Tim Brown: Chew on McDonald's

When you dig deep and sort through all the numbers and figures, stats can sometimes be downright surprising. Fantasy football is all about points and numbers. And this year, there are some big surprises.

Remember, fantasy football and regular football are two totally different things. Fantasy football does not take the intangibles into account. And it's not like picking who you would want as a teammate. It is simply picking those who perform the best from a statistics standpoint, period!

Some of the names at the top of the 2008 scoring sheet are expected. Drew Brees, quarterback for the New Orleans Saints, is fourth in fantasy points so far this season, according to data on ESPN's site. Behind him are Denver quarterback Jay Cutler, a rising star in the NFL, and Marion Barber, the running back in Dallas' offensive machine. These guys have all done well before and produced solid numbers last year. To see them up there is not a shock.

The top three are surprising to me, but they are names we've all heard before, and we can understand why they are up there. Philip Rivers, San Diego's quarterback, is third; Clinton Portis, Washington Redskin running back, is second. Tops on the list is the man who replaced Brett Favre in Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers.

However, to me, the biggest surprise is who is not at the top at this point in the season. Chicago running back Matt Forte and quarterback Kyle Orton are numbers 10 and 13, respectively. They are both ahead of Eli Manning and Peyton Manning, who has been struggling this year, as well as Favre, now with the Jets. It's also weird not to see Tom Brady's name up there, but understandable because his 2008 season ended almost as soon as it began due to an injury.