Bob's Preseason Rankings

Jon

Will Foster continue to stay on the sidelines?

Awesome  team………if this was 2005.  In fantasy land, there is nothing worse than drafting on past production and that’s exactly what you did.  Have you not read anything about Foster’s steady decline?  Or the curse of 370?  Or the fact that Ben Tate is a very capable backup who may take a lot of carries away?  Well apparently not, but that’s not the worst of it.  Every person on your team is like a year from getting their AARP card.  Welker is 32 and like 4th option on his team.  Ditto for Sproles.  Jennings may be the #1 option on his team, but considering he has Christian Ponder throwing to him, he would have better value on Green Bay’s practice squad.  I will say I did like the Vernon Davis pick but then you went ahead and picked Antonio Gates 3 rounds later, which confused me because I didn’t think offensive tackles produced a lot of fantasy points.  To sum up your draft, your best pick was your defense……..

Grade: 45 (I had to go with a number because an F can still be a 65 and that was way too high IMO)


Lane-o

Fantasy STUD!

Good draft which usually leads to a good team.  I love Jamaal Charles this year, especially in a PPR league with Andy Reid calling the shots (think Westbrook in his prime, but better).  Also, keeping Alf at a 10th round value was a steal and allowed you to go WR-WR-WR with your next 3 picks.  I really like White because he is Matty Ice’s bibby and even though Julio will be the #1, Roddy is 1b.  It also helps him that Tony G is 100 and won’t see as many targets this year.  Cobb is another one I love because even his own QB said he could be a 100 catch guy.  Ball and Richardson are both RBs I am targeting as late rounders with a lot of upside.  Richardson may lose carries to either Pead or Stacy as the season goes on, but he is such a good receiving RB that Bradford will look for him as his safety blanket.  I could tell you how much I like Kenbrell Thompkins this year, but I don’t have 4 hours to delve into that.  The only problem with this team is your TE is terrible, and I mean TERRRIBLE with a capital T. 

Grade: B+


Matty V

Shady is looking promising in Chip's offense

If there was one player I like as much as Jamaal this year…. It would be Shady.  This guy is 2 seasons removed from being the best of the best.  Yes, that was helped by a 20 td campaign but what is to say that won’t happen again.  New coach Chip Kelly likes to run and play fast, which just happen to play right into McCoy’s wheelhouse.  Throw in the fact that they lost Maclin and may have to rely on the run even more, I am not betting against him finishing the year as the #1 back.  Bruce Arians resurrected Reggie Wayne’s career last year and he is half the athlete that Fitzgerald is.  I am expecting big things from Palmer and Fitz combo.  Now onto the bad.  Murray is a Boom/Bust pick and I wouldn’t have taken the risk in the 3rd, wayyy to early.  Your WR’s outside of Fitz are very mediocre at best and your TE in the 13th is probably better than the one you took in the 7th.  RG3 helps though so you will have a good, not great team.

Grade: C


Mike R   

Lots of TDs?

I don’t like the drafting of QB’s in the 1st round this year, but with Brees I could make an exception.  Saints defense is terrible and they are dropping like flies, which means Brees is going to throw a ton, and he is really good at that.  If I had to choose a WR to finish #1 besides Calvin it would be Thomas or Dez.  The Welker signing just assured that he will see a ton of 1 on 1 coverage and he may lead the league in TD’s because of this.  He is an absolute BEAST and Peyton knows it.  I think you reached a little for Wilson because he is a timeshare back but really liked the value of the Bradshaw pick.  He could be a 3 down back on a playoff caliber team that you got in the 6th round.  I also really like Garcon this year and James Jones because no one else on Green Bay can stay healthy besides him.  Fred Davis that late is great value but when you already have Garcon it kind of hurts you because Washington is a running team, not a throwing one.  And I have to mention that Ridley is so undervalued this year it’s scary.  He is the best RB they have had since I can’t even remember when.  Oh and they score a ton and he is their Goal Line back.  Nom Nom Nom fantasy points. 

