Fantasy Football Advice

Throughout training camp we’re going to hear a lot of good things about players.  Should we believe them?  No, but we can at least listen and decide if we WANT to believe them!  Of course we want to believe that the 7th string receiver for our favorite team would be the #1 receiver for our most hated team.  And we want to believe that the old and often injured star is in the best condition of his life and looks like he just walked out of a Greek tapestry. And we want to believe when the coach says the injury is minor, it’s not a decapitation.  And we want to believe the three backup lineman, who will probably end up starting, look like Sumo wrestlers with feet like Michael Flatley.

The good thing about camp is that there are many position battles to watch and the news out of training camp will start pointing us in the direction those battles are headed.  So, we’ll go from practice to practice with beat reporters telling us, this guy looked awesome and this guy is Jamal Lewis-slow and this guy picked his nose and this guy peed in the hot tub and so on and so forth, and we’ll hang on their every word, article, blog post, and tweet because we want football now!

Roddy White: He was a no-show at Flowery Branch.  He got lost on his way down the Atlanta Highway or maybe decided to go on a love getaway: I couldn’t say.  But he will be fined 17 grand a day while he holds out.  This doesn’t look like it will turn into much.  Of course you want your fantasy players in camp to get timing down, but White isn’t a rookie anymore and he should get into camp with a little time to spare.

Braylon Edwards: He has yet to practice due to an undisclosed injury.  Browns fans better hope he doesn’t have a Kellen Winslow-like staph infection in his undisclosed testicles.

Alex Smith: The 2005 #1 overall pick and bust in waiting was booed at camp and his coach was thrilled!  Coach Singletary believes it’s good for him to be booed because he seems to think he’ll be booed a lot if he ever plays again.

Tarvaris Jackson: He has a low grade sprain in his MCL.  Bernard Berrian tweeted that T-Jack was out for the year and then tweeted yet again to say, psyche!, “Ok folks jokes over. T-Jack is fine. But, lesson learned here. DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING U SEE IN THE MEDIA!! Yes, twitter is media!!” I think this just means, don’t believe Bernard Berrian and that we won’t see him doing standup anytime soon.

Chris “Beanie” Wells: He has shed 20 pounds since draft day and just signed a 9 million, 5 year deal. Of course many were down on him for his health and on his first day of practice he gets carted off the field!  The details are sketchy right now, but I’m not done with him because of one practice injury.

Tim Hightower set records for his anemic yards per carry, and for a team with Fitz, Boldin and Breaston spreading the defense, that has got to be difficult.  Wells couldn’t do any worse.  As long as he can stay on the field and keep Kurt Warner out of Phoenix Memorial, he should see most of the carries.

Bryant Johnson: It was just revealed that Johnson will be out a couple weeks after he received cuts and abrasions all over his body due to a severe golf cart accident involving himself, a gated community and a severely shredded powder blue polo shirt.

Ryan Torain: While No Show Moreno naps, Torain is looking strong in practice.  Torain is way down on the depth chart, but while Moreno is out it’s anybody’s job to take and if Moreno holds out too long he could be sitting during game days.

Derrick Mason: He pulled into camp in a Lamborghini and said he wanted to play.  I’m guessing he doesn’t need the cash, but the Ravens sure need him.  Look for another 1,000 yard 5+ TD season.

Reggie Brown: The perennial sleeper is already looking lost at camp according to SI’s Ross Tucker.  Since Andy Reid has McNabb spread the ball to about everyone, including waterboys and wives, whoever wins the second receiver position for the Eagles won’t be a huge fantasy stud, but if he can stay on the field he’ll get enough looks to make him worth a bench spot.

Peyton Manning: With Dungy gone and Caldwell in, it looks as if Manning will have full control over the Indy car.  Due to some pension logistics Tom Moore (offensive coordinator) and Howard Mudd (offensive line coach) looked like they were on the way out, but Manning didn’t care for that and now Moore and Mudd are coming back as the Senior Offensive Coordinator and Senior Offensive Line Coach.   This has to be good news.  Manning gets what he wants and Manning throws touchdowns.

Chris Henry: An avalanche of good reports (no, not police reports) coming out of Bengals’ camp about the often detained Henry.  All stories say he’s completely changed.  This is exactly the kind of schlock you’re going to get from camp, but I guess it’s better than him being carted away in the paddy wagon or being flung out of a cart.

Michael Vick: The Twitter rumor mill was churning out Vick to New England in 140 characters or less, but still no official anything from Belichick.  Which seems odd because I’ve never known him to be anything less than forthcoming.  The Patriots have had luck with players like Corey Dillon and Randy Moss, but Vick could still easily be in the UFL this year.

