Fantasy Football:

I A’int Passin’ The Blount (Preseason Week 1)

By Muntradamus

 

BEAST DOME NATION.

 

A lot of you did not have time to watch Pre-Season Week 1.  Well I managed the time to watch every single one of them, and here is what I learned from a fantasy football perspective.  Now that the DSBC has come to an end, BEAST DOME will be stronger than ever.

 

RB SITUATION WILL CHANGE WEEKLY FOR WASHINGTON

Mike Shanahan will be playing musical RBs all season long while everyone is healthy.  Other sites are touting Evan Royster as a good sleeper.  I have no why as Roy Helu and Tim Hightower have already earned the respect to play enough every game, probably even more than Royster who is a fumble or two away rom being buried on the Skins depth chart.

 

STEVIE JOHNSON STILL #1 GUY

The Bills did not run any running plays with their first string offense.  That is not uncommon for this team and when they threw, Fitzpatrick looked Stevie’s way very often.  No surprises there and Stevie could easily find his way into the top 15 at the WR position this season.

 

RGIII HAS MAN CRUSH ON GARCON

RGIII threw to Pierre Garcon any chance he could.  Even when Garcon was out of bounds on an out route, RGIII was able to hook up with up.  Just like Cam Newton needs his Steve Smith, Garcon could be RGIII’s go-to-guy all season long.

 

JULIO JONES IS GOING TO BEAST

Julio was making catches on anything thrown in his vicinity.  No reason to think he does not have the potential to pass Roddy White completely this season, and possibly be a top 5 Fantasy option at the WR position.  He was having monster weeks to close out the season.

 

EMMANUEL SANDERS COULD BE NEXT ANTONIO BROWN

That is if Mike Wallace does not return to camp.  Regardless, Sanders will see a nice boost in value in the no huddle offense ran by Todd Haley.  Sanders is a better possession WR than Wallace who is a HR or nothing type of player.  Though Mike can take any ball to the house.

ED DICKSON WILL BENEFIT

Ed Dickson will be a nice sleeper TE to open up the season while Dennis Pitta recovers from a broken hand.  The Ravens will find the middle of the field open as teams put their focus in shutting down Ray Rice.

JACQUIZZ RODGERS IS GOING TO BE A BEAST

Small in size, big in doing whatever he can to get the extra yards.  The Michael Turner regime is nearly over in Atlanta, and this is the season we see JacQuizz make his way into fantasy football owners hearts.  Target him in all drats as he even showed the ability to score a rushing TD inside in the 10 yard line.

ANTONIO GATES IS A STUD

Gates is coming into camp healthy for the very first time in a while.  The Chargers just lost Vincent Jackson which automatically moves Gates from the top of the Rivers totem pole, to an even higher point.  Unless defenses double Gates, then we are looking at what could be the #1 TE numbers.  Encouraging that Rivers found Gates already for a TD, that will not be the last time.

 

ERICK DECKER WAS THE #1 WR – BRONCOS RUNNING PEYTON MANNING OFFENSE

The Broncos are going to be a solid scoring team all season with the way Peyton is leading the charge.  It looked as i the Broncos were turning into the Denver Colts.  Which is fine from a fantasy perspective where both Decker and Thomas will be successful.  Early edge goes to Decker.

 

MICHAEL VICK

Never a good thing to see Vick get banged around in his 1st quarter of pre-season play.  He should have a better season than last no doubt, but do keep in mind that the Eagles have one of the toughest schedules which means a lot of very physical games.  A full season of Michael Vick is a risky thing to depend on, especially with a bad fantasy playoff schedule I will pass.

 

WILLIS MCGAHEE PLAYED 3rd Down

The fact that Willis was playing all three downs ensures me to drat him in every draft.  I hope you all will do the same as the Broncos will be in the red zone nearly every possession.

RYAN MATHEWS BRITTLE – JACKIE BATTLE GOAL LINE

No other fantasy source has brought this up, but the Ryan Matthews injury to the collarbone area is very serious.  Especially when you get into the goal line situation and teams are stacking up on top of you to shut you down.  With Matthews history of giving up the goal line TDs to Mike Tolbert, it would not shock me at all to see the Chargers give the ball to the humungous monster Jackie Battle.

KEVIN SMITH IS THE GUY

Smith looked like the shifty back we all know he is capable of.  They did pull him out in the red zone situation for Keiland Williams which could be a big deal.  To me I am assuming that the Lions want to see if Williams is worth cutting loose as the team is stacked with RBs this season.  Draft Kevin Smith as a guy to get later on after Willis McGahee.

