Fantasy Football 2014: Who Ya Got?

Fantasy football has literally taken the entire nation by storm. Aligning rivalries between bros and roommates more than ever, fantasy football is at a very strong state, and will probably continue to be for a long time. With that said, let's look at who I personally drafted in my draft and who you should target.

Keep in mind, these statements and opinions are coming from a dude on the radio, but hey, I played football and come from a long line of coaches.

Anyway, in my draft mostly everyone took a quarterback with their first picks; I picked 12th, last in the league, and decided to pick Cincinnati Bengals receiver A.J. Green and Chicago Bears lead back Matt Forte back to back to lead things off. After another couple of rounds, Matthew Stafford was still on the board, as was my dark horse receiver of the year, Keenan Allen. Picking up the Colts defensive unit, Coby Fleener, and a San Diego Charger Malcom Floyd, along with New Orleans Saints running back Mark Ingram, I felt I had a good team, given cap space and room for free agency. Enough about me though, let's gander at who you should be taking.

First and foremost, if you have a shot at Peyton Manning, pull the trigger. He's a no-brainer; sure he's old, but he's Peyton Manning. Enough said. Other quarterbacks I love this year include Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, of course, along with Stafford, Colin Kaepernick and Cam Newton. Perhaps the biggest dark horse quarterback this year is Nick Foles; coming off of a tremendous rollercoaster season, he'll look to continue the pace in Chip Kelly's high-speed offense. He'll have a swath of weapons, so if you're in a bind and he's on the board, take him.

As for running backs, Jamaal Charles, Adrian Peterson, and LeSean McCoy are the trifecta. Matt Forte and Eddie Lacy are great too, and in later rounds, you can pick up guys like Andre Ellington from Arizona, DeMarco Murray from Dallas, or even Chris Johnson who's in New York as a Jet now. Shane Vereen from New England and Montee Ball from Denver will also be big backs on the receiving end.

Wide receivers are obviously another integral part to a fantasy team. I'm looking at Calvin Johnson, A.J. Green, Dez Bryant, Demaryius Thomas, and the tandem up in Green Bay, Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb as my best receivers. Alshon Jeffery and Brandon Marshall are also huge names and should be locks in anybody's league. As stated earlier, keep an eye out for Keenan Allen; he had a good year last year, and, now at peak health, looks to take the league by storm. Justin Hunter, a second-year kid from Tennessee, looks like a potential breakout as well. Grab him as a legit sleeper in later rounds.

Tight ends are pretty self-explanatory. Jimmy Graham, Julius Thomas, and Jordan Cameron should be on your radar. Keep in mind Jason Witten is still in the league and will catch many balls this year. Vernon Davis is another lock you should target.

Defensively, it doesn't get much better than Seattle. New England should have a nasty, scoring defense, and Denver also boasts a new and improved unit over last year. Watch out for those sneaky Cardinals and Rams. In fact, let's throw San Francisco in there too; might as well have the entire NFC West in there. Keep an eye out for the Steelers D and Bengals D later too.

And of course, last but not least, the unsung heroes of many, many teams, the all-important kicker. Case and point, get Stephen Gostkowski, Phil Dawson, Justin Tucker or Matt Bryant. If you can't land one of those guys, Dan Bailey, Shayne Graham or Stephen Hauschka should bode well for you.

There you have it, ladies and gents. Remember, fantasy football is gambling first and foremost. If you don't win the championship, remind yourself there's always next year. You have to study a little bit, but more importantly, you have to be lucky. Best of luck to everyone, hope you win it all...