Aug 31 2009
- The big news of the weekend was the injury to Chiefs starting QB, Matt Cassel. Cassel sprained his MCL could be out for the next 2-4 weeks which would cause him to miss the season opener. KC fans got a glimpse of what it was like for Pats fans last year when Brady went down with an injury to the Chiefs.
(Photo by AP)
- Speaking of Tom Brady, he appeared to be in top form again as he hooked up with Randy Moss 6 times for 90 yards and 2 TDs. The Brady to Moss duo looks every bit as lethal as it did in '07 which is great for their owners. On a bit of a scary note though, Brady left with a sore shoulder after a heavy hit from Albert Haynesworth. The Patriots are saying that he would have left the game anyways, but this has to be a little alarming for Brady owners as his o-line has let him get smacked hard for the second consecutive game.
- The new go-to-guy on the Broncos, Eddie Royal, left last nights preseason game with a shoulder injury, but came back in the next series. A lot is expected from Royal this year and so far he looks as though he'll deliver on those expectations.
- Jabar Gaffney fractured his thumb on Friday and will be out for several weeks. Meaning that Brandon Marshall will suddenly be in a starting role again.
- Joe Flacco looked very impressive against the Panthers this weekend completing 23 of 28 passes, 247 yards and a TD. It is just preseason, but if the Ravens can mount any kind of attack through the air, it should means bigger numbers for guys like Ray Rice and Derrick Mason.
- For the third straight preseason game, Ray Rice started for the Ravens and gained 99 total yards on 18 touches. Only 32 of those yards were on the ground, but this just goes to show that like Maurice Jones-Drew and Matt Forte, he'll put up good numbers even on bad days.
- One interesting camp battle is between Jamaal Charles and Larry Johnson. Neither has really looked that great rushing the football, but Charles has established himself as a better passing down RB. With the Chiefs expected to be behind in a lot of games, they're going to throw a lot which could in turn, leave LJ on the sidelines.
- Rashard Mendenhall rushed for 48 yards on 16 carries and got into the end zone against Buffalo. Not a great performance, but what was really alarming to me is that he fumbled again. He fumbled a lot in the preseason last year and doesn't seem to have gotten over it. If Mendenhall can't hold onto the ball, he'll never overtake Willie Parker.
- Giants first rounder Hakeem Nicks is impressing his coaches (144 yards and 2 TDs against Jets) and is being considered to get a lot more playing time. Nicks was a beast in college and has plenty of potential. As a rookie, I wouldn't expect to much out of him, but he's a good player to hang on to in keeper leagues as I could very easily see him becoming one of the leagues elite receivers.
- Anthony Gonzalez of the Colts caught only two passes for 17 yards and dropped a TD pass against Detroit this weekend. Again, only preseason, but for someone that really hasn't shown that much, you really want to see him pull in that TD pass to feel a little better about drafting him.
- The Dolphins are hoping that once preseason ends that their former first round pick Ted Ginn Jr will make himself re-appear in their passing game. I mentioned in my draft report that Ginn will need to establish himself this year if he ever hopes to be a first string receiver in this league. On Thursday he caught just one pass for 19 yards.
Aug 28 2009
- Michael Vick got a standing ovation in his on field return to the NFL (only in Philadelphia). He completed all 4 passes for 19 yards and rushed for just one yard. During the game Donovan McNabb was greeted with "We want Vick" chants despite throwing for 244 yards and TD. After the game McNabb was quoted as saying that the switch to Vick hurt the rhythm of the offense. Interesting considering it was McNabb who supposedly was the one that wanted to bring Vick to Philly.
- The Bucs backfield situation just got a little cloudier. Cadillac Williams looked like his old self rushing for 54 yards on 8 carries. Tampa Bay is looking to have a three man rotation in their backfield which doesn't bode well for Earnest Graham and Derrick Ward owners.
- Tampa Bay's QB situation doesn't look as promising as their RB one. All three Buc QB's, Byron Leftwich, Luke McCown and Josh Freeman turned in poor performances in their preseason outing against the Dolphins last night. The weather conditions were less than ideal, but you may want to keep an eye on this situation if you own Antonio Bryant or Kellen Winslow as this could affect their values.
- Cowboys receiver Roy Williams was thought to have a broken collarbone, but instead has a "shoulder contusion". He'll be out for the rest of the preseason, but should be back for Week 1. Williams has a history of being injury prone, so this bit of news shouldn't be too surprising for his owners.
- After saying he wants a fresh start with the Broncos, Brandon Marshall gets suspended for "conduct detrimental to the team". If Marshall is serious about getting a fresh start with Denver, he should do everything he's told and do whatever they ask to get ready for the regular season. This kill his fantasy value for now, but its a long season and if he gets himself together and could be a big contributor near the end of the year.
- Broncos number one draft pick Knowshon Moreno isn't expected to be a full speed by Week 1. With LaMont Jordan also injured, this puts Denver's running game almost entirely on Correll Buckhalter. Moreno owners will want to make sure they have Buckhalter for the start of the season.
