Falcons a Factor in Fantasy Football?

Surely I'm not the only one who already has a draft board prepared for the coming season's fantasy football drafts. You see, I've won a few championships in leagues with friends and acquaintances, but I've never won our family league, and I'm determined to win it this season, and then brag about it obnoxiously and incessantly for the entire offseason. Which Falcons players could help me reach this very reasonable and mature goal?

ESPN, NFL.com and CBS Sports all have rankings out for the 2013 fantasy season, and the Falcons are pretty well-represented. Quarterback Matt Ryan is a top-ten option according to every participating analyst, except for Adam Rank, who doesn't even make sense, anyway. Ryan is coming off of a career season, with all of the same receiving weapons back in place for 2013, plus a versatile running back in Steven Jackson who will take a little pressure off of Ryan as well as add another receiving option. You can't go wrong with Matt Ryan under center on your fantasy team.

The experts have running back Steven Jackson ranked anywhere between 11 and 28 for his position, but this is a player who has consistently put up solid yardage each season, and he'll also be a receiving threat in Atlanta.

In not even remotely surprising fantasy football news, receivers Julio Jones and Roddy White are both ranked very highly at their position for the coming fantasy season. Both had excellent seasons last year. Jones is looking to put up Pro Bowl-caliber numbers again this year, and Roddy is a year older, but he'll always be one of the toughest players on the field.

The Falcons have another potential fantasy football star back on the field this season in Tony Gonzalez. The analysts at ESPN, NFL.com and CBS Sports all ranked Gonzalez between 3rd and 7th at his position--except for Dave Dameshek at NFL.com, and frankly, it's offensive, because Dameshek ranked Gonzalez 24th out of 24. Please don't take any of this man's fantasy football advice, because you will most certainly lose. He clearly does not know what he's talking about.

If your fantasy league involves an individual defensive player, with points awarded for tackles, consider Sean Weatherspoon. Spoon missed some games last season, but still managed to put up 70 solo tackles and 25 assists last season, and in 2011 he put up 82 tackles and 33 assists. It may surprise you, but Stephen Nicholas could also be a good option, as he led the team in tackles last season.

What Falcons are you going to try to draft for your fantasy team this season?