My name is Eric Patterson and I'm an addict. My addiction is Fantasy Football. After being skeptical about it when my cousin introduced me to it, I have found myself to harbor a much more intense passion for football than previously thought. I think this is what fueled me to become overly analytical of my picks and who starts in my slots every week and prompted me to win a championship the past three years in my league. My league gives me hell for it by stating that I won on pure luck (right, Jerrod?), not skill and that it wouldn't happen again this year. I like to think that my wins are a result of my knowledge and time spent researching but I also think that because the league I play in being a money league, money plays a huge factor in the amount of attention to detail that I partake in my team and my players. And now because this will be my fourth year and I feel that my chances of winning the league championship once again are slim just due to me winning it the last three years, I thought to start a blog as an opportunity to write out my thoughts and then read them to help me determine who to pick for my team to make it a yet another winning team this year. I've also started this blog with the opportunity for me to share my thoughts with others so that they can benefit from my "guesstimations" on teams and players and open myself to comments and feedback from my readers. I think I'm going to start this blog out by evaluating each team in a division at a time. I hope to update this blog weekly and that I will have my evaluations and projections for a new division until I've touched on all of them prior to the begin of NFL preseason. During the preseason, I will probably reevaluate my projections and blog about specific fantasy related issues such as my feelings on the pros and cons of going with the "projections by espn FF experts", potential of sleepers, which sleepers to keep an eye on, and such as. I hope you enjoy this blog and feel free to drop in a comment or two every once in a while. Thank you and good luck in your draft!
NFC EAST ANALYSIS
Cowboys
They're a high caliber team that provides several optimal picks for your fantasy team. On paper. They have enough talent to fill an slot in your starting line up. Elite QB? Check. High producing RB? Check. Consistent TE? Check. Stout D? Check. Clutch kicker? Check. On paper, they look like they have a chockful of fantasy players ready for ripe pickings for your team but reality is I'd only waste two, maybe three picks on this team. The only sure picks from this team is Tony Romo and the 3-4 defense. Sure, they have a young, explosive back in Felix Jones and they have stated that he will see the majority of carries this year but I can't ingore this nagging thought in the back of my head that says Barber will be seen vulturing several TDs from him. He would have to produce several carries of 20 plus yards that either lead to massive gains or long touchdown runs to be labeled as a elite back in a fantasy setting. As for the recieving corps, MIles Austin had a monster second half of last year and that surely will continue this year as Tony Romo has already built a solid rapport with him. But several expert fantasy analyzers have him ranked entirely too high. Why? You'll find out why in a bit. Roy Williams? He has stated that he's the Cowboy's go-to guy this year. He had the opportunity to be incredible last year but after several drops or mis-routes, it was evident that he and Romo weren't on the same page all season. But two things that tell me he may have a better year is this: 1- this year is do or die for him. Either he produces or he's out. Jerry Jones will more than likely push for him to be cut. 2- Similar to last summer, this summer will give Roy Williams another opportunity to work with Tony Romo and maybe build some chemistry between two of them. But typical Romo is typical Romo- if he finds a receiver that he has good chemistry with, he stays ON that receiver like white on rice all season- bad passes and all. Roy Williams is at best a bench slot WR at the time of this writing. Dez Bryant. I have high hopes for this guy- I feel that he has major potential to be an elite receiver- a WR that I most associate him with is Randy Moss. I truly see him as a young Randy Moss and I can not wait to see what kind of numbers he has the ability to put up fantasy-wise this year. Keep an eye on him. Then throw Jason Witten into the mix and you have a highly congested group of talented ball catchers that end up hurting each others value in Fantasy Football. Like I said, everything looks awesome on paper but reality is, nobody aside of Tony Romo and the boys D would produce the numbers that you NEED to win your fantasy games. Nonetheless, any of the players mentioned above DO have the capability to produce big fantasy numbers for you... just take their statistics and hot streaks with a grain of salt.