- Maurice Jones-Drew rushed for just 12 yards on 5 carries last night, but caught 2 passes for 58 yards. This just goes to show that one way or another MJD will get his points.
Aug 26 2009
Love him or hate him, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl (or is it Steelerstahl?) is representing our city and in a lot of ways. One of those ways is now fantasy football. Mayor Ravenstahl along with 10 other mayors around the country took part in the Yahoo! Sports "Fantasy Football Mayoral Face-off". The winning mayor gets $15,000 to donate to a local program. I didn't get any emails or phone calls, so the mayor decided to go into this WITHOUT the help of Pittsburgh's best fantasy sports blogger. Let's see how he did:
1st Round:
Pittsburgh Proud (his team name) was picking 10th overall. The usual suspects fell off the board with the first 9 picks. Brian Westbrook went 5th overall, which is interesting considering he's coming into the season injured. LaDainian Tomlinson was picked right before it was our mayor's turn. With my 1st and 2nd round picks, Frank Gore and Steven Jackson still on the board, the mayor select Chris Johnson as his first overall pick. I'm not really a fan of the pick. I like Chris Johnson and I think he'll do well, but I don't think he's a first rounder. The other two backs, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Randy Moss, Tom Brady, were all still on the board.
2nd Round:
It was a short trip back for his second pick. Gore, Jackson, Manning and Brees were now gone. However, he makes a pretty nice second pick in drafting WVU product Steve Slaton. He's a do everything, carry the bulk of the workload kind of back.
3rd Round:
With his RB's set Mayor Ravenstahl is now after his WR core. His first WR is a pretty good one; Marques Colston of the Arena ball Saints. Good pick in my opinion
4th Round:
As good as the 3rd round pick was, I don't like his 4th round selection. Instead of either going for an elite TE or T.J. Houshmandzadeh, he select Dwayne Bowe. The mayor, I'm sure, has watched plenty of Steelers games and should know just how deadly Housh can be.
5th Round:
Mayor Ravenstahl completed his WR category with the selection of Hines Ward. I would sound the alarm for "HOMER PICK", but Ward really was the best player available in this round. Two picks after Ward someone took Tedd Ginn Jr. Yikes
6th Round:
Time to pick a QB and I can't really argue with this pick. With the third pick in the 6th round, Mayor Ravenstahl picks Donovan McNabb. Now for you non-fantasy football types, that are getting your pitchforks and lighting your torches because he picked Philly's QB over Ben Roethlisberger, McNabb is a much better fantasy QB than Big Ben. So before you go calling him a traitor to our city, he did make the right move.
7th Round:
The Mayor picked up a nice backup RB by selecting Marshawn Lynch with the 10th pick in the 7th round. He, of course, has no immediate value, but he's a good gamble as a backup.
8th Round:
With a lot of good TEs gone, he decided to go with Greg Olsen as his starting TE. Can't argue with that either, since that's who I picked as well.
9th Round:
This round was a big team defense round. Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Tennessee, Minnesota and Philadelphia all went in this round. The Mayor probably should have picked the Steeler defense, but who would've guessed that many defenses would have been picked like that. Instead of jumping on the team defense bandwagon, he builds up his depth at WR with the pick of Kevin Walter. Good depth player, but with the defenses running thin, I think its more important to have your starting defense than your 4th WR.
10th Round:
More WR depth in this round with the selection of Rams deep threat Donnie Avery. Very good WR5, but still no defense or backup QB and you know McNabb will get injured. Maybe he's holding out for Michael Vick?
11th Round:
Speaking of backup QB's, he picks Kyle Orton. This is an awful pick. Matt Hasselbeck was only selected 4 picks earlier, Ahmad Bradshaw, Ray Rice, Jake Delhomme, Chad Pennington, Dallas defense were all still available.
12th Round:
The Mayor makes sure that he has the a monopoly on the Bills running game and picks Fred Jackson. He's really banking on that Buffalo running game this season.
13th Round:
Finally a defense! And its... the Jets. Great. Yes, they have Rex Ryan, but that doesn't instantly make them the Baltimore Ravens. Miami, New England and San Diego were still available at that time.
14th Round:
Its pick a kicker round and he picked a good one with David Akers. But its worth noting that Jeff Reed was still on the board when this pick was made. Maybe those two misses at the end of the half against the Skins scared him off.
15th Round:
Mayor Ravenstahl finishes his draft by picking the Carolina Panthers defense.
The overall value of Mayor Ravenstahl's team is alright, but it could have been better. A lot better. He drafted questionable players over established proven ones and waited way too long to pick a defense and ended up with the Jets. I know some people that were very high on Chris Johnson this year and waited till at least the second round. His WR are really deep, but his RBs are questionable after his two starters and his backup QB situation is a total mess.
As for a grade, I'm torn between a C+ and a B-. What do you guys think? What grade would you give our Mayor on his fantasy football drafting skills?
