Take It To The Bank - Volume 2 By Jeremy Miller/Brandon Anderson
08/27/08 In part two of our “Take It to the Bank” feature
Brandon Anderson takes the stage and gives you his take on what to
expect this season. These are not your run of the mill projections, these
are projections that can win you title by thinking outside of the box. Of
course, the other “Take It to the Bank” writer, Jeremy Miller,
had to chime in on a couple just to give you another point of view to
ponder.
-
The biggest draft bust at each major position will be Tom
Brady, Adrian Peterson, and Braylon Edwards.
Adrian Peterson was absolutely awesome last year… for 2 games. Take those 2
games away, and do you realize that he wasn’t even a top 20 RB for the
season? Teams are going to stack the box so that they’re not the next in the
record books, and they’ll be gunning for him All-Day long. Add in the injury
problems, and he will not finish in the top 15 RBs. As for Braylon, he is
already dealing with a foot injury, and receivers with his high ratio of TDs
per catch have a very difficult time repeating top performances from one
year to the next. He too will finish out of the top 15. Tom Brady simply
can’t match what he did last season. History indicates a return to normalcy,
and that should mean a 4000-yard 28-TD effort for Brady, which should still
keep him in the top 5 QBs but will disappoint anyone wasting their 1st round
pick on him. -
Steve Smith will still finish among the top 10 WRs, and
Terrell Owens will not.
Last year was the first time since ‘02 that Owens repeated as a top 10
fantasy WR year in back to back seasons. This guy just can’t seem to keep
the pieces together consistently. He peaks with a big season and then his
mind and body wander. TO just got his last big paycheck. How hard do you
think he’ll push himself to get back on the field when that inevitable
midseason ankle sprain comes this year? The motivation simply is not there.
The reverse is true for Steve Smith, who should have that chip on his
shoulder he needs with this early 2-game suspension. With Jake Delhomme
healthier than ever, Smith should be a top 10 WR this year even if he misses
a few games. Remember the first two games of last season, when Jake did
play? Smith put up 15 catches, 271 yards, and 4 TDs. He’s fired up, and he’s
ready. And now he’s a bargain too. -
Bounced Check
So TO had his last big payday and you think his motivation is gone? Your
forgetting the one last piece to TO’s career that has evaded him….A RING!
This is the fire that will propel him once again into not just the top 10,
but the top 5 this coming season. TO finally has a good relationship with
his QB and this relationship with Romo, his amazing ability, and the drive
to be the best will make TO one of the best yet again this season. As far as
Smith goes, he already has the suspension working against him. So that is
two games you can cross off right there. Add in the fact that he has a
tendency to get banged up at some point during the season (he has only
played 16 games two times in his career) and you can probably count on him
missing at least one or two additional games. I won’t knock what he will do
while on the problem is I don’t think he can crack the top 10 in the 11-13
games he will likely play. – Jeremy Miller -
Darren McFadden will be a top 10 fantasy RB this season.
Ok, so this is not a great team. No, they don’t have the best line in the
league. Yes, they do have a veteran RB who played well last season with a
good YPC and should start the season out as the lead back. Can he still be a
top fantasy RB? Read those sentences again but in 2007, and substitute
“Adrian Peterson” in all of the sentences. The fact is that the
circumstances don’t matter if the talent is there, and McFadden is more
NFL-ready than Peterson was. He’s also a more well rounded player, ready to
contribute out of the backfield as a receiver as well. Don’t worry about the
line – if journeyman Justin Fargas can put up a 4.5 YPC, DMac will find all
the space he needs to get his blazing speed going. -
Al Saunders will be at it again, turning the Rams offense
into fantasy gold.
Assuming Steven Jackson gets into camp soon – and it will be stunning if he
does indeed hold out – the Rams offense should be dynamic yet again this
season. SJax in particular should be outstanding for Saunders, a coach that
has produced RB studs one after another. The receiving numbers should be
high again as well. Marc Bulger if healthy should be great again as well. He
should finish with over 4000 yards and plenty of TDs, and a 16 game season
should threaten the top 5 QBs. Holt will be consistent and very good again,
and he should have a shot at another top 10 year. -
Derek Anderson was a one-year wonder and will be replaced
by Brady Quinn before the end of the season.
