The anticipation of the draft order: Who will be the sleeper this year? The huge bust?

Being the laughing stock of your league could turn brutal if you have to endure ridicule for 17 straight weeks.

Round 1. Pick 1. Arian Foster or Aaron Rodgers? Running back                 or quarterback?

Should I draft that studly wide     receiver instead?

There are so many questions, and different people go about it in
different ways.

This is fantasy football.

Some of us do insane in-depth research while others go on gut instinct or ESPN knowledge that comes from        self-proclaimed genius     Matthew Berry.

More than likely, either you or someone that you know participates in this ongoing phenomenon. According to Adweek reports that roughly 27 million people participate in fantasy football each year.

Whatever your reason is for playing fantasy football, be it that you got forced into a league and want to pretend you know what you’re doing, want some last second advice on who to draft and who not to draft, or to keep up on fantasy football throughout the season, this column will try to help
you out.

First piece of advice: Don’t draft Terrell Owens. He doesn’t play for a team
anymore.

Every week I will give one or two bold prediction(s) regarding which player or players I think can make a difference on your fantasy football team for the week if you put him into the starting lineup.

Unless you are playing a PPC or PPR league (Points Per Completion or Points Per Reception), I am a firm believer in taking a solid running back in the first round.

Guys like Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice or Philadephia Eagles running back LeSean McCoy, who will be seeing a majority of the carries on a decent football team are going to give you a very good value at running back.

In terms of drafting running backs, stay away from bad teams that have a two back system. Some examples of this are running backs Jamaal Charles and Peyton Hillis.

Sure, Jamaal Charles may get a majority of the carries but Hillis will definitely steal goal line carries and touchdowns, making Charles less desirable.

The same goes for Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams down in Carolina.  Backs who share carries like that can definitely be a back-up for sticky situations, but are not the best options for starters.

It is always fun  to figure out which players are going to be the sleepers of the NFL in a given year.

Who will be the Victor Cruz of this year? Only time will tell and it is almost impossible to predict.

However, guys like Cleveland Browns wide receiver Greg Little, on a team with little to no offensive production, could actually help your team.

The Browns have to throw the ball sometime. Little is their number one target. That being said, he is not the worst potential player with bust-out potential, especially with rookie Brandon Weeden throwing him the ball.

In our very own “The Spectator League,” I drafted both Chris Johnson and Darren McFadden because they are primarily backs that will see a majority of the carries for their team all season.

Some other members of our staff didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye with my vision, something that I am sure will come up in our weekly fantasy football podcast that Editor in Chief Eric Christenson, News Editor Chris Reinoos and I will be participating in.

As you can see, Team Hart will be in some trouble this week when he takes on my team in Week One of the fantasy football season.

Here are Dave’s brave picks for the first week of fantasy football:

Pittsburgh Steelers WR Antonio Brown will have 100 yards receiving and a TD.

Chicago Bears RB Matt Forte will be in the top-two in terms of fantasy football running backs for point production this week.