Dexter McCluster – In a roster move that probably got swept under the rug by most people, WR Jerheme Urban was placed on the IR this past week. This news is significant because Urban was supposed to be McCluster’s competition for touches out of the slot. Now, the lightning bug out of Ole Miss should see the field every time the Chiefs go three-wide. More use out of the slot should mean more production in the passing game, which may also affect the amount of use he gets out of the backfield as HC Todd Haley is cognizant of not overusing the 5-8, 170-pounder. As a result of all the increased work I expect him to get in the passing game, I believe McCluster is now a solid 11th or 12th-round value in both PPR and non-PPR. As I have it mapped out in my mind, more work out of the slot should mean less work out of the backfield for the rookie, which should come as good news for Jamaal Charles’ owners. Since their games are somewhat similar, there was a growing belief that McCluster would steal some fantasy value from Charles, but in theory, that should no longer be the case.

Jabar Gaffney – I’m still not sure I understand what the Broncos are doing from a personnel standpoint, but one thing is for sure: Gaffney’s stock has been on the rise all summer long. The latest bump to his stock was the loss of Brandon Stokley to IR, which subtracts a WR capable of catching 30-40 passes from the slot. I’ll admit looking back that my 40-catch prediction for Stokley was probably too high, but the fact of the matter is that when he is healthy, he is a solid veteran target for QB Kyle Orton. With Stokley now lost and rookie Demaryius Thomas a complete question mark (as far as his healthy return), the season is shaping up quite nicely for Gaffney and even Eddie Royal. In my estimation, Gaffney is now a serviceable WR3 play in all 12-team leagues while Royal will probably be a good spot starter in PPR formats.

T.J. Houshmandzadeh / Mike Williams (SEA) – There’s more than meets the eye here. Very few will question that Houshmandzadeh ever was a WR1, but facts are facts: he caught 79 passes last season on a team that couldn’t protect the QB. He obviously can still get open a little bit, so let’s not quite call the veteran “washed up” just yet. As is the case with most personnel moves – in this case Housh signing with Baltimore – there are likely winners (Williams, QB Joe Flacco) and probable losers (Derrick Mason, Todd Heap). Since the time he dominated college football at USC, we’ve all known Williams has a great deal of talent. Did his old college coach – new HC Pete Carroll – come along just at the right time? Considering Deion Branch is always a poor bet to stay healthy and Deon Butler is safely entrenched as the WR3 in Seattle right now ahead of rookie Golden Tate, it’s not out of the question that Williams finishes second behind TE John Carlson in receptions this season. It should go without saying that adding a sure-handed WR like Housh only increases Flacco’s value, but whose value does it hurt more? Here’s how I see it – Anquan Boldin is a good bet to miss some games every year; in those games, Houshmandzadeh will be asked to fill in. Despite being a bit older, Mason is a better receiver than Houshmandzadeh and will maintain his starting role. While I think both Mason and Boldin give up a few catches, I believe the biggest loser here is Heap. The Ravens’ starting TE is no longer a vertical threat and essentially performs the same functions Houshmandzadeh does in the short passing game, which makes me wonder if Heap goes back to his blocking role of 2008.

As I have mentioned many times before over the years, "value" in drafting is key. Need has to outweigh value on occasion, but for the most part, it can't hurt to take the best player left on the board. And it is with both need and value in mind that I present my "Big Board" in your attempt to earn both the respect and envy of your fellow fantasy leaguers in 2010.

Before I get to the boards, though, I would like to remind each of my readers about a couple of key points:

1) my “Big Boards” are not going to look like many other draft boards you see. My method of evaluating fantasy players relies heavily on consistency and schedule, not on overall fantasy point totals. All too often, fantasy owners and even the so-called "experts" get hamstrung by the final numbers. Don't get me wrong, I want all my players to have 300+ points at the end of the season. But as the old saying goes, "It's not about the destination, it's about the journey"; if my RB1 gives me seven spectacular performances along with six duds during the regular season, there's a fairly decent chance I may end up 7-6. I don’t want that and neither should you.

2) I will push a player down my board if feel he is a health risk or if I simply don’t/can’t trust him. If you take the time to break down each position I provide below, you will notice that I don’t follow the point totals or averages to a tee. Outside of trust issues, I will push a player down my board – despite a higher average or overall point total – if I believe he will simply be less consistent throughout the season or if his playoff schedule appears treacherous. No, I don't claim to see the future, but history tells us that defenses like the Jets, Packers and Steelers (this year anyway) will end more fantasy championship dreams than they help.

Note: As I did last week, I’ve submitted a pair of 175-player Big Boards for your review, with no defenses or kickers mixed in. Again, I will let you – the fantasy owner – decide at what point you should select your kicker and defense, although I don’t mind grabbing my defense in the 12th or 13th round of a 16-round draft when I feel really good about the team I have drafted to that point and the schedule suggests there is a team that is in line to have an incredible year on defense. (This year, that team is the Niners, in my opinion.) The entire color-coding system from my PSAs to the Big Boards is briefly explained below and doubles as an easy reference tool for the entire season and not just Weeks 14-16.

