The Ultimate Fantasy Classic Rock Team

Peyton Manning may be this year's top fantasy football quarterback pick but here's a bigger question for you classic rock fans: Who is the greatest fantasy classic rock singer? How about guitarist? Bassist? Drummer? Keyboardist? Let's play fantasy classic rock!

Before I give you my picks for the ultimate fantasy classic rock team here's a quick layout of how this works. In fantasy football it's all about picking players who will score the most points. Peyton Manning has been a great pick for years because he not only racks up the passing yards but he throws for a ton of touchdowns. Cha-ching, cha-ching. You want a running back who not only runs for a lot of yards but, yes, scores a lot of touchdowns. So, having said that, we're looking to fill out a lineup of rockers who can excel in more than one area to give us the most points.

We're gonna pair the team down to the following positions: Lead Singer, Guitarist, Bassist, Drummer and Keyboardist. Here we go:

LEAD SINGER - FREDDIE MERCURY: My go-to guy is Freddie Mercury. He can rack up the points more than any other in rock history. An amazing voice that covered hard rockers, ballads and opera-influenced classics. But that's not all, Freddie was one of the greatest showman on the live stage and he possessed maybe the most important ability of any great musician: song writing. Don't forget, Freddie's the guy who wrote a song called "Bohemian Rhapsody" among many other classics. Throw in the ability to play the guitar and keyboards and you've got the perfect fantasy classic rock front man.

GUITARIST - JIMI HENDRIX: No one can match Jimi Hendrix's abilities. Another four-tool guy like Freddie Mercury. He wrote amazing, timeless songs, had a very cool singing voice, was a captivating showman on stage and, what else? Hmmmm....I'm trying to remember. Oh yeah, he's the greatest guitarist in rock and roll history.

BASSIST - PAUL MCCARTNEY: This position has to go to Sir Paul McCartney. He's probably the greatest song-writing bassist in rock history if not one of the greatest song-writers period. He's written dozens of hits and just as many amazing album tracks tailor-made for the deep track fan. Throw in that classic voice and his bass playing abilities and he's our guy.

DRUMMER - PHIL COLLINS: My mind immediately went to guys like John Bonham, Ginger Baker and Keith Moon but then I had to adjust my way of thinking to fit into the ultimate fantasy classic rock team. We need a guy who can contribute in other ways along with his main job as drummer. Someone who can sing, write songs AND play drums all above the rest. Having said that, I have to pick Phil Collins. Some will criticize him for being too "pop" and can go without the sappy ballads but, for me, when it comes to writing great rock songs, he's the guy. Songs like "In The Air Tonight", "Abacab" and "Mama" are just a few that come to mind. The voice, the drums, the songs are all top-notch and will rack up some serious fantasy points.

KEYBOARDIST - GREGG ALLMAN: This was a toss-up between Billy Joel and Gregg Allman. Two guys who have written amazing music, have great voices and obviously play their instruments as good if not better than anyone else in the biz. At the end of the day, however, the deciding factor is the voice. No one sings like Gregg and my go-to example is my favorite Allman Bros. song: "Dreams". It has all the ingredients of a great fantasy classic rocker. Gregg wrote it, sang it and played keyboards on it better than anyone could ever do. Points racking up with each note.