Saturday, July 4, 2009
AFC North
Buffalo Bills - The Bills had 4 picks in the first 2 rounds. They drafted highly regarded DE Aaron Maybin from Penn State and C Eric Wood.....from......Louisville in the first round who will make immediate impact for this young team, Wood may have been the best Center in the draft and is an awesome finisher. Maybin has a great burst and knows how to get to the QB, though he does struggle against the run the question is can this guy play 4 downs? In the second round they selected CB Jairus Byrd from Oregon who is a ball hawk and great defender and OL Andy Levitre from Oregon State to help in the rebuilding of this offensive line after the departure of Jason Peters,which is the glaring thing that wasn't adressed in the draft. In later rounds, they drafted players to improve the secondary. This teams success depends on the success and health of Trent Edwards since the departing of J.P. Losman.Ryan Fitzpatrick is listed as the #2 and in my opinion is career long back up in this league. Marshawn Lynch will get the bulk of the carries while Fred Jackson will give him a breather when needed. The Bills also picked up Dominic Rhodes who may step in later into the season if injuries occur at the RB position and make some noise in fantasy football, so keep him on your watch list. At WR Buffalo added T.O. in free agency which makes Lee Evans so much more valuable in fantasy leagues. With double coverage on T.O. The #3 spot will be a battle between Roscoe Parrish and 2nd year man from Indiana, James Hardy. Hardy should win this battle with his 6'5" heighth and could be a great suprise for anyone wanting to take a chance on him, as he will be an end zone threat. The TE position is another possible point of interest to fantasy owners, the production that could erupt from this position may be huge with the addition of Owens. They have 5 guys with less than 3 yrs experience but rookie Shawn Nelson from Southern Miss,who somehow slipped to the 4th round in this years draft, will be the front runner going into camp.
Miami Dolphins - Draft day was good for the Dolphins, as they filled many holes on this team. In the first round selected Vontae Davis at CB as they needed a strong corner to be able to cover T.O. and Randy Moss whom they will face twice a year each. The big addition is grabbing the extremely athletic Pat White from WVU in the draft. He will wreak havoc on the league working out of the Wildcat offense with his great speed and should be considered if still sitting on the board in later rounds though Chad Pennington still remains the starter. Sean Smith from Utah will provide needed depth at CB with his 6'4" 213 pound frame, but lacks the "woo" factor as he isn't a good tackler.In the 3rd and 4th rounds Miami selected two WR's who should make impact on this team because Tedd Ginn Jr and Greg Camarillo are the only 2 WR's that you have ever heard of on this team. Rookie's Patrick Turner from USC and Brian Hartline from Ohio State should battle it out for the third WR spot, but i see Turner winning the spot with his 6'5" heighth, he should be a regular red zone target that the Dolphins need, so look for 7 to 8 td's from the slot. Anthony Fasano will have a battle on his hands at camp this year. Rookie John Nalbone is a bit undersize but is a great reciever and blocker which is what Fasano is not. David Martin will also try to fit tinto a starting role at TE but the big points on this team will come from th RB position. Ronnie Brown is fantasy stud when he is healthy and Ricky Williams has been invisible at camp, so look for Patrick Cobbs to step in if and when injuries occur to Ronnie Brown, and remember he was never a full time back and always a back up in college, im not sure if this guy has the durability to make it a full season.
New York Jets - J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS was the chant heard most of the day after the big move to trade up 12 spots and amazingly draft a legitimate worthy first round player, which is rare for this New York franchise. Mark Sanchez is the future of this team with his big arm strength and leadership skills, he is a great replacement for Brett Favre. Sanchez will struggle his first year with not much help at the WR position behind Jerricho Cotchery, who i don't see as a #1 reciever in this league. Bubba Franks will get many looks, as the TE is always the best friend of a rookie QB, so expect Bubba to have an amazing season if he remains healthy and keeps the starting spot.Thomas Jones struggled to find the end zone the past couple of seasons but rushed a solid 90 yrds a game, unfortunately he hasn't got the new deal that he desires.With the Jets not giving Jones a contract it looks like they are looking elsewhere to spend their money in the future. Leon Washington seems like he has earned an oppurtunity to be a starter and will most likely retain the kickoff duties but the drafting of Shonn Greene may say otherwise.Greene was considered by many teams as one of the top 3 RB's in the draft who is a good strong downhill runner and has great vision,Greene is a very solid pick for any keeper league franchise looking for a RB for the future.This offense should have the ball most of the game with the great defense they have assembled.Bart Scott and Lito Sheppard were added in free agency but the biggest pick up on defense was the acquisition of head coach Rex Ryan. Ryan, who is a defensive minded coach will be a huge asset, but will all that be enough to overcome the loss of Laverneus Coles? The Jets are bound to be a team that struggles this year if they can't get their run game established but definitely a team on the rise who are just a couple years and a couple drafts away from being a perrenial wild card threat in the playoffs.
