Did any website own a crystal ball for predicting the premier fantasy football players for 1999? Could anyone foresee Kurt Warner having an MVP type year? Were there any on-line genius prognosticators capable of forecasting Stephen Davis as the NFL leader in rushing touchdowns?

No… no… and no. Some, however, did better than others like Shannon O’Leary at Fanex Football who on September 10^th pegged Warner as this year’s 17^th best quarterback and Fantasy Specs who rated Davis the 12^th best runner in the NFL.

Welcome to FINE RANKINGS, which represents my effort in evaluating the player rating cheat sheets put out by websites and individuals before the season started. Within this column I have judged fifty fantasy cyberspace prognosticators (representing every site I could find) who left their football players rankings for fanatics like us to view. I acknowledge these results are subjective and involve a system of judging that may be considered strictly my opinion.

A few guidelines to this ranking:

1: Only free information was considered, meaning if a cheat sheet appeared on the net for nil it was included in this ranking. Like Olympics in year’s past if you charged for this information you retained your amateur status. (You could, however, receive compensation for other services.) Thus "professional" cheat sheets like one of my favorites (and FINE STUFF flagship) Fantasy Football Mastermind were excluded from FINE RANKING.

2: Prognosticators use different performance and scoring systems. Some would argue by lumping all ratings into one package that I am mixing apples and oranges, but I believe the results would not be much different anyway.

3: Some websites performed better because they updated their ratings many times during preseason. I took the player rankings from each site as they appeared on September 10^th. I realize that certain cheat sheets showed revised changes like Kurt Warner replacing Trent Green or Stephen Davis in place of Skip Hicks and others did not. Thus, FINE RANKING represents merely a snapshot taken just before the season began, and may be inaccurate if you used any predictions before or after the above date.

Here are the winners:

I weighted my quarterback evaluation on the performances of three overachievers during the 1999 season – Kurt Warner, Peyton Manning, and Brad Johnson. Warner’s record speaks for itself, as he was first in touchdown passes and sixth in total yards. Manning finished week eight second in yards and touchdowns while Brad Johnson tied him in TD’s and threw for the fifth most yards. Drew Bledsoe’s name also gained a prognosticator points since he led the league in yards and found the end zone fourth most in the NFL.

Shannon O’Leary at Fanex Football did the best job of pegging Warner’s potential ranking him 17^th in quarterbacks although Fantasy Football Field was close behind at 18^th. The Huddle placed Manning third amongst quarterbacks while Lizard King Fantasy Football saw the former Tennessee star as fourth best for this season. Category winner Fantasy Football Today projected Brad Johnson as the eighth QB (clearly the best) and Drew Bledsoe in the top four. FFTODAY also did well with Warner listing him as 21^st best signal caller for 1999.

The Top Ten:

1: Fantasy Football Today
2: Shannon O’Leary at Fanex Football
3: Fantasy Football Field
4: The Huddle
5: Lizard King Fantasy Football
6: The Huddle Consensus Player Cheat Sheet
7: The Sporting News
8: Fantasy Leagues at About.com
9: Fantasy Sports Advantage
10: The Winning Drive

Extra points were awarded to an analyst who picked Stephen Davis, (the first half leader in rushing yards and touchdowns), Emmitt Smith, (fourth best in yards and second in touchdowns), or Edgerrin James, (runner-up in yards and tied for fourth in TD’s). Others who were factored positively into the scoring system were Marshall Faulk, Duce Staley, Curtis Martin, and Tim Biakabutuka.

In the closest finish of all the categories (any one of the four leaders could have been awarded first or settled for fourth place) Fantasy Football Today once again grabbed the top spot. Mike Kreiger’s website "edged" the competition based on overall performance picking Stephen Davis 21^st (third best), Duce Staley 10^th (first), Curtis Martin 4^th (third), and Tim Biakabutuka 19^th (second). Fantasy Specs rocked the fantasy football world in possessing the courage to rate Stephen Davis 12^th amongst running backs. Del Pilar & Bonini at Fanex Football had Davis 17^th while Fantasy Sports Advantage pegged Emmitt Smith the highest at fourth. Scott Luebke, Advantage’s editor, also placed Curtis Martin 7^th and Tim Biakabutuka 21^st. I anticipate the running back rankings changing dramatically by season’s end because Biakabutuka and Emmitt Smith are currently injured and Fred Taylor has finally recovered.

The Top Ten:

1: Fantasy Football Today
2: Fantasy Specs
3: Del Pilar & Bonini at Fanex Football
4: Fantasy Sports Advantage
5: The Winning Drive
6: Super Sunday
7: The Huddle Consensus Player Cheat Sheet
8: CBS Sportsline
9: Fantasy Football Field
10: The Huddle 

WIDE RECEIVERS:

Marvin Harrison was the National Football League’s stud receiver for the half year, but didn’t effect the scoring greatly because nearly every site placed him the similarly (between 5^th and 10^th). Also gaining points in varying degrees were Isaac Bruce, Muhsin Muhammad, Terry Glenn, Ed McCaffrey, Tim Brown, and Chris Carter.

The Huddle won another close battle ranking Marvin Harrison 7^th (tied for second), Muhammad 19^th (tied for 1^st), Terry Glenn 12^th (tied for 1^st), Ed McCaffrey 15^th (again tied for 1st), Tim Brown 10^th (tied for 2nd) and Chris Carter 5^th (tied for 1st). Fantasy Football Endzone did a great job positioning Marvin Harrison at 5^th and Carlos Panizo at Fanex Football selected Isaac Bruce as the 7^th top receiver.

The final finish was so close that if instant reply were used a referee would have termed the results "inconclusive". Fantasy Football Today had to be awarded the winner because the site finished first in two out of the three categories (and just missed the top ten in the third). Even so the battle between The Huddle and Mike Kreiger’s home page came down to a photo finish in the running back category where the slightest difference would have flip flopped the top spot and the fourth position. The Winning Drive also did a nice job netting the 4^th, 5^th, and 10^th in individual category spots. Most interesting, however, is that the fans at The Huddle Consensus Player Cheat Sheet voted (chose) better than forty-six other websites by finishing 4^th overall. It seems The Huddle has a well-informed audience.

This month, Todd offers a review of pre-season predictions that could be found at no cost on the Internet this past summer. Who do you think was the best prognosticator? Please click HERE to tell us your thoughts on this month's column. They would be much appreciated...

Todd Finestone is a staff writer for Fantasy Football Mastermind. His monthly column "FINE STUFF" can be found at several different fantasy football related sites on the Internet. Please click HERE to offer a "Thumbs Up" or "Thumbs Down" on this article. Thank you for taking the time to offer your valuable opinion.