When drafting Defensive Lineman, you pick your studs early, then look for some pass-rush specialists to complement them. When drafting Linebackers, you look for consistency in tackles above all, focusing on three-down backers. When drafting Defensive Backs? Anything goes.

Some owners will only take safeties, and pretty much just strong safeties at that, knowing that tackles are more predictable than any other DB stat. Others look for deflections, interceptions and tackles in coverage by focusing on DBs that play alongside a shutdown corner, or rookie corners in general. Still others will go for the gold, taking a return man who might win you a matchup all by himself by taking one to the house.

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Not gonna lie, as of this typing, there are a lot of Running Backs I’d like to own in 2013. Like A LOT of them if you didn’t get the cut of my jib the first time. The position feels oddly, dare I say it, deep this year. Of course, injuries haven’t happened yet and neither has suckitude so saying it’s deep might be premature. That’s what she said! What? Anyways, we just keep trucking along on our 2013 Fantasy Football Rankings and we’re glad to have you along. So with that, let’s dive in to the top 20 running backs and how they’re ranked for the 2013 fantasy football season…

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Quarterback is a position this year that – much like a child left in a car in the middle of summer with the windows rolled up – doesn’t need to be worried about. Woah, strike that analogy and reverse it! Really, QB is gonna be the least of your worries in 2013, I can almost promise you. That ‘almost’ was brought to you by Elite QB Inc where we learn that a Superbowl winning QB should be a top 10 QB in the next fantasy year only because everyone and their mother know his name. I hear ya. Last year someone had a beef with me ranking Eli so low because he carried his team to that Super Bowl win. Eh, sorry to be the bearer of bad news but, uh, this is Fantasy Football and we don’t care. Good night! As stated, this isn’t a position to get worried about this year in terms of getting a top tier guy. There’s plenty of value up and down this list and a few sleeper worthy types that we might/should discuss at a later date. But until then, I say we keep on keeping on with our 2013 Fantasy Football Rankings as we look at the Top 20 quarterbacks for the 2013 Fantasy Football season…

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With the large amount of rookie quarterback success in 2012, with names like Russell Wilson, Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III, there are several young players in Miami that should not be overlooked, one of them is 2nd year quarterback Ryan Tannehill. I will admit that I didn’t know much about Ryan Tannehill until I watched an episode of “Hard Knocks” starting the Dolphins in mini-camp. Not sure if I’m more embarrassed about not knowing much about him at that point or that I was actually watching the HBO series. Anyway the show basically portrayed Tannehill as a talented but arrogant 1st round draft pick, who was fighting veteran David Garrard and Matt Moore for a job that was basically his. There was speculation after the draft that he might not even play due to a hold out on his contract…wait, a holdout for a rookie? Yes it was true and probably where he gets the arrogant and cocky label from, well that and a hot girlfriend. Don’t believe me? Google it… Well now that I have distracted all the readers and are probably no longer reading we are going to take a look Tannehill’s 2012 season and how it compared to some of the other rookies with the hope that we can apply it to his 2013 and future potential as what we all hope will be the next Dolphin’s franchise quarterback.

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As opposed to my 2013 DL Rankings, the top spot in the LB rankings is not quite as clear cut. Luke Kuechly took the #1 overall spot in 2012, as a rookie no less, so common sense would tell you that he will only improve in year 2. I’m not one to disagree with Thomas Paine, so Kuechly will appear at the top of my rankings, but he likely won’t be on any of my teams. Unlike the top Linemen, the top Linebackers are not worth reaching for in 2013.

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As I sit here watching another episode of Fringe on Netflix – please don’t disappoint me like  you did with Lost, J.J. Abrams! – it comes to my attention that a lot happens around us that we don’t notice or analyze for what it is.  We go about our merry way, oblivious to the changes going on around us.  Well for that reason, you can shave my whole body and call me The Observer because I’m witnessing something that seems to be drifting under the radar of most fantasy footballers.  It’s happening in St Louis and hopefully it happens on your team for this season.  I speak of none other than Sam Bradford.  I know, much maligned and a ne’er do well on the lips of many who’ve drafted him in the past but I see a brighter future for the 2013 Fantasy Football season and beyond.  Follow the typed word into the next paragraph if you wish to know more or run in fear from the unknown of which I’m about to lay upon you…