Aug 25 2009
- If you saw my sleeper picks, you saw the name Leon Washington on there. If you watched Monday Night Football last night, you now know why. Washington rushed for 48 yards on 8 carries and caught two passes for 35 yards including a TD reception. The Jets will figure out real quick that if you put the ball in this guy's hands, good things will happen.
(Photo by AP)
- DeAngelo Williams owners look here! According to ESPN.com Pat Yasinskas, Williams will still get the bulk of the carries even if Jonathan Stewart is healthy. This is what every Williams owner wanted to hear. If you haven't had your draft yet, move him up your charts just a bit.
- For those of you that bought your T.J. Duckett Seahawks jersey, you now have a collectors item. Duckett was released by Seattle after they signed veteran RB Edgerrin James to a one year deal. Until James can get up to speed on the playbook, Julius Jones will be the man unless some unknown can step up. Problems with the running game, just means more passing for the Hawks and increases the value of anyone in their passing game.
- Ravens second year back RB Ray Rice looked decent in limited action against the Jets last night. More intriguing was the fact that Rice received goaline carries. LeRon McClain was a big TD monster for them last year, but if Rice can add goaline back to his resume, he'll be one of the more complete backs in the game.
- Pierre Thomas of the Saints is currently dealing with an MCL sprain, however is coach Sean Payton said that its "nothing significant". Thomas owners can only hope and pray that he'll be ready for Week 1 when they take on the Detroit Lions.
- If you were holding onto Alex Smith, thinking that someday the former number one overall pick would develop into something, I have bad news for you. Coach Singletary has made Shaun Hill, the undrafted QB from Maryland, his starter. Hill is a decent QB2 and better QB3. He served me well down the stretch last season.
- All 5 Detroit Lions fans can now breath a sigh of relief. Calvin Johnson returned to practice after missing two weeks with a sprained thumb.
- Brian Westbrook has looked good in practice and has increased his workload every day. Its still not clear how quickly he'll get into game shape, but if we've learned anything, its that Westbrook can turn it on like a switch.
- According to the Cowboys beat writer for the Ft Worth Star-Telegram, Roy Williams will catch at least 70 passes for 900 yards and 8 TDs. Interesting projection, but Terrell Owens caught 69 passes for 1052 yards and 10 TDs last year and he's much more talented than Williams.
- St Louis Rams top receiver, Donnie Avery is progressing really fast and is looking very likely to play in Week 1. Its surprising to see him heal this quick from a stress fracture. My only concern here would be him coming back too early and getting re-injured.
Aug 24 2009
- The Seahawks have to be impressed with what they saw this weekend. Matt Hasselbeck threw for 171 yards and 2 TDs against the Broncos. He targeted TJ Houshmandzadeh eight times which included a TD pass. The Hasselbeck to Houshmandzadeh connection looks strong in the early going.
- The Pittsburgh Steelers D/ST gained more value this weekend as punt and kick returner Stefan "Joystick" Logan dazzled the crowd and his coaches with his speed and shifty moves. Logan was the CFL's most exciting player and was a great return man there as well. If your league credits punt and kick returns to the defense, this is makes the most valuable defense even more valuable.
- I know they like Jonathan Stewart, but DeAngelo Williams could be one of the top backs in football if he's allowed to carry the load. He looked somewhat average against the Dolphins, but then made a very impressive 25 yard TD run that proves last year wasn't a fluke.
- Speaking of the Dolphins, on the other side of the ball in that game, Ronnie Brown looked very impressive running the wildcat offense, rushed for 31 yards on 7 carries, catching 3 passes for 43 yards and scoring TD. If he can stay healthy, Brown will have an enormous season.
- The Broncos really need to figure out what they're going to do with Brandon Marshall. The disgruntled receiver was left behind for their game on Saturday because he was "not ready and able to play" in the game. First Jay Cutler leaves, now this. Marshall is far too talented to give up on in keeper leagues, but as far as this year's draft goes, I would pick him later if at all. This could be a lost year for the Broncos star receiver.
- The Bears breathed a sigh of relief as they watched their new franchise QB, Jay Cutler, tear up the Giants for 121 yards and a TD. Chicago used to be the place where QB's would go to die, but I believe Cutler will change that.
- Those of you that drafted Matt Forte early and are worried about a sophomore slump, consider this, Forte ran for 58 yards and a TD on nine carries against the Giants. Yeah, its only preseason and it doesn't really matter.
- Niners rookie RB Glen Coffee dazzled this weekend against the Raiders. Don't get too excited, it was the Raiders defense he was doing this against, but he's someone to keep an eye on for Frank Gore owners.
- The Raiders are going to flush another season down the toilet as they have declared that JaMarcus Russell will be their starter. To be fair to Russell, he doesn't really have anyone to throw to. This news is somewhat good for Darren McFadden owners as the Raiders will really concentrate on their run game.
- The Titans are having some trouble opening holes for Chris Johnson right now. Johnson has carried the load 15 times for just 26 yards. A couple of their top linemen have been out, which is most likely why he's had such a lack of production, so I wouldn't worry.
