It’s been months since my last post but as usual football season gets me motivated to write a bit. I have no idea how much I will write this football season so I make no promises for future postings. But I do have some thoughts as preseason football is upon us. I would like to make a few predictions and speak about the 2009 season. Here is a random list of players I want to talk about.
Guys I’m high on: RB Adrian Peterson- There isn’t a better RB in football than Adrian. Peterson is on the verge of having one of those seasons like P. Holmes, M. Faulk, S. Alexander, and L. Tomlinson has. I think he is more gifted than any of those players were. That’s not a knock on those guys. It’s just that Peterson is really that special. The only thing that ever slows Peterson down is his coach. His success has always come by his pure talent. Brad Childress is one of the worst coaches in the league to me when it comes to utilizing his talent. I hope he gets out of the way this year and lets AP reach his ceiling.
RB Matt Forte- I love Forte’s game. I think this year he will elevate his stats to fantasy football stardom. I think he will match Adrian Peterson’s numbers if not surpass them (see Brad Childress for that reason). The Bears are going to be improved this year. They have a legit passing game now that they have a good QB in Jay Cutler. It also helps that Forte is as good as a pass catcher as he is at RB.
TE Greg Olson- Staying with the Bears, Olson will make a jump to fantasy football relevance this year. I feel he is about to have a breakout year and will be a top 5 fantasy TE by year’s end. Cutler utilizes his TE very well and I feel Olson will emerge as his favorite target. The Bears are going to be great this year and it will be because their offense will finally be on par with their defense. And their defense will be back on top of the fantasy football world as well.
WR Anthony Gonzalez- This one is easy. Marvin Harrison is gone, Gonzalez is a very good WR and very consistent. Peyton Manning and the Colts won’t miss a beat and in fact will be better because Harrison’s talent was down last year. This year he is completely out of the way and Gonzalez is about to reap the rewards.
QB Aaron Rodgers- I think Aaron is one of the top fantasy QBs. I would rank him 3rd right after Tom Brady and Drew Brees. I would have Peyton Manning 4th. I also think Rodgers has the upside to be fantasy’s number 1 QB this year.
RB Cedric Benson- He’s not very fast and he doesn’t break many tackles. However, he is pretty much all the Bengals have at RB. Benson may be boring but opportunity is all it takes sometimes. An average RB with plenty of chances will get fantasy points. Benson has new life now and sometimes all it takes is a new address to revive an underwhelming career.
WR Calvin Johnson- If Stafford turns out to be half the QB I think he’ll be, its game over for the rest of the NFL. Johnson was the second best WR in the game (Larry Fitzgerald was number 1) last year. He achieved that with virtually no QB. Imagine what he’ll do with some talent throwing him the ball.
RB LeSean McCoy (Rookie)- Following up to my last blog post. McCoy is the best RB in the draft, though he was drafted after Moreno and Wells. I am super high on this kid. He may not break out this year but that’s only because Westbrook is still there. McCoy is underrated and by the end of preseason he will no longer be a secret. Knowshon Moreno may have a more immediate impact because he’ll likely be the main guy in Denver but based purely on talent and future I will take McCoy.
WR Randy Moss- Tom Brady is back. What does that mean for Moss? Well that means that Moss is back. Cassel was a poor deep ball passer and Brady as we all know is not poor at doing anything. Moss will be back as a top 3 WR again.
WR Eddie Royal- Royal was the league’s best rookie WR last year. I think he’s legit. I view him as Santana Moss type talent. Small, fast, smart, runs great routes, and is a playmaker. This year he has Kyle Orton throwing him the ball instead of Jay Cutler. That’s not a bad thing. Orton spreads the ball around and is quite efficient when in the groove. Cutler locked into Brandon Marshall most of the time. I think Royal will continue his steady upward climb into being a great number 2 WR.
Guys I’m down on:Michael Turner- I am a Michael Turner proponent and always have been. To me, he had his career year last year. He reached his productivity ceiling. That doesn’t mean he isn’t going to be very good. I just don’t see him matching his totals from last year. He is on this list because you shouldn’t expect to see stats matching last year. I think the Atlanta offense will be slightly more balanced this year and some of Turner’s stats will suffer from a less opportunities. You can’t discount the effect that the addition of Tony Gonzalez will have in the redzone passing offense. Plus Matt Ryan will have a better grasp of the offense in year two and therefore will be trusted to have more on his shoulders.
DeAngelo Williams- First I want to say I am a fan of DeAngelo’s. I think he is a super talent. My opinion of his season last year was he kind of got into a groove the last half of the season and is unlikely to get there again on that level. Jonathan Stewart will factor in the offense more this year. Williams will not get the same opportunities he did last year. The talent and explosiveness is there to have the big games but Stewart shouldn’t be discounted. Williams is still a 1st round RB but I don’t see him approaching last year’s leading RB totals.
My Super Bowl:
New England Patriots VS Chicago Bears
