The Steelers are playoff football team when they can play their starters.  However, Mike Wallace needs to fill in for Santonio Holmes without a hitch and I think that will happen.  The real problem though is obviously the four or six game suspension to QB Ben Roethlisberger.  No one can fill that void in terms of the fantasy impact on Hines Ward, Mike Wallace and Rashard Mendenhall.  And now with the injury to Willie Colon the Steelers need to find a new right tackle to solidify the line as Colon appears to be out for the season.  Most people will be listing Wallace as a sleeper, and he could be… I just do not think he is quite as talented as Santonio Holmes so keep your expectations realistic. 

Top Fantasy Players

Rashard Mendenhall – The above mentioned impact on Mendenhall is actually a positive one.  During the Roethlisberger suspension, Mendenhall will be used heavily and will be carrying a large load of the offense for that time. Oh, and with a balanced attack after the suspension he’ll do just fine too.

Ben Roethlisberger – Obviously he is going to fall in drafts, but if your starting QB does not have a bye week until after week 5 then Ben is the best backup you could ask for!

Hines Ward – Tough to predict how a possession wide receiver will do, especially as he ages.  With the first four weeks a total question mark, Ward is a WR3 or flex option.

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Ahh, the Browns… It takes a pretty sad story to make me feel ok about being a Bills fan.  To be fair, they are making some quality moves to improve their franchise over the long haul, I will not deny that.  However I will deny that there is much fantasy value coming out of this team this coming season.  Whether it is Jake Delhomme or Colt McCoy under center should be largely irrelevant to our purposes and I am not very confident that Jerome Harrison will be able to keep his job over Montario Hardesty.  If your league credits you for return yardage than you will want to look for Joshua Cribbs as a very good WR3 or flex option.

Top Fantasy Players

Jerome Harrison – As I said, this is a risk.  I will be staying clear of him on draft day unless he falls to round 9 or 10.

Mohamed Massaquoi – Massaquoi is a speedy receiver with better than average hands, but is on a team with no line or quarterback so beware, he is really only a viable option as a deep league flex play or WR3 when you have someone on the bye.

Montario Hardesty – Even though Jerome Harrison had that huge game against the Chiefs, the Browns are apparently not confident in his ability to be a feature back in this league.  Hardesty should have little trouble taking over the starting job in his rookie year and could have some value later in the season.

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The Bengals were a heart wrenching team last season.  They won every game against divisional opponents with a devastating running game and stout defense.  Late in the year a team member passed away, and the team seemed to never recover from that.  They lost two consecutive games to the New York Jets in week 17 and then in the playoffs to end the season and left us all wondering if Carson Palmer has enough left in the tank to try and make one last playoff run.  Cedric Benson will continue to be the driving force of the offense and the addition of Antonio Bryant should give the passing game a significant boost as well.  I am torn about the allegations made against Benson recently.  It took quite a long time to hear about it which leads me to believe the incident was pretty low key.  I am an innocent until proven guilty kinda guy and will be treating the situation as though he wont miss any time.

Top Fantasy Players

Cedric Benson – This guy was robbed of comeback player of the year last year because of the league’s love affair with Tom Brady.  Benson was a workhorse for the Bengals, he carried the team to one of the best regular seasons they have ever seen.  Benson will not have quite as productive of a season, but should be a great RB2 option.

Chad Ochocinco – I know, he talks better than he catches. With that said he still catches pretty damn well, and now there is a very talented WR on the other side of the ball in Antonio Bryant.  Chad may just have his best season in a while… assuming I am wrong about Carson Palmer being done playing competitively in this league.

Antonio Bryant – Sleeper Alert! Bryant was a WR3 or flex option when he played in Tampa Bay, and now he upgrades offenses and quarterbacks.  With a back like Benson there is no way defenses will be scheming against the number 2 receiver.

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The Ravens added the most needed element to their offense when they acquired Anquan Boldin, a vertical threat.  This will help to keep the focus off of Ray Rice and give the offense a balance that everyone will benefit from.  The Ravens also used the draft to re-bolster their traditionally stout defense by selecting Terrance Cody and Sergio Kindle.  These two picks will give the defense its physicality back. Given that the offense is more than capable of keeping the defense well rested, the Ravens could be in for quite a run this season.

Top Fantasy Players

Joe Flacco – I am pretty high on Flacco this season, he has a dynamic running game and a better receiving corp. than the Ravens have seen in quite some time.  The table is set this season for this for a breakout year from this promising young QB and I think he will exceed expectations.

Ray Rice – Most people are ranking Rice as the fourth RB, but I have him at fifth.  We do all agree that he is a must draft no later than that and is set to have a huge year.

Anquan Boldin – Boldin is a big physical receiver that is not afraid to run over the middle of the field and is a nightmare to cover in the red zone.  He is finally out of the shadow of Larry Fitzgerald and is now in a more stable offense and all around team.

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The AFC North is, in my opinion, not really up for grabs this year.  The smart money to win it this year is the Ravens… Hands down!  The Browns are almost sure to be basement dwellers again this time around and with Big Ben out for at least 4 games the Steelers ought to be too far back from the outset but they will have a chance to compete for a wild card run.

