Fantasy Talk With the EveryMan! 9-2

Next Thursday night brings back the joy of fantasy football to the forefront of our existence once more,  and regular football of course, so we'll conclude our rankings with the two spots that should be at the bottom of every draft, the kicker and the defense/special teams. These two spots are routinely filled at the end of every draft by successful fantasy owners for a reason, there is no significant dropoff from the top of the rankings to the bottom, so make sure to keep them off your radar till after you fill all the other key positions first.

Kickers

Mason Crosby (GRB)

The emergence of quarterback Aaron Rodgers into an elite passer along with the steady, workmanlike grinding of running back Ryan Grant will equal to a lot of potential field goals and extra points. Thus making Crosby a top notch kicker.

Garrett Hartley (NO)

A great passing game usually equals good stats for kickers and the Saints follows this mold to perfection with Drew Brees and Garrett Hartley. It helps that New Orleans also has a questionable defense which will lead to more points being needed by the O.

Nate Kaeding (SD)

All of these kickers have one thing in common, great quarterbacks. Without a great quarterback, you are not going to get the scoring opportunities needed to post relevant stats. For Kaeding, it's Phillip Rivers. 'Nuff said.

Stephen Gostkowski (NE)

A prominent name for the past few years among kickers and one of my FF teams personal faves, Gostkowski is a solid kicker who is accurate and has good range. Tom Brady helms the offense so that helps a bit as well.

Ryan Longwell (MIN)

The best news potential Longwell owners could get came in the return of Brett Favre for one more season. With Favre, the Vikings offense is a potent force to be reckoned with and will get within scoring range early and often.

Defenses/Special Teams

New York Jets

The expectations coming into this season are high for this defensive unit. They are young, talented and hungry. That being said, the hold out by Darrell Revis and the injury to Calvin Pace have left this unit with a gaping void that will be hard to cover up.

Minnesota Vikings

This Viking squad finished up last season sixth overall in offense and looks to come back with an even bigger season. In three preseason games, the Vikings have yet to give up more than 15 points, which is an encouraging stat for a team with SuperBowl aspirations.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The number one defense of two seasons ago, they were hampered last season by injuries to key players, most notably Trot Polamalu. This year, all the key components are back, healthy, and after missing the postseason a year ago, hungrier than ever.

Green Bay Packers

Green Bay was a stingy unit last season but was prone to bouts of inconsistency. One weak they would pitch a shutout, the next get their butts handed to them by 40, so there is a bit of frustration over the uncertainty of this unit to be had. Expect a more solid, consistent effort out of this talented squad this season.

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys ranked ninth in total defense last season and looks to improve that ranking this season with a renewed focus to excellence. Often a forgotten footnote to the offense, this defense is what carries this team and should put up top 5 stats for the entirety of this season.