NFC Team by Team News and Notes for Week 1

"Down-Set-Hike Fantasy Football Forum"™

Sound Off about Fantasy Football Starters and Football in General!

Save This Page	Back to Forum Main
	Topic: NFC Team by Team News and Notes for Week 1
Russ Bliss_108 Admin Membership: Starter Joined: September 04 Total Posts: 18355 Favorite Team: Offline	Post Date: 09/08/12 10:33 Dallas: Kevin Ogletree made noise in the Wednesday night opener. But is he this year's Laurent Robinson or a One Week Wonder? We'll find out in coming weeks, but I'm guessing he's better than he showed in his prior 3 years (25 catches, 294 yards, 0 TD's from 2009-2011) but can't be consistently near his week 1 stat line (8-114-2). Jason Witten (spleen), Dez Bryant (knee), and Miles Austin (hamstring), all came out without any aggravations of their injuries. New York Giants: Rookie RB David Wilson fell in the doghouse with a first quarter fumble on Wednesday night's season opener. He'll bounce back though, but it may take a few weeks before Tom Coughlin trusts him for more than a limited role again. Victor Cruz had some bad drops, but I think that he deserves a break for that being the exception and not the rule of what to expect from him in 2012. Philadelphia: Michael Vick isn't on the injury report at all despite having to wear a special Kevlar vest to protect the ribs he injured in preseason. RB Dion Lewis is expected to play despite being listed as Questionable with a hamstring injury. He serves as the primary backup to LeSean McCoy. WR Riley Cooper is OUT week 1 with a broken collarbone injury. Undrafted rookie Damaris Johnson will serve in that role until he returns. Washington: We know RG3 starts at QB, but who will start at RB? No one knows and Mike Shanahan isn't saying. Just stay away from Evan Royster, Roy Helu, and Alfred Morris until Shanahanigans stops playing his mind games. While Josh Morgan is listed as the starting WR opposite Pierre Garcon, I expect Leonard Hankerson will overtake him soon. Morgan is a mediocre talent. Chicago: WR Earl Bennett is Probable with a hand injury. He'll be fine and start with Devin Hester as the #3 most often until rookie Ashlon Jeffery gets up to NFL speed. Jeffery is someone to keep an eye on. We'll see if Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall rekindle the connection they had in Denver. Matt Forte is the starting RB and will get most of the yards, but Michael Bush was brought in to help get the ball into the end zone, something Forte has struggled with in short yardage situations. Detroit: With Jahvid out the first 6 games on the PUP list and Mikel LeShoure serving a two game suspension, Kevin Smith has the feature RB role to himself. Smith isn't on the injury report at all despite having suffered a late preseason ankle injury. Keiland Williams, Stefan Logan, and Joique Bell are the backups. While Nate Burleson officially starts the year opposite Calvin Johnson, it's expected that Titus Young will soon overtake him. With a matchup against St. Louis week 1, all Lions starters can be considered for starting fantasy lineups as strong plays. Green Bay: Cedric Benson starts at RB. James Starks is OUT with his turf toe injury. Alex Green will be the 3rd down RB. Green is Probable with a minor knee issue. WR Greg Jennings missed some of preseason with a concussion, but he's not on the injury report and will start without issue. Other than Starks, this offense is pretty healthy and ready to go. Minnesota: Adrian Peterson is Questionable and considered a game time decision. Even if he plays, the expectation is that he'd only get 5-10 carries and be eased in slowly. While that does raise the risk factor for Toby Gerhart, Gerhart should be a strong fantasy play this week. WR Jerome Simpson begins serving a 3 game league imposed suspension. Long time mediocre veteran Michael Jenkins starts in his place. TE John Carlson is Probable after missing the preseason with a knee issue, but he's a non-factor for fantasy behind impressive second year TE Kyle Rudolph. Rookie WR Jarius Wright is OUT with an ankle injury. Atlanta: We'll see if an impressive preseason translates into the regular season for Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, and the Falcons new offensive aerial attack. We'll also see how Michael Turner fits into the system and whether he is really heading for that downward spiral many keep expecting to happen. When the Falcons have the lead this year I can see them using Turner to pound out the clock. When they're in close games or trailing, I'm