For
the second consecutive year, we invited some of the leading fantasy football
analysts in the country to rank the top players at each position and compete
against each other for the title of BTG 2003 Expert Poll Champion. In
all, 15 experts (14 guests plus myself) ranked 10 quarterbacks, 15 running
backs, 15 wide receivers, 10 tight ends, 10 kickers, and 10 team defenses
from best to worst for overall performance scoring system.
To
calculate an overall ranking, we weighted each selection. The weight
equaled the total number of players at each position minus the player’s rank
plus one. For example, if an expert ranked Peyton Manning as the No. 1
QB, Manning’s weight would be 10 (10-1+1), and if a participant ranked
Marvin Harrison as the No. 4 WR, Harrison’s weight would equal 12 (15-4+1).
The sum of the weights for each player determined his overall ranking, and
ties were decided by who scored more fantasy points
last season.
At
the end of the season, BTG will tally and post the results of the poll.
Each expert’s score will be equal to each ranked player’s fantasy points for
the season multiplied by the weight that was assigned to that player by the
expert. For example, if Manning racks up 300 fantasy points this
season, the expert who ranked Manning No. 1 (weight = 10) will earn 3,000
points from the Colts QB.
BTG
would like to thank all the experts who participated. Their selections
have been listed in this order: TC Cannon of
YouthFantasyFootball.com,
William Del Pilar of KFFL.com, David Gonos of
CBS.Sportsline.com, Richard Harris of FantasyFootballExperts.com,
Ryan Houston of FantasyAsylum.com, Bryan Hughes of
AskTheCommish.com, Becky Jensen of ChicksonFootball.com, Greg
Kellogg of FantasyAsylum.com (last year’s poll champion), Mike
Krueger of FFToday.com, Marc Lawrence of PlayBook.com, John P.
Norton of RedEyeSports.com, Steve Overmyer of CNN Sports, Matt
Pitzer of USAToday.com, James Quintong of SI.com, and
Brian Schneider of FantasyOnlineSports.com. You can read
more about our
distinguished panel
at the end of the poll results.
QUARTERBACKS
Unlike last year, when Kurt Warner was nearly a unanimous choice, five
different quarterbacks earned first-place votes in this year’s poll.
The experts favored the multi-purpose threats, as Donovan McNabb (1st),
Daunte Culpepper (2nd), and Michael Vick (3rd)
took the top three spots. Peyton Manning finished fourth,
despite receiving no first-place votes. The rest of the top ten had no
surprises;
Matt Hasselbeck and Chad Pennington received three votes apiece but both finished significantly behind Drew Bledsoe (10th),
while other sleeper candidates, such as Jake Plummer and Tommy
Maddox, did not make the list at all.
Coming off a disappointing season due to a series of hand injuries, Warner
seems to be the wildcard of the group – two experts tabbed him as the top QB
while two others did not vote for him at all.