We at Razzball realize that exporting our views across the country has damaging consequences on the blogosphere.  To help make amends, we are reaching out to leading team blogs and featuring their locally blogged answers to pressing 2009 fantasy football questions regarding their team.  We feel this approach will be fresher, more sustainable, and require less energy consumption (for us anyway).  The 2009 Vikings Fantasy Football Preview comes courtesy of Daily Norseman.

1. It now “seems” that Favre won’t be playing for the Vikings this year.  How do you think  Favreageddon has impacted the Vikings?  And are you relieved, angry, disappointed, or all of the above?

I would like to think that it hasn’t impacted them that much.  Right around draft time this year, Viking fans were anticipating an open competition for the starting QB job between Sage Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson.  Rosenfels and Jackson have gone through all the camps anticipating as much, I presume, because Favre wasn’t there.  Now he’s not going to be there, but I don’t think things have changed that much for T-Jack and the Spicerack.  (Pretty catchy, eh?)  But the Vikings have a solid veteran core, and I don’t think they’re going to allow this to allow this to affect the team in any meaningful way.

As far as my personal reaction, the only thing that really miffs me is that the mainstream media. . .as well as our site. . .made this THE story of the Vikings’ off-season.  We spent so much time covering this that there were a lot of other aspects of the Vikings that went ignored this off-season.  Both the national media and our site (on a smaller scale, obviously) did a disservice to the fans of the Vikings by allowing this story to absorb so much of our thought process.

2. Adrian Peterson is a beast and number one on every fantasy top ten I’ve seen.  Barring injury what could possibly hold him back from another huge season? Do you foresee any change in Chester Taylor’s 3rd down status?

Outside of injury, the only thing that can stop Adrian Peterson is Adrian Peterson.  More specifically, his ability to hold on to the football.  Peterson did fumble the ball 9 times in 2008, and some folks are under the impression that that signals some sort of “fumbilitis” that’s going to haunt him forever and ruin his career.  While fumbles are potentially devestating, obviously, they’re not necessarily a killer.  A prime example of that is a guy that Peterson has been compared favorably too, former Ram/Colt/Raider/Falcon running back Eric Dickerson.  The year Dickerson set the single-season rushing mark, he put the ball on the ground fourteen times.  Heck, in the first four years of his career, Dickerson averaged over 12 fumbles a season.  He also averaged about 1750 yards and 14 TDs a year during that time.  Peterson only had four fumbles as a rookie, so I think that calling him “butterfingers” or anything like that is premature at best.

As much as we’d like to see Peterson out there on the field for more third downs, Chester Taylor has established himself as one of the league’s better third down backs, and I would be surprised if he didn’t retain that role this season.  Taylor is a good change of pace runner and a great pass catcher when called upon, and utilizing him also gives Brad Childress the ability to keep Peterson fresher through the course of a game.  The Peterson/Taylor tandem is right up there with the best 1-2 running back punches in the NFL, and will continue to be in 2009.

3. The wide receiver situation hasn’t been great in Minnesota for a while now.  Percy Harvin is getting some praise early on.  Who do you see starting behind Berrian?

Ideally, if he can stay healthy and start learning how to run decent routes, Sidney Rice would line up across from Berrian with Harvin in some sort of slot/wild card role and Bobby Wade slipping in as the #4 guy from time to time.  I pimped Sidney Rice last year to pretty much anybody that would listen, and he repaid me by going out, getting hurt, and generally being awful.  However, he’s got a ton of physical ability, outstanding hands, and great body control.  He’s got all the tools to be a very good NFL wide receiver. . .he simply needs to show the desire to ascend to that level.  If he doesn’t, the Vikings should put a moratorium on receivers from South Carolina for the next couple of decades (see also: Williamson, Troy).

4. You’ve taken a detailed look at the Vikings schedule on your blog.  What does it look like?  Do you see a high scoring season fulfilling all our fake football dreams or will it be a grind it out kind of schedule?

Honestly, and this is going to make me sound like a complete homer, but I think this team would have to try very hard to not win at least ten games in 2009.  The first five weeks of the schedule are relatively soft. . .which is good, considering that that’s when we might lose Pat and Kevin Williams. . .followed up by what should be a couple of bloodbaths against Baltimore and Pittsburgh in consecutive weeks.  The stretch run of the Vikings’ schedule is a bit tricky in spots, too, but I really think that the Vikings should win anywhere between ten and twelve games in 2009 and be celebrating their second straight NFC North division title.

5. Who do you feel will win the starting quarterback job?   Who do you hope wins the job?

I honestly don’t know who will win the starting QB job.  Well, I do know it won’t be John David Booty, anyway.  But it’s interesting. . .the Vikings traded away a fourth-round pick for Rosenfels and gave him a three-year contract worth about $9 million, and you generally don’t do that for somebody that’s going to sit on the bench.  On the other hand, Jackson did look like he had improved at the end of last season, and he might be able to carry that momentum forward into 2009.

