The Fantasy 6-Pack

It’s a great week to be following football! The the NFL Draft is approaching, we’ve got the three biggest games of the year yet to talk about, and the coaching carousel is completely bugging out!

• Chan Gailey is the new Buffalo Bills Coach!??! Really!?!? Talk about a job nobody wants. Some people don’t understand why but this team doesn’t exactly have it’s feet firmly entrenched in American soil with their proposed move to Toronto. There’s also rumors of them switching to the 3-4 defense, which would be a terrible idea for current personnel along the front seven. Disarray is the word coming to mind here, Bills’ fans.

• Warner got popped to the floor like a watermelon seed and while most folks want to know if he’s going to be returning to Arizona, I’m convinced he’s done. What I’m even more concerned to find out is where Anquan Boldin is headed. With the progression of Stevie “Ray” Breaston and Early “Times” Doucet, don’t be surprised to see Chicago pursue Boldin in a trade w/ even more future draft picks being dealt away from their 2011 stash.

• I think it’s safe to say that the Cowboys can go ahead and send Flozell Adams packing. Not only does he average 15+ penalty flags thrown on him per year, he left the franchise high and dry when they needed him most. The Vikings not only feasted on Tony Romo but the drop-off in talent after Adams to Marc Columbo and Doug Free is drastic. There are some good tackles available in this year’s draft, Dallas. You need depth in the worst way!

• I told you this would happen but the Pro Bowl is turning out to be a bigger joke than it’s ever been. Not only is every major player ducking out of the event but the timing couldn’t be worse with three of the pro bowl QBs (Brees, Favre, and Manning) very unlikely to even play in the game. I know that Indianapolis fans, still bitter about the benching of Manning in the regular season, will literally have a fit if Manning is playing in that game with the Super Bowl still yet to play the next weekend. This has to go down as one of the worst ideas of all time. Oh yeah, I just heard that Vince Young made the Joke Bowl as an alternate. Why not just throw Bruce Gradkowski out there instead?

• Like we touched on in a previous installment and on a podcast last month, it’s looking more and more like the Raiders will be considering former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach as their next head coach . Like I’ve said, he’s a perfect fit with his bizarre behavior, his eccentric nature, and the fact that he has a wicked pirate collection. That’s right, it’s going to be a done deal when he steps into the interview with Al Davis in his Jack Sparrow costume and says; “Ahoy Me Mateys!!”

• Finally, give us a shout-out Wednesday Night 9:00pm EST over at The Fantasy Exchange Podcast. Live Advice, News/Notes, Playoff Talk, and Super Bowl Predictions. We’ll even be talking a little NFL Draft. . . if that’s you’re thing.

With most of the match-ups set and the smaller player pool left, I’m just going to touch on some of this year’s young players to watch that could turn into a huge fantasy values when it’s time for your 2010 fantasy drafts.

RB Shonn Greene - New York Jets

J-E-T-S? I think it’s S-H-R-L!!! So Happy Rivers Lost! Sorry but I’ll always hate that guy. Wait, this is about the Jets and Shonn Greene . The guy looked like Rudi Johnson on crack out there against the Chargers and I expect him to keep it going against the Colts. It’s highly likely that Thomas Jones will be elsewhere next season, so consider Shonn Greene a very nice RB2 in regular leagues. The Jet-running game is impressive because of great talent, continuity, and coaching. Bill Callahan has been in this league a long time and he’s an awesome offensive line coach. The talent on the O-Line and the talent of Shonn Greene should be a nice recipe for success in 2010.

RB Donald Brown - Indianapolis Colts

I know most of you who have been reading are still mad about my completely blatant and unwarranted touting of Donald Brown outperforming Joseph Addai. No doubt it was a swing and a miss but Brown has shown flashes of major league ability in his brief moments of playing time this season. Although he was slowed by injury early in the year, I think we’ll see even more of the Connecticut Huskie in the next two games and in 2010. He’s come a long way in pass protection but it’s clear that the Colts want to get him the ball even more next season.

RB Jamal Charles - Kansas City Chiefs

I think everybody has their eyes on what exactly Kansas City will do this off-season at running back because I can’t imagine that they won’t bring another player in to at least spell Jamaal Charles , who was fabulous last season, but he has yet to convince me that he can hold up past 250+ carries. Charles ended last year on a tear and while he was one of the most consistent scorers in PPR-format leagues, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s going to repeat in 2010. I would not be surprised to see the Chiefs bring in another back to compliment Charles and give him a rest on a series or two.

WR Hakeem Nicks - New York Giants

I love this kid, so I’ll just go ahead and admit to a man-crush, but I’ve got to say that the folks drafting “the other” Steve Smith before Hakeem Nicks will be kicking themselves by mid-season next year. The bottom line is that Nicks has a great ability to high-point the ball in the air and come down with the circus-style catch on a regular basis. What Nicks may lack in deep speed, he more than makes up for in concentration and catching ability. He runs good routes, he has huge hands(wears size 4-XL gloves), and he’s going to have a full off-season with QB Eli Manning. I’m loving this guy to produce as a top-10 player next season.

WR Kenny Britt - Tennessee Titans

I really was disappointed when the Titans drafted this kid but talent will always translate into big plays and we saw some nice flashes from Kenny Britt this season but I think the best is yet to come with his prototype size and leaping ability. He’s also been a very willing blocker dating back to his college days , and now the recent team news is reporting that Britt will be the lining up as the number one WR next season. He could produce as a very solid WR#2 in fantasy leagues and it’s safe to say that his value will never be this low again.

TE Brandon Pettigrew - Detroit Lions

I know it’s Detroit and I know that Matt Stafford didn’t really impress that many people but he’s got an NFL arm on him. He’s also got a great group of targets to use, one of which is fellow rookie Brandon Pettigrew . The biggest reason Pettigrew will be on the field more next season is his progression as a blocker but don’t sleep on this kid because if he hadn’t missed the last 6 games due to a knee injury, he may have finished as the 15th TE in a PPR scoring-system. I’m thinking he’ll not only stay healthy next season but he’ll also take his game up another level. I’m still a really big fan of this kid.

Thanks for reading folks and if you’ve got any comments, questions, or complaints please bang them out below and you can also send ‘em my way to [e-mail]