Andy: This division might have been the worst in football last year and I don’t know that there is a lot of reason to believe it’s going to be any better this year. Philadelphia came around last year and won it, but it seemed more to me like a hot potato game where nobody really wanted it, but in the end someone had to win it. Dallas did little to improve a terrible defense and got worse by losing DeMarcus Ware to the Broncos and Shaun Lee to injury. The Giants … Eli Manning was already running for his life and with the Chris Snee retirement news, he’s got to be a bit nervous heading into the season. And who knows what the hell you’re going to get with Washington.
Tony: Seriously, why are we starting with this division? Shouldn’t we try to sneak this one in on some Saturday night when no one is reading? You know how sometimes a division will finish with a lot of teams with mediocre records because they beat up on each other all year? This is the opposite…this division should be the poster child for not expanding the playoffs, and possibly coming up with a better solution, because it is very possible likely that no team in this division will deserve the spot. Last year’s division champ has a still unproven QB who lost his top WR and a no name defense. The Cowboys lost one of their best defensive players to the salary cap, and the other to a torn ACL for 2014, and are still hamstrung by their owner not firing their General Manager. The Giants are trying to solve their woes by adding a new offensive coordinator rather than infusing talent, and the Redskins did add the Eagles top WR, but still have to hope that their new coaching staff can figure out how to make RG3 not look like RGKnee. I take the Eagles, and beg that we move on to the next division. (more…)
Top 10 RBs flop in fantasy football more than any other position. But few in recent years have suffered the one year falloffs that Doug Martin did in 2013. After storming the league as a rookie in 2012, he played six mediocre games and then missed the remainder of the season with a shoulder problem.
There’s probably not going to be a lingering issue with the shoulder and few doubt that he’ll rebound to some level, assuming he stays reasonably healthy. But where does that leave his fantasy value?
He’s got a new coach, a new QB, three RBs pushing for time and a rebuilt offensive line. Whether those are good or bad things remains to be seen. So where would you draft the Muscle Hamster?
Starting to cobble together your fantasy football draft lists? Not sure where to place certain guys? We’re here to help. Throughout the next several weeks we’ll be providing the buy and sell arguments based on their average draft position at ESPN.
Cordarrelle Patterson
ADP: 65.7
WR: 23
Buy:
You’ll read a bit over the next few days on these pages about the work Turner has done as a coach in padding the stats of tight ends. That data is not wrong—he’s been good for guys like Antonio Gates and Jordan Cameron, without question.
But when he has been the offensive coordinator and not the head coach, a look at the stats generated by his players shows a couple things: RBs catch passes, the ball gets spread around a lot, and dynamic WRs break out. Last year it was Josh Gordon, who put up 87 catches, 1,646 yards and nine TDs. In 2006 the rather pedestrian duo of Arnaz Battle and Antonio Bryant put up 59 and 40 catches respectively with Alex Smith at QB on a bad San Francisco squad. The 2001 San Diego Chargers were led by Curtis Conway’s 71 catches, but Jeff Graham had another 52 and LaDainian Tomlinson had 59. (more…)
The Class of 2013 Hall of Fame was announced Saturday, with Larry Allen, Cris Carter, Curley Culp, Jonathon Ogden, Bill Parcells, Dave Robinson and Warren Sapp making the cut.
The final 10 candidates were Michael Strahan, Parcells, Allen, Jerome Bettis, Carter, Charles Haley, Ogden, Andre Reed, Sapp and Aeneas Williams.
While several of the finalists were strong holdovers from previous votes, this was a strong class of former players who were in their first year of eligibility. In addition to finalists Ogden, Allen, Strahan and Sapp, first-year eligible candidates included safety John Lynch, running back Priest Holmes, quarterback Steve McNair and kicker Morten Andersen.
The finalists also again included three wide receivers – Cris Carter, Tim Brown and Andre Reed – who reportedly each have factions of support among Hall of Fame voters but who individually had not been able to garner enough support to be elected.
This year’s vote did/did not clear up that logjam, which only will/would have gotten tighter with Marvin Harrison gaining eligibility next year and guys like Terrell Owens, Torry Holt and Hines Ward waiting in the wings a few years down the road.
The enshrinees were selected from a list of 15 finalists that also included Tim Brown, Eddie DeBartolo, Kevin Greene, Art Modell, and Will Sheilds. Culp and Robinson were nominated by the Hall’s senior committee and went directly to the final stage for an up or down vote.
The 2012 Hall of Fame class included Dermontti Dawson, Chris Doleman, Cortez Kennedy, Willie Roaf and senior candidate Jack Butler. The other senior nominee, Dick Stanfel, was not elected.
The chili is in the crock pot. The logs will soon be ready for the fire. And the regular season is over. It’s time to separate the contenders from the pretenders. It’s time for playoff football.
It’s well documented that while our picks during the season were ok, our bets during the season were terrible. So even though we did ok with a different betting system for college bowl games, we decided to mix things up again for the NFL playoffs, given that there are fewer games to choose from. So, our picks are below. Let us know in comments who you think is going to win this week and who is likely to emerge with the Lombardi Trophy in a month. (more…)
to be any better this year. Philadelphia came around last year and won it, but it seemed more to me like a hot potato game where nobody really wanted it, but in the end someone had to win it. Dallas did little to improve a terrible defense and got worse by losing DeMarcus Ware to the Broncos and Shaun Lee to injury. The Giants … Eli Manning was already running for his life and with the Chris Snee retirement news, he’s got to be a bit nervous heading into the season. And who knows what the hell you’re going to get with Washington.
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