time hits the first week in November or so and that means it gets dark around here at 5:30. We have never had a practice field with lights and we often see very cold temperatures and even snow at that time of year. The only time we could practice would be on weekends or in gyms. Gyms aren't the best places to have a football practice and it's also the time most basketball teams here start gearing up. We have not been able to secure gym time from any of the public schools in the area and even if we did, you can't run your football plays all out in a gym.

Based on these factors, we have been limited to youth football tournaments that are earlier than Thanksgiving like the ones in Omaha, Council Bluffs Iowa, Kansas City Kansas (Johnston County) and the Snapper Bowl in Panama City Florida. The Omaha tournament is put on by a very sharp person "John" from Omaha's Nebraska Midget Football League. It is very well run and organized and runs over a weekend. This youth football league invites teams from their league and others in the Midwest to participate. We are quite often the only local team not from their league invited to participate. We have won that tournament's "A" Division Title a number of times. Monte O'Hara runs a very nice tournament with outstanding sportsmanship, officiating and pagentry, in Council Bluffs, Iowa with some games played at the University of Nebraska at Omaha stadium with field turf and under the lights. We have always done real well there as well and are often the only Nebraska team invited to play. The Lil Vikes tournament in Omaha is one we won several times and had great experiences 3 of the 4 years we played and were the only Omaha team outside their league invited on several occasions. The Kearney, Nebraska tournament was a great experience, with the opposing team taking our kids on a hayrack ride and even taking up a collection for us at the church services we shared. We won that one in the sleet and the pictures of our kids and theirs arm in arm after the game, all smiles covered in slush is one for the ages.

The Johnston County Kansas Youth Football Tournament is in the Kansas City area and often gets well over 100 teams from the Midwest to play. I've taken my youth football teams to play in that tournament for over 15 years and done real well, we won just last season. It is well run of late, the sportsmanship was good and the organizers did an excellent job. A great place to stay is the Great Wolfe Lodge Indoor Water Park and Hotel about 30 minutes from the fields. We had an incredible team swim party there after our big win this last season.

In 2003 two Screaming Eagle teams played in the Snapper Bowl in Panama City Florida, which is 6 hours closer to us than Daytona. We had an academic contest that year for our 14 teams that involved weekly school academic accountability reports filled out by their teachers. Two hard working teams won the contest and they had the time of their lives staying on the beach in Destin, Florida. A local "Angel" footed the bill of about $26,000 for two buses, lodging and food. Since we had no way to practice after Daylight savings time, the Snapper Bowl people (Harold Creel) arranged for us to play a game in the first week of November outside the context of the base tournament. The two Eagle teams that won the academic contest unfortunately were our 2 least competitive teams, so one played and lost in overtime and the other got beat by 4 scores. My personal team failed to win the academic contest and we were expecting at the time anyways, so it worked out for the best.

If you are planning an end of season trip, now is the time to get going on planning and raising funds.

Some other suggestions include being on your absolute best behavior and send a thank you note to the organizers signed by all your players. We often get invited back and even fees waived because of the overt sportsmanship our teams practice while playing in these youth football tournaments. Mr Creel from Florida was in awe of the overt sportsmanship of our players and fans, in his words we were "Too Good to be true." We had a great time and made great friends. If you win big and ugly you won't get the red carpet rolled out for you. Just last year I had three moms from the other team in Kansas City track me down after our game and just rave about how we were the best sportsmanship team they had seen in over 15 years of coming to the tournament. That was in a game we could have easily won by 40 plus points against a team twice our size. We always get invited back.

Several teams from our youth football league play in the top unlimited national tournament in the country in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is held over Thanksgiving weekend and features teams from all over the country. Here is the Bowl web site:

http://www.thenationals.net/football.htm. The reason I think this is a stronger bowl than Las Vegas is, we have seen teams from Omaha that have been beat by teams from our Omaha league go down and win the Las Vegas tournament. There are several very competitive Omaha teams from our League that have the resources to play in Daytona, they have lighted practice fields, plenty of money and one even has an indoor practice field. There are some benefits from being a suburban team. There are various divisions in the tournament, with the Omaha teams usually participating in the "Top Gun" Division, the best of the best. The KWAA Panthers and Omaha Thunder have won that Division four times in the last 10 years at the 13-14 age group and in 2006 the Thunder won another National Title in the 13-14 age Division.

When coaching youth football in tournaments you have to pace your team, as you will play 2-3 games in 2 days. You have to have your backups ready to play early and often and have plenty of players cross trained at other positions. You will see every imagineable offense, defense and even some good trick football plays.

The trip will be a blur of activity, managing the team, the hotel and activities and then scouting your opponents. At many youth football tournaments the games are spread out all over town, a real nightmare, try to avoid those. At Johnston County and others, all 10 fields are in one spot, so you don't have to worry about directions or scouting, it is a youth football mecca with 20 teams playing at once.

If you have the chance to coach a youth football team that travels to out of state tournaments, do it, they can be a blast. You will be helping create life long memories for your youth football players.

See how good your team really is and enjoy the experience.

