2010: The Year of the Running Back?

With Chris Johnson's stellar performance, and the unexpected late season numbers from Jamaal Charles and Jerome Harrison, this summer's fantasy football drafts are going to be awful interesting. Don't get me wrong, Warner's retirement is already affecting QB and WR considerations, but the questions marks at RB are what keep me up at night. After all, all I have to do is pick my QB early and avoid Larry and Anquan to deal with the Warner fallout. But I can not overlook how badly the highly ranked RBs disappointed in 2009. That will definitely affect my drafting come summer.

Matt Forte and Steve Slaton; one-year wonders, or sophomore slumps? Knowshown Moreno, flex play or starter in 2010? Are there really enough balls to go around in Carolina for Jonathan Stewart to have draft value? And after a very promising 2008, will Pierre Thomas live up to last year's high ADP? What about Lesean Mccoy in Philly? Will he get the keys to the car, or is that a RBBC in the making over there with Weaver? And can someone please explain what happened with Brandon Jacobs last year? He came in with the highest per game fantasy average for an RB (when he played anyway) to permanent bench status in 2009. Finally, Thomas Jones may have been the biggest bargain in last year's draft, but would you be pushing your luck to scoop him up this year?

It's February, so I don't have answers to these questions yet. But come draft time, I will. Although I can tell you that right now I'm facing the odd prospect of going back to the SRBDT as a way to mitigate the unpredictability at the position.

Oh joy!