Grade: B-

 
Orrico

Will Trent stay off the sidelines?

This looks like a good team if you look quick (and I mean real quick), but every one of them has question marks about them.  Let’s start from the top.  Trent averaged 3.5 yards per carry and always seems to be a little dinged up, oh and still plays on the Browns who aren’t exactly a juggernaut offense.  How much longer can Andre be the only passing option on his team and how many targets will go to the newly acquired DeAndre Hopkins as they try to make their passing attack more spread out?  Vincent Jackson is solid but still has Freeman throwing to him, which is just a hair better than Sanchez.  Tony G is 59 and looked like he was stuck in mud in his first action of preseason.  Colston has a foot issue that will linger the whole season.  Ivory, plays for the worst team in the NFL and is always hurt, and I mean always.  Peyton can’t throw right.  The list goes on and on.  Great Defense though.  Your best pick was Luck and you will never start him over Peyton so it doesn’t do much good.  I would trade for some youth and less risky players. 

Grade: D+

 
Dan D

CJ?K

This team gave me an emotional roller coaster from highs to lows that I don’t think I have ever had before.  I would rename this team to: The Good, The Bad, and the UGLY.  The good is your RB’s.  Doug Martin is a stud and almost consensus #2 back behind the one and only AP.  Chris Johnson is so undervalued it’s not funny anymore.  Here are some stats of his.  He has NEVER rushed for less than 1,000 yards in a season (5 years running, and for this purpose MJD only has 3 in his career) and has always averaged over 4 yards per.  He has missed 1 game in his whole career and that was his rookie year.  Only once did he receive less than 50 targets in the passing game and that was last year with 49.  But yet he goes off the boards around the 15th best RB this year.  OK end rant.  Next is Ed Lacy who is a lock for 10-15 TD’s and I am leaning toward the latter.  Now the bad.  Your WR’s.  All of them besides Megatron.  You took both Wallace and Austin over about a dozen WR’s that I would rather have (Garcon, Brown, Nelson, Jackson just to name a few).  Then you completely reached on back up RB’s Mendy and Tate.  I like waiting on a QB because Eli is great value when most are getting kickers and defense’s but not sure Bennett was the pick at TE you had in mind before this started.  2 teams let him walk for a reason.   

Grade: C+ (only because your core 4 players are that good, maybe 5 if Eli has a good year)


Papa Scaf

HAHA McFadden, Healthy? HAHA

I am going to try my hardest to be nice because my grandfather always taught me to respect your elders.  Papa, you have the best QB (I like him even more now because this is the last year I can keep him), a possible best WR in Dez, and Lamar Miller has a lot of upside this year for the rebuilt Dolphins.  But, your whole season is banking on McFadden and a bunch of WR’s that are either 1st or 2nd year players.  Even if Darren can stay healthy, a big if, he plays on a football team that would finish in the bottom half of the SEC, never mind the NFL.  Your WR’s would be studs in a dynasty league, but are probably about 1-3 years away from true fantasy production for any given year.  And you made a mistake by picking Le’Veon Bell that early, and then made an even worse mistake by drafting Dwyer later because his real back up is Isaac Redman.  I will say you have the best kicker in the league bar none though.  LEGATRON!!!!!!!

Grade: D

 
Steve
 

Crunched

Now this looks like the type of draft I would have.  I’m not sure if that’s a good thing but the potential is there.  Your first 2 picks were very safe, which is smart cause you can’t win a draft in the 1st or 2nd rounds, but you can def lose it by blowing those picks.  Your next 4 picks are where you took the risk and at least 1 of these has to pay off.  Bowe has the best QB of his career throwing to him now, even though it’s still only Alex Smith.  Amendola will be the best pick of this draft if he plays more than 12 games this year, which I believe, will happen.  Tom Brady is so good that he should be able to help Amendola stay away from the trainer’s room just by putting the ball exactly where it needs to be so the WR doesn’t have to reach or dive for throws off target.  Ryan Mathews looks to be rejuvenated this preseason to prove the hater’s wrong and if Nicks can defy the odds and stay healthy this season, he is highway robbery in round 6.  Hate Romo as a real life QB, but love him for Fantasy.  Sure he may not be clutch but he loves to throw, has been very accurate throughout his career, and has a top 5 core to throw to.  Finley is a top 10 TE on a bad year just because he plays with Rodgers.  And then your bench offers good potential.  Need some luck to reach full potential of this team but who in fantasy doesn’t need that? 