curious to see how much playing time Jacquizz Rodgers gets. Carolina: WR Steve Smith's preseason foot infection has cleared up and he is Probable for week 1. He'll start without issue. RB Jonathan Stewart is very Questionable after missing practices all week because of a preseason ankle sprain. Even if Stewart is active I can't imagine he gets the normal split with DeAngelo Williams he usually has. Williams could be a great play this week, especially if Stewart misses the game. We could also see a bit of Mike Tolbert as well. New Orleans: WR Marques Colston is Questionable with a foot injury. He is fully expected to start though and be fine. Adrian Arrington was supposed to be the #4 WR, but he is Questionable with a knee injury and is not expected to play. With rookie Nick Toon on injured reserve Courtney Roby (a return specialist and special teams player) could be the 4th WR this week. Pierre Thomas is listed as the starting RB, but it will be the same 3 headed RBBC it was last season between him, Darren Sproles, and Mark Ingram. Sproles was the best fantasy bet last year and with the Saints offense unchanged, should be again in 2012. Tampa Bay: Doug Martin gets a chance to be the feature RB out of the gate for the Bucs. LeGarrette Blount is only to be a complementary RB to Martin with speedster Michael Smith used most on special teams. We'll see if former Giant D.J. Ware is even active. Former starting WR Arrelious Benn is Questionable with a knee injury, but he has no value now that the tandem of Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams are locked into the starting WR spots. Arizona: Beanie Wells is Questionable after sustaining a hamstring injury in practice Friday. It's believed to be minor and while considered a game time decision he should play. But Ryan Williams could get a chance to carry most of the load this week. WR Andre Roberts will start despite being Probable with a minor ankle issue. Rookie WR Michael Floyd is no higher than 4th on WR depth chart but should start to ascend in coming weeks. John Skelton gets first crack at failing as the Cardinals starting QB over Kevin Kolb. St. Louis: The Rams top 3 WR's appear to be veterans Danny Amendola, Brandon Gibson, and Steve Smith. Rookies Brian Quick and Chris Givens are 4th and 5th on the depth chart. Brilliant job wasting draft picks on guys who can't beat out Brandon Gibson. Isaiah Pead was drafted to be the backup to Steven Jackson, but fellow rookie Daryl Richardson out-played Pead in preseason and it can be that there is true handcuff to Jackson for now. San Francisco: Neither RB Brandon Jacobs (knee) nor WR Ted Ginn (ankle) will play week 1 despite a generous listing of only Questionable on the injury report. Neither practiced at all this week. Randy Moss is listed as the starting WR opposite Michael Crabtree but I still expect to see a rotation between him and Mario Manningham. Rookie WR A.J. Jenkins has been so disappointing he's expected to be inactive most games. Frank Gore is expected to be the primary RB but expect to see a lot of Kendall Hunter spelling him and playing on 3rd downs. Seattle: Marshawn Lynch is Questionable and considered a game time decision because of back spasms. He was able to go thru limited practices on Thursday and Friday and tentatively I expect him to play. But I won't be surprised if we see a good bit of rookie RB Robert Turbin as well. WR Golden Tate is OUT with a knee injury and he could miss a couple of weeks. Braylon Edwards will start opposite Sidney Rice with Doug Baldwin working the slot as the 3rd WR. We'll see if Pete Carroll is a mad genius, or just plain mad in his decision to start rookie Russell Wilson at QB over free agent signee Matt Flynn. ---- On any given Sunday any fantasy team can beat another, only to still lose Monday night.
Viewing posts(1-1)
Post
Message
Plain text ONLY, no HTML avoid > and < in text

“I am advancing to the championship game in both of my leagues and I believe a lot of the credit goes to those of you in this forum and the many tools that we have access to”. (Ron 3 year member)

“This site greatly helped me make it through this year in both my leagues and all the great help from other members thanks very much fellas!” (Courtney first year member)

“I am hosting one league on NFL.com as well. Personally I thing there projections are way out of sync and have been less than reliable. I completely ignored them all year and instead took input from the LA at FFS which has proven to be much more accurate”. (Hooked 5 year Member)