Bruno Boys Fantasy Football

- Written by James Ronstadt
- Edited by Allie Fontana

Bruno Boys staff writer James Ronstadt has been tracking the progress of this season’s rookie class since the NFL Combine in February 2011. After four weeks of preseason games, here is how the top skill position rookies grade out in terms of potential fantasy production in the 2011 NFL season. There are a handful of players who could emerge as first-year stars, however the majority probably won’t make much, if any, impact this year. Look for the majority to be more valuable to fantasy owners in 2012 and later. — Allie Fontana

Quarterbacks

1.  Cam Newton (Auburn)—Carolina Panthers (Round 1/Pick 1)
2.  Andy Dalton (TCU) )—Cincinnati Bengals (Round 2/Pick 35)
3.  Christian Ponder (Florida State)—Minnesota Vikings (Round 1/Pick 12)
4.  Jake Locker (Washington)—Tennessee Titans (Round 1/Pick 8) (UP 1)
5.  Blaine Gabbert (Missouri)—Jacksonville Jaguars (Round 1/Pick 10) (DOWN 1)
6.  Colin Kaepernick (Nevada)—San Francisco 49ers (Round 2/Pick 36)
7.  Ricky Stanzi (Iowa) )—Kansas City Chiefs (Round 5/Pick 135)
8.  T.J. Yates (North Carolina)—Houston Texans (Round 5/Pick 152)
9.  Nathan Enderle (Idaho)—Chicago Bears (Round 5/Pick 160)
10. Ryan Mallet (Arkansas)—New England Patriots (Round 3/Pick 74)

Running Backs

1.  Mark Ingram (Alabama)—New Orleans Saints (Round 1/Pick 28)
2.  Daniel Thomas (Kansas State)—Miami Dolphins (Round 2/Pick 62)
3.  DeMarco Murray (Oklahoma)—Dallas Cowboys (Round 3/Pick 71) (UP 1)
4.  Roy Helu (Nebraska)—Washington Redskins (Round 4/Pick 105) (DOWN 1)
5.  Kendall Hunter (Oklahoma State)—San Francisco 49ers (Round 4/Pick 115) (UP 2)
6.  Delone Carter (Syracuse)—Indianapolis Colts (Round 4/Pick 119)(UP 2)
7.  Jamie Harper (Clemson)—Tennessee Titans (Round 4/Pick 130) (UP 4)
8.  Stevan Ridley (LSU)—New England Patriots (Round 3/Pick 73)(DOWN 3)
9.  Shane Vereen (California)—New England Patriots (Round 2/Pick 56)  (DOWN 3)
10. Jordan Todman (Connecticut)—San Diego Chargers (Round 6/Pick 183) (DOWN 1)
11. Jacquizz Rodgers (Oregon State)—Atlanta Falcons (Round 5/Pick 145) (DOWN 1)
12. Taiwan Jones (Eastern Washington)—Oakland Raiders (Round 4/Pick 125)
13. Alexander Green (Hawaii)—Green Bay Packers (Round 3/Pick 96) (UP 2)
14. Johnny White (North Carolina)—Buffalo Bills (Round 5/Pick 133) (DOWN 1)
15. Bilal Powell (Louisville)—New York Jets (Round 4/Pick 126) (DOWN 1)

Note 1:  Arizona Cardinals’Ryan Williams (Virginia Tech) was ranked No. 3 among rookie running backs heading into Week 2 of the 2011 NFL Preseason. He suffered a season-ending injury (ruptured right patellar tendon) in the third quarter of the Cardinals 28-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers.

Note 2: Detroit Lions’Mikel Leshoure (Illinois) was ranked No. 4 among rookie running backs heading into Week 1 of the 2011 NFL Preseason. He suffered a season-ending injury (torn left Achilles’ tendon) during training camp and was placed on injured reserve(IR).

Wide Receivers

1.  A.J. Green (Georgia)—Cincinnati Bengals (Round 1/Pick 4)
2.  Julio Jones (Alabama)—Atlanta Falcons (Round 1/Pick 6)
3.  Titus Young (Boise State)—Detroit Lions (Round 2/Pick 44)
4.  Greg Little (North Carolina)—Cleveland Browns (Round 2/Pick 59)
5.  Leonard Hankerson (Miami)—Washington Redskins (Round 3/Pick 79)
6.  Torrey Smith (Maryland)—Baltimore Ravens (Round 2/Pick 58)
7.  Jonathan Baldwin (Pittsburgh)—Kansas City Chiefs (Round 1/Pick 26)
8.  Cecil Shorts (Mount Union)—Jacksonville Jaguars (Round 4/Pick 114)  (UP 2)
9.  Vincent Brown (San Diego State)—San Diego Chargers (Round 3/Pick 82) (DOWN 1)
10.  Austin Pettis (Boise State)—St. Louis Rams (Round 3/Pick 78) (DOWN 1)
11.  Clyde Gates (Abilene Christian)—Miami Dolphins (Round 4/Pick 111)**
12.  Jerrel Jernigan (Troy)—New York Giants (Round 3/Pick 83)
13.  Randall Cobb (Kentucky)—Green Bay Packers (Round 2/Pick 64)
14.  Kris Durham (Georgia)—Seattle Seahawks (Round 4/Pick 107)
15.  Gregory Salas (Hawaii)—St. Louis Rams (Round 4/Pick 112)

** Gates was known as Edmond Gates during college at Abilene Christian. He recently changed his name to Clyde.

Tight Ends

1.  Lance Kendricks (Wisconsin)—St. Louis Rams (Round 2/Pick 47)
2.  Kyle Rudolph (Notre Dame)—Minnesota Vikings (Round 2/Pick 43)
3.  Julius Thomas (Portland State)—Denver Broncos (Round 4/Pick 129)
4.  Rob Housler (Florida Atlantic)—Arizona Cardinals (Round 3/Pick 69)
5.  Jordan Cameron (USC)—Cleveland Browns (Round 4/Pick 102)
6.  D.J. Williams (Arkansas)—Green Bay Packers ( Round 5/Pick 141)
7.  Luke Stocker (Tennessee)—Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Round 4/Pick 104)