- Marshawn Lynch carried the ball 6 times for just 6 yards against the Packers on Saturday. Meanwhile, his "backup" Fred Jackson rushed for 18 yards on 4 carries. Maybe Lynch can use those three suspended weeks to find his game.
- Derrick Ward made a strong case to be the starter against the Jaguars. He ran for 40 yards on 5 carries and looked very good between the tackles.
- Marques Colston appears to already be in mid season form for the Saints. He caught 6 passes for 66 yards against the Texans this weekend. If he can stay healthy, Colston should have huge year on the NFL team pretending to be an AFL team.
- Aaron Rodgers destroyed the Bills going 8-9 for 98 yards and two touchdowns. Its only preseason, so no reason to get too excited, but this is looks as though it could be precursor of things to come.
Aug 20 2009
This week the Fantasy Factor held its first ever fantasy football draft consisting of myself, Mrs Fantasy Factor Maria (both pictured right), PG Webmaster Jody Farr, PG online graphic artist Jonathan Bieda and a few of my loyal FF readers. I'm sorry I wasn't able to chat with you guys during the draft we were experiencing technical difficulties at my house. My wife was having a hard time using the netbook with the draft application. The entire bottom and right corner was cutoff and it was frustrating her because she couldn't chat, do searches for players or hide drafted players. I told her to switch with me so, she got the Mac and I got the netbook. So for those of you out there that have netbooks, it doesn't mesh well with the Yahoo draft application, so keep that in mind.
So the draft order came out at 7:30pm and Maria excitedly screamed, "THIRD!!!". I ran over quickly to see where I drafting thinking to myself "Not last, not last, not last"... Xtreme Machine 10th (last). Doh! You can't win for losing. So for the second straight football season, I'm picking last. Don't get me wrong, I like having the two picks, back to back, but I would rather have 1st overall, last in the 2nd round and first pick in the 3rd round. Oh well. Here's how the draft order came out.
Draft order:
1. North Side
2. Magnificent B's (Jody Farr)
3. Marathon Maria (Mrs Fantasy Factor)
4. Warbirds
5. Tim
6. The Flying Hellfish (Jonathan Bieda)
7. KevinZuk
8. Manor Beasts
9. Torn Meniscus
10. Xtreme Machine
First Round:
No surprise on the first overall pick, North Side went with Purple Jesus, Adrian Peterson. Next up, were the Magnificent B's and he went with a bit of an unconventional pick with the selection of Tom Brady. Two years ago, I had Brady on my Dell Salary cap league team and I got him early and cheap and just dominated the entire league because of the insane numbers he was posting. So now in his mind, Tom Brady equals championship and if he turns in another performance like he did in '07, he may be right.
Maria was next and she went with the best wide receiver in football, Larry Fitzgerald. Typically, I don't think picking a WR in the first round is a good idea, but I would have to make an exception for Fitz. The guy is uncoverable and he'll easily rack up over 1500 yards and score more than 10 TDs. That's more than what a lot of RB's will do.
Warbirds took us back to the RBs and selected the versatile Matt Forte who should have a big year with the Bears. Michael Turner was then selected by Tim. A lot of experts are jumping off the Turner bandwagon this year because his schedule is tougher and he carried the ball over 370 times last year, which means he's likely to be injured this year, but I don't buy into that. Turner won't be as good as he was last year, but that doesn't mean he'll be bad.
The Flying Hellfish decided to go WR as well and picked up Randy Moss. With Brady back in the saddle, Moss could very quickly get back into his 23 TD form again. KevinZuk was up next and he selected Maurice Jones-Drew. MJD is a "do everything" back. He did a lot last year when given the starting role and will do even more this year. My only concern for him is can he carry the load for the whole season. If the answer is "yes", he'll be one of the best RBs in the NFL this year.
Manor Beasts doesn't believe that a RBs life ends at 30 (and neither do I) and he selected LaDainian Tomlinson. Yeah, he wasn't on top of his game last year, but one mediocre year shouldn't deter you from drafting one of the biggest point scorers in the history of fantasy football. Next, yet another receiver was selected. Torn Meniscus made Andre Johnson his first pick of the draft.
I was sitting on the bed with the netbook, practically falling asleep as it seemed as though I was waiting forever but finally it was my turn. When I draft late, I have the tendency to draft in unconventional ways. However, with the 3 best WRs already taken, my unconventional way was drafting... conventionally. A few elite "do everything" type of RBs were still on the board, so I figured why not? As I thought about who I wanted take first, Maria was saying, "So who are you going to pick? Gore. I bet its Gore isn't it? I know you, its going to be Gore." I don't know if I arrived at this decision on my own or if I was talked into it, but I found myself drafting Frank Gore with the last pick in the first round.
(Photo by Getty Images)
Second Round:
The only nice thing about picking last is you get the first pick in the 2nd round. With Maria celebrating the fact that was able to accurately predict my first round selection I went back and forth on who I should take next. Steven Jackson, Brian Westbrook or someone else? I did consider drafting one of the elite receivers still available, but I thought about how good it would feel to have two elite RBs and not really have to worry about that position for the rest of the draft. Despite my dislike for him, you can't argue with the numbers and his importance to the Rams offense, so I went for Steven Jackson.