Anderson was a great story last year, but it is not meant to last. His
fantasy stats may look great, but Anderson is not helping his team enough to
hold the position long term. He completed just over 56% of his passes last
year, abysmal for an NFL starting QB. He also threw 19 interceptions, one of
the highest totals among starters, and consistently hurt his team in big
moments. Brady Quinn has an NFL pedigree and the fans want him on the field.
Anderson will be playing Dallas, Pittsburgh, NY Giants, Jacksonville, and
Baltimore (x2); all in the first half of the season. Quinn will get his shot
and won’t look back. -
Two of this year’s biggest sleepers will reside in
Baltimore: Ray Rice and Todd Heap.
Todd Heap has finished among the top 5 TEs every healthy season in the NFL,
and now his value is boosted further by the addition of coach Cam Cameron,
who has the golden touch with tight ends. Ray Rice is an absolute bowling
ball of a back who runs with a low center of gravity and has a great nose
for the endzone. He looks to be right out of the Maurice Jones-Drew mold. He
is also a good receiver, and he’s been getting rave reviews in training
camp. Add in McGahee’s injury problems opening the door, and Rice could be
this year’s rookie sleeper! -
Two of last year’s biggest sleepers will rise to the top
again, Ryan Grant and Earnest Graham.
Both of these guys were spectacular in half seasons last year. Both of them
put up big TD number. Both are great receivers out of the backfield. Both
play in offenses that are set up with the run game. And both would be first
round fantasy draft picks this year if they had flashier highlight reel runs
or were former 1st round NFL draft picks. Look where someone like Marshawn
Lynch is being taken and these two both did better last year. Don’t overlook
them just because they don’t have the pedigree. -
Bounced Check
For a guy who is very progressive in thought, this one surprises me
Brandon. This is not 2007, and Grant and Graham are simply not talented
enough to maintain their magic carpet ride. The rug gets pulled out from
underneath both of them this year, so let’s start with Grant. Grant was very
impressive least season running through large holes as Brett Favre kept the
defenses more than honest. Well we all know the Favre story and I’m less
then confident that Rogers will demand the same respect from defenses. This
means more attention and less room; not to mention less scoring
opportunities. Not good news for Grant owners. Add to that the fact he
already has a nagging hamstring injury and Grant will be an afterthought by
season’s end. As for Graham, I just see him getting less opportunities then
he had last season. Old Man Tampa himself has returned, and Warrick Dunn
will get his opportunities. This will cut into Graham’s production as he
becomes a two down back and not the three down back he was out of necessity
last season. Graham also has to prove he can sustain this success, my guess
is he doesn’t and proves he’s a nice complimentary back that had his 15
minutes of fame. – Jeremy Miller -
Donovan McNabb will be back to form, and so too will the
Eagles.
McNabb has had two years now to recover from his ACL injury, and that is the
standard recovery time, so he should be set to go. And like Steve Smith
mentioned earlier, few players play as well as McNabb when he’s got that
chip on his shoulder. He thinks the Eagles were robbed last season, and the
team carries his personality. They will be back in the playoffs this season,
and McNabb will be back among the best fantasy QBs. -
San Diego will be one of the biggest disappointments of
2008 in both the fantasy and real NFL world.
LaDainian Tomlinson will be just a standard top RB, no longer a fantasy god
among men, and he may finally miss a couple games. Antonio Gates will be,
dare I say it out loud, a bust. Philip Rivers and Chris Chambers will be
wildly inconsistent and mostly unusable. As for the Chargers as a team, the
pieces just do not seem to match up. The team is never quite as good as its
parts, and they will turn in a disappointing season all around this year. -
A Manning will win the Super Bowl for the third straight
season – Peyton this time.
The Colts’ window is closing, but they have one final push in them. Peyton
Manning has never had so many weapons at his disposal. Reggie Wayne is at
the peak of his career, and so too is slot TE extraordinaire Dallas Clark.
Marvin Harrison is back, and Joseph Addai is a great talent in the
backfield. Now Anthony Gonzalez adds a dimension to this team that they’ve
not had before. But none of those are even Manning’s two greatest weapons.
He’s got one of the best offensive lines in the league, and the defense is
better than ever. The Colts will win one more Super Bowl and send Tony Dungy
and Marvin Harrison to retirement in style. Comment On This
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