THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, AUGUST 24, 2007
SPORTS
FANTASY FOOTBALL
3B
Prioritize this draft season
R KELLY BRECKONITCH
KANSAN SPORTS COLUMNIST
KBRECKUNITCH@KANSAN.COM
I week, I was hooked on watching the world cup stacking championships. Just recently ESPN aired its fantasy league draft special. The poor performance by one of my favorite ESPN personalities, Michael Smith, inspired me to create a list of fantasy draft guidelines to help set up your fantasy team for success.
lines to help put together a successful fantasy team:
START COLLECTING RUNNING BACKS
Take a running back with one of your top three picks. Smith didn't, and his team certainly will pay the price. Running backs are the workhorses of fantasy football. They will earn most of your fantasy points in any given week. Most leagues allow only one starting quarterback, which allows more flexibility in drafting that position.
The National Football League season begins in 13 days. It's crunch time for fantasy owners who have less than two weeks to complete their drafts. Here are some guide-
Bears to a Super Bowl, then you can wait to draft a quarterback in your league and take a talented running back first.
NO DEFENSE, NO KICKERS
Usually, though, two running backs start on a fantasy team. According to Yahoo.com, the difference of points scored between the No. 1 and No. 25 running backs was 273 points, while the difference of points between quarterbacks ranked in the same positions was only 186 points. More parity exists among quarterbacks in the NFL. If Rex Grossman can lead the Chicago
Do not draft defenses or kickers too high. According to Yahoo. com, the top two defenses last year
con, the top two defenses last year — Baltimore and Chicago — both scored more than 200 fantasy points, but the points fell dramatically after those two teams. The difference in points scored by the third ranked and last ranked defenses was only 110 points.
The top ranked kicker, Robbie Gould, scored 155 fantasy points last year, only four more points than sack-prone David Carr. The difference between the top kicker and 25th ranked kicker last year was only 59 points, although most kickers scored in the mid-to-low hundreds in fantasy points.
The top kickers tend to change all too often in fantasy football. Neil Rackers, David Akers, Adam Vinatieri and all the other top kickers won't end up scoring many more points than the second-tier guys such as John Kasay, Olindo Mare and Rian Lindell. Do not reach for kickers or defenses in the early rounds or it will come back to haunt you. Wait until at least the tenth round to start drafting these players.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Established players like *Dallas Clark*, left, and Joseph Addai of the Indianapolis Colts
make safe picks over flashy rookies for fantasy teams.
ROOKIES RARELY MAKE AN IMPACT
Do not draft rookies to fill starting positions. Rookies in the NFL rarely make an immediate fantasy impact. Yes, Marques Colston, Vince Young and Reggie Bush all had terrific seasons last year, but none of them finished higher than 31st in the fantasy rankings.
There are exceptions every day,
yes, but you should not overreach
when drafting rookies. Always draft an experienced veteran over a rookie when you have the choice.
Now, I am a big fan of Calvin Johnson's potential and Marshawn Lynch could be a big threat in Buffalo, but you could take solid veterans like Darrell Jackson, Terry Glenn or Randy Moss before Johnson, and running backs like
Brandon Jacobs, Travis Henry or Willis McGahee before Lynch.
These rules should give a general direction to follow in your draft and help you put together a solid team. At least, they will help you put together a better team than Michael Smith.
Edited by Jeff Briscoe
CROSS COUNTRY
Past success benefits Redwine's ability Expectations run high for team, coach
BY TYLER PASSMORE
tpassmore@kansan.com
Stanley Redwine is going into his eighth season as men's cross country coach, and he has high expectations for runners and titles this year. In 2006, Redwine and his staff helped the men's team finish stronger in the Big 12 and NCAA than it had in ten years.
Redwine
"KU has always had a great tradition," Redwine said. "My job is to keep making things happen, so that it continues."
While becoming a dominant coach, it was his own running ability that gave him an edge on his counterparts. Redwine was an All-American at Arkansas and broke school records in the 400-meter, 600-yard and 800-meter runs.
With success in college, Redwine continued to run professionally before hanging up the spikes and getting a desk; the same desk that looks at student athletes who are going where Redwine has been.
"Being a runner myself, it allows me to understand them more." Redwine said. "As far as training goes, it lets you understand them and understand how to make them better."
Being able to understand your athletes is vital, but acquiring these athletes is even more so. Redwine recruits globally instead of staying inside of the United States. These trips and strenuous hours have only helped fuel the fire to continue.
"We're not limited to just the best athletes in the United States, we recruit the best athletes in the world." Redwine said.
This year, Redwine looks to continue and build on his success.
Edited by Rachael Gray
Coach Redwine's running career
"A four-time All-American at Arkansas
Named UA's Outstanding Track Athlete all four of his years
A member of the outdoor conference champion 1.600 meter relay team the same year
>> As a freshman, captured the Southwest Conference Championship in the indoor 600-yard run with a time of 1:10.52
》 As a sophomore, became the 600-year run champion with a time of 1.099.97
>> As a senior, was a three-time conference champion in the 800-meter run (1:50.15), 880-yard run (1:50.96) and the mile relay (3:14.69)
Still ranks among the Razorbacks' Top 10 in six events
》 A two-time silver medalist in the 800-meter run in the 1986 and 1994 Goodwill Games
University of Arkansas Hall of Honor in 2003
Won two bronze medals at the Pan-American Games in 1983 and 1987
>> A U.S. Olympic Trial qualifier five consecutive times, from 1980 to 1996
Inducted into the
Selected by USA Track and Field to serve as the men's head coach for Team USA in the XV Pan-American Games held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, during the summer.
>> A World Championship Track Team member in 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991 and 1993
》 A two-time USA 800- meter champion.
Source: www.kuathletics.com
BIG 12 FOOTBALL Missouri starters sit out last scrimmage of season
CQLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri coach Gary Pinkel gave most of his starters the day off Thursday, in the Tigers' final scrimmage before their season opener Sept. 1 In St. Louis against Illinois.
Seven starters sat out on offense and four on defense. The list of idled players included quarterback Chase Daniel, running back Tony Temple and the tight end tandem of Chase Coffman and Martin Rucker.
"Chase Daniel was mad at me
"Obviously, we're going up a great offense so our defense is proud every time we can stuff them," said linebacker Van Alexander. "We think we have the potential to be one of the top defensive units in the Big 12, so we'd like to fulfill that potential."
The defense, which gave up 10 touchdowns in the Tigers' second scrimmage on Saturday, yielded none on Thursday.
because I wasn't going to let him play" Pinkel said.
Alexander, one of the Tigers' starters, played about 20 snaps after missing some time during camp because of a hamstring injury.
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