Third Round:
Before it would be my turn again, a lot of the elite receivers, RBs and even QBs were taken. However there were a few WRs that I was very happy to see still on the board. Terrell Owens isn't exactly in the best place in the NFL for catching passes, but he is in a contract year and he is TO. I had him in '07 and won my league. I picked everyone on the Cowboys offense last year except him and lost. It had to be TO.
Fourth Round:
My 4th rounder was an easy choice. I have been singing the high praises of "Hasselbeck to Houshmandzadeh" the whole off season. I was considering Marques Colston, but interestingly enough I was deciding between these two last year, picked Colston and regretted it. Here's hoping that T.J. Houshmandzadeh does a 91 rating or better this year.
Fifth Round:
I'm exactly sure why, but the wait till my next pick was probably the longest I've ever experienced in any fantasy sport and I've played in 16 team leagues before. I had Anquan Boldin targeted next and I thought the draft was moving back in my direction and I saw Boldin get taken by Magnificent B's and told Maria to tell Jody that he "sucks". As it turned out, we still had not made it all the back to the first drafter and apparently everyone in the league was targeting Boldin in this round so it really didn't matter anyways. Darren McFadden was on my list next. I'm thinking big breakout season for him this year and unfortunately I had mentioned to my wife that McFadden was on my "players NOT to reach for because you like him" list. She figured that since I was originally thinking about him as being my RB2, he was good enough to draft in the 5th round. Silently snickering, she selects McFadden. The sound of me moaning "uggggggghhh" was the only sound that could be heard in our house along with Maria unable to prevent a few laughs from getting out. I looked for TEs, but Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates and Dallas Clark were gone.
Finally I noticed that Ronnie Brown had not yet been taken. I held my breath for the last few picks before me (thank you Manor Beasts and Torn Meniscus for the quick selections) and was very happy to see Brown still available. He rushed for nearly 1000 yards and scored 10 TDs last year, a year in which he was coming back from a bad knee injury. Not a bad comeback year. This year, he's healthy, has a firm grasp on the starting job and is in the final year of his contract. Plus, according to the "Daily Dolphin" blog, he's expected to be involved a lot in the passing game. Much like he was in '07. This was probably my favorite draft selection this year.
Sixth Round:
With 3 good RBs, 2 very talented receivers and all the elite TEs gone to other teams, I focused on QB. Maybe I should have focused on filling my final WR spot, but for years I've always wanted to draft Donovan McNabb but passed him up thinking he would be available in the next round only to see him go to another team. This year with my draft position, I thought the league could make a run for QBs and not only would I not get McNabb but I would be out in the cold at QB altogether. QB1 is more important than WR3 and pulled the trigger, reuniting McNabb and Owens.
Seventh Round:
A number of good receivers disappeared off the board and even a couple of good defenses were taken. The run on QBs didn't happen, but I was still happy with my McNabb pick, plus my pre-draft targeted QB1 was still on the board. I decided to go with TE in this round. The elite TEs were taken, but there were several good ones with the chance to have a breakout year remained. The Bears Greg Olsen is expected to have great chemistry with Jay Cutler this season and I've read some experts say that Cutler struggled in his first preseason game because Olsen was out and that when he returns it will change the look of the Bears passing game.
Eighth Round:
I wasn't going to chance it for another round. I think with T.J. Houshmandzadeh on the team, Matt Hasselbeck will have a career year that will end with him playing in the Pro Bowl. Going into the draft he was the QB I definitely wanted to have on my team and getting him in the 8th round was perfect.
(Photo by Reuters Pictures)
Ninth Round:
I thought about filling my WR3 spot in this round, but this is about the point that I usually draft my defense. Guys like Devin Hester, DeSean Jackson, Steve Breaston were still out there, but I checked defenses and I noticed that a good number of defenses were now gone. I had it narrowed down to Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings. This league credits punt and kick return TDs to the defense, so that gives the edge to the Bears with their lethal return game with Hester, but the Vikings rack up a ton of sacks. Right before it was my turn to pick, Torn Meniscus picked the Vikings D/ST. Well that makes my decision pretty easy, Bears D/ST. Here's hoping that Hester can continue to be the dynamic return specialist he has been over the years.
Tenth Round:
With defense out of the way, it was time to add to the depth positions by taking the best players available. Maybe I should have picked Hester, Jackson or Breaston in this round, but none of them were the best players available. Despite already owning a TE, Jeremy Shockey playing on the pass happy Saints is too good to ignore. If Olsen, for whatever reason, doesn't perform up to snuff, I have a great back up to fall on.