Grade: B


Baby Scaf

Stud, end of story

If there is one team that has better RB’s than Dan, it’s Scaf Jr.  Jackson, MJD, Spiller should average around 50 points per week between the 3 of them.  Jackson should lead the league in TD’s because if fat Turner can get double digit TD’s, then I have to assume Jackson is good for 20.  MJD is MJD and the whole Jax offense, and Spiller has been touted as this year’s breakout candidate by just about every site out there.  Add to this that your QB will probably rush for double digit scores himself, and your team is looking pretty strong without even considering your WR’s (which is probably good because they aren’t too good).  Reggie Wayne is good but is more of a move the chains possession type guy now that he is 48.  Shorts and Gordon have tons of talent but both lack a QB with any of it.  Austin has a good QB but never stays healthy and will be 2nd or 3rd option on his own team depending on the week.  But you still have a solid TE because Eli has always loved his TE’s, especially in the red zone, and your RB’s/QB should carry you to a winning season.  However, it may be your WR’s that keep you from a championship.

Grade: A-

 
Skinny

Ray Ray is a Monster

A tale of 2 halves for this drafter.  I will compare this draft to a golfer that is shooting 4 under after the first 9 and then finishes the round 10 over.  You kept Ray Rice who is worth a 1st rounder and then followed it up with old reliable Frank Gore to build a great core.  Birdie, Birdie.  Then you nabbed another safe pick in Tommy Terrific and followed that up with the PPR monster Cruz in the 4th.  And Cruz will be even better if/when Nicks gets hurt or never quite finds the chemistry with Eli that they have had in the past.  Then you picked up Witten who is a top 3 option in PPR’s in the 5th, which is like a sand save par on hole 9 to finish the front.  BenJarvus will be good for about 3-4 weeks before Bernard takes about 70% of the touches from there on out.  Bogey.  Picking Boldin this late isn’t that bad because Kaep loves to lock into 1 guy and I think that will be Boldin.  Par.  Ingram still plays on the Saints which gives him potential but not as much in a PPR league.  Bogey.  Greg Little can’t catch it with stick em all over his hands and may get arrested for speeding at any given time.  Double Bogey.  Reaching for Houston’s defense.  Another Double Bogey.  Santana Moss is that snowman you hate to put down and just wish more than anything you could take that one back.  Dalton is good but why do you need a serviceable back up you have Brady.  Boges.  And Janikowski may have the biggest leg in the NFL but that offense won’t make it over half too much.  Triple Bogey.  Yikes how quickly a round gets away from you.  Better luck next year.   

Grade: C-

 
Mike V

Will Matty Ice be better than last year?

“Mike Mike Mike Mike, guess what day it is?????  HUMPP DAYYY!!!”  Anyway, well done on your draft.  You kept AP at a 3rd round value which is so fantastic it makes me smile.  Then your first 2 picks are only 2 of the top 4 WR’s I would want on my team, which was followed up by an even better pick of Matt Ryan in the 4th.  Ryan has the best receiving core to throw to out of anyone in the NFL and now that Jackson is in the fold to make defenses respect the run, he could be the #1 QB for fantasy.  I think I gave my opinion of how the Bengals backfield will shake out in Skinny’s review and you have the better of the 2.  DeSean Jackson is crazy value because he is basically working on a 1 year deal and should be motivated to perform this year so he can get his new pay check next season.  Also, Vick has a huge arm which fits right into DeSean’s strengths.  Hillman and Williams are more great value picks that late as both could be starting running backs, and anyone who is the starting running back for a team run by Peyton Manning is a fantasy commodity (ask Joseph Addai).  The only thing that I didn’t like is the back to back mediocre TE’s.  I like both because they both have upside with Cook being Bradford’s new go to and Olsen basically playing as Carolina’s #2 WR, but why not just commit to one or the other.  Well that and the Pat’s defense, because in case you haven’t watched a game lately, they are pretty bad. 

