I Love Football

Sunday of Labor Day Weekend was my Fantasy Football draft. I’m running two leagues this year. I’m calling them the Friday Night League and the Sunday Night league based on when they drafted.

Both of my leagues use the same rules. They are PPR leagues and play 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 Flex, 1 TE, 1 K, 1 D/ST.

The two teams I drafted are polar opposites. In the Friday Night League, I’m strong at running back, tight end, and Quarterback, but my Wide Receivers aren’t great. In the Sunday Night League, I’m strong at running back and wide receiver, but really struggling at Quarterback and Tight End. The Sunday Night League saw 7 or 8 Quarterbacks go off the board in the first two rounds. Instead of reaching for a QB two or three rounds too early, instead I stocked up on Wide Receivers and Running backs. Eventually, I’ll use that surplus to upgrade my Quarterback and Tight End.

Friday Night League:

QB: Flacco, Alex Smith
RB: Ray Rice, Rashard Mendenhall, Jamall Charles, Tomlinson, Cadillac Williams
WR: Reggie Wayne, Jabar Gaffney, Derrick Mason, Mike Wallace, Julien Edelman, Devin Aromoshadu
TE: Brent Celek, Zach Miller
D/ST: Carolina Panthers
K: Matt Prater

Sunday Night League:

QB: Orton, Campbell
RB: Gore, Shonn Green , Jonathan Stewart, Clinton Portis, Donald Brown
WR: Randy Moss, Larry Fitzgerald, Greg Jennings, Hakeem Nicks, Santana Moss, Jacoby Jones
TE: Ron Gronkowski, Owen Daniels
D/ST: 49ers
K: Dan Carpenter

Wish me luck.

And now to finish up an NFL blog, 10 bold predictions for the season.

1:

The Saints will miss the playoffs – These guys partied so hard this summer, they will not be ready mentally to defend.

2:

Kevin Kolb is a bust – Does the name AJ Feely ring any bells. He was another quarterback who looked great in relief in Philly and never panned out. Kolb’s 1-1 record isn’t enough to inspire confidence in me, especially when the one win was against Kansas City.

3.

Washington is better than expected and challenges for the division – I really like what Washington did this offseason and I have serious doubts about every other team in that division

4.

Minnesota misses the playoffs – This would have been much more bold had it been written before the season opener. I don’t believe Favre can repeat his performance of last year, and as we saw Thursday night, their receivers are a mess.

5.

New England wins the AFC East – I know everyone loves sexy Rexy and New York, but people are not giving enough credit to New England. They have the best Quarterback in football with fantastic wide receivers in Moss, and Wes Welker. They have questions on defense but if there’s one coach in the NFL who I trust to scheme his way out of a weakness, its Beliceck.

6.

Carson Palmer is a bust – I believe Palmer has the same debilitating elbow injury that my former man-crush Jake Delhomme had. He will suffer the same accuracy problems, and after seeing him sailing balls high in the preseason, I’m more convinced than ever. When he starts to struggle, TO and Ocho Cinco will start to squak and it will get ugly in a hurry.

7.

Indianapolis misses the playoffs. Indy is going to take a step back. Jim Caldwell, I saw Tony Dungy coach in Tampa and Inday. You, sir, are no Tony Dungy. Peyton is getting some years on him, and they have no running game to speak of. They play in a brutal division with Houston coming on strong, Jacksonville who gives them fits, and an always tough Tennessee team.  Houston wins the division this year.

8.

The Oakland Raiders win the AFC West – Kansas City is still rebuilding. Denver will be a contender, but I believe San Diego takes a step back. I love Phillip Rivers but they are missing too many key pieces like Left Tackle Marcus McNeil and Wide Receiver Vincent Jackson. Oakland will be greatly improved by the signing of Jason Campbell. In the past couple of years, Oakland knew it had no chance because Jamarcuss Russell was cover your eyes bad. Now that they have a legitimate quarterback, the entire team will play harder. There defense and running game have been under-rated and hidden by the atrocious play at Quarterback. 

9.

San Francisco makes the playoffs, and probably wins the NFC West – They will be in a dogfight all year with Seattle. Arizona will go back to their pre Kurt Warner days and struggle for an 8-8 record. I love the mindset that Mike Singletary puts in his team. Michael Crabtree will show remarkable improvement with a full training camp under his belt which will help Alex Smith. They can lean on a fantastic running game with Frank Gore, and Singletary’s teams know how to play defense.

10.

Carolina makes the playoffs – Accuse me of homerism if you will. Everyone this offseason was all over hyping up Kevin Kolb while throwing dispersion on Matt Moore. If you look at their stats, they are very similar with one glaring exception and that is their winning percentage.  Matt Moore plays for a run first team with a very good defense, while Kolb plays for a pass first team. 

Carolina’s defense racked up 18 sacks in the preseason, many of them against the starting offensive line of their opponents. The Panthers are out to prove that they can do the job without Julius Peppers.