1.	RB Marshall Faulk STL  12 votes for 115 pts, 9.58 avg
2.	RB Edgerrin James IND  12 votes for 106 pts, 8.83 avg

Want Marshall Faulk on your championship team? Sure ya do! Just make sure you get an early pick to claim him, because first place belongs to the Ram superstar. He recently had 26 scores while earning 2200 scrimmage yards during his MVP season. Faulk was our leader, getting eight of the 12 first-place votes and three more second place votes. 

Edgerrin James was the clear second choice. He  grabbed  first-place or second-place mentions on nearly every ballot - eleven of the dozen voters think him the 1st or 2nd choice. His 4400 yards and 35 TDs over his two season career is most exciting. 

3.	QB Daunte Culpepper MIN  11 votes for 64 pts, 5.81 avg
4.	QB Kurt Warner STL  10 votes for 62 pts, 6.20 avg

After the dynamic duo of rushers, the player choices become much more interesting. There seems to be a shift in the priorities of many drafters. Running back domination of the high end of our draft board ended. Seven of first fourteen picks were RBs and four QBs and two WRs landing in the listings. The current fantasy rushers options are both strong in production and deep in numbers. There seems enough quality rushers to go around for the first time since the mid-90s. This leads to more popularity for non-rushers - aka the passers.

Although, Brett Favre (1 vote for 2.00 pts) missed the top 10 for the first time in recent memory, fantasy QBing seems in very good hands.  Daunte Culpepper and Kurt Warner were nearly deadlocked for the third-place slot.  My My. Half the ballots favored the Viking. Half favored the Ram. 

5t.	WR Randy Moss MIN  11 votes for 54 pts, 4.91 avg
5t.	RB Eddie George TN  9 votes for 54 pts, 6.00 avg
7.	RB Fred Taylor JAX  9 votes for 48 pts, 533 avg
8.	QB Peyton Manning IND 10 votes for 47 pts, 4.70 avg

Most experienced fantasy owners will tell you that nothing is more difficult than predicting the performance of a wide receiver for the season, much less the 50 or more in the entire draft. However, everyone wants Randy Moss on their roster. He was active on eleven of the twelve ballots following his 15 TD season.  He's the most desired receiver since Rice's glory days.

Eddie George appears to be the final can't-miss RB of the draft. He is the living, breathing, see-it-now definition of 'workhorse'. He's not missed a game in  five seasons and nearly 2000 touches. Oh yes, he has scored 15+ times each of the past two season, too.

Fred Taylor landed at seventh overall despite missing mention on three ballots. Those that liked Taylor liked him a lot. Many times he was preferred over both Warner and Culpepper. Attendance is his only problem. Taylor has missed 20% of the Jag games since joining the team in 1998

Peyton Manning continues to improve his production every season. 4000+ yds and 25+ TD passes are his standards. He is a major reason for the first round attention non-rushers are receiving. 

9.	RB Stephen Davis WAS 8 votes for 26 pts, 3.25 avg
10.	QB Jeff Garcia SF 6 votes for 22 pts, 3.67 avg

Redskin Stephen Davis often looks like the only star on his team. He will likely continue a major plus to fantasy owners. 3200 yards gained and 28 scores over the past two seasons speaks well of him as a prime fantasy player.

After several years of avoiding high pick QBs, five voters named a fourth passer to their Top Ten listing, with Jeff Garcia earning the number 10 draft slot. Fluke or non-fluke, they liked what they saw in the QB-lead 49er offensive production. Garcia's 4300-31 production exceeded 

-	WR Terrell Owens SF 6 votes for 17 pts, 2.83 avg
-	RB Jamal Lewis BAL 5 votes for 15 pts, 3.00 avg
-	WR Marvin Harrison IND 2 votes for 11 pts, 5.50 avg
-	RB Ricky Williams NO 3 votes for 10 pts, 3.33 avg

Terrell Owens was not as popular as Moss or Harrison on any of the ballots he shared, but was rewarded for his expected production by being a desired first rounder.

Jamal Lewis was another player with strong support. He appeared on several ballots in the 6th, 7th, and 8th spots. His pre-draft value easily out  did many established backs. He'll be quickly drafted. 

 Marvin Harrison received two quality mentions as the 5th and 6th player to be drafted, preferred over Moss by both voters.

Saint Ricky Williams was somewhat expected to be a Top selection. The support for Lewis stopped that from happening.

Other notes: Denver had the highest scoring offense in 2000, but our panel didn't worry about a Terrell Davis  comeback or any of his team mates. Also avoided were the Dolphin surprise Lamar Smith (1 for 3 pts), all Ram WRs (Isaac Bruce 1 for 1, Holt 0), and the vanishing Emmitt Smith and Curtis Martin (each 0 votes). Some other once-mentioned players were Brett Favre, Ahman Green, Cris Carter,  and Tony Gonzales (1 minor vote each). Plus, it is clear that the panel pretty much agreed on who the top fantasy draft prospects are. Where they differed was on the priorities of those selections. This projects to allow for plenty of trade opportunities within a draft, as teams can maneuver within the first two rounds and still acquire the quality talent they desire. 

Thirteen different players got 85% of the draft attention. For example, everyone likes Manning and Moss, but votes varied greatly in their draft placement. It is defiantly an elite group of players named above. You can seek additional information on this players at your favorite FF site. As for me, I'll display my Top Ten during a future article.  Fair enough?

In closing, I wish to thank the following for assistance in this Early Draft Preview. They did a fine job in sharing their early drafting thoughts.

~TC~

Everyone knows TC. He is entering his 16th season as an active fantasy football participant and his seventh season as a leading member of the online FF community. In addition to hosting the popular YouthFantasyFootball.com and FanEx websites, he is active in various other projects within our hobby. Specifically, he has become a popular freelance writer whose work has been widely published both online and in print. Yep, everyone knows TC... sooner or later.

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