Eleventh Round:
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Just like last year, Ray Rice, of the Ravens, is my 11th round draft pick. He didn't light the world on fire, but he did show flashes of just how good he can be. Currently sitting as the first string back for the Ravens, he'll have to fend off Willis McGahee throughout the year to be the starter. Rice is a much better pass catcher and the coaches love his work ethic in camp. As I said last year, if he can hold onto the top RB spot on the Ravens, in Cam Cameron's offense, he should put up good numbers both rushing and receiving.
Twelfth Round:
Last year, I ranked the Chargers D/ST as my number one defense. To say that they didn't live up to that prediction would be like saying the Titanic didn't make it to its destination. The injury to Shawn Merriman really affected their pass rush, Antonio Cromartie took a big step backward and the rest of the defense simply didn't perform. With Merriman back, the Chargers pass rush will be significantly better, Cromartie will refocus on football and not other things and with the departure of Jay Cutler from Denver, the offenses in the AFC West look pretty weak.
Thirteenth Round:
Still haven't found a body to fill that WR3 spot. With the talent level about the same across all positions, it was time to fill that void. Earlier in the draft I had steered my wife away from drafting Tedd Ginn Jr. She picked him last year and his production was less than memorable. Ginn has a lot of talent, but so far that really hasn't translated into fantasy points. This will be a make or break year for him in fantasy football and on the Dolphins.
(Photo by Reuters Pictures)
Fourteenth Round:
I followed up my drafting of a young unproven receiver with the drafting of an old grizzled veteran, who's been there and done that, Issac Bruce. He was adequate last season for the Niners and with Michael Crabtree holding out, Bruce is their best receiver option once again.
Fifteenth Round:
A lot of people expected a fast, explosive receiver when Sidney Rice came out of college. Thus far, he's been a disappointment, but the Vikings love to run the ball leading to less opportunities for Rice to shine. With the addition of Brett Favre, the Vikes should go to the air a little more often and as long as Rice remains the starter (as he is now), he could have a few big games.
Sixteenth Round:
Oh boy, its the "pick your kicker" round. There really isn't any science or hard thought here. Pick a kicker that either A) you know kicks a lot or B) plays for a dome team. I decided to go with David Akers. He seems to have kicked a ton of field goals for the Eagles over the years and is pretty reliable.
Seventeenth Round:
I was planning on making this my joke pick but Brett Favre was picked back in the 11th round by Warbirds and KevinZuk grabbed Michael Vick in the last round. Guess I'll have to be serious about this one then too. Bobby Engram caught 94 passes for the Seahawks a couple years ago. With all the passing the Chiefs will need to be doing this year, I wouldn't be surprised to see every receiver on the team with at least 80 grabs. So I went with the WR from Penn State... maybe this turned out to be a joke pick after all.
Now for the team grades. Don't get too excited or too upset over your grade. I've been on both ends of the spectrum, where I've had great drafts, but injuries and under performing kills me. Then other times, I've drafted badly, found several good players on waivers and did well. The final standings will be your true grade.
Draft pick grades:
North Side (B-) : He acquired the best back in football in AP and got a great QB with Warner, but after that I felt there were a few missed chances. Roddy White over Housh, Colston, Owens, Steve Smith, Slaton, and Portis I thought was questionable. Then Eddie Royal over McFadden, Gates, Ronnie Brown and Royal's teammate Brandon Marshall. His depth looks good with Keller, Jackson and Breaston and he got the best defense in the league with the Steelers.
Magnificent B's (B) - The team who's last name I had to shorten to "B", gets a "B" for his draft. Although picking Brady that high is questionable, the team turned out pretty well. Boldin and Marshall are good receivers, Jacobs and Portis are a good RB duo. He reached for Heath Miller with other good TEs on the board, but some Steeler homerism was expected. The depth looks a little shaky. McGahee and Jones are the reserves for Jacobs and Portis which is a little scary with three out of those four always dealing with some sort of injury.
Marathon Maria (A-) - Mrs Fantasy Factor walked away from this draft feeling pretty good. She has a great passing attack with Peyton Manning, Larry Fitzgerald, Tony Gonzalez Wes Welker and Chad Ochocinco. Jay Cutler is Manning's backup which is ridiculous. Donald Driver and Derrick Mason are her 4th and 5th WRs which is great. She also has a very solid defense with the Giants D/ST. The only weak or questionable point is RB. Darren McFadden and Knowshon Moreno are still relatively unknown. McFadden is only in his 2nd year and Knownshon is a rookie. She also has Earnest Graham and Rashard Mendenhall. If any of these 4 backs and turn into a fantasy stud, she'll have a tough team to beat.
Warbirds (B-) - I like the RB situation. Forte and Slaton, two good versatile backs. I like that he also has their backups in the even that either of them get injured. Drew Brees, who will pass for a ton of yards and TDs. But the WR position is really shaky. Dwayne Bowe is the highest ranked receiver on the team. After that he has Roy Williams, Devin Hester and Lee Evans. I know from experience that its tough to find good WRs and unless some of those guys can step up, it'll be a sore spot all season.
