Happy Friday! I'm looking forward to a weekend full of some of my favorite Boulder trails - and a little bit of packing of our condo mixed in. But before the weekend begins, here are a few football links to keep us all informed and entertained.
- One of the FootballOutsiders.com masterminds brings his 2009 forecasting to the Fifth Down in 2009 Predictions: Look Out For Rams and Chargers. For more insight from the FO guys, don't forget about the FO Almanac available now. I haven't bought it yet but I think today might be the day to pull the trigger. It's just too good of a resource not to buy it - in fact, I even listed their Pro Football Prospectus (predecessor to the Almanac) as one of my favorite books on Facebook. Yes, seriously.
- Ultimate Fantasy Football Strategy keeps the o-line analysis coming with the Bengals and Browns.
- Evan Silva from Rotoworld was touting Yeremiah Bell's awesomeness last season and was dead-on about that - no surprise to see he's moved Bell up a bit in the latest DB rankings.
- CBS Sports takes a look at some of the best No. 2 QBs (not to be confused with QB2s on the fantasy football front) in Backup protection: Ten best No. 2 quarterbacks.
- FantasySharks thinks you should rethink your draft-a-defense-before-the-15th-round strategy. I'm not entirely sure that I follow this mentality - I don't think it's worth reaching for a D/ST but waiting too late can be detrimental, too. But playing the waiver wire with defenses is an interesting idea worth thinking about.
Comments
Good ol' Minnesota Vikings. A joke at QB the last couple years now boasts a depth chart featuring Favre and two of the ten best backups (according to CBS, anyway) in the league.
Brady Quinn will open the season as the starter, but Anderson will get some starts.
I do see Gonzo & White having a big year. Atlanta plays outside their home NFC South division, the AFC & NFC East divisions this season, plus the Bears + 49ers. They'll see many of the likely top 15 run stopping teams, in terms of yards per carry ave.: Bears, Eagles, Jets, Redskins, Giants & Patriots. Can Michael Turner have a big game running against any of these teams defenses?
Not sure I buy the conjecture of less than 300 carries for Turner in Atlanta next season, but there's a reason A. Gonzo was borrow in for a next season 2nd round draft pick. The Falcons will need a passing game to have a chance against most of those above teams with good running defenses. Turner running it alone will not be enough to win. One example, is last year's Tampa Bucs win on the road in Chicago against the Bears, where QB Griese threw the ball 67 times: http://bit.ly/pL3TU (NFL Game Center summary)