Pick ups of the Week

Brandon Gibson WR STL - With Danny Amendola out his large amount of targets must go somewhere. Gibson will be one of the biggest beneficiaries. Although receiving numbers were bleak last week against the shutdown corners of the Eagles, Gibson still managed a respectable 50 yard total. The match up is much brighter this week against the Giants who were exploited by Rex Grossman and the Redskin passing attack last week for over 300 yards. Gibson's long term outlook also holds promise as he's a 3rd year WR on a pass heavy team.


Cadillac Williams RB STL - With S-jax out Williams will get the start at RB this week. He's expected to see a big workload coming off a 25 touch 140 yard game. He doesn't posses much upside, but he will be getting at least one start and is a must add for steven jackson owners


Rex Grossman QB WAS - Grossman started the final three games for the skins last season throwing for over 300 yards and at least 2 tds in two of them. He did it again week 1 against the Giants. This week he will face the Arizona Cardinals who gave up over 400 yards passing to Cam Newton. They are very susceptible to big plays in the passing game. Grossman will have ample opportunity for gaudy numbers this week. 270 yards and 2 TD's appears to be the floor here.


Cam Newton QB CAR - Newton's NFL debut was nothing less than spectacular. Throwing for 422 yards and 2 TD's adding another score on the ground. His passing numbers will come down substantially but his upside remains high as the potential from his rushing production leaves room for mediocre to bad games from a real life perspective but solid fantasy production. His defense will rank in the bottom half of the league making the play calling more aggressive. He and Steve Smith appear to have a nice rapport. All Smith needs is chances and he will make big plays as he's still one of the leagues best WR's. Look for the two to connect early and often all season long only boosting Newton's totals.


Domenik Hixon WR NYG - It's quite possible Hakeem Nicks misses this weeks game giving Hixon the start. The Rams will be without their top two corners leaving them very vulnerable this week. This leaves Hixon with WR2 potential for this week and works as a handcuff for Nicks owners to hold onto for a week or two.

Dexter McCluster RB KC - He appears to be the handcuff to have for Jamaal Charles owners. Last week Thomas Jones had just two touches, where McCluster had 9 for 67 yards. Yes, they were playing from behind for much of the game but with the loss of eric berry they are likely to be doing so for much of the season. He's particularly valuable in in leagues such as Yahoo where he holds WR eligibility as well. He also gets a bump in ppr leagues as he has excellent recieving skills (5 catches last week). If charles were to ever go down McCluster would instantly become an every week RB 2 who you could possibly start as a WR3 depending on your league format.

Washington Defense - Held the potent Giant offense to 14 points last week. They are a very agressive Defense who hold the potential to create ample Turn Overs. With the Cardinals weak in pass protection the skins won't give Kolb time to get comfortable. look for them to hold the cardinals under 20 points forcing at least 2 Turnovers providing double digit points for fantasy owners.

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (AFC East)

New York Jets 13-3

J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets. Building on Momentum 2 years in the making Under Head Coach Rex Ryan, 2011 is the year they dethrone the Patriots to capture the AFC East crown. Entering his 3rd season as a starter Mark Sanchez is ready to lead this team to greater heights with the addition of Plaxico Burress, who gives the team a legit redzone threat. Burress, more motivated than ever will be looking to make a statement each and every week that he's every bit the player he was with the Giants and Steelers. He may not practice much due to nagging injuries suffered throughout the season (Notorious for not practicing) but it won't matter come game time. He is always ready to perform and make his presence known. Shonn Greene is ready to carry the run game. He will be force fed the ball countless times to help build and protect leads. He will pick up numerous tough first downs and help grind out victories all season. Santonio Holmes makes big time plays in big time games. He's a true clutch performer who can be leaned on heavily in crucial moments. Their Defense may have a slight regression with a youth movement on the defensive front, but it won't be significant enough to stop the Jets take off.

New England Patriots 12-4

My projected demotion of the Pats is not a knock on their talent. They will still be amongst the NFL's best. They just simply have a tougher slate ahead of them and I know it may seem silly to compare, but lets take a look at some stats. When is the last time Brady and the Pats won a Playoff game? January 20th 2008. The Jets have won 4 playoff games since then (all on the road). I feel this season is that last chance for the Patriots to bounce back from their rut and return to the glory days. My guess is they remain stagnant while the Jets continue deep playoff runs.

Miami Dolphins 8-8

As stated in the "Talents in South Beach" I like the dolphins chances to surprise this year. They have the talent on both sides of the ball. Their fate will lay in the hands of QB Chad Henne. If he can make the leap he's capable of making they will be a winning football team. They have a full load of tough games including the 4 total against the Jets/Pats, so momentum will be tough to come by. They will be "in" many of their games, leaving themselves just one big play away from flipping the outcome in their favor. With not only an aggressive defense, but offense as well this season the Dolphins will have ample opportunity for to make things happen. The rewards of aggression are not with out risk, but the reward could provide a hefty payoff

Buffalo Bills 5-11

In 2010 the Bills were very scrappy. They played will possibly the most heart out of any team in the NFL. Unfortunately they lacked strong defensive play and the overall talent to have true success in the NFL. The additions of Marcell Dareus and "Lights Out" Merriman their defense looks to have upgraded pass rushing and run stopping ability. Their Offense will still be productive with overachievers Ryan Fitzpatrick Fred Jackson and Stevie Johnson carrying the load in HC Chan Gaileys offense. They will be competitive once again in 2011, but they lack the talent needed to ascend from this tough division.