Key:
OR – Overall Rank
PR – Position Rank
AVG – Fantasy points/game
TOT – Total fantasy points scored
V – Volatility
(^) - Projection represents the player’s floor; he has significant upside.
(+) - Projection may be selling the player short; he has some upside.
(-) - Projection may be overselling the player; he is a slight risk.
(!) – Projection represents the player’s ceiling; he is a significant risk.

Color coding – Green (good matchup), red (bad matchup), black (bye week) and no color qualifies as a neutral matchup.

Here is the scoring system that I used to rank the players:

General impressions: As much as I want to, I can’t bring myself to move Gore ahead of Rice and Peterson. With only one defense on the schedule (Green Bay, Week 13) that rates as an above-average run-stopping unit, the table is set for Gore to have career best numbers across the board. If you are looking for a potential good sign, the one season Gore stayed healthy and gave his owners over 2,000 total yards was 2006 – the last time San Francisco faced both the NFC and AFC West. For those owners who don’t mind taking a chance with Gore’s injury history, they have the chance to land the potential No. 1 overall RB in fantasy this season with the No. 5 or No. 6 overall pick.

Over the past week, I have fielded several questions from readers regarding Steven Jackson. Without getting too long-winded, his fantasy situation isn’t much different from Gore’s, albeit with a much less talented supporting cast. Yes, Jackson has a checkered durability record just like Gore, but understand that Jackson showed a great deal of pain tolerance last season playing with his back injury which eventually required surgery. At 244 pounds and carrying just five-percent body fat, he truly is a physical marvel. If Sam Bradford represents even the slightest upgrade to the passing attack and the defense is just a bit improved over last season, Jackson becomes a 2,000-total yard back with an ability to score 10 times. I’m not suggesting it will happen, just that it could.

Let’s talk drafting strategy for a second: if you play in a 12-team league (especially in those where all TDs count for six fantasy points), do yourself and your fellow owners a big favor and make sure that the Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson or Maurice Jones-Drew owner doesn’t have a chance at landing one of the top three QBs. In particular, I’m talking about Peyton Manning, who can sometimes be had at the end of the second round. There aren’t many bad feelings when it comes to fantasy football, but one of them is the weekend where you have to face a combo that has the potential to be the best QB and RB in fantasy. When you really have an owner that knows what he/she is doing at the top of the draft when Manning falls into his/her lap, then the third-round pick will be a legit WR1 candidate (a Colston/Jennings type), the fourth will be a Gates/Finley type and the fifth will either be another stud WR (Bowe?) or solid RB2 (Moreno/Stewart). If you are drafting at the top, make sure you are “that guy” and if you are not, make sure you aren’t one of the owners contributing to “that guy’s” checkbook.

Speaking of drafting strategy, I’ve seen an approach this season I’m not sure I have ever seen (or at least ever noticed) before – owners landing multiple Tier 1 or Tier 2 TEs. Part of that is due to the number of capable TEs we now have in fantasy, but I was shocked to discover last week that I have Finley projected for the same amount of fantasy points as Reggie Wayne! (And no, I’m not backing off that prediction either.) Considering WR has been and will continue to be a deeper position in fantasy than TE, a two-round gap between the go-to players on these passing offenses is too much. As always, I’m aware that my projections are not foolproof, but it makes all the sense in the world to me to grab Finley in the fourth and come back with someone like Gates or Davis (who I have in Greg Jennings territory) in the fifth or Gonzalez (who I have on par with Ochocinco) in the sixth as your flex player. This strategy achieves multiple objectives: 1) it cuts down the elite TE pool quickly and may force owners to reach at the position, 2) it provides solid production from a flex spot that usually occupies either a committee RB or lower-end WR2, 3) ensures solid coverage from the position during a bye week and 4) gives owners a unique trade chip at a position where someone may be forced to start the unpredictable John Carlson or the limited (at least early in the season) Owen Daniels. Another potential TE1, Kellen Winslow, has never been a model of health either.

Welker’s admission to the Boston Globe this past week that his surgically-repaired knee “doesn’t feel the same” shouldn’t have come as a great shock to anyone, which is one reason I wasn’t willing to go any higher than #21 among receivers in PPR. The mere fact that he has been able to take the field and even come close to resembling his old self should be commended. But in just about every draft I’ve been involved in, he has been selected as a fantasy team’s top WR. This means owners are expecting (not hoping) that he returns to his 100-catch ways right away. While recoveries from ACL surgeries are happening quicker than ever, I cannot imagine a scenario in which Welker regains enough trust in his knee to make the same cuts that made him a nightmare cover for defenses at any point this season.

We began with Gore above, so it is only appropriate that we end with his backup. If you are thinking I am talking about Brian Westbrook, I am not. Anthony Dixon led the NFL in rushing during the preseason, but it is what HC Mike Singletary told CSN Bay Area this past weekend that should have the rookie on your radar. "When you have a guy like that, there's going to be a role," Singletary said. "What it is, right now, it will define itself. But when you have a guy who has talent like that, you'll find a role." Maybe Gore stays healthy all season long, but he’s missed 1-2 games in four of the five seasons he has been in the league. Since just about everybody in your league should know that Gore has a history of missing time, Dixon represents a semi-valuable trade chip that can be acquired in the late rounds. And in the event that Gore is actually sidelined for a longer amount of time, Dixon would instantly become a top-20 fantasy RB.