Fantasy Grades:
QB: A
RB: B-
WR: C+
TE: B
D: A
K: B+
Philadelphia Eagles
Kevin Kolb has some major potential. This may just be his break out year. I still classify him as a sleeper pick but he ranks high in the sleeper category. This is due to him having DeSean Jackson and Brian Celek as his main go-to guys and all 3 players are massive assets to each other in terms of productivity. Celek was a beast in the beginning of last year until McNabb became healthy again then we saw his numbers drop but not enough where he was a bench slot TE. If you had him last year, you started him every week. If you get him this year, you start him EVERY WEEK. Same goes for Hot Hands Jackson. The only negatives about this team is the Defense. They're either older than my granddaddy or younger than my niece who is still sucking on a pacifier. They will be back to being explosive in another year or two- just not this year. The running back situation is sketchy this year. I don't see LeSean McCoy being a worthy starter all year this year- he had his chance last year and blew it. Sure, Westbrook left some big shoes to fill but he wasn't even productive as the starting running back. The only thing I see potential in terms of running backs is Mike Bell. I think he will see the majority of carries and may just have an explosive year. I don't have Bell ranked high BUT I will be keeping an eye on him and nabbing him in the mid-rounds of the Fantasy Draft.
Fantasy Grades:
QB- B
RB- C
WR- A
TE: A+
D: D
K: ?
Washington Redskins
Donovan McNabb is DONE. Except for the two games he plays Eagles, then he's an instant starter. He may still have a bit left in him but his tank is running on fumes and he knows it. Eagles knew it. Washington is desperate. New coach, new QB, new playbook. McNabb really doesn't have any quality receivers to toss the ball too and yes, I'm counting S. Moss. S. Moss is Redskin's best receiver and he's mediocre at best. I don't even really know what to think when I look at their new running back roster. Larry Johnson? Willie Parker? Clinton Portis? Two things are gonna happen here. 1. Two of these running backs will get injured, again, and if that does happen then the last one standing should be a pretty reasonable starter in your line up as he will be seeing the majority, if not all, of the carries. 2. Everyone stays healthy and that ball is going to see so much share time between all 3 running backs that those guys won't even be worthy enough to be put in a bench slot. The only player I can see myself drafting and starting from the Redskins is their Defense, which I feel will pretty damn good and contribute to a majority of their wins this year, and Chris Cooley. This team, offensively, is a TRAIN WRECK, fantasy wise. Avoid at all cost.
Fantasy Grades:
QB- D- (if Grossman starts, then F- and yes that's in bold)
RB- A or D
WR- D-
TE- C
D- B+
K- ?
New York Giants
This team is the hardest one for me to evaluate. Eli Manning has had his moments where hes won games for some fantasy players but I've seen him tilt a sure win for a player into an agonizing loss. I'm not gonna say don't pick him but I'm not gonna say pick him. He's IS a talented quarterback, just not as talented fantasy wise. I think he will be more productive than last year as he's had time to build a rapport with a new group of receivers that filled the void that Plaxico Burress left behind. I would pick him for my bench slot and watch how he does further into the season this year. He does have some very, very talented receivers to throw to that you should most definitely put high on your list. Steve Smith and Mario Manningham. Steve Smith is what I would call an elite receiver and should be in your top 5 WRs to pick in the draft. I'm not sold on Mario Manningham... yes he can produce and has before but Steve Smith kind of overshadows him and that really hurts his fantasy value. I would only recommend starting Manningham when Giants play against defenses with talented secondary as they will be more than likely double covering Steve Smith every play. Tight ends for giants are very difficult to evaluate here. Kevin Boss can be insanely good one game, then terrible the next 3 games. I don't really recommend that you pick a tight end here for your starting TE slot. As for the running backs... as much as I love Brandon Jacobs and have started him in my past leagues, he's become injury-prone. His knees are shot and defenses know this and won't be afraid to take out his knees. I see him losing his share of carries to Ahmad Bradshaw. I think this year will be a very good year for Bradshaw where he will be seeing much more opportunities to carry the ball compared to last year. Don't count Andre Brown out as well... although he hasn't seen any play time in the NFL yet and was injured in training camp last year, after watching this video below, if he wore Brandon Jacob's jersey, I don't think I would be able to tell the difference. He's a whole lot like Jacobs, except he's healthier and younger. As for Giants Defense... they can be such a headache for some fantasy football teams. They always seem to start out solid and produce some serious points then fizzle mid-season due to the injuries. My god, the injuries. But... maybe.. just MAYBE... they can go unscathed this year and remain productive all season long.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9kYqvdEl_Q Andre Brown highlights.
Fantasy Grades:
QB- B-
RB- B
WR- A
TE- C-
D- B-
K- ?
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