Wide receivers: the new running backs

Fantasy football is back, baby.

One thing already troubling me this season: Why aren’t people starting to give wide receivers the respect they deserve over running backs? The trend of running backs by committee is growing at the same time more No. 1 receivers are accounting for higher percentages of their offenses.

Take the Indianapolis Colts, for example. In 2006 Joseph Addai came on strong as a rookie and finished the season with 4.8 yards per carry, good for sixth in the league with running backs that had more than 200 carries. This happened all while splitting time with backup Dominic Rhodes. With Rhodes gone in 2007, Addai seemed to wear down easier as his yards per carry dropped to 4.1. Now Rhodes is back and should be expected to have more carries than last year’s backup, Kenton Keith (121). All of this means fewer yards, touches and touchdowns for a more efficient Addai.

At the same time, wide receiver Reggie Wayne emerged as Peyton Manning’s favorite target after Marvin Harrison injured his knee. Wayne led the league with 1,510 yards last season, accounting for about 46 percent of all the Colts’ returning passing yards. Even if Harrison returns to be half as good as he was before the knee injury, Wayne was a one-man wrecking crew last year, comparable to Carolina Panther wide receiver Steve Smith in 2005.

That not enough for you? The threat of Harrison on the other side, as well as an improving Anthony Gonzalez and the best pass-catching tight end Dallas Clark means one thing for Wayne: open space.

Despite him being selected roughly 10-15 picks after his teammate in your draft, I see Wayne as a better draft pick than running backs such as Addai, New York Giant Brandon Jacobs and Maurice Jones-Drew of the Jacksonville Jaguars. These players, as well as guys like Marshawn Lynch of the Buffalo Bills and Frank Gore of the San Francisco 49ers, either have other teammates who will earn carries or have too high of expectations to live up to the preseason hype.

Another player in the mold of Wayne is Braylon Edwards of the Cleveland Browns, who had 212 fantasy points last year as one of two legit passing options for Browns quarterback Derek Anderson. With the addition of wide receiver Donte Stallworth, it only means more catches. Why pass on a guy like this for oft-injured big-name players like Washinton Redskin Clinton Portis and Baltimore Raven Willis McGahee? Receivers are quickly becoming the new running backs. Treat ‘em like it.

Quick Hits

•Avoid Pittsburgh Steeler’s running back Willie Parker like the plague this season. Rookie Rashard Mendenhall has looked better than Parker in the preseason and will carry the load for the Steelers, especially around the goal line.

•If you haven’t drafted and are new to fantasy football, here is a quick reminder of something that constantly will happen in your draft that I will never understand. Do not draft kickers and defenses until the last couple rounds. There is no parity between players at the two positions. The fifth-best defense is not much better than the 12th-best defense. The same goes for kickers.

•New England quarterback Tom Brady should be considered the third-best player in the draft, right behind LaDainian Tomlinson and Adrian Peterson – you could make the argument of Peterson going first, too.

t’s great to have you back, fantasy football!