Fantasy Football: Bruno Boys Ziza Sounding Off, Aug. 8

Another week has passed and as usual, plenty of stories around the NFL have surfaced. There have been contractual signings, players still holding out, injuries that have occurred with a mix of miscellaneous to boot.

What does that mean for you? Updated fantasy football information with a spin, brought to you as only the Bruno Boys can.

Devin Hester of the Chicago Bears, who has made his name in fantasy football by being an excellent kick returner, has officially been moved to wide receiver full-time and will no longer be participating on special teams—unless dire circumstances call for it.

In his attempt to excel at the receiver position, Hester will have Jay Cutler throwing to him. Hester’s speed has never been a question, but his hands and route-running have. Pay attention to training camp to see how he progresses as Cutler will be relying on Hester as a deep threat this season.

I do not recommend drafting Hester as anything more than your WR3 this season as his value will rely on producing over his draft position. If you grab him as your WR1 or WR2 he most likely will be as disappointing as the Oakland Raiders draft this past spring.

Don’t be the Al Davis of your fantasy league.

There are a few rookies that have yet to sign contracts with their teams. The key ones are wide receiver Michael Crabtree of the San Francisco 49ers and Andre Smith of the Cincinnati Bengals. You would think that after the past few years of everyone bombing after holding out, that these two players in particular would want to be in camp on time. The word now is that Smith’s holdout could last for several more weeks where as Crabtree is considering sitting out the year and rejoining the draft next year.

Crabtree now falls to a bench player on your fantasy team, if he does decide to get into camp soon where as Carson Palmer’s protection is about to take a big hit. Greediness, or in other words, getting every dollar you can should fall into the second contract of your career. The first, a squabble over a few million dollars can cost millions in the long run.

Talking about rookies, Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford and the New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez both have been impressive in camp, Stafford having drawn the biggest praise. While it makes perfect sense to sit and wait to start rookie quarterbacks, allowing them to mature on the sidelines, these two may beat out their veteran competition to start the season.

Sanchez will probably be no more than a QB3, but Stafford does have Calvin Johnson to throw to and has excited everyone around the league with his impressive play right out of the gate.

I hate to jinx my Lions, but thank God! If Stafford does start the season as their quarterback, he should be drafted in deeper leagues as a low end QB2. This is just a hunch, but if Jon Kitna can have a solid season throwing to Johnson, what do you think an actual talented quarterback could do?

If you haven’t done so already, get off of your butts and start paying attention to the injury report. Every day it seems as if a few extra names are being added to the list. We are only a handful of weeks away from fantasy football, and this time is starting to become precious. Don’t be the slacker that waits until the last minute, trying to take in all the information just before his or her draft. You will fail. And Bruno Boys Nation, we are not about failing; are we?

We have seen a lot of new and familiar names on the Bruno Boys Forum Boards, but we haven’t seen everyone yet. This is a great place to share football knowledge, gripe about your favorite players and win some great prizes. If there is one thing that you need to start doing besides starting to pay attention to injuries and such, it is to join the forum discussions. Go do it. Now!

Last but not least, congratulations to Eli Manning of the New York football Giants as he just became a player that earns more than his brother Peyton. While I, for one, think that the Giants overpaid I do have to admit that Manning has gone about his business professionally and it will be interesting to see how he does this year without a formidable WR1 to throw to. Will the Giants regret this contract? We will see. But now that he is signed, they need to try and find someone that will catch his passes.

Enjoy your week people.

*THIS ARTICLE WRITTEN BY BRUNO BOY CHRIS ZIZA. FOR MORE FANTASY FOOTBALL INSIGHT AND ADVICE, CLICK THE LINK BELOW.*

BRUNO BOYS FANTASY FOOTBALL