Let the Games Begin

     Before we dive in, let me take a moment to clarify something.  The  name of this blog site: "Fantasy Football for Idiots," is not at all a slight at those who read it (Kevin), but rather, something that is easy to remember.  I wanted a catchy name so I rolled with this one.  Ok, now that the air is cleared on that, lets get down to business! 
     Yeah, you read this entry title right, games begin this week!  If you are like me, you have been waiting for this since December of last year, unless of course your team tanked out of the starting gates, then you have been waiting for this since last September.  I would guess that most of you have already drafted, or will be doing it in the next day or two.  Either way, best of luck to you, and be glad you are not in my "primary" league (by primary I mean the league that I pay the most attention to).  The reason I say this is because my team is seriously ridiculous.  I am going to destroy teams.  Ok, so now that I have peaked your interest, here is my team in the league previously mentioned, along with the reasons why I like or dislike them (but mostly like).

**Keep in mind this is a standard scoring league, and I am only listing my Week 1 Starters.

QB1.   Eli Manning-NYG 
- Although I don't love Eli, I think he will be a decent supporting role to my other offensive players.  I rarely take a QB high, and this league is a keeper league, so I waited and was the last to take a QB.  There are 12 guys in this league, and I honestly think after Flacco, QBs level out quite a bit, so I opted for more talent at the RB/WR positions.


RB1. Chris Johnson-TEN
- I like CJ this year.  I think the kid is solid.  He rushed for over 2,000 yards last season, and is hoping to rush for 2,500 this season.  Do I think he'll do it?  I'm not totally sure, but I love that he is making that his goal.  I read one report that said he is planning to rush for over 100 yards in every game he plays in this year.  If there is someone in the league who can do it, my money is on CJ (literally).

RB2. Jonathan Stewart-CAR
- I think Jonathan Stewart has serious upside.  He was the "back-up" to DeAngelo Williams last season, and still put up really solid numbers.  Stewart had surgery in the off-season to correct some foot issues, and is a solid goal line option, and a very decent RB2.

WR1. Miles Austin-DAL
- I really like Miles Austin.  I think he is going to have another great year.  Dez Bryant will steal some looks down the road, but for now Austin is the go-to.  Dallas just traded Patrick Crayton to the Chargers leaving Roy Williams and Dez Bryant to be Austin's 2 and 3 WRs.  I like those odds.  Not to mention Romo and Austin created some serious chemistry last year.  Mark my words, Austin is going to be totally legit this season.

WR2. Greg Jennings-GB
- I know right.  My team is ridiculous.  I have to admit I didn't draft Jennings.  I traded for him.  We do our draft early, which, this season I have noticed can take a serious toll on players teams before the season starts.  Long story short, Sidney Rice is out for the first half of the season.  I traded two solid WR2s for Jennings to the team that got screwed by Rice's surgery.  Anyway, I think Jennings has a bounce back year this season.  He didn't have the season everyone expected last year, but I think he makes up for it in 2010.


FLEX.  RB, CJ Spiller-BUF or WR, Malcom Floyd-SD
For now this one will be a weekly toss up.  I like both of these guys upside. 

Spiller:
Spiller is explosive, there is no doubt about that.  But there are 3 things to consider.  First, he is battling for time with two other backs (Jackson and Lynch).  Second, he is a rookie, and there is a learning curve.  Third, he plays for Buffalo which can hurt anyones chances.  All that said, I think if he can make a big enough impact in these first couple weeks with Jackson and Lynch on the mend, he could be a big player this season. 

Floyd: 
This guy has more upside at this point in my opinion.  The Chargers haven't made a deal to trade or re-sign Jackson yet, and so he is missing the first 6 games of the season no matter what.  This gives Floyd a big boost because he just became SD's #1 WR.  That is great news for me.  I took Floyd late in our draft because none of the stuff on Jackson was known yet.  You're going to have to take him much higher in your draft now that the cat is out of the bag.  Rivers throws...A LOT, so be ready for Floyd to have some big games.  His only real competition is Gates...which leads me to my TE

TE. Antonio Gates-SD
Yeah, that's right.  This is the icing on the cake.  Gates is the best TE in the game, in my opinion.  I think he will outproduce every other TE this season, even Dallas Clark (And probably a lot of WR2s as well).  Rivers just lost Jackson, and will lean on the hands of Gates more than ever, ESPECIALLY in the Red Zone.  I love Gates this season.

     As for Defense and Kickers, who cares.  Just kidding...sort of.  These two positions are so volatile every season that it is hard to make predictions about them.  I really just look at match-ups for these positions.  Which guys have the most upside in a given week.  I may go through 10 kickers or defenses in a season.  I have a solid bench too, but I won't bore you with that (If you want to know who shoot me an email at: fantasyfootballin@gmail.com).  So now it is time for you to tell me why you think I am right or wrong.  Tell me why you think I am full of it, and I will tell you why I am not.  I'd love to hear from you!

The first game this week is Thursday night.  Its the Vikings and the Saints... Should be a good game.  I will be featuring a pre-game breakdown later this week.  Keep your eyes out for it.  Til then, thanks for reading.

-For the Love of the Game.

PS.  I want to see your teams and know why you like/dislike them.  Shoot me an email, or comment on this page and let me know. 

Written by Andrew Bradford.  Email - fantasyfootballin@gmail.com