nfluk.com Fantasy expert Rafa Cervera checks in for the final time in the 2007 NFL season to give you the lowdown on how to pick your Week 17 team from the All Stars of the Fantasy game this year. read more>>
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Your Sky Sports / nfluk.com Fantasy Football fortunes can be changed by keeping an eye on the players getting hot as we get to the most important part of the season. This week Fantasy guru Rafa Cervera helps you find the hottest players heading into Week 15. read more>>
nfluk.com Fantasy expert Rafa Cervera checks in for the final time in the 2007 NFL season to give you the lowdown on how to pick your Week 17 team from the All Stars of the Fantasy game this year.
Well, it is the last week of our competition. With out a doubt adding the value of $3 million to some of the players has increased the interest in our fantasy league, which has been a big challenge this season.
To wrap up the column, I want to focus in those players who performed the best fantasy wise. Of course, I am giving several options at each position, so we can all combine them to stay within the $18 million salary cap. Selecting a team this week, with so many teams resting players to be ready for the playoffs will be hard, so make sure you start those players who will be competing for something in the NFL’s final week of the regular season.
Quarterbacks:
New England Patriots Tom Brady is definitely our fantasy MVP. It is not easy to score points as a quarterback as each touchdown pass is rewarded with 3 points (half of what a running back gets for a 
rushing score or a receiver for a touchdown catch). Anyhow, Brady has already surpassed 300 fantasy points on his way to the best season ever by an NFL quarterback. The second stringer in our 2007 all-fantasy team is Dallas Cowboys Tony Romo, who has set a team record passing with 36 touchdowns in his way to 260 fantasy points. As Brady is worth $4 million and Romo’s price is 3, a great option as an alternate for our all-fantasy squad is Cleveland Browns Derek Anderson. With a price of $1 million, Anderson has more fantasy points (223) than Green Bay Packers Brett Favre and Pittsburgh Steelers Ben Roethlisberger (each is worth $3 million). In a huge surprise after 16 weeks of NFL football, Anderson trails Indianapolis Colts Peyton Manning ($4 million) by only 13 fantasy points.
Running backs:
The San Diego Chargers started slow, but finished very strong led by the play of a huge star in LaDainian Tomlinson ($4 million). The Bolts idol gained more than 100 rushing yards in his last four performances, leading the NFL in rushing (1,418 yards) and is the top running back in our fantasy competition with 281 points. Also at $4 million, Brian Westbrook of the Philadelphia Eagles has shown his all-purpose capabilities, running for a personal best 1,291 yards to surpass the 2,000-total yards mark and recording 262 fantasy points. Adrian Peterson ($3 million) has slowed down in the past few weeks as have his Minnesota Vikings. Anyhow, the rookie has managed to get 225 fantasy points, five more than Colts Joseph Addai (also $3 million). An alternate cheap option is Dallas’ Marion Barber, who earned a selection to the Pro Bowl. Barber is worth $2 million in our competition and his 10 rushing touchdowns (4th in the league) and 981 ground yards have got him to 187 fantasy points.
Wide receivers:
Patriots Randy Moss ($3 million) is one touchdown reception away from tying the NFL record set by Jerry Rice in 1987 with 22. Moss is second in the league with 1,393 receiving yards, and that has translated into 252 fantasy points. Behind him is Dallas’ controversial Terrell Owens ($4 million), who has settled in Dallas recording a sensational season including 1,355 yards receiving and a personal best, 15 touchdowns to score 218 fantasy points. Tied with Owens in touchdown catches is Cleveland Browns Braylon Edwards ($3 million), whose effort has taken him over 200 fantasy points. Slightly behind Edwards is Colts Reggie Wayne ($3 million), who leads the NFL with 1,423 receiving yards and has 196 fantasy points. At the position there is no chance to save some money as all the wide receivers that are worth $2 million or less are far away in production from our 2007 all-fantasy team.
Tight ends:
A group of six great players are within 30 fantasy points (from 147 to 117). They are all worth $3 million and there is no chance in this position to save money, either. Cowboys Jason Witten leads the pack thanks to his 1,121 receiving yards. Chargers Antonio Gates, whose production has gone down in the last weeks, comes second with 139 fantasy points. Kansas City Chiefs Tony Gonzalez, maybe the best tight end who has ever played the game, has 1,108 receiving yards and 133 fantasy points. Browns Kellen Winslow is 64 yards and four fantasy points behind Gonzalez. Colts Dallas Clark tops the group in touchdown catches (11), but has 611 receiving yards for 121 fantasy points. Redskins Chris Cooley has eight receiving scores to be at the bottom of the pile.
Kickers:
The high-powered attacks of Packers, Cowboys and Patriots have taken their kickers to the top of the NFL in scoring. Green Bay’s Mason Crosby has 131 points (five more than Randy Moss) to lead the league and our fantasy kickers. New England’s Stephen Gostkowski and Dallas’ Nicholas Folk are tied at 125. They are all worth $2 million in our competition, so there is no need to look for other kickers
Team Defences:
Our fantasy gurus were right when pricing the Patriots and Chargers at the top of the defensive ratings with a value of $3 million. Led by the playing of cornerback Antonio Cromartie, who paces the league with 10 picks, San Diego leads the NFL with 29 interceptions, while New England anchored by linebacker Mike Vrabel (11.5 quarterback sacks) ranks second in the league with 46 sacks. The Chargers, who top the league in takeaways (44) and turnover ratio (+21), are first in our defensive fantasy rankings with 267 points, and the Patriots come behind with 264. Using this category to balance our salary cap is simple as three of the four defenses which come next in our rankings are all worth $1 million. The New York Giants lead the NFL with 52 sacks and are third amongst our fantasy defences with 255 points. The Minnesota Vikings have nine returns for touchdown this season to account for 245 fantasy points, the same amount totalled by a Seattle Seahawks defence ($2 million) led by Patrick Kerney, who tops the NFL with 14.5 sacks. The Detroit Lions are sixth in our defensive fantasy rankings thanks to being in third place in the league (tied with the Seahawks) with 34 takeaways.
My team:
Quarterback, Browns Derek Anderson ($1 million): We need to save some money, and he needs to produce against the 49ers to take the Browns to the playoffs.
Running back, Vikings Adrian Peterson ($3 million): After the home-loss vs. Washington, 
Minnesota faces a must-win situation at Denver, who in fact, has a very poor defence stopping the run.
Running back, Cowboys Marion Barber ($2 million): Tough one at Washington, but he should end up the game with his first 1,000-yard rushing season in the NFL.
Wide receiver, Patriots Randy Moss ($3 million): He will be looking desperately for the NFL receiving touchdown record at the Meadowlands.
Wide receiver, Browns Braylon Edwards ($3 million): Cleveland needs his production badly to keep playing in January.
Tight end, Chiefs Tony Gonzalez ($3 million): He could definitely deliver against the Jets. Gonzalez has been one of the very few highlights in a Chiefs season to forget.
Kicker, Packers Mason Crosby ($2 million): Fighting for the NFL scoring title, the rookie leads Randy Moss by 5 points. This is a good motivation for Crosby in the Packers final game this regular season at Lambeau, vs. Detroit.
Team Defence, the Vikings ($1 million): Minnesota needs to produce on both sides of the game at Denver to try to sneak into the playoffs.Click here to comment on this feature