2009 Bookmarks: Ronnie Brown And Steve Smith

Posted On Wednesday, February 10, 2010 by JakeTrain |

Most people are getting ready to pack up sshop on fantasy football, diving into other sports. Yet keeper and dynasty leagues require owners to be attentive throughout the off-season. READ MORE

If you are fairly new to fantasy football, enjoyed the fun of setting lineups each week and are looking to amp up the volume on your fantasy football hobby I suggest taking a look at keeper and dynasty leagues.

As with any league, there is a great deal of customization in these leagues. I'm not going to get into all the styles and types of leagues out there in this post, but I encourage you to explore the landscape prior to the 2010 fantasy football season.

If you are already playing in one of these leagues, you are aware of the challenges associated with choosing your "core" players. I've found one of the harder decisions to make is determining just when to let go of a solid fantasy veteran and roll with the younger developing stud.

Jerome Harrison and Jamaal Charles are examples of running backs that performed admireably down the stretch. So much so that the collective fantasy community is carrying that praise by moving these guys up their early rankings. In their wake lies a slew of fantasy veterans who are a little less shiny but still have plenty of gas left in the tank. These guys are being overlooked now and you can expect them to be overlooked even more after the NFL Draft when OTA's begin.

I thought I would take a quick look at two of these players before the season is too far removed. Leaving a few "bookmarks" from the previous season is extremely helpful in jumpstarting your preparation later in the year.

RB Ronnie Brown, Miami Dolphins - Brown is injury prone. Brown is good. Brown is actually really good. I'm not suggesting he is a player worth taking in the first round, but he is a first round talent when healthy. How many people wrote off Fred Taylor once he was labeled "injury-prone?" You might not get a full season from him, but he's a poor man's RB1 that can be had after the first round. He'll be passed by from risk averse owners until he falls in the lap from an owner making an educated gamble.

WR Steve Smith, Carolina Panthers - Smith may be the hardest to cover in the NFL. He is tough and can score any time he touches the ball. Injuries and quarterback issues have kept his fantasy output down in recent years. He is essentially the Ronnie Brown of the WR position. If you made Smith a part of your fantasy team in recent years, you probably don't want him on your squad. If your leaguemates fall asleep on him, be ready to scoop him up.

So what do you do with these players in keeper leagues? Your league settings and keeper rules will ultimately make the choice for you. If you keep four or less players in your league these guys are less likely to be kept making it possible for you to reacquire them at a more reasonable value. In leagues keeping a deeper pool of players, you have to keep them based on talent and potential alone. In these leagues, you might be wise to explore some trading opportunities as well.

Identifying brand names with above-average risk associated with them is a good starting place when looking for potential bargains for the 2010 fantasy football season when everyone is chasing the next Ray Rice or Maurice Jones-Drew.

BOXCAR Football updates are also available on RSS and Twitter!

| edit post

Da Bears In 2010

Posted On Tuesday, February 09, 2010 by JakeTrain |

With the off season officially here, we can now officially look at the 2010 season. As the days go by, I'll periodically check in and offer my opinions in a segment called Pitch and Catch. Being a Bear's fan, it's only logical to begin with the buzz stemming from Mike Martz' arrival in the Windy City. READ MORE

chicago bears

I'll get to Mike Martz in a minute. First, what the hell did the Bears really do here? Angelo and Smith were kept with the prerequisite of replacing several key coaches. I like Lovie and think he is in the top half of NFL coaches, but at a time when iconic coaches are available it's hard for me to see past what could have been.

Since this is a fantasy football post I'll just move forward by saying that Angelo's impact on the NFL draft and the 2010 fantasy season will be minimal since the Bears have traded their top two picks and the NFL is moving into an uncapped season. Angelo's biggest hurdle this off-season will be getting some defensive ends on the defensive side of the ball. Offensively, the Bears will seek out some younger guys on the offensive line.

Lovie has already made his biggest contribution to the fantasy season by hiring Mike Martz. Where there is Martz, there is fantasy football buzz. How Martz' play-calling and coaching will translate into fantasy success is hard to predict but one thing is for sure: The Bears' offensive players are far more relevant for the 2010 fantasy football season than they were a couple of weeks ago.

Martz will have to alter the offense we've come to know in his previous coaching stops. He must alter it because he's playing in Chicago and not inside or in warm weather. This will be a very unique Martz offense, one that makes predicting the true values of Forte, Cutler and company tougher for the 2010 season.

Forte can't do much worse and he'll take less of a beating so I'm optimistic in a nice rebound. Devin Hester can blossom if his route running improves-something I don't see happening. Knox and Bennett are in the perfect position to be assets to fantasy teams in 2010 while Jay Cutler remains one of the riskier quarterbacks to own. Until the Bears are able to land a truly gifted wideout, Cutler's touchdown totals likely won't reach the level of more elite signal callers.

The one player I was preparing to be bullish on is Greg Olsen. I say preparing because it seemed like the Bears' coaching search highlighted the tight end position. In my eyes, Chicago was looking to tailor its new offense around Cutler and Olsen. Then Martz was hired. The same guy who all but takes the TE position off the fantasy field. Olsen is different and as I've already said this Chicago-style Martz offense will be different. The hiring of Martz still has me cooling on Olsen, but the fact that Olsen remains the best receiving threat inside the red-zone keeps me very interested in his prospects for the 2010 fantasy season. Martz must make Olsen a focal point of the offense. If Martz is successful, the Bears offense will regain some luster within the fantasy realm.

The bigger, and possibly the biggest piece to the fantasy puzzle created with Martz' hiring is simply the schedule. The Bears will be playing the NFC East and AFC East in 2010. I put a lot of weight into schedules and opponents when preparing for a fantasy season. When faced with uncertainty of how players will perform under Martz combined with a slate of tough matchups, you'd be wise to take two steps back form the buzz around the Bears when evaluating Chicago's fantasy talent for 2010.

Moving on...

Early rankings are fun. They are also meaningless with so many factors yet to be determined. However, I'm more than a little surprised to see Jamaal Charles being treated like MJD. I see a nice running back on a team looking to mirror the Patriots of old. I see the ball being spread around in the offense and I also see the need for another RB to contribute in the offense. Charles is a nice player, but I'm not ready to make him my top running back any time soon.

I'll stoke the fire since it is sure to be a story at some point. If Favre doesn't come back, what is the value of a Percy Harvin? or Sidney Rice? Chester Taylor is likely going to head towards greener pastures as well. With Brett in toe, the Vikings could make one more run at a title, leading to fantasy riches. Without him, the team looks one-dimensional, leading to fantasy gambles.

BOXCAR Football updates are also available on RSS and Twitter!

| edit post