They Predicted WHAT?

Thanks to those of you who voted in our Matt Forte poll. You voted to leave him in the lineup, so he'll start for the People's Pigskin when his Chicago Bears take on the San Francisco 49ers tonight.

If you've read this far, then there's a good chance you invested some money this past summer in a fantasy football magazine or two (or five). All of them are filled with statistics and predictions about how everyone will fare in the upcoming NFL season. Well, the season is halfway over for most of the teams in the National Football League. (And for the Houston Texans and the New York Giants, it's more than halfway over.) Now is as good a time as any to see how those predictions are turning out.

In the first half of the 2009 season, the top-scoring quarterback in fantasy football, at least according to ESPN rules, is (drum roll, please): Aaron Rodgers, with 167 points. By the way, he's also the top-scoring player in fantasy football. In its fantasy preview, Sports Illustrated ranked him 2nd among quarterbacks. ESPN ranked him 5th.

The top-scoring running back is Maurice Jones-Drew. Sports Illustrated ranked him 3rd among running backs. So did ESPN.

So far, not bad, right? The top-scoring wide receiver is Vincent Jackson. Sports Illustrated ranked him 26th among wideouts and said "He's definitely worth a fourth- or fifth-round pick." ESPN ranked him 18th, despite calling him "the primary option in San Diego."

The top-scoring tight end is Vernon Davis. Sports Illustrated ranked him 14th among tight ends and called him "a gamble." That's kind compared with ESPN, which ranked him 22nd and said "We have a creeping sense that the main problem with Davis is the space between his ears."

The top-scoring kicker is Lawrence Tynes, who was ranked 5th by Sports Illustrated and 15th by ESPN. (Yes, he has the advantage of an extra game, so if you want to disqualify him, the No. 2 kicker is David Akers, who was ranked 3rd in both publications.)

The top-scoring defense/special teams is the New Orleans Saints. Sports Illustrated ranked them 22nd. ESPN ranked them 27th and said the Saints free agent acquisitions on defense "smacked of desperation." Oops.

Who did the magazines think would be No. 1? At quarterback, both picked Drew Brees (currently 5th). At running back, both picked Adrian Peterson (currently 3rd). At wide receiver, both picked Larry Fitzgerald (currently 3rd). At tight end, Sports Illustrated picked Tony Gonzalez (currently 6th), while ESPN picked Jason Witten (currently 15th). At kicker, Sports Illustrated picked Jason Elam (currently 24th), while ESPN picked Stephen Gostkowski (currently tied for 3rd). At defense, both picked the Pittsburgh Steelers (currently 6th).

None of this is meant to disparage the fine work of ESPN, Sports Illustrated, or anyone else. It's merely a reminder that these magazines should not be treated like Scripture.

Enjoy tonight's game. We'll be back tomorrow with our weekly Landshark Maniacs predictions. Here are the results of the Forte poll.

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