Dave Cisar- Dave is a Nike "Coach of the Year" Designate and speaks nationwide at Coaches Clinics. His book "Winning Youth Football a Step by Step Plan" was endorsed by Tom Osborne and Dave Rimington. His personal teams using this system to date have won 94% of their games in 5 Different Leagues.

To Sign up for his free tips and drills newsletter or to view 400 free youth football coaching tips go to: Football Plays

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NFL 2011 Season Roundup

The 2011 NFL season has begun. After just 2 weeks of preseason games, the pressure is on to hammer out the kinks before the regular season starts in September. Here is a roundup of what's happened so far during the preseason.

The 2011 season looks to have as many surprises as 2010. The Green Bay Packers, the 2010 Super Bowl champions, lost their first game to the Cleveland Browns, who had one of the worst records last year. Likewise Pittsburgh, who lost 16-7 to the Washington Redskins, who had only a 0.373 winning percentage in 2010. Indianapolis, traditionally a strong team, also lost to St. Louis by 23 points. And the Atlanta Hawks, winners of the NFC South last year with 13 wins, were defeated by the Miami Dolphins. Oh, what a difference an offseason makes.

But perhaps the biggest turnaround is by the Carolina Panthers, who thumped the Giants 20-10. After Carolina's abysmal 2-14 season last year, they needed a good win to jump start 2011. The Panthers will need a good confidence boost, since they face off against Green Bay next, who will be looking to reestablish themselves as worth contenders for the playoffs again this year.

Not everything was a surprise, however, as there were some consistent performers. New England cruised to a 47-12 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, looking as strong as they have looked for any of the past several years. Philadelphia also was present in the winner's column, which will be welcome news to Eagles fans. For years now, these teams have had high hopes and this year looks to be no different.

Based on the first week of preseason play, this season will be full of surprises and plenty of drama. If the 24-23 Dallas victory over Denver is any indication, we are in for a nail-biting year. With Philadelphia playing Pittsburgh next, week 2 of the preseason should be as interesting to watch as this past week. Some other must-watch preseason games are Green Bay at Indianapolis, Atlanta at Pittsburgh, and when the Giants and Jets face off in the battle for New York. Make sure you are rooting for your team when these games are on.

For rooting, you need some team merchandise. For football fans looking for their favorite team jerseys, hats, and apparel, the best place to go is the shops at the stadiums. It's much better if you can look and feel the products before you get them. But if you need to shop online, the NFL Shop is the place to go. Just make sure you look for a NFL Shop promo code, because football merchandise is expensive and we're not all made of money.

Carl writes for couponsophy.com. You can find more NFL resources and get a NFL promo code for the NFL Shop at couponsophy.com.

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How American Football Got Started

By Rich Stephenson

Football points can be scored in many different ways, including catching a pass over the goal line, carrying the ball over the goal line, tackling a football player in his own end zone, or a kicker kicking the football through the goal posts on the opposing side. The football team with the highest score when the game is over is the team that wins the game. American football is also played in other countries outside the United States. Their are National football leagues that are in Sweden, Isreal, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom as well as Mexico, and a few that are in Pacific Island nations. The NFL had a developmental league in Europe from 91-92 and 95-06.

American football history can be found in the early versions of soccer and rugby. Both types of games have origins in different types of football that was played in the UK from the mid 19th century, in which the ball was run over a line or the ball was kicked at the goal. American football as well as soccer is played with 22 players on the field that they play on. Some terms from player positions from soccer are used today in American football such as fullback and halfback.

Rugby and American football do have a few major differences, some of the rule changes were started by Walter Camp who people would call the Father of American Football. Some of the Major changes that Walter Camp made were down and distance and line of scrimmage as well as the rule of down and distance. College coaches like Glen Pop Warner, Amos Alonzo Stagg and Knute Rockne in the late 19th and 20th centuries changed the gameplay by intoducing the forward pass. College football grew in popularity and was the dominant version of football for the first part of the 20th century. College football had a huge national audiences with the football Bowl games. College football had big rivalries as it does today in the United States.

From the year 1892 the origin of professional football can be traced back to, with a $500 contract to play football William "Pudge Heffelfinger played football for the Allegheny Athletic Association playing against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. The american Professional Football started in 1920. The first football game was played in 1920 in Dayton, Ohio on the 3rd of October with the Triangles winning the game by a score of 14-10 against the Columbus Panhandles. Two years later the football league changed the name to National Football League which is known as the NFL and would become the major league of American football. Professional football eventually became a national phenomenon after starting out the sport in the US industrial towns and Midwestern towns. Football after it's NFL Championship Game in 1958 grew in popularity, the game that was known as the "Greatest Game Ever Played. The American Football League also known as the AFL started in 1960 a rival football league to the National Football League, with the pressure it put between the two football leagues before the merger of the two leagues is how the start of the Super Bowl game began. The Super Bowl turned out to be the most watched television event each and every year in the United States.

Rich Stephenson is in the web development field for a ticket broker that sells tickets to all sports, concert and theater events. Ticket broker also sells Cheap Football tickets as well as NFL Super Bowl tickets for and all other football games.

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