Fantasy Football Brothers 128 Burning Fantasy Football Questions Part 4 Of 8

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The NFL kicks off for real Thursday night as the Saints are crowned champions at home in front of their loyal fans. No city deserved a title more than New Orleans, nor a fan base that needed their team to shock the world.

Here at the Brotherhood we will be watching some of the matchups very closely in week one. What we are looking for is potential. New players on new teams, new offenses, rookies, and changes in assignments for some players.

Who will actually start? Who was targeted where? Who received touches where? Even more importantly is who is on the field during crunch time and who is on the bench when teams enter the red-zone. All of these things are important for fantasy reasons and I will explain why. Actions always speak louder than words. There is a reason for coach speak. It is used to motivate players, it is used to confuse opposing teams and for our purposes in fantasy land. Make us nuts. I’m convinced that Redskins only brought Mike Shanahan back to the NFL was to make fantasy owners nuts each week when deciding between Portis or Larry Johnson, or some back he found in the scrap heap. I’m not paranoid. For fantasy purposes it gives us a good idea if someone was undervalued in drafts. A player was just coasting during the pre-season or his injury was made a big deal by the media.

Falcons Vs. Steelers 1 P.M.

Falcons

Are the Falcons really going to limit Turner’s touches this year?

If by limit you mean 300+ touches, then yes. Turner will get 300+ touches and the Falcons would be wise to make sure that number doesn’t go over 320 for health factors alone. Turner’s numbers suffered due to injury. Injuries happen all the time especially for at the runningback spot. Before going down he was well on his way to another career year and I know there weren’t idiots out there saying the curse of 359 when he had 10 touchdowns halfway through the season. Turner slid in drafts because people bought into the hype machine.

Will Matty Ryan rebound from his sophomore slump?

Ryan’s poor year can be attributed to a few things. One the loss of Turner made Ryan see a lot less 8 man fronts. Two the Falcons defense was torched so often that it could have been arrested for arson. Three. When you have to talk your self into believing that Michael Jenkins is a solid WR, well my friends you are in trouble. With Turner gone, Tony Gonzalez effectiveness was dampened in the passing game. Will the former Boston College Eagle signal caller rebound statistically? He sure will. Does he need a some help? Of course he does what QB doesn’t need help, right Donovan McNabb?

Is there anyone opposite Roddy White to take the pressure off of him?

No there really isn’t. Harry Douglas might be able to if he can finally stay healthy but the biggest boost to the WRs is the return of Turner.

Are The Falcons defense really a sleeper Defense?

I wouldn’t go that far. Their Run defense was top 10 last season. Their secondary on the other hand was a liability which led to the free agent signing of CB Dunta Robinson from the Texans. That move alone would boost their potential pass defense rank up 5 spots.

Steelers

Can Pittsburgh keep its head above water while Big Ben is out?

The good news is the schedule is a more than manageable through the first four games with Atlanta,Tennessee,Tampa and rival Baltimore. The bad news is second year QB Dennis Dixon is hardly ready for prime time and the opposing defensive coordinators will throw everything including the kitchen sink at him.

Will Mendenhall break out this year?

I would have felt much better making this prediction if Big Ben wasn’t serving a suspension for being an idiot. Mendenhall looks primed to break out this year. The loss Roethlisberger will hurt for the first four weeks. The Steelers will want to run the ball all day to take as much pressure off of Dixon. Opposing defenses will know this and stack the box and dare Dixon to beat them. All bets are off though if Mendenhall survives all of the defensive attention that is coming his way.

How bad will the Steeler pass catchers numbers suffer over these four games?

As much as I like Wallace,Ward and Miller, they are almost a stay away during Ben’s suspension. I don’t have as much faith in Dixon or Batch’s ability to be effective through the air thus negating any potential the Steelers receivers have as pass catchers.

Will Mike Wallace’s numbers suffer now that he is a starting WR

For the fear of overkilling the Dixon factor I will just mention that is one of my concerns about Wallace’s potential this season. The other is the curse of the Steelers WR3.  Antwaan Randle El and Nate Washington both were the WR3s for the Steelers before parlaying their success into a new contract. With Holmes traded to the Jets that leaves Wallace to step into the vacated receiver spot opposite Hines Ward. Wallace has talent but will he able to torch the starting cornerbacks instead of the nickel and dime backs. His numbers should increase just by being on the field more. Will he meet the high expectations that are being set for him? Probably not.

Browns Vs Buccaneers 1 P.M.

Browns

It's Harrison's Time To Shine Hardesty? More Like A Travesty

Will Harrison take the RB reigns?

As long as Harrison stays healthy he will be a borderline RB1. Now that the bustacular Montario Hardesty is gone. Mangini now recognizes his job rest on Harrison’s ability to run the rock. After all nobody is safe when Jake Delhomme is your starting QB.

Can Delhomme turn it around?

Miracles do happen. Delhomme could have just had an awful year. He might have been hurt. It doesn’t help that he has had landed on a potentially worse offensive team. The good news is he actually wasn’t that bad in the pre-season. Does this make him fantasy worthy? No probably not unless you are playing in a start two QB league.

Can Massaquoi take the next step?

He has a better QB throwing him the ball this year, as bad as I have ripped Delhomme he is better than Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson. He has the skills required to be a star, he just needs someone decent to throw him some catchable balls and someone else on the field to take some pressure off of him.

Does Josh Cribbs make the Browns Defense a must own?

While the Browns defense has improved, their offense is still a potential liability that could put the defense on the field longer than they should be. If the Browns offense shocks the world and is decent, Cribbs’ kick return ability is good enough to make the Browns defense a must own. If you get return yardage points to go along with touchdowns the Browns are a must own.

Buccaneers

WR Mike Williams Over-Hyped Or Over-Rated?

Is Mike Williams over rated?

The scary thing about pre-season is there are a ton of WRs that come out of no where and have great pre-season games. The cause of most of these big outings is usually due to the fact that the opposing defenses blow their coverages more often than not. Teams are putting in new players into new coverages and the result are big games by WRs that more often than not walk into the endzone untouched. After all of that, is Williams over rated? A little bit based on where he has been drafted. Is he super talented? Absolutely, he is the best WR on the Bucs by far. He is a potential WR3 but nothing more than that right now.

Does Josh Freemen improve?

Freemen is a talented young QB that improved in every game and surprised me with his ability in game. I really thought he wouldn’t see the field in 09 and was pleasantly surprised by his potential. The Bucs offense already looks better on paper with the addition of Mike Williams,Arrelious Benn and Sammy Stroughter seeing a more prominent role. Add in Cadillac being another year removed from a serious knee injury and the pieces are starting to fall into place.

Can Cadillac Williams improve on his 2009 numbers?

Williams numbers should improve by default. Like mentioned above he is a full year removed from his knee injury, the team has improved offensively and defensively. Improvements on both sides of the ball should mean more opportunities to tote the rock and better blocking. A 4.2 y.p.c. this season on 200+ carries will make Williams a decent RB2 play.

Who is Kareem Huggins? And should I pick him up?

Given Williams injury history, his owners should grab him and for teams desperate for another back, then yeah he should be picked up. I know Huggins was impressive enough to let Derrick Ward go but that was more of a cost cutting maneuver than anything else. Add in the fact that the Bucs quickly scooped up Lagarrette Blount to back up both of them right away is another indicator that Tampa is not completely sold on Huggins yet.

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