BRANDON PETTIGREW WAY UNDERVALUED

It is safe to say that Pettigrew is the #2 option in the Lions passing game.  Playing for a QB that has the potential to pass for 5,000 Yards and 40 TDs, Brandon could be in for a HUGE season.  Do what you can to grab him after the big names come of the board, Stafford looked his way often.

VICTOR CRUZ WILL EXPLODE

Victor has worked exclusively with Eli Manning all training camp while Nicks recovers.  It is a good thing that Nicks is back, because the chemistry between Eli and Cruz would have been off the charts.  Cruz has big play potential every play, and that is something you can not take for granted when selecting someone like Greg Jennings over him.

LEGARRETTE BLOUNT IS NOT DONE

As the title of this article suggests, Blount looked amazing in week 1 of the pre-season.  He always has the capabilities to have those big games, and his downfall last season was the fact the Bucs were trailing which forced them to throw often.  With McCoy healthy on that D-Line, and Freeman most likely going to have a better season with the addition of Jackson.  Blount will be getting his carries often when the game is on the line.  As long as he does not fumble, which has Doug Martin overvalued for now.

 

GREEN-ELLIS PLAYED 3rd Downs

On top of that he looked like a very capable runner.  I had him pegged as a bust with the new offense, but maybe all he needed was some extra love and attention.  Playing for the Bengals who look for the Law Firm to be a better Cedric Benson.  They will get it.

 

REVIS IS STILL A SHUT DOWN CORNER

If you are starting a WR that is not an ELITE caliber, I would bench them as Revis forced Dalton to throw to other places than Green, and Dalton loves throwing to Green.  He did have a chance on a goal line TD throw, but depending on a TD is risky when you consider he will be shut down everywhere else on the field.

PEYTON HILLIS RUINS JAMAAL CHARLES

Destroying is more like it.  The Chiefs are not afraid to put Peyton in the game as soon as they get inside the 20 yard line.  I will be avoiding Charles and his pricey 3rd round draft tag if he will not be putting up the points.  You can bet Peyton will get kill the clock carries as well.

 

D.J. WARE GOAL LINE BACK?

Ahmad Bradshaw may not be handling goal line carries.  If the Giants want a full productive season from Ahmad, then you can count on them limiting his touches when they hit the hardest inside the 10 yard line.  Bradshaw has a lot of competition for PT this season with David Wilson, and to throw D.J. Ware in the mix is too much.

NATE WASHINGTON COULD BE THE NEW KENNY BRITT.

Jake Locker loves throwing to Nate Washington.  Every time Locker came into the game in garbage time, he would look Nates way.  With Britt having off field issues, and apparently not 100% this season physically.  You can easily see garbage time Nate turn into an 80 Yard 1 TD WR with the potential for way more.  Target him in your draft.

RANDY BULLOCK IS THE REAL DEAL KICKING 2 FGS and a 52 YARDER.

The headline for this says it all.  With the Texans a perfect team built around winning, controlling the clock, you can see Dan as a great sleeper option in all fantasy leagues.  Must own if you have Arian Foster or Matt Schaub.  When Neil Rackers was with the squad he was the #1 Kicker in Fantasy Football.

 

ANDREW LUCK IS NO ROOKIE AT THE QB POSITION.

The future for the Colts begins now, and it will not feel like a rebuilding period.  Luck has the tools to be a pro level QB from day 1.  The fact he already has 2 TDs in his first pre-season game shows he is the real deal.  Granted it was against the Rams, Luck looks to be a great QB#2 who can play at a borderline QB 1 option all season long.

 

FELIX JONES DROPPED A BALL

The Cowboys are preparing for the a season of making DeMarco Murray the featured back for the Cowboys.  With Felix dropping a pass, 3rd down is looking like a spot Murray can claim early on if he starts out hot.

OCHOCINCO

With Ochy now most likely out of the NFL.  The Dolphins have no threat to stretch the field consistently and become THE team to pick on in Fantasy Football when picking your defense.  Reggie Bush will have to do everything.

 

Muntradamus is a Fantasy Sports Expert who specializes in Fantasy Football/Baseball/Basketball. He is currently in his first season as a Pro on FantasyPros where he is the only expert to have Adam Dunn, Mike Aviles, and Wilin Rosario in his top 20 at each position. Muntradamus not only leads many to championships with his great advice, and outlooks into the future. He is also consistently on the top of leaderboards in DraftStreet. In August he will compete in a $200K MLB tournament that he qualified for, he has won two spots.