A-Town Preview


Hello everyone from the A-Town fantasy football league. This year I will be writing matchup predictions every week. To start the season I have decided to give my pre-season predictions with division winners and my pick to take the crown in 2010! As you all know the top two teams from each division move on to the playoffs as well as the top two teams overall from the 10 remaining teams.

AFC

The AFC is the weaker conference this year overall. I only have one of their teams ranked in my top 4. However, the conference should still be very competitive. I only see the top two teams from this conference making the playoffs.

1. Undeniable Advantage (Dan)

Dan had a B+ draft this year and then made a trade with Chris that vaulted him into the next level. He has a team built for a PPR league and I expect him to take the AFC.



Strength: Tony Romo is poised for a break out year. I could see him finishing in the top 4 QB’s. Dan will have an advantage at quarterback almost every week. The heart of this team is its wide receivers with White, Welker and Steve Smith form the Giants. The all have the potential to accumulate over 100 catches.

Weakness: The running backs on this team are an issue. It was just leaked that Mendenhall will be losing some of his goal line carries this year which isn’t good for Dan’s first round pick. I am still not sold on Spiller although he did win the starting job. He should get around 15 touches a game, but is that enough to be the number 2 back for this team? After Mendenhall and Spiller Dan is very thin at RB. He will have to be active on the waiver wire to find more potent backups.



Overall this is one of the stronger teams in the league. Dan has the best core of pass catchers and in a PPR league that will definitely get you to the playoffs. The only thing that could bring this team down is an injury to one of its top RB’s.

2. Catch Me IF You Can (Shawn)

Shawn had a B+ draft this year and has a very well rounded team. He should challenge Dan for the top spot in the AFC.

Strength: Shawn may have the most complete starting lineup in the league. All his starters are proven in the NFL. I love Gates at TE and Matt Ryan and Matthew Stafford combined should play as a top QB if Shawn plays matchups every week. I want to go on the record and say that Matt Stafford will be great this year and crack the top 12 QB’s.

Weakness: Shawn addressed his entire starting lineup before thinking about backups. As a result he has a very thin bench. He will have a rough time on bye-weeks where he has more than one player out. He will need to play the waiver wire and pick up this year’s sleepers if he wants to compete for the top spot.



Baring any significant injuries I don’t see how this stacked team won’t make the playoffs and challenge Dan for the top spot in the AFC. However, Shawn’s only one injury away from having major problems.

3. KO’d (Logan)

Logan had a B draft this year taking safe running backs and high ceiling wide outs. This team has a lot of potential and should be very competitive all year. Plus Logan has a pattern of winning one year and sucking the next and he sucked last year so we will see if that pattern continues.

Strength: This team has two workhouse running backs in MJD and Grant. They will get all the carries for their respective teams and put up solid numbers every week. I love that Logan with went High Ceiling wide receivers. They have the potential to light up the fantasy score board. They are definitely the fastest trio in the league.

Weakness: Logan’s tight end situation scares me. Daniels is coming off of his 3rd ACL surgery and will be limited to start the year. I do like that Logs picked up Sheffler who is a sleeper to backup Daniels. The combined age of this team’s QB’s is 73! I fear that this may be the year both Favre and McNabb breakdown and if that happens this team may breakdown as well.

This team has a lot of potential and should challenge for a playoff spot. However, there are a lot of questions to still be answered about this team and I am just not sure it can outlast the tough teams in the NFC.

4. Gropp’s Crew (Chris)

Chris is a new comer to our league this year. He did well in his first live draft earning a c+ grade. Chris was already Dan’s first trade victim this year. His team is still solid though and should give the top teams a run for their money week in and week out.

Strength: Chris used the old school philosophy and got sure fired running backs to lead his team. AP is a monster, Thomas is always solid and Harrison is in a great situation. I am also buying into the Jermichael Finley hype and think he will be a top 3 TE this year.

Weakness: To put it simple this teams wide receivers are weak. Chris has essentially 5 number three fantasy receivers. There is some potential in this core of pass catchers, but I see it being an issue all year long. I also worry that Carson Palmer will fail to be a top 14 quarterback and Chris will be giving up points at that position all year long.

Overall this team’s pass catchers will determine how far Chris goes. If he can play the right match ups and two of them can break out then along with AP this team can make a strong push for the playoffs.

5. Off In The Woods (Clay)

The question this year is can anyone beat Off In The Woods? I say the answer is yes; about ¾ of the league can beat off in the woods. However, Clay did have his best draft in years with a B grade.

Strength: Any team with Payton Manning has a chance. I like the combination with Reggie Wayne as well. This team will go as far as the Col’s to superstars will take it.

Weakness: After Forte this team has no running backs. Right now it is starting Leon Washington, need I say more. After Wayne, Clay’s WR’s are shaky. Although, I do like what I saw out of Owens in the pre-season and Housh will be revitalized in Baltimore.

At the end of the day I don’t think the Manning-Wayne duo can make up for this team’s lack of talent. If Clay picks up this year’s breakout players on the waiver wire he may have a chance to sneak into the playoffs. I also think Forte was a great pick and will have a season similar to that of two years ago.

6. StiffD (Mike)

If you want in-depth analyses on Mike’s team check out my last post. Mike had a C- draft. It seemed like every time it was his turn to pick he was in a bad situation. The players that made since for his team came off the board right before he picked.

Strength: The unquestioned strength if this team is TE. Clark and Witten are both beasts as the position. Mike should have an overwhelming strength at the position. Witten will be a nice flex option. Mike also has a solid top 2 wide outs in Fitz and Wallace.

Weakness: RB is going to be a problem for this team. Benson took on a huge work load last year and will tire this year and lose carries to Bernard Scott. Stewart is still the 1B option in the RB by committee situation in Carolina. After those two question marks Mike has no backups which could be the death of this team. Eli Manning has the potential to be a solid starter, but he has the same odds of busting.

Mike has half the puzzle in place and needs to find out how to get the other pieces to fit. I highly recommend he trade Witten to build running back depth and acquire wide receiver talent. Mike’s teams have a tendency to feed of my criticism so I do expect this team to compete week in and week out and definitely beat my team.

7. Z’s (Pop)

First of all I would like to thank Pop’s for letting us host the draft party at his house. Pop’s had a so so draft with a D+ grade. I fear that there is just no talent to make the playoffs on his team.

Strength: Aaron Rodgers has become an elite QB in the NFL and the best fantasy QB. He has all the tools in the world and lethal weapons around him. He should have the Packers offense soaring this year.

Weakness: this team pretty much has a weakness everywhere else but K. Addai is bound to slow down and Beanie Wells is already hurt. Buckhalter is penciled in as Pop’s number 2 RB for week 1. At WR Driver and Mason are on the