I have numbered my “fab five” in terms of how well I believe their 2012 fantasy football seasons will go.

The List

1. Robert Griffin III, QB, Baylor is my top selection because I think he has the requisite amount of “rookie-quarterback-friendly” weapons in tow when he arrives in Washington, D.C.: a team committed to running the ball and two very capable safety nets in the passing game (elite tight ends Chris Cooley and Fred Davis).

In addition, based on his running ability (4.4 in the 40-yard dash), like Cam Newton before him, he’ll make a bunch of plays with his legs.

2. Trent Richardson, RB, Alabama seems poised to land with the Cleveland Browns. With the recently departed Peyton Hillis now on the Kansas City Chiefs, the starting running back gig would be Richardson’s.

Even if he somehow doesn’t land in Cleveland, I expect him to be the best rookie running back. I also expect him to trump fellow Alabama alumnus Mark Ingram’s rookie production from last season.

3. Justin Blackmon, WR, Oklahoma State is the best wide receiver in the draft, period. He could land in St Louis, Jacksonville, or Miami.

It really doesn’t matter. In this pass-happy league, he will likely be playing for a bad team and will receive a plethora of pass targets. He’ll be the best rookie wideout by far.

4. Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford will have very little of his surname in Indianapolis in 2012. A team weak at running back, slow at wide receiver and still reeling from the departure of Hall of Famer Peyton Manning, the Colts will be very bad again this season.

The only upside is that Luck will be behind and will throw a lot. I guess he’ll get some passing yards at least.

5. Michael Floyd, WR, Notre Dame is the only real sleeper on my list. I’ll admit I’m biased here because I am a Fighting Irish football fan. I don’t know where he’ll land. I just know that he’s good. And I have a hunch that he’ll shine in fantasy this year.

Will RG3 end up being the Cam Newton of 2012?

And will all of the answers to the questions above douse the fire that became Tebow-mania last season?

The answer to the first question appears to be a matter of AFC or NFC?

What we do know about Peyton’s impending decision is that he appears to want to: avoid any regional conflict with baby brother Eli (sorry New York Jets); play in a controlled (dome) or warm climate (sorry Northerners), and naturally, play for a playoff team with some weapons in the passing game.

The leading candidates are: the San Francisco Forty-Niners; the Denver Broncos, and the Miami Dolphins.

My gut tells me that the signing of Randy Moss may be the thing that nudges Manning to the Bay area. If that’s the case, then you can expect three things to take place.

• Vegas odds would likely favor San Francisco to go to the Super Bowl next year.
• Randy Moss and Vernon Davis would likely attain fantasy and real life “stud status.”
• And Tebow-maniacs would be satisfied, as Manning’s signing with San Francisco would signify that their idol had survived John Elway’s quest to replace him as the starting quarterback.

To answer the “RG3 question,” I say that Robert Griffin III can, and will, prove he was worth the two future first-round draft picks my beloved ‘Skins gave up for him, have a year similar to Cam Newton (I think he actually has better weapons), and will be a fantasy sleeper pick, possibly as early as the third round in most standard formats.

It looks like 2012 will once again be the year of the quarterback!

Well, let’s start with the good news.

The Saints apparently are slated to work out uber-wide receiver Randy Moss. The recently-retired, and popularly-known “Freak” would be a major coup for the Saints as well as for Drew Brees fantasy owners.

As if the Saints had enough weapons in their aerial attack with Jimmy Graham, Marques Colston and Darren Sproles, the prospect of adding a motivated Moss is scary. And my guess here is that he’d be very motivated.

He’d be chasing that elusive first championship ring, with a team which has had a legitimate shot each of the past few seasons. And he’d also likely be looking at his last shot at redemption in the NFL.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves and re-direct fantasy draft day plans based on the idea of a Saints workout. But it’s intriguing nonetheless.

Now, let’s talk about the bad news.

Unless you live under a rock or simply do not follow sports, you are all aware of what negative impact the bounty program, that was being run by the Saints’ defensive coordinator Greg Williams, can and will have on the Saints in 2012.