Bradford’s career to date has been nothing special, to put it mildly.  A reasonable rookie year in 2010, a complete injury-filled disaster in 2011 and a solid yet unspectacular QB2 year in 2012.  Well, for the sake of analysis, I’m throwing 2011 out the window like a man and his chamber pot contents from ye ole Edinburgh.  Not only would it hurt my analysis – key reason of course – but it’s also not fair to look at someone through the lens of being broken.  Too many games played at 75% in there and the data can’t be trusted.  Good, now that we’ve established how I’m completely dancing around the data that doesn’t support my argument, let’s take a look at what does: 18/15 along with 5.95 vs 21/13 and a 6.72…I think I left something out in that.  Oh yes, those are his TD:INT splits from the two comparable years as well as his yards per pass attempt.  You’ll notice both improved over the course of that time and quite decently I might add.  What I think we see this year is that third step from useful to QB1 caliber and I see this for various reasons.  One, that offensive line for the Rams has improved this off-season, especially with the signing of Jake Long at LT.  When you combine that with a set of wide receivers like Tavon Austin, Brian Quick and Chris Givens along with another immense receiving talent at tight end in Jared Cook, Bradford is surrounded by more weapons than Neo was in the Matrix.  Of course, we haven’t even included the backfield which looks more and more like it’ll be a three-headed monster between Zac Stacy, Isaiah Pead and Daryl Richardson.  Keep in mind my love for Bradford only extends so far.  This 2013 season really is a put up or shut up year for him as I spoke of in the Razzball Football Podcast after the 2013 NFL Draft.  But it’s quite a year to put up for him in St.

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As I’m typing this, Ahmad Bradshaw and the Colts are in ‘heavy negotiations’ for Ahmad to be in Indy for 2013 and it makes me ask the question ‘what exactly does heavy negotiations mean?’ Are you all just farting around the rest of the time having light negotiations? We weren’t really serious the two days prior. In fact, we were really just here for the bottled water and muffins but now we’re, like, totally into it. In either case, I’m gonna live dangerously and say that this deal will be done before I’m finished typing this paragraph and if it isn’t, well I ain’t deletin’ $hit cuz I do believe Bradshaw will officially be a Colt prior to training camp which officially means Vick Ballard will go slide, slide, slippety slide in our 2013 Fantasy Football Rankings this year. Not that I was high on him to begin with but I will admit he felt like a safe RB2 type this year when I wrote my Vick Ballard Fantasy over the off-season. With Ahmad’s eventual signing, we now have an embarrassment of riches at the RB position to start the year and I’ll admit it has me giddy like a school girl and no doubt you as well. Wanna braid hair together? Eh, I said ‘LIKE a school girl’, imaginary reader. Oh, so I guess going to the little girls room to talk is out of question now… Indeed it is, I.R., indeed it is. But where was I? Oh yeah, Ahmad on the Colts makes sense. Just realize Ahmad has only played one full season over the course of 6 years so you’re gonna need to handcuff him with Ballard or possibly Donald Brown if something goes awry in training camp. But enough about that, let’s take a look at some other news that’s happened for the 2013 fantasy football season…

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The trip continues and by that I don’t mean your face melting off because you’re still LSD. BTW, if you are on LSD I do promise your face isn’t actually melting off. Or is it? Have you checked? Go look in the mirror to make sure. No, the trip we’re on is to the center of the Fantasy Football universe by looking at how we’re ranking these mo’fos for the 2013 season. I already gave you my Top 10 For 2013 Fantasy Football here which you can find in the 2013 Fantasy Football Rankings there. If that doesn’t quell your thirst for random links in an opening paragraph then I give you this. You satisfied now? Good, that means you’re ready to take a look at the remainder of the top 20 for 2013 Fantasy Football with me…

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As we start rolling out the 2013 IDP Rankings here at Razzball, I thought I would start with the easiest position first. JJ Watt is the consensus #1 IDP this year, and his 2012 numbers were even more impressive than those of Calvin Johnson and Adrian Peterson considering he was a 3-4 Defensive End. While you might have trouble deciding between a gamut of players to take first at any other position, you can rest easy knowing that Watt should be the first DL taken and that it took me three tries before correctly spelling gamut.

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If you’re a Fantasy Football addict – and I believe in your ability to be one and that you are – you’re no doubt aware of some shenanigans going on in the Eagles’ OTAs right now.  But before we get all worried and weirded out – and why would you, you haven’t drafted yet – let’s review a bit of what I said earlier in the season when the Eagles signed Michael Vick from this post here

So in order to talk about Vick’s fantasy impact in 2013, we do have to discuss his contract and it’s particulars…$1.5 million…’bad contract’…Honey Boo Boo Child’s bank account…

Hrm, I need to do a better job about what I select when reviewing apparently.  What I meant to bring a synopsis of was that the contract really means very little about whether or not Vick is the starting QB for the Eagles day one or even on their roster.  It’s a cheap contract for the Eagles and a worthwhile gamble on a man who has, at least in the past, produced at a high level at the quarterback position.  Now of course, this is the news we’ve been seeing of late regarding first team snaps.

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