Who's Your Keeper?

There are a number of different types of Keeper Leagues: Dynasty, Limited Keepers, Contract Keepers, Salary Cap Keepers, etc. and each one requires some critical off-season decision-making. We're going to keep it simple here and look at a Limited Keeper League. In this type of league, teams usually are allowed to protect one to three players from the previous season's roster. Team owners are required to give up a draft pick for every player retained - a first rounder if one player is kept; a first and a second rounder if two are retained, etc. If no player is kept, that owner has a first round pick. If all are kept, the owner's first pick will come in the fourth round.

Which players to keep and how many varies greatly depending on the league. One of the most important considerations is evaluating a player in relation to the projected talent pool available to draft from. Or in simple terms, can you replace a player on your previous year's roster with one of greater value or potential this season? Sounds simple, but it's not as easy as you might think.

There are no rules or correct combinations of players to keep. It's most important to keep in mind the question… How likely is it to drop a player and draft a replacement that has equal or greater fantasy value? And to answer that you should have a good idea of the depth at every position.

There appears to be a more definitive line of separation between the first tier QBs and the rest this year. The four guys that seem to stand out this season are Brady, Manning, Romo and Palmer. There are three key factors are affecting the RB's this season. The increasing number of teams using two-back offenses, the number of quality rookie RB's entering the league and injuries from the 2007 season. As usual, the WR position appears deep, but it's really not when you're considering "elite' fantasy receivers. Keeping a quality wide receiver is not that bad of an idea this year. In most season's we would consider Charger TE Antonio Gates as a keeper, but due to his toe injury, he is a risk going into the season.

Assuming a 12 team league, there is a possibility of 36 players being protected from the previous season's talent pool. Players normally taken from the fourth round on would be available. But, because of the rookies and potential "new" starters, there will be fewer than 36 players taken off the board for the draft. Speaking of the rookies, this year's crop is as deeper than it was in 2007, especially at RB. Guys like Darren McFadden/Oakland, Jonathan Stewart/Carolina, Kevin Smith/Detroit, Matt Forte/Chicago and Felix Jones/Dallas appear to have the best upside, but you never know exactly how they will fit in.

After much review, the brain trust of Athlon/Grogan's has come up with 31 top keepers. We've also are mentioning eight other players who didn't make it into the top 31, but a case could be made for each one as a potential keeper. Here's our list by position:

When deciding what players to keep, remember what Bum Phillips, former coach of the Houston Oilers said: "We're not giving away any football players who could hurt us later. I don't mind people thinking I'm stupid, but I don't want to give them any proof. "