"It's far too early to project the situations and opportunities that will shape the 2012 fantasy season. Free agency and the draft will have a major say in that. However, it's not too early to evaluate talent.

Really, talent should be the driving force behind any fantasy draft. We want guys that will absolutely explode when given the opportunity and will force their coach to get them the rock consistently. So before we turn the page on the 2011 season, we need to file away these players.

Here are 10 guys that jumped off the screen as difference-making, elite talents in 2011:

1. Julio Jones, WR, Falcons: A midseason hamstring injury was the only thing that could slow down Jones as a rookie. The 4.39 40-yard dash he ran at the NFL Combine was jaw-dropping, but he appeared to be even faster on the Georgia Dome turf. Perhaps more impressive was Jones' ability to shrug off tacklers near the goal-line, showing a nose for the end zone. In his final four games of the regular season, he scored six touchdowns. Jones' raw talent makes teammate Roddy White appear ordinary.

2. Roy Helu, RB, Redskins: We knew that Helu would immediately step into the league as one of the best receivers out of the backfield in the league. He backed that up by catching 37 passes in his final eight games. What we didn't know was that Helu had the ability to bust through NFL arm tackles at will and burst through the hole like a Mike Shanahan one-cut runner should. As seen in this Week 12 highlight, Helu's agility and power is something that doesn't come around that often. "