NFL Training camp is underway which means it’s officially time to start preparing for my fantasy football draft. Last year, my team, Panty Raider Nation, lost both its playoff games and finished a disappointing fourth. This year its time to return to glory.

A true fantasy player must take weeks to prepare. There are magazines to be bought, cheat sheets to go over and entry fees to be collected. So in order to get you ready for your draft I give you my Preseason All-Panty Raider Team. These are guys that I’ll be targeting on my draft day. Now obviously I’d love to have guys like Adrian Peterson or Larry Fitzgerald on my squad. They are awesome but you don’t need me to tell you that. These are mid-to-late round guys that will be on my radar when I’m in the war room.

Quarterback
Aaron Rodgers -Green Bay Packers:
Lost among the living up to the Brett Favre legacy talk, Aaron Rodgers quietly had an awesome year in 2008. The successor to the gunslinger registered the second most fantasy points for a quarterback last season. Rodgers finished with 4,038 yards and 28 TDs, all while Brett Favre single handedly destroyed the Jets season. Rodgers also picked up four rushing touchdowns, the most of any QB. With some solid receiving options in Greg Jennings and Donald Driver, he should be poised for another big year. With an average draft position of 40 in Yahoo! Fantasy Football Leagues you can focus on getting two stud RB’s and a receiver while your buddy from Rhode Island drafts Tom Brady and his shredded knee in the second round.

Aaron Rodgers used the power of his 'stache to propel himself to a breakout season in 2008

Runningback
Pierre Thomas- New Orleans Saints: I think it’s safe to say that Reggie Bush will never be the force we thought he was going to be when he came out of USC. It’s pretty evident that head coach Sean Payton feels that way too. As evidenced here, Thomas got the bulk of the carries during the final six games of the season and it paid off for the Saints. He had nine total TD’s during that six game span and probably led a lot of owners to the championship. Even if he does split carries with Bush, Thomas will get the majority of the goal line carries and get the TD’s that every fantasy owner craves.

Wide Receiver
Devin Hester- Chicago Bears: This just in. Devin Hester is fast. Really fast… and going from Kyle Orton to Jay Cutler throwing him the ball will be a major upgrade. He finished with 665 yards and three scores last season. I expect him to get close to 1,000 yards this season and double his TD’s. Hester, with an ADP of 105, will also be returning punts so he may be able to get you an occasional six points that way.

Tight End
Dustin Keller- New York Jets
Keller showed potential in his rookie season with the Jets and that was despite the fact that Brett Favre constantly kept throwing it to the other team. He finished with a respectable 535 receiving yards and three scores. I expect to see those numbers increase during his second year. Keller is not much of a blocker so he’ll probably get ample opportunities in the Jets spread formations. With Chris Baker and Bubba Franks gone, Keller has little competition this year. Keller could work his way into the upper echelon tight ends by the end of the season and with and ADP of 125 in Yahoo! Fantasy Football Leagues you’ll be able to get him really late.

Defense/ Special Teams- New York Jets
The New York Jets finished with the fifth highest point total last season among defenses, yet they aren’t being drafted that way. The Jets are the tenth defense to get drafted, on average, according to Yahoo! Fantasy Sports and they have an ADP of 109. Turnovers are all that matter in fantasy football and the Jets have plenty of playmakers who will make their share of big plays: Kris Jenkins, David Harris, Darrelle Revis, Bart Scott and Kerry Rhodes are some of the top players in the NFL at their positions. Oh and they hired Rex Ryan as their coach, the former mastermind behind all those great Ravens defenses. Let’s also not forget Leon Washingon, who will give you a fair share of kickoff and punt return scores.

Check back within the next day or two as I’ll have my list of players to avoid on draft day.