Football Season begins, Fantasy Football begins!

Football season started on Thursday (NY Giants against Washington Redskins) and rest of the games kick off on Sunday and Monday. It’s my third year of Fantasy Football and I think this year I’ve done a better job of drafting than the previous two years. Here’s what my team looks like:

1. Carson Palmer, QB, Cincinnati Bengals – My starting QB will always be Carson Palmer, unless he implodes midway throughout the season. Bengals have had a lot of issues through the pre-season with WR injuries, from T.J. Housmanzadeh (hip) to Chad ‘Ocho Cinco’ Johnson (torn shoulder). Even though both are expected to play they won’t be 100%. Palmer is a risky move but at this point I think he’s better than my backup (Marc Bulger) simply because he is the better QB and will get yardage out of any receiver.
2. Andre Johnson, WR, Houston Texas – Last year Andre Johnson (while healthy) was the best receiver in terms of YPG. If he stays healthy Andre Johnson could have a break out year.
3. Jerricho Cotchery, WR, New York Jets – He has an excellent rapport with Brett Favre throughout the pre-season and was his go-to guy. Cotchery had average receiver with crappy Jet QB’s last year, so this year look for him to break out. Cotchery is more of a posession receiver so he’ll have high YPG but fewer touchdowns.
4. Steve Smith, WR, Carolina Panthers – Even though he’s suspended for the first two games, he’s a good pick and will make up for it in the next 14 games. He is Delhomme’s go-to receiver, and even Delhomme is not so bad that he can’t get Steve Smith the ball.
5. Dwayne Bowe, WR, Kansas City Chiefs – I just picked this guy because Rotoworld.com had rated him highly and he was available in Round 13. He’s just the lowest in my WR picks.
6. Frank Gore, RB, San Francisco 49ers – A lot of people criticized this pick of mine, even though I had a chance to pick up Steven Jackson. But I took Gore on a big gut feeling. The offensive co-ordinator at SF is Mike Martz. The same Mike Martz who moulded the Rams offensive unit into a Super Bowl team, the same Martz who made Marshall Faulk a stud RB in a team which was almost always pass first.
7. Clinton Portis, RB, Washington Redskins – Say what you want about Portis, but he had a decent last year and he’s my RB2 – He makes one hell of a good RB2. Jim Zorn will still keep running the ball as much because Jason Campbell isn’t still a decent QB.
8. Lendale White, RB, Tennessee Titans – He is my RB3/RB4 (depending on Jonathan Stewart). White is in a RB by committee with Chris Johnson who is blazing fast. Coach Jeff Fishers says it will 50-50 or 60-40 in possessions. That’s fine by me, White isn’t always going to start.
9. Jonathan Stewart, RB, Carolina Panthers – While Stewart won’t start at Carolina, he is getting a lot of buzz. That’s really the only reason I picked him towards the tail end of my draft. Let’s see how it works out.
10. Chris Perry, RB, Cincinatti Bengals – With Rudi Johnson out of Cincinatti, Chris Perry is the starter. Kenny Watson should keep him a little sharp and provide him motivation to stay healthy.
11. Tony Gonzales, TE, Kansas City Chiefs – Old, but still gold. Although much of it depends on the QB situation at KC.
12. New York Giants Defense – Michael Strahan retired but the Giants were still strong at Defense till Umeniyora got injured and was out for the season. But Giants showed that they still got the goods.
13. Adam Vinatieri, K, Indianapolis Colts – As long as Peyton Manning gets close to the end zone often, this guy is good.

That’s it on my roster. I’m monitoring a couple of people to see if I can make a quick grab of the waiver if they improve. I’m also taking a look at AccuScore and how good they are at their predictions.

Also, one final plug for the FF Geeksource for managing the RSS feeds for Fantasy Football news, they are great!

Advertisement

Tags: Fantasy Football, Football