NFL 2010 Preseason In Review: Week 1

I hope you are all as excited as I am that there is live football on TV again.  After each week of the regular season comes to a close I will discuss the Fantasy Football relevant news from the week.  Lets get started since week two is underway!

Ravens vs Panthers

This was not a confidence building game for the Ravens and their fans.  Flacco performed admirably without Ray Rice in the backfield to provide the balance that will make them so dangerous.  His absence also allowed the panthers secondary to focus on Boldin and keep him in check.  What this game taught me was that the Ravens need to have all the peices of the puzzle in place in order to be an elite offense.

On the other side of the ball I hoped we would start to see the emergence of a number two receiver for Matt Moore, but both Dwayne Jarrett and Bradon LaFell showed me nothing.  There was a nice 23 yard run by DeAngelo Williams, but with no Steve Smith in the game and as little time as we saw Matt Moore it is too early to judge this offense.

Raiders vs Cowboys

The one question i kept asking myself over and over after this game was “Is Heyward-Bey in some sort of witness protection program?” Seriously, considering what the Raiders gave up for this kid he has to start producing and fast to erase the memory of last year (9 receptions for 124 yards and 1 TD… embarrassing).  I thought Michael Bush looked mediocre at best and I  would hope to see that turn around in the preseason before I targeted him on draft day.  I still don’t see how people can pick this team to make a surprise playoff run until one of their receivers steps up to give that offense a vertical threat.

I have enjoyed watching Romo get back to his old buddy Miles Austin early and often this preseason.  There are serious question marks on the offensive line right now, but by using the playaction and letting Romo move out of the pocket some they should continue with the same level of production.  I expect Jason Witten to return to an elite fantasy TE this year as he is an incredible red zone target.

Bills vs Redskins

The Bills saw injuries to both Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson in Week 1 leaving all the first team reps to go to CJ Spiller.  If he can capitalize on these reps and produce throughout the rest of the preseason he will keep climbing in my rankings.  Last nights week 2 game was a great start at catching up to Jackson for Buffalo’s top ranked fantasy RB.

Gotta love McNabb, despite all the challenges of changing teams after so long in one system he came out and delivered in the limited time he was on the field.  He will be the Redskins biggest offensive playmaker and if you are waiting as long as I am this year to draft a QB (and you miss out on Flacco) then McNabb may just be a bargain for the price.  I am starting to tone down my love of Devin Thomas as a really late round pick as he just did not look natural catching the ball from McNabb or kick/punt returns.  And lastly, Clinton Portis looked strong out of the backfield and is climbing in my rankings.

Eagles vs Jaguars

I was very interested in how Kolb would do in this game.  The Jags do not have the most solid pass defense in the league and I really wanted to see him able to find the open guy and move them down the field.  He sure did that.  His first pass was to DeSean Jackson on a slant pattern he took for 20 yards.  He later connected on two deep balls, one a piece to DJax and Jeremy Maclin. The play I liked seeing the most was his scramble to pick up a key conversion on 3rd and 5 to extend a drive and get points on the board.

The Jaguars looked terrible, MJD is definitely the number three back and Mike Sims-Walker has value in the middle rounds, but David Garrard is why none of these players will be able to fulfill their potential this year.

Browns vs Packers

It feels funny not typing something bad about the Browns these days… But Jerome Harrison found the endzone and Delhomme went 6/7 and 60 yards.  They didn’t play long and couldn’t sustain that type of success against that defense.  But for fantasy we don’t need them to to have value.  I am more confident grabbing Harrison now than I was before I watched them march down the field against the Packers.

Ryan Grant gave me quite a scare with his fumble and mild concussion, however he is back at practice and won’t be missing any time in the regular season.  No reason to lower him at all in the rankings, he is already a great bargain.  Aaron Rodgers and Greg Jennings sure looked in sync with each other and raise expectations a bit.  The battle for my number 10 WR this year is getting pretty fierce between Jennings and Marques Colston.

Chargers vs Bears

Phillip Rivers is the key to the success of this team.  After watching this game Vincent Jackson must be disappointed because the Chargers were able to move the ball just fine through the air.  Malcom Floyd is going to do just fine as a deep threat and Legedu Naanee is certainly eligible for sleeper status now.  Rookie Ryan Mathews looked good in this game as well, performing as I would expect from a 2nd round fantasy RB.

Johnny Knox is clearly winning the number one job in this offense.  His vertical speed is the perfect fit for this offense, but I am keeping Aromashodu above Knox in my rankings since he makes for a better red zone target.

Other players who had notable outings in week 1:

Eddie Royal

Calvin Johnson

Cadillac Williams

Mike Williams (TB)

Matt Schaub

Victor Cruz