Beating the Spread

Eagles (-4.5) vs Rams ----- Eagles

Lions (+1) vs TB ---- Lions

Cleveland (-7) vs Bengals ---- Browns

Titans (+1) vs Jags ---- Titans

Raiders (+ 3) vs Broncos ---- Raiders

Chargers (-9) vs Vikings ---- Chargers

Riskier plays

Texans (-9) vs Colts ---- Texans

Cardinals (-7) vs Panthers ---- Cardinals

Redskins (+3) vs Giants ---- Redskins

Cowboys (+5.5) vs Jets ---- Cowboys

Dolphins (+7) vs Pats ---- Dolphins

Surviving the week

Candidates:


Playing not to lose:

Chargers

Texans

Playing to win

Browns

Cardinals

Lions

Titans


A Cleveland Browns team on the rise at home against a rebuilding Bengals team lead by a Rookie QB making his first NFL start in the dog pound. Roll with the Browns week 1.

It's The Most Wonderful Time of The Year (AFC South edition)

Houston Texans 11-5

With a talented, well balanced offense, a defense looking to be much improved with the drafting of JJ Watt and Brooks Reed, the FA signings of Daniel Manning and Jonathan Joseph under the guidance of new DC Wade Phillips, the Houston Texans will breakdown that Playoff door. It is time. With all the uncertainty that surrounds Peyton Manning and the Colts the Texans will rise to dethrone the Kings of the AFC South. The Texans aren't without uncertainties of their own as last years league leading rusher Arian Foster is dealing with a hamstring issue. Whether it causes him to miss time or not the Texans will go on not missing a beat with ticking time bomb Ben Tate waiting to explode. The Texans defense was a laughing stock last season. Kareem Jackson was historically bad. Glover Quinn became the butt of many jokes. There is no where to go but up for this unit and all they have to be is respectable to get this squad into the post season. With the newly installed 3-4 defense of Wade Phillips I look for the Texans to do exactly that. They have many tough games on their schedule, but it’s no different from the one the colts will be facing and in recent years the Texans have proven able to compete with anyone. Sadly, that’s all they have been able to do is compete. Not win. This year it changes, this year the Texans ascend.

Indianapolis Colts 9-7

Maybe the speculations of Manning’s injury are false. Maybe being the great competitor he is he will over come it all. And who’s to doubt him? He is quite possibly the greatest regular season QB in NFL history and hasn't missed a start since his freshman year at Tennessee. The last time Manning sat out an entire preseason however, the colts got off to a sluggish 3-4 start. Yes, Manning would go on to lead the colts to 9 straight wins capturing his 3rd MVP in the process, but this time around it's different. Manning is expected to miss at least one game, potentially 4-5 games. He's also past his prime at 35 adding validity to the suspected slow recovery and reinjury potential. The Colts with out their franchise center piece could quite possibly fall apart this year. I believe Kerry Collins can prove useful in keeping them from a death sentence 0-4 type start but I don't see him carrying the load by any means. The Colts can rebound no doubt but I am not buying into this situation even with their stock being at such a bargain.

Tennessee Titans 6-10

The contract dispute with Chris Johnson is over, but unfortunately the titans have many more issues to address. Their Defense was atrocious last year (26th) giving up numerous big plays and they have given no reason to believe improvement is on the horizon. Their offense has enough weapons to be dynamic. Outside of CJ2K they have a great big play threat and potential breakout star in Kenny Britt. A WR with the skill set to take a game over (example: 225 3 td outburst against the eagle last season). TE Jared Cook will also prove to be quite the asset in the passing game standing 6'5" 250 lbs with 4.5 speed. He and Britt will produce many big plays downfield this season with teams keying in on Chris Johnson. I have serious questions about just how much is left in the tank for QB Matthew Hasselback (soon to be 36 coming off a 12 td 17 int season). If he is consistently able to get the ball accurately in the hands of his playmakers their offense will put up points unfortunately it will most often be less than the amount their defense gives up.

Jacksonville Jaguars 2-14

Let the Luke McCown era begin? It appears that’s exactly what’s on Jack Del Rio's mind. David Garrard is expected to be released and McCown anointed the starting gig. If there’s one thing positive I can say about McCown its that he has a Cannon for an arm, but like the Knuckle-Puck of Russ from the Mighty Ducks "Its hard to be accurate" - Many years ago the QB fetish man himself John Gruden brought in Luke with aspirations of molding this cannon into an offensive weapon. The McCown experiment was eventually terminated after being fairly productive, but just not the direction the organization was looking to head towards. McCown has risen from the depths of NFL rosters to claim a starting job once again. He can launch the bomb, but the rest of his game brings a lot of uncertainty. It appears Gabbert will get his shot by midseason killing any kind of offensive momentum they may have going. Giving them a bad offense to pair with bad defense (28th last season). Sorry Jags fans, but ready the paper bag masks.