And it ain’t good. Williams is surely to be suspended and Sean Payton may be as well. The impact of Payton’s possible suspension would surely impact fantasy football practitioners’ draft strategies regarding Saints offensive players.

I’m no idealist nor am I naive enough to believe that this program is the first of its kind in the NFL. But regardless of what I think, you better watch closely on how this will impact your fantasy season, but most importantly, your draft preparation.

Stay tuned…

Much to my chagrin (I’m a Washington Redskins fan-guilty as charged), the Giants (13-7)  snared their fourth Super Bowl title at the expense of the somewhat overrated New England Patriots (15-4).

And I also didn’t do to shabby with my fantasy player predictions by position.

• Eli Manning and Tom Brady pretty much cancelled each other out from a fantasy perspective, but Peyton’s little brother (now, in age only) won the battle (MVP) and the war (game).
• As expected, neither team ran the ball particularly well but Ahmad Bradshaw had a respectable 72 yards on 17 carries, and scored the game’s only rushing touchdown.
• I knew the Giants wideouts would be the difference in this game. And Hakeem Nicks (109 yards) and Mario Mannignham (73 yards) proved me right. The best Pats receiver wasn’t even one. They were paced by tight end Aaron Hernandez’s modest 67 yards.
• At tight end, Rob Gronkowski’s injury was a killer (and may have decided the game’s outcome). Even still, he and Hernandez nearly doubled the output of the Giants’ starting tight ends.

Congratulations to the New York “football” Giants on their Super Bowl victory this past Sunday, and I look forward to hearing from you throughout the upcoming 2012 fantasy football season.

Mission accomplished, I hope.

Now with that random musing out of the way, let’s get down to business.

Check out my fantasy leader predictions for the big game this Sunday, by position:

1. Quarterback. Take your pick. Eli Manning and Tom Brady have already both won Super Bowl MVPs, but only Brady has put up stellar fantasy numbers in the big game. This year will be different, as I expect the stat book of Eli to make even Denzel Washington envious.
2. Running Back. This position battle may clearly determine who wins the game. Benjarvis Green-Ellis has been a useful fantasy play on occasion in 2012, but so has Ahmad Bradshaw, when he’s been healthy. And since the latter is healthy and the Patriots defense is worse than the Giants, ride with Bradshaw in this matchup.
3. Wide Receiver. Here is where I believe the Big Blue have their biggest advantage over the Patriots in this game. Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz or Mario Manningham-take your pick. Wes Welker may have been the NFL’s leading receiver but Hakeem Nicks will be the fantasy grand puba here.
4. Tight End. Herein lies where the Patriots best fantasy plays are as well as their best chances for winning this game. If Rob Gronkowski were healthy, combined with the dynamic Aaron Hernandez in tow, my prediction of a Giants victory would be in serious doubt. “RG” sounds like he won’t be at full speed, so I’ll go with Hernandez here, with all due respect to the Giants’ sloth-footed tight end Jake Ballard.

I predict that the New York (Football) Giants will edge the New England Patriots by a score of 34-31 this Sunday.

That’s no dark, twisted fantasy unless you are a Patriots fan of course.

And I’m talking both in fantasy and in reality.

In terms of Super Bowl jewelry, Manning (1) and Brady (3) combine for four Super Bowl rings while Smith (0) and Flacco (0) both tote bagels.

And according to ESPN’s final 2011 fantasy football rankings, here is how they stack up: Brady (#3); Manning (#6); Smith (#14) and Flacco (#15). It’s funny, Smith and Flacco ranked higher than I would have thought, but the storyline this weekend centers around whether Brady and Peyton’s younger brother will meet in a rematch of Super Bowl XLII.

At least I think that’s the major storyline, unless you prefer to see a rematch of this season’s Harbaugh Bowl.

Got it? Good.