New England Patriots - The biggest question around the Patriots is how healthy is Tom Brady's knee and how will he come back from the botched knee surgery. Randy Moss and Wes Welker are probably the best WR duo in the league and should be considered in the early rounds. The RB position is impossible to predict, as my guess would be that Fred Taylor will be the starter as Bellichek has some sort of beef with Laurence Maroney, but that is a 1 too many headed monster that i will not deal with on draft day personally. The Defense was the main focus in the draft for the Pat's and that should improve this dynamic team for the future as many back up rotational guys were taken to replace this aging starting defensive lineup. This is a smart coaching staff who always has great drafts and knows the type of players they are looking for, with 12 picks in the draft the most notable fantasy player is probably the 3rd round pick out of North Carolina ,Brandon Tate.Tate is coming off ACL surgery but could end up in the slot by the end of the year and should see return duties when fully recovered.
Miami Dolphins - Draft day was good for the Dolphins, as they filled many holes on this team. In the first round selected Vontae Davis at CB as they needed a strong corner to be able to cover T.O. and Randy Moss whom they will face twice a year each. The big addition is grabbing the extremely athletic Pat White from WVU in the draft. He will wreak havoc on the league working out of the Wildcat offense with his great speed and should be considered if still sitting on the board in later rounds though Chad Pennington still remains the starter. Sean Smith from Utah will provide needed depth at CB with his 6'4" 213 pound frame, but lacks the "woo" factor as he isn't a good tackler.In the 3rd and 4th rounds Miami selected two WR's who should make impact on this team because Tedd Ginn Jr and Greg Camarillo are the only 2 WR's that you have ever heard of on this team. Rookie's Patrick Turner from USC and Brian Hartline from Ohio State should battle it out for the third WR spot, but i see Turner winning the spot with his 6'5" heighth, he should be a regular red zone target that the Dolphins need, so look for 7 to 8 td's from the slot. Anthony Fasano will have a battle on his hands at camp this year. Rookie John Nalbone is a bit undersize but is a great reciever and blocker which is what Fasano is not. David Martin will also try to fit tinto a starting role at TE but the big points on this team will come from th RB position. Ronnie Brown is fantasy stud when he is healthy and Ricky Williams has been invisible at camp, so look for Patrick Cobbs to step in if and when injuries occur to Ronnie Brown, and remember he was never a full time back and always a back up in college, im not sure if this guy has the durability to make it a full season.
New York Jets - J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS was the chant heard most of the day after the big move to trade up 12 spots and amazingly draft a legitimate worthy first round player, which is rare for this New York franchise. Mark Sanchez is the future of this team with his big arm strength and leadership skills, he is a great replacement for Brett Favre. Sanchez will struggle his first year with not much help at the WR position behind Jerricho Cotchery, who i don't see as a #1 reciever in this league. Bubba Franks will get many looks, as the TE is always the best friend of a rookie QB, so expect Bubba to have an amazing season if he remains healthy and keeps the starting spot.Thomas Jones struggled to find the end zone the past couple of seasons but rushed a solid 90 yrds a game, unfortunately he hasn't got the new deal that he desires.With the Jets not giving Jones a contract it looks like they are looking elsewhere to spend their money in the future. Leon Washington seems like he has earned an oppurtunity to be a starter and will most likely retain the kickoff duties but the drafting of Shonn Greene may say otherwise.Greene was considered by many teams as one of the top 3 RB's in the draft who is a good strong downhill runner and has great vision,Greene is a very solid pick for any keeper league franchise looking for a RB for the future.This offense should have the ball most of the game with the great defense they have assembled.Bart Scott and Lito Sheppard were added in free agency but the biggest pick up on defense was the acquisition of head coach Rex Ryan. Ryan, who is a defensive minded coach will be a huge asset, but will all that be enough to overcome the loss of Laverneus Coles? The Jets are bound to be a team that struggles this year if they can't get their run game established but definitely a team on the rise who are just a couple years and a couple drafts away from being a perrenial wild card threat in the playoffs.
New England Patriots - The biggest question around the Patriots is how healthy is Tom Brady's knee and how will he come back from the botched knee surgery. Randy Moss and Wes Welker are probably the best WR duo in the league and should be considered in the early rounds. The RB position is impossible to predict, as my guess would be that Fred Taylor will be the starter as Bellichek has some sort of beef with Laurence Maroney, but that is a 1 too many headed monster that i will not deal with on draft day personally. The Defense was the main focus in the draft for the Pat's and that should improve this dynamic team for the future as many back up rotational guys were taken to replace this aging starting defensive lineup. This is a smart coaching staff who always has great drafts and knows the type of players they are looking for, with 12 picks in the draft the most notable fantasy player is probably the 3rd round pick out of North Carolina ,Brandon Tate.Tate is coming off ACL surgery but could end up in the slot by the end of the year and should see return duties when fully recovered.
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