1) Chicago's Offense
There's a lot of criticism of Chicago's offense. ESPN recently noted Chicago's offensive line issues and "unfamiliarity with a new, complex system." Yet there should be some value in a Mike Martz offense. I don't think Jay Cutler, Johnny Knox, or Matt Forte will be top 5 guys, but I think they offer what this site is all about: value. They were drafted at the bottom of the starters at their respective positions, and if they perform at least averagely, they will prove to be value picks. And tomorrow's their chance to shine against a weak Detroit defense. Detroit has made improvements, and will likely be stronger the 2nd time Chicago faces Detroit, but for week 1, this is a juicy matchup.
2) Detroit's Offense
There's some fantasy hype over this improved offense. Last year, they had a struggling rookie QB in Stafford and one offensive weapon in Calvin Johnson aka Megatron. This year, Stafford can only improve as he learns, and they've added Jahvid Best, Nate Burleson, and Tony Scheffler. Chicago's weak defense will provide the perfect opportunity to see how all these weapons gel together.
3) The Henne-Marshall Connection
Chad Henne was a trendy sleeper QB, but has received mix reviews recently. Bill Parcells said he's "very disappointed" in Henne's development. But he's got one of the best receivers in the game in Brandon Marshall. Buffalo has an excellent secondary so this will be a hard first test, but I'm curious to see how strong this Henne-Marshall connection will be.
4) The Last Men Standing
Jerome Harrison and Arian Foster went from committee backs to workhorses in the last few weeks. They both have decent matchups, and I'm excited to see what they can do with 20 carries.
5) The New QB In Town
There was a veritable quarterback carousel this offseason. So we want to know: Is Donavan McNabb fully healthy and will he produce with fewer elite receiving options? Will Kevin Kolb be the instant top 8 QB that people drafted him to be after a mediocre preseason? Can Jason Campbell take the Raiders offense from awful to okay? And finally, just how bad is Derek Anderson?
6) The Tandems
Of course, one of the biggest concerns will be the RB committees. I would tentatively expect certain tandems to split close to 50-50: Williams and Stewart in Carolina, Brown and Williams in Miami, and Forsett and Washington in Seattle. On other teams, we expect one guy to get more carries, but how many more? We'll monitor Greene and Tomlinson in New York, Jacobs and Bradshaw in New York, Jones and Barber in Dallas, and Charles and Jones in Kansas City.
7) The Gimmick QBs
Michael Vick will play a little, possibly on the goal-line. Will he decrease Kolb and McCoy's value? And will Denver showcase Tim Tebow in their "wild horses" formation?
8) Wide Receiver Corps
Like the RB committees, we're curious about how the targets will be distributed in Baltimore, Cincinnati, and Houston. I don't buy it, but word on the street is that newly acquired Houshmandzadeh will play "a lot" on Monday night, which would hurt the value of Boldin and Mason. I expect the gap between Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco to be a lot smaller than most think. The preseason showed us that T.O.'s still got it. Finally, Coach Kubiak refused to name Jacoby Jones the starting WR2 in Houston, but we expect him to outperform Kevin Walter, and soon.
9) Jermichael Finley
Will the Jermichael Finley-Aaron Rodgers connection be as unstoppable as I expect it to be?
10) The New Guys
Some big name rookies will make their NFL debuts tomorrow. I think we all know Ryan Matthews and Jahvid Best will be solid, given their situations. It will be interesting to see how they, and Sam Bradford, C.J. Spiller, Mike Williams (TB), and Dez Bryant handle the pressure.
9 comments:
you better be right about the bears blowin up cuz i drafted a lot of them too!
I hope Tebow doesn't steal snaps, i'm in a 16 person league starting Kyle Orton. if tebow comes in on the goal-line, i'll bash my tv in.
@DaBears: I don't know if the Bears will "blow up" but they should perform. If they don't do pretty well tomorrow though, I'll be worried.
@Anonymous: I hear you, brother. I'm in the exact same boat. I've heard talk of some Tebow snaps, but I actually doubt it. I think Orton will be ok. If later on in the season, Tebow starts getting in there like Vick does, then it will become problematic for Orton's value.
I Can't wait to see my boy, CJ Spiller run WILD!
It's probably too early to start Jacoby Jones or Mike Williams yet right?
a) Spiller should be ok, because he will get a healthy number of carries, but remember Miami is a tough running matchup.
b) I would say it's too early for Jacoby. Wait and see.
c) Mike Williams on Tampa Bay makes for a decent flex option this week actually. Cleveland is not bad against the pass, but Williams should be the #1 option with a healthy Josh Freeman on the field.
d) Mike Williams on Seattle may do okay, but San Francisco's defense looks solid. I expect Williams to see the most targets, but it's really anyone's guess whether Williams, Branch, Butler, or Carlson leads the day.
I'm interested in the Bears too, but for entirely the opposite reason. That offense looks terrible and I'm convinced they will be a bottom-5 team this year.
Fact: every time last year Jerome Harrison got more than 17 carries, he rushed for over 100 yards (courtesy of ESPN Sunday NFL Countdown)
INJURY UPDATE: According to Matthew Berry, Michael Bush and Laurence Maroney are OUT today
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