When I’m not following Leinster & Ireland rugby I try to keep tabs on my favourite US sports teams from the Bay Area in California…
I know some rugby fans like to play Fantasy NFL so here’s an article I found on my 49ers’ conference…
Well, well, well, here we are in the preseason with no regular season games played, but we all want Fantasy Football SO BAD. And we all love some bold predictions to laugh about, make fun of, and agree with, so lets go! Note: some of these might not be super "bold" but, are not expected to happen in the fantasy world by most analyst.
NFC South
Atlanta Falcons: Tony Gonzalez finishes outside the top 12 Tight Ends. Why? His touchdowns will decrease with the addition of Steven Jackson, and he is 37....
New Orleans Saints: This is the top 25 RB year for Pierre Thomas! In the past, the Saints have given every opportunity to succeed to former first round pick Mark Ingram. This year, the Saints want to establish the run to help Drew Brees and Pierre Thomas is their guy being listed #1 on their current depth chart.
Carolina Panthers: Cam Newton is fantasy's #1 QB. Now I know what you are thinking, that I am insane, but all Cam Newton had to do last season was throw for 24 touchdowns last season instead of 19. I don't know about you, but that seems quite possible to me.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Rookie Mike Glennon Scores more fantasy points than Josh Freeman. If Freeman stays inconsistent and loses games, the team may turn to the rookie Glennon, an efficient passer from NC State
NFC East
Dallas Cowboys: Tony Romo finishes as fantasy's number 5 QB. Behind Rodgers, Brees, Newton, and Manning, there is an open spot at the number five slot that could be filled by Romo. Why? He will have a very good Dez Bryant all season, along with Miles Austin, Jason Witten, and second round pick TE Gavin Escobar. The run game improves with DeMarco Murray AND Joseph Randle, & the Cowboys have a favorable fantasy schedule.
New York Giants: Eli Manning is a top-7 fantasy quarterback. If you take away the three weeks that Eli had a "Dead Arm" he averages 16.9 Points Per Week good for fantasy's number 7 QB
Philadelphia Eagles: Inconsistent passing from Michael Vick/Nick Foles and heavy running leads DeSean Jackson to finish outside the top-40 WR.
Washington Redskins: Alfred Morris catches 40 balls this season. After last season's 11 catch season, all Morris has been working on in the off season is his pass catching ability and that can show up this season.
NFC North
Chicago Bears: Alshon Jeffrey scores double digit Touchdowns. At 6"3 216 pounds, he is a big rezone threat on a team that has Brandon Marshall for defenses to worry about. Also he is fully healthy after last year's nagging knee problems.
Detroit Lions: Reggie Bush finishes with more catches than Darren Sproles. How? Last season, Lions running backs had 97 receptions, and Reggie Bush should have almost all of those receptions. Last season Darren Sproles finished with 75 receptions.
Green Bay Packers: Jermichael Finley emerges from the group of shady TE 2's to rise to a top 7 tight end. The reason that he will do this is touchdowns. Last season, he only had 2 touchdowns. If he could go back to his 2011 TD numbers (8) he would score 108 points making him fantasy's #5 tight end.
Minnesota Vikings: Adrian Peterson rushes for 2,000 yards again, becoming the first to go back-to-back 2,000 yard seasons. He does this for one reason, health. It's seems like everybody forgot that he did this with an injured ACL throughout the season. With a healthy knee for the whole season, who knows what he can do! (He could even eclipse the 2,500 yard mark he predicted.)
NFC West
Arizona Cardinals: Rashard Mendenhall scores 12+ TDs. Last season, Cardinals running backs had 9 TDs with John Skeleton and Ryan Lindley running the show. With Carson Palmer, the Cardinals offense should be much better and Mendenhall will get the goal-line carries.
Seattle Seahawks: The Seahawks D/ST finishes outside the top-7. Remember when the 49ers defense was drafted #1 last season and was destined for greatness? They finished number 8 in scoring among defenses. That's just another reason to not draft defenses early.
St Louis Rams: The St. Louis Rams live up to the name the "Greatest Show on Turf" and Sam Bradford is a top-10 QB. You've heard this story before. He finally has a good LT in Jake Long, and he is surrounded by good weapons for the first time in his career. Bradford has rookie Tavon Austin to dump the ball off to and watch him get yards after the catch. He has super athletic tight end Jared Cook to pass to and receivers Brian Quick and Chris Givens should improve this season.
San Francisco 49ers: Running back LaMichael James outscores Frank Gore. Gore has been the 49ers workhorse running back, and just turned 30 in May. This season will be the year that Frank the Tank breaks down and LaMichael James will capitalize on the opportunity to start in the 49ers backfield.
Well, that's it, hope you were entertained, and maybe you learned a thing or two!
Author : Keith LottCheck out other great articles at We Talk Fantasy Sports.