If you put a gun to my head right now, I’d probably pick Rosenfels to get the first snap of the year.  Of course, if you asked me tomorrow, you might get a different answer.  I can tell you one thing, though. . .we know what the most intriguing story line in Vikings’ camp this year will be.

6. The NFC North has quickly become a quarterback’s heaven with Cutler going to the Bears, Rodgers playing well for the Packers and Stafford going to the Lions.  Do you see the Norris Division turning into the AFC West?

I’m sure that quarterback will be a primary concern of the Vikings over the next couple of seasons, as it should be.  Sage Rosenfels has never been a starter on a regular basis, and Tarvaris Jackson is still a pretty unproven commodity.  Having said that, though, people need to be reminded sometimes that the 2008 Vikings won ten games and the NFC North with a combination of “bad” Tarvaris Jackson (his first two starts of the year), Gus Frerotte, and “good’ Tarvaris Jackson (his play from the time he relieved Frerotte in Detroit to the end of the regular season).  Yes, the Vikings might be deficient at quarterback compared to their other divisional counterparts. . .but they have the best running back in the NFL and arguably the best defense in the NFC, neither of which is something any other team in the NFC North can lay claim to.

7. Of course there is now some speculation of Michael Vick going to Minnesota.  Would you be for or against this?

Holy good lord, no, we don’t need Michael Vick anywhere near Minnesota.  We have enough talent at running back the way it is.

I’ve always been of the opinion that Michael Vick has never, ever been a good NFL quarterback, and him spending two seasons playing in the Virginia Penal League hasn’t done anything to sway me in that regard.  I’d much rather go into battle in 2009 with what we have than risk bringing in a circus like Vick.  And that doesn’t even begin to get into the character issue, but in the interest if brevity, I won’t get into that part of things.

Tony Romo: Romopson has split.  Or Simpomo.  Whatever.  They are no longer.  Simpson tweets, “Everyone needs to know that hope floats … grab the strings and pull it back to you.”  This would be a good time for the class to turn their textbooks to “mixed metaphor.”

I know this really shouldn’t change much on the field, but without TO and Simpson and all the distractions they bring, it is hard to imagine this can’t help Romo at least a little. He has to be a little tired of all the talk of choking and vacationing and other -ings.  This is the year he needs to prove himself and I think he has a chance.  Look for Roy Williams and Jason Witten to benefit.

Derrick Mason: He says he’s retiring, which would be a big blow to the Ravens and Flacco.  This story is still in development.  Rumors are flying around about why, but the bottom line is the Ravens need Mason this year.

Michael Turner: “You can’t run 370 times a season,” according to offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey.  I don’t know if that’s an absolute, but I do know I average about ten runs a year and they usually coincide with downpours and the El.  So The Burner won’t be burning quite as much as last year which makes sense in reality, but us here in fantasyland don’t care if they run Mr. Burner into the ground as long as his decline doesn’t start until next season!  You can probably drop Turner down half a notch, but I don’t see this revelation changing much.

Bubba Franks: Cut by the Jets for having too old school of name and legs.

Michael Crabtree: Was brought to tears by Mike Singletary.  Reports are that Singletary found yet another chance to drop his pants.

Matt Cassel: Inks a 6 year 63 million dollar deal.  There is a lot to like about the system Cassel will be working in, but a lot to dislike about his new team.  He can be a good fantasy backup since the Chiefs will probably be playing from behind (think Thigpen).

Alex Smith/Shaun Hill: Singletary says he will wait until the third preseason game to name the starting QB.  We all hope this announcement comes pants on.

There aren’t many fantasy options in San Fran, but Frank Gore’s production will be tied to how well one of these two play.  I can’t say I’m overly optimistic.

Tarvaris Jackson: May demand a trade if and when Favre signs.  Is this before or after he is cut?

Antonio Bryant: The Bucs didn’t give Bryant a new deal so he’ll be a free agent after this season.  He had a break out season last year, but with a new coach and the four-headed monster McLeftFreeson at QB, he will have trouble repeating last year.  His contract situation should get him ready to play so I’m not losing all hope, but I’m waiting to see how the QB situation shakes out.

Brian Robiskie: The Browns’ rookie looks to be the front runner for the #2 wide receiver slot behind Braylon Edwards.  With the Browns looking to play just above horrible this season he probably won’t have much fantasy value, but there are worse things than being the #2 WR on the Browns.  I’m drawing a blank.

The League: A new comedy on F/X that revolves around a group of friends who play fantasy football together in the suburbs of Chicago.  It will be semi-improvised and directed by Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Jeff Schaffer.  Y0u know you’ll watch it.