Tim (A) - He gets an F for creativity on the team name, but an A for his draft. The starting lineup looks to be one of the best, if not the best. Turner and Westbrook in the back field is tremendous. Steve Smith and Antonio Gates are great receivers. The performances of Antonio Bryant and Braylon Edwards could sway this grading. Neither receiver has a top notch QB throwing passes to them, but in terms of skill, both are capable of a lot. It was just a year ago that people were picking Edwards to be an elite receiver and now he's sitting in the WR3 spot? He shouldn't have dropped that much. Matt Schaub will be great at QB this year, in fact I've read some experts predict he'll be the best QB in the league in terms of fantasy points. The depth is a little thin though. I like Donnie Avery and Kellen Winslow, but Crabtree, Garrard, Benson and Lewis are almost like wasted picks.
The Flying Hellfish (B-) - If Chris Johnson, Joseph Addai and Willie Parker were starters that didn't split half their carries with someone else, this would be a much higher grade. I think Johnson, at some point, will wrestle away carries from LenDale White this year, although, I think White will always be the goaline back. Parker was always the go to guy between the 20s, now he'll have to fight off Mendenhall for those carries. As for Addai, if he does really well, they may just make him the feature back and give him the lionshare of the work rather than splitting them with Donald Brown. Moss, Ward, Holt and Witten are great receivers. Romo, if you can deal with the INTs, is a pretty good QB. He also owns the Ravens defense. The depth looks alright. Shiancoe is good enough to be a TE1 on other teams. Eli Manning and Matt Cassel are good backups.
KevinZuk (C+) - His draft started off strong with MJD and then DeAngelo Williams, Greg Jennings, Philip Rivers. Then things took a turn for the worst. Reggie Bush, Anthony Gonzalez, LeSean McCoy, Lance Moore, Donald Brown. Three of those players are on the bench, but those are the best of the bench players. I wouldn't consider any of the WRs elite and unfortunately, DeAngelo won't get the workload he got last year, he won't have the same type of numbers.
Manor Beasts (C) - Except for Reggie Wayne, there's a lot of risky picks here. A-Rod II was great last year, but I worry about a sophomore slump. Santonio Holmes was great in the Super Bowl, but unless that's a precursor of things to come, he's a 50 reception, sub 1000 yard receiver. Tomlinson should get back into form and post another good year, but Marion Barber, even at his best, never rushed for more than 1000 yards in a season. Jonathan Stewart is a pretty good back, but he'll split time with Williams and probably not get the majority of the carries.
Torn Meniscus (C) - The WRs are incredible. Andre and Calvin Johnson and Marques Colston. However, beyond those three players, the rest of the team average. LenDale White shouldn't be in anyone's RB1 slot. Kevin Smith is in the RB2. Larry Johnson looks like he's been running into brick walls the past few years and Marshawn Lynch will start the season suspended. Matt Ryan is currently situated as the starter, but he also has Carson Palmer. Palmer should be the starter as long as he's healthy.
Xtreme Machine (A-) - Despite picking last, I think I faired really well. I'm not a fan of either Frank Gore or Steven Jackson, but they'll get me lots of points as they are huge parts of their teams offenses and should touch the ball a lot. I have a great third option with Ronnie Brown and I'm very happy with my top two receivers T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Terrell Owens. I'm excited about the two QB's I have. I was hoping I would be able to get Hasselbeck in the late rounds and I've wanted McNabb for years. Both my defenses looks to be solid at this point. My weak points are the WR category. Beyond my top two, it gets really dicey. Ginn Jr, Bruce, Engram and Sidney Rice will rotate in and out of the WR3.
What do you guys think? How did I do? How did you do? Grade yourself and express your thoughts in the comments section.
Aug 18 2009
I'm going to cutoff the emails/comments at the pass, "No, this is, unfortunately, NOT a joke". According to WCCO TV Minneapolis, Brett Favre and his wife got on a plane with a Vikings logo and were headed to Minneapolis. He is expected to sign a deal with the Vikings sometime today. Before he turned down the Vikings in late July he was expected to sign a 1 year $10 million dollar deal. It'll be interesting to see if that deal is still on the table. With all this back and forth, will he, won't he, I won't be 100% convinced until he's actually on the football field. No word on whether John Madden will return to the broadcast booth now that his boy Brett is coming out of "retirement".
Vikings acquire Brett Favre (?):
If this deal does, in fact, go down and he doesn't change his mind on the plane ride to Minneapolis, this will give the Vikes a legitimate passing attack. Favre isn't what he used to be, but he's better than Tavaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels. This will put less focus on Adrian Peterson and make his goal of 2000 yards, more likely.
Aug 17 2009
- So Michael Vick is going to Philadelphia, the city that booed Santa Claus and threw D batteries at JD Drew because he refused to sign with the Phillies. I think its a bit of an odd signing on their part, but on the other hand, Donovan McNabb is a sure bet to get injured at some point this season and every year there seems to be rumors about him leaving because he's unhappy in Philly. Maybe he's Philadelphia's QB of the future. In the meantime, Vick has no fantasy value until McNabb gets injured, but when that happens, Vick will be a hot pickup for teams struggling at the QB position.