Baltimore Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Pittsburgh Steelers

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Rex Ryan is apparently a genius.  Every move he has made has been the right one and assuming nothing insane happens with the Revis contract talks or the development of Mark Sanchez; the Jets are my favorite to win the division.  They will have the best defense in the NFL as well as fantasy football due to the complex blitzing scheme of mastermind Rex Ryan. If they can keep the best rushing attack in the league as well… then they will be a force to be reckoned with come playoff time. LaDanian Tomlinson can be expected to pick up some goal line and third down work.

Top Fantasy Players

Shonn Greene – Given the level work given to Greene during the playoffs last year and the departure of all the other running backs on the team there is an immense amount of confidence in this young man.

Santonio Holmes – Sanchez needed a deep threat with better hands than Braylon Edwards, and that is exactly what Holmes will be… come week 5.  Shortly after being acquired by the Jets it was announced that Holmes would face a 4 game suspension due to violating the substance abuse policy.  This will make Holmes a great value in late rounds, but there is some risk that there is no chemistry between him and Sanchez so production could start slow as well as late.

Jets D/ST – If last year’s defense was any indication of what is to come then opposing offenses are in for some trouble.  The Jets were the best defense last year, and they added depth and talent to the roster.

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The Patriots are, for the first time in a while, not the favorites to win the division.  With Moss aging, Welker’s return questionable at best for week one, and a scattered backfield there has been little improvement since last year. With that said, it is still Tom Brady and Bill Belichick running the show so there is no cause for concern.  Brady will not be breaking any of his own touchdown records this season, but the deep ball will remain a huge part of the offense and Moss will still be the guy catching them.  Until Welker is back there will be a drop off in the production of the offensive players, but there is no cause for concern.  As far as running backs are concerned, Maroney is the safest bet, but it will likely be done by committee.

Top Fantasy Players

Tom Brady – Brady has not declined at all, just his supporting cast.  He will find an open guy as always so draft Brady with confidence.

Randy Moss – Moss is getting older, and is not quite the same as he used to be. However, he is still among the best in the league and will have a very productive year. I rank Moss 3^rd among receivers at this time.

Wes Welker – Most of the news from the Patriots since the draft has been regarding Welker’s return to practice and drills.  While it is possible that he is ready to go by week one, it seems unlikely that they would rush him back so quickly.  Welker will have great value as a mid round pick this year.  When he returns he will see double digit targets again, you can be sure of that.

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The Miami Dolphins are a franchise on the rise.  They saw great progress with Chad Henne last season, and still have a tough punishing running game.  Tony Sporano has done what ever is necessary to keep his team competitive and he has done a great job thus far.  This off season has been no different with signing two particularly big name players in Brandon Marshall and Karlos Dansby.  They did lose Jason Taylor, but their biggest issue is at outside linebacker.  Many people are questioning the RB duo that has been nothing short of spectacular when healthy, but I am not one of those people.  In the mock drafts that I have done thus far Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams have fallen quite far and have been great value picks.

Top Fantasy Players:

Chad Henne – I really like Henne as a backup QB this year and potential sleeper.  If you are in a position on draft day where you can’t get one of the top 5 or so QBs then you should target this 2^nd year QB in later rounds.

Brandon Marshall – Marshall is one hell of an athlete, and while his hip injury situation is a concern as far as career longevity is concerned, it will not be an issue this season.  I do not value Marshall as high as others do, because despite the fact that I think Henne will continue getting better that is a gamble.

Ronnie Brown – No surprise here, Brown is the feature back and takes snaps in the Wildcat offense.  Look for another great season from Brown and hopefully he’ll stay healthy which is all that can stop him.

Ricky Williams – He wont have quite the same explosiveness of the past few seasons due to aging, but his time off earlier in his career has done him well and he will remain one of the most productive backup running backs in the league.

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CJ Spiller is introduced as a Buffalo Bill.

My Buffalo Bills are a team in disarray. However, new coach Chan Gailey is an offensive minded coach adept at devising a scheme to suit the talent on the field.  The two most obvious needs for this team after last season were quarterback and left tackle.  Now that the draft and the majority of free agency are over, the most obvious needs that the team has left are at… Quarterback and left tackle.  Trent Edwards is the presumptive starter for the beginning of the season until Coach Gailey tells us different, but we should not be surprised to see Brian Brohm or maybe even Ryan Fitzpatrick under center before long if Edwards is not producing wins.

Top Fantasy Players:

Fred Jackson – Jackson gets better with each carry that he receives, while the backfield is a bit crowded Jackson could end up being a solid RB2 option or at worst a flex play.

CJ Spiller – Spiller was hands down the most explosive offensive player in this years draft and Ralph Wilson has already anointed him the savior of the team.  Spiller will be a very versatile tool for Chan Gailey to use. Even with a small number of offensive touches, his use in the return game make him a decent flex option in 12 team leagues.

Lee Evans – Evans would be a stud WR on a team with a good offense, but in Buffalo he will be a flex option.

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Welcome to the 2010 Fantasy Football preseason! I am officially declaring it started!  I will be previewing every team in the league. This week belongs to the AFC East and I am starting with the Buffalo Bills. This is not a biased decision, I promise.  I did it alphabetically.

This division is fast becoming the most competitive in the AFC.  Every team is getting better… except the Bills.  My favorite to take the division is the Jets but I would not be surprised if both AFC wild card spots were filled by the Dolphins and the Patriots.

Buffalo Bills

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New York Jets

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