Love it or despise it, few can argue that Fantasy Football is the vehicle that has made the NFL the wild success that it is today. Each week all those Fantasy owners don their jerseys and settle in for a Sunday of pigskin, franticly tallying up their points on their handheld device hoping to relish sweet victory by the close of Monday night. It’s a strange culture that has infected 22.5 million Americans so this phenomenon isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Since the coming drafts are months away, it?s time to turn our focus to how fantasy owners should evaluate the cogs that make up the Atlanta Falcons.

Since the Falcons introduced the league to true shock and awe in 2008, those savvy owners who took a flyer on workhorses like running back Michael Turner or wideout Roddy White were probably dusting their poor opponents all season. The problem is the word is officially out on the Atlanta Falcons so you?re not going to be finding these guys laying around on the waiver wires. We took a look around at how some of the sports sites were sizing up the Falcon?s talent and found striking similarities. Both CBSSports.com and ESPN.com have Michael Turner in the 2 spot for available running backs behind Viking’s sensation Adrian Peterson. NFL.com has Turner at a meager third. Roddy White is 8th on all three sites and Falcons new edition Tony Gonzalez finds himself anywhere between 1 and 4 for tight ends. Other offensive sparkplugs like rookie of the year Matt Ryan ranked as the eighth or ninth best fantasy quarterback. Kicker Jason Elam finds himself anywhere from 4 to 6. Not too shabby for a group most projected not to win more than two games this time last year.

Just because the Falcon’s arsenal of offensive talent found such successful in 2008 doesn’t mean those gaudy numbers will necessarily be mirrored in 2009. Look for the wealth to be spread around more. Roddy White’s numbers will probably take a small hit as Gonzalez will provide a reliable outlet up the middle for Ryan. Also if the Falcons keep feeding Turner the number of carries he had in 2008, he may not have him around for too much longer. Look for homerun threat Jerious Norwood to have his carries ratcheted up considerably to alleviate the considerable wear and tear off Turner. The largest factor putting the brakes on the Dirty Birds offensive stats may just be the brutal schedule. They go toe-to-toe with 14 teams who had records north of .500 during their 2008 campaigns. They also face up against the AFC East which is notorious for their defensive mettle.

Regardless, the Falcons should be a cornerstone in your upcoming draft. Just be aware that you won’t be the only one jockeying for their services.

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