Grade: B-


Quinn

Can Reggie carry the load for the lowly Lions?

Ohhhh Quinny.  If you thought I was hard on you last year, then you ain’t seen nothing yet.  Lynch is a stud but this is his last year under contract with Seattle and they have Turbin and Michael to take the reins next year because they won’t want to spend the money for an old worn down RB past his prime.  You reached like crazy for Reggie Bush.  Yes it’s PPR but its still Reggie Bush and he is not a sure thing to stay healthy as he has the last 2 years.  Then you had the biggest bonehead move of the draft by going TE-TE with your 2nd and 4th picks.  Why not just keep picking them so you can have a stranglehold on the position if that’s what you are going for?  The rest of your team might all be on IR by week 6.  Broyles is coming off 2 ACL tears, Brown already has a broken leg, Jordy can’t seem to stay healthy the last 2 years, and even if Vincent Brown stays healthy, he plays for a bottom five offensive team.  I hope you can trade one of your top 2 TE’s for a whole new squad. 

Grade: F+

Read more »

What a Week!

What a week.  No Stanley Cup, no more A-Ran, no more Doc, no more Paul or Kevin.  Not the best week for what has been a fantastic run of New England sports.  Did anyone see this coming?  This week was crazy enough to get me out of my blogging hiatus (round of applause).  Hockey isn’t my forte and I am not in the mood to write about a scumbag – so you got it C’s fans, what just happened?

First let’s start with what we know, we don’t have our coach anymore.  What does that really mean?  In all honesty, probably not a whole lot in such a players’ league with a rebuilding team.  Could he have bought us a few more wins next year?  Maybe.  Could he have kept the core together one more run?  Maybe.  But would it be worth it?  Probably not.  So why does it hurt so much still?  In Boston we aren’t used to being second fiddle in anything.  That is basically what happened, the greatest organization in NBA history was no longer desirable for a coach that preached family & togetherness.  That is why it hurt, we are no longer good enough.

We saw the same thing last year with Ray, now Doc.  Ray left for our rivals in Lebron and the Heat.  Now Doc is going to LA – not to the Lakers, but to the lowly Clippers and their scumbag owner.  Ray left more money on the table; Doc is going to a racist, sexist pig of an owner.  That is why it hurts, Boston is no longer good enough.

Boston will miss these 3

What hurts the most isn’t any of the above, but what broke last night during the NBA draft.  Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett (and Jason Terry) will no longer be a member of the Celtics.  It had been rumored for some time now, but it finally happened, the new Big 3 era was finally over.  15 years for the captain were over.  The heart and soul of the last 6 years was gone.  And to the New Jersey Brooklyn Nets.  Wow.

We did double the length of the window that was expected at the beginning, doesn’t make it any easier to see now.  No doubt #34 and #5 will one day come back to raise their numbers to the rafters, but it won’t be easy to see them in Black and White playing in an awkward new arena in Brooklyn.  It will be weird to see them coming out of the visitors’ locker room in Boston.

But it had to be done, the time was right.  The only way to be good in the NBA is to be a destination city in free agency or to be really bad, and get lucky in the draft.  Boston and Danny Ainge had only one option, the draft.  Boston has never been a desirable city for free agents, so they needed to go to the draft.  And why not go for the 2014 draft?  It is loaded.

Is Wiggins the future?  One can hope.

Boston fans – it won’t be fun next year, but hopefully it’s bad enough to get better really quickly via the draft.  One can only hope the next savior of the Celtics will follow the same path as the truth, from Kansas to Boston for 15 years.  Andrew Wiggins will make it worth the bad year.  Here’s to hoping for #22 to Boston.

Read more »