For 2012, it boils down to two potential franchise players for Ether: Houston Texan running back Arian Foster (238 fantasy points; 18.1 weekly average) or “do everything” Baltimore Raven running back Ray Rice (285 points; 17.8 weekly average)?

This is like a bachelor having to choose between going on a date with Beyoncé or Kim Kardashian. Neither choice would be questioned.

That pop culture-influenced analogy aside, I am leaning towards Foster.

His playoff performance (24 carries, 153 yards, 2 TD) against the solid Cincinnati Bengal defense this past Saturday in the AFC Wild Card game did nothing to sway my leaning.

Like Rice, Foster is a dual-threat running back, with the ability to dominate the game on the ground or through the air via receiving yards. Unlike Rice, a nice portion of his touches get usurped by his highly-capable running mate, Ben Tate.

However, I believe that Arian Foster will get the nod when it’s time for me to make my franchise player designation. He plays in a better offense, has less mileage on his tires (659 career carries to Rice’s 959), and is a “cheap” $4 based on my league’s salary structure-providing me with substantial salary cap space.

And you just gotta love the haircut.

But if you believe that success can also be achieved by coming in second or third place, then what I said was untrue.

Taking a “Lombardian” view, which I tend to lean towards in fantasy football, I ultimately did not achieve my goal (championship) this season.

But if I take a more balanced view, which I tend to lean towards in real life, my season was fairly successful.

Ether finished the season as the league’s second-highest scoring team, was one of four playoff entrants in my highly-competitive, 12-team league, and won the consolation game this past week (16).

I hope you all had a happy holiday and a successful fantasy football season. And I wish you a happy new year in real life as well as in fantasy in 2012!

In some ways, I wish I had simply been blown out because I wouldn’t be still second-guessing my week 15 lineup decisions today.

Sure, I was handicapped by the fact that I had just lost wide receiving stud Greg Jennings to a regular season-ending knee injury just a week ago. But that’s no excuse, injuries are a part of the game.

But I am kicking myself about the decision to start Kellen Winslow (vs. Dallas) over the Eagles’ Brent Celek, who set a franchise tight end receiving record with his 156 yards (and a touchdown) against the enigmatic Jets.

Even with that, I entered the Sunday night matchup between the Ravens and the Chargers with Ray Rice and Vincent Jackson still left to play, trailing by only two fantasy points. My opponent had Ryan Mathews left.

You’d think I would’ve won with that setup? Wrong, I got nipped by the aforementioned score.

But that’s fantasy football. There are no excuses nor any crying. I’ll leave the crying to the Dallas Cowboys (see post image).

Just in case you were wondering, I am a Washington Redskins fan (insert smile).

A few posts ago I told you who would comprise my starting lineup should I make the playoffs. Now that I have made the playoffs, I’m here to tell you that my starting lineup is pretty much the same, except for the removal of Green Bay’s best receiver Greg Jennings due to injury.

For better or for worse, I have inserted Pierre Garcon (vs. Tennessee) into his starting spot alongside the mercurial Vincent Jackson (vs. Baltimore). I also swapped tight end Brent Celek for Kellen Winslow (vs. Dallas), for this week at least.

My biggest dilemma is at the flex position. Should I start Ben Tate who’s at home against the porous Carolina Panther run defense or Mario Manningham against the Washington Redskins’ solid, yet unspectacular pass defense?

The case for the Texans’ Tate is that he’s facing the 9th worst run defense in the NFL and he’s likely to dominate the garbage time carries should the Texans garner a big league heading into the fourth quarter. The case against Tate is that his production, and most recently, his lack of production is a function of teammate Arian Foster’s domination of the total carries.

The case for Mario Manningham is that he’s scored a touchdown in four of his last five starts and will likely see single coverage most of the game because his teammates Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks will draw the bulk of the defense’s attention. The case against Manningham is mainly that those same aforementioned teammates can stifle his production based on their own prowess.

Decision, decisions, decisions…but it could be worse. I could be “home” for the playoffs.

Wish me luck ladies and gentlemen.