If you have read any of my top five position break down columns heading in to the 2013 NFL fantasy football season, chances are you have a pretty good idea of what my ideal fantasy football roster would look like. If you haven't read those columns, well, shame on you. You're in luck, though, as this article is just for you. Here is a look at my 2013 All-Fantasy Football team with standard rosters.
Quarterback
Tom Brady, New England Patriots
Brady finished with 4,827 yards, 34 touchdowns and eight interceptions (also added four rushing touchdowns) in 2012. Sure, it is appearing more and more likely that Brady's go-to receiver, Wes Welker is set to test free agency. Even so, New England's offense has a way of producing no matter what obstacles they are faced with. I'm sure others may have Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees as their ideal fantasy quarterback, but I am going to side with the Golden Boy until he proves he no longer has it.
Running Back
Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings
Arian Foster, Houston Texans
Peterson amassed 2,097 yards and 12 touchdowns rushing to go with 40 receptions for 217 yards and another score in 2012. Despite falling just short of breaking Eric Dickerson's all-time rushing record, All Day put up one of the best seasons a running back has had in a several years, and it's hard to think of a reason as to why he won't produce just as well next season. Foster rushed for 1,424 yards and led the league in rushing touchdowns with 15 (also added 40 receptions for 217 yards and two scores) last season.
There are plenty of other options at running back if Peterson or Foster isn't your cup of tea. It's quite possible that Marshawn Lynch, Doug Martin or even Ray Rice may be your top choice at running back. For me, I'm going to try and avoid drafting Martin (or Washington Redskins running back, Alfred Morris) simply because it is a fairly common occurrence for second-year players to suffer a little bit of a regression after their rookie years. If we were talking about PPR leagues, I would have to think long and hard before drafting any running back not named Jamaal Charles. I think he is going to do big things in Kansas City this year with Andy Reid at the helm, I just don't think his value is as high in standard leagues.
Wide Receiver
Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions
Brandon Marshall, Chicago Bears
Megatron capped off his 2012 season by breaking Jerry Rice's all-time receiving record for yards in a season by finishing with 1,964 yards to go with 122 catches (204 targets). By now, everyone knows that Calvin was only able to find the end zone five times, limiting what really should have been an even bigger gap between him and the number two wide receiver. At this point, I think it would be very, very uncommon if anyone took a receiver other than Calvin as the number one wide-out off the board.
Everyone knew the Brandon Marshall and Jay Cutler reunion in Chicago was going to do wonders for the Bears offense. I don't think that a lot of people knew just how much that was going to do for Marshall's career. I was someone who bought into this move as soon as it happen and expected Marshall to be one of the most productive receivers in the league. Marshall put up 118 catches and 1,508 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2012, and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if he surpasses those totals this season.
I know that some people may go with A.J. Green, Demaryius Thomas, or Julio Jones as their second receiver if they were able to pick from anyone in the league, but as I have said before, I am just not as big of a Green fan as most people are. Sure, Thomas put up killers numbers (94 catches, 1,434 yards and 10 touchdowns) in his first season playing with Peyton Manning. Much like Jones has Roddy White, a top 10 receiver in his own right, Thomas has Eric Decker, another top 10 wide receiver, who is going to put up big numbers and is going to 'steal' some balls from him.
Tight End
Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots
Again, this choice for me comes down solely to personal preference. If you choose to go with Jimmy Graham or Jason Witten over Gronk, I could find a way to justify that. There's no doubt that there's at least some injury risk with Gronk. That said, he had 55 catches for 790 yards and 11 touchdowns--even with missing some time due to injury. One name among tight ends that is very intriguing to me is Vernon Davis. Davis has always been one of the most talented tight ends in the game. For whatever reason, he hasn't been able to produce anywhere near the numbers that he is capable of putting up. Once Colin Kaepernick took over the starting quarterback job for the 49ers, Davis' numbers spiked in production. It will be very interesting to see what numbers he can put up playing a full season with Kaep.
FLEX
Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys
I can't lie: It was extremely difficult for me to pass up going with one of my favorite players in the league at the flex spot, Julio Jones. While I do think that Julio will have the best season of his young career this season, as the off season progressed, I am slowly coming to the realization that I would rather have Dez over Julio simply because of the teams they play for. Roddy White (and Tony Gonzalez, if he's still around) are going steal a lot more balls from him than Miles Austin and Jason Witten is going to steal from Dez.
Again, it's pretty early in the off season, and if Buffalo were to go from a backfield by committee to transitioning to C.J. Spiller, this spot may change. If you're the type of fantasy owner that lives and dies by running backs over receivers, Ray Rice, Marshawn Lynch and even LeSean McCoy would all be good picks for you to fill this position.
Lastly, we have to address the kicker and team defense/special teams positions. Fantasy experts have been telling people not to draft a kicker and defense before the last two rounds of your draft since before I even knew what fantasy football was. Yet, every season, I see people drafting defenses in the ninth round and kickers a few rounds later. I'll never understand it. Having said that, Stephen Gostkowski, New England Patriots kicker is my top kicker for the 2013 season. As for a team defense/special teams, I am going to go with the Seattle Seahawks. However, just like with several other positions, that may change once we see what happens in free agency as well as the NFL draft next month.