By Dalton Del Don – Senior Writer
Three of the biggest busts so far have been Maurice Jones-Drew, Lee Evans and Reggie Brown, all of whom I touted before the season started. It’s actually been a weird year all around so far – as Larry Johnson, LaDainian Tomlinson, Steven Jackson, Frank Gore, Reggie Bush and Rudi Johnson have all disappointed so far as well. If the early going is any indication, 2007 is the year of the wideout. And now, a look around the league:
If Matt Leinart doesn’t start taking football more seriously, he’s never going to realize his potential…If you own Anquan Boldin in your fantasy league, you want Kurt Warner starting. If you are a Larry Fitzgerald owner, you’re begging for Leinart under center…Steve McNair has officially become a liability…I guess Derrick Mason’s career isn’t over, after all.
What in the world has gotten into Brett Favre? Not only is he throwing like it’s 1997, but he’s doing so with no semblance of a running game to help…59-84-1 – Norv Turner’s career record as a head coach…Make sure your offer is legitimate, but I think it’s at least worth trying to see how fed up LaDainian Tomlinson’s owner is.
Joseph Addai is no doubt going to finish as a top-5 fantasy player this year, but he’s more a product of his environment than a truly special player. Don’t get me wrong, he’s solid – he does all the small things well like pass protection and he’s also an adept receiver – but there’s no game breaking ability here. I’d be mildly shocked if he had a run for more than 40 yards this season.
Adrian Peterson accounted for 60 percent of Minnesota’s total yardage Sunday, consistently revealing better receiving skills than most expected…I’m not that surprised the Vikings’ run defense held Larry Johnson to 1.8 YPC, but I did expect him to be more involved in the passing game. There isn’t a player in the league who is more of a focal point of an offense than Johnson, so he’s going to eventually produce decent numbers. However, it’s going to have to come as a result of pure volume, with quantity beating quality.
If I’m a Marshawn Lynch owner, I’m seeing what his solid start brings back in trade this week…Ben Watson might finish with 25 catches and 12 touchdowns this season…OK, this New England team looks pretty good.
Ronnie Brown filled up the stat sheet Sunday, but one of the most encouraging numbers was zero – the number of touches by Jesse Chatman…However, Brown has dominated the Jets throughout his career, so it would be nice to see him do it again against different competition next week.
You have to love the Lions – Jon Kitna attempted 46 pass plays, and the team’s leading rusher had five carries…If he stays healthy for 16 games (a very unlikely scenario), I actually think 5,000 passing yards is likely for Kitna…Tatum Bell is going to prove to be a complete waste of a pick from fantasy drafts this summer…Are we entirely sure Reggie Brown is still alive?…For each of the past few preseasons, I’m always too scared to draft Brian Westbrook. And during each of the past few seasons, I really wish I had drafted Brian Westbrook.
My preaseason pick to win the difficult NFC North, the Steelers have looked very good so far, but please, wake me when their competition starts. It looks like they’ll be 5-0 heading into their bye…San Francisco might want to try a run off tackle at some point. The team has literally called every single run play straight up the middle.
It’s still very early, obviously, but through three weeks of the season, Tampa Bay looks like the best team in the NFC South…And the Rams easily look like the worst team in the NFC West.
Brandon Marshall is an absolute beast, and no one looks forward to trying to tackle him…I get it Jacksonville, expect a disappointing performance against weak competition but your “A” game against the league’s better teams. It took me a few years to understand this.
Lost amidst Oakland’s vastly improved offense is the fall off on defense. That’s three straight subpar performances. I would not be surprised if the Raiders finish 1-15 this season; 2-14 looks like their ceiling…However, LaMont Jordan looks like the steal of fantasy football drafts through the first three weeks of the season.
The Bengals going for a two-point conversion while up 21-17 with 2:42 left in the fourth quarter Sunday was the single-dumbest decision I’ve witnessed in years. Absolutely brain-dead. With so little time left and the Seahawks down 4, clearly Seattle was going to go for a TD. Please explain to me the difference between being up 5 and being up 6? I can tell you the difference between 4 and 5, as a field goal would have won it instead of tie it after the inevitable Seahawks TD made it 24-21 (an extra point would have made it 24-22). And yes, I’m bitter because this cost me a cover (I had Cincy +3), and with my picks so far this season, I need all the help I can get.
Steve Smith may have only 10 yards to show for his effort Sunday in the box score, but he absolutely abused DeAngelo Hall to the tune of 67 penalty yards during a third quarter drive. And after a sideline tirade with coach Bobby Petrino, word is (inside information!), Hall was beat up by teammates in the locker room after the game. He’s just lucky Smith wasn’t one of them.
I’m not sure if Joe Gibbs or Jason Campbell is more to blame, but common sense once again took a back seat during Sunday’s final minute. First, Campbell spiked the ball on second down with 1:07 left at the Giants’ 21-yard line – this after a botched snap on first down that was going to be a spike. Why don’t teams just call a play no-huddle? Call me crazy, but isn’t a down more important than 5-8 seconds? There was more than one minute left and they were at the 20-yard line! The preposterousness doesn’t end there, my friends, as it gets even worse. On first and goal from the one-yard line with 51 seconds left, you guessed it, they spiked it again. Good thing too, because they barely got the fourth down play off – with just 31 seconds to spare. No team deserved to lose more Sunday than the Washington Redskins.
This just in – Cedric Benson and Rex Grossman are not very good…If Marion Barber is “The Wire,” then Julius Jones is “The Big Bang Theory.”
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