(Photo by Getty Images)
- Jay Cutler was less than stellar in his Bears debut completing 5 passes on 10 attempts for 64 yards and 1 INT. No worries, he'll get better as time goes on. He completed a couple passes to Devin Hester and on the INT was looking for Hester again, so in the early going those two appear to have some chemistry.
- The man that was traded in exchange for Jay Cutler, Kyle Orton, couldn't have looked worse throwing 3 INTs in the first half against the 49ers. Maybe Orton becoming the starter isn't a slam dunk after all.
- In my last football notes post, I mentioned how Knowshon Moreno would be the Broncos starter. Well that won't be true for the next couple weeks while he deals with a knee injury. This may set him back and prevent him from becoming the starting back in Week 1, but make no mistake, he'll be the starter soon.
- Raiders coach Tom Cable said that Darren McFadden is "pretty close" to passing up Justin Fargas on the depth chart. I'm thinking that Run DMC will get around 200-250 carries this season and should be close to 1000 yards rushing.
- Jonathan Stewart of the Panthers has missed six straight practices due to soreness in his Achilles tendon. This is good news for DeAngelo Williams owners who would like to see TD leader from 2008 not have to split time.
- The expression "beating a dead horse" will soon be replaced with "talking about Brett Favre". According to Jay Glazer of FoxSports, he's convinced that Favre will soon have talks with the Vikings about joining the team. It wouldn't surprise me to see him join the team later in the season. Personally, I just think he's trying to get out of training camp.
- The wide receiver version of Roy Williams scared Cowboys fans when he went down with a injured left wrist. Fortunately, the x-rays came back negative and he'll be okay to play in Week 1.
- Antonio Bryant will miss the entire pre-season due to meniscus surgery but should be on the field for Week 1. Bryant had a career year last season, but he'll get off to a slow start this year and there's a lot of questions at the quarterback position. I wouldn't recommend having him any higher than your 3rd WR.
- If you're a die hard Browns fan and you NEED to have their starting QB on your team, you should probably go with Brady Quinn. While he wasn't impressive in their first preseason game (7-11, 68 yds, 1 INT), Derek Anderson completed more passes to Packer players than his own (0-2, 1 INT). This isn't really all that much of a surprise. I thought Quinn looked much better than Anderson during his brief stint as the starter before getting injured.
Aug 13 2009
- Denver's first rounder Knowshon Moreno will start the Broncos' pre season opener. He could be a sleeper this year if Kyle Orton can keep defenses honest and Moreno learns fast and takes advantage of a poor division.
(Photo by AP)
- Brian Westbrook is expected to return to practice on Saturday, although he's still not expected to play in any preseason games. B-West has always been a gamer. He can miss practice, show up for the game and do well. I think the same applies here. If he's able to move, he'll be worth owning.
- Indy running back Joseph Addai is said to be "looking and running pretty close to what he did as a rookie". While that sounds promising, he's shouldn't be counted on to be your top RB since he'll be splitting time with first rounder Donald Brown.
- Browns wide out Donte Stallworth will be suspended for the entire 2009 season for his fatal DUI. I don't know why anyone would ever consider picking him up this year anyways, but if you were, you can scratch him off your list.
- Panthers receiver Steve Smith was in a lot of pain earlier this week with a bad shoulder. Since then, he's been catching passes off to the side during practice. So whatever the problem is, it shouldn't affect his Week 1 status.
- Here's a bit of news we all like to hear in Steelers Country. Joe Flacco has been struggling mightily in camp and has thrown "a high number of interceptions". Oh darn. Stay away from Flacco and anyone else associated with the Ravens offense.
- Colts safety Bob Sanders is still being bothered by a bad knee and if history is any indication, the Colts need him to be successful on defense. If you end up drafting the Colts defense, they better be your second defense.
- It should come as no surprise that JaMarcus Russell still doesn't look comfortable in the NFL and looks every bit to be the bust I predicted he would be before he even came out of college. Deep league or keeper league, Russell has no value in any of them.
- According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Michael Vick will be on an NFL team this week. His list of teams includes the Patriots, Steelers, Ravens Packers and Panthers.
Aug 11 2009
The Fantasy Factor Baseball League wasn't the only league in which Alex Rios was being moved in. The former Blue Jays outfielder was claimed off waivers by the Chicago White Sox yesterday. The White Sox were looking to acquire Rios at the trade deadline, but couldn't get a deal done, but now end up getting him for nothing.... well almost nothing. The Sox will take on the remainder of his 6 year, $64 million contract.
White Sox acquire Alex Rios:
With the Blue Jays fire selling their team to free up money, this is a good move for Rios and his owners. This gives the Sox a much needed offensive boost while at the same time puts Rios in a situation where he is playing to get into the postseason. This motivation should keep him going for the remainder of the season, although I don't know how much his stats will improve with this move. The Blue Jays were a pretty strong offensive team up until recently so I don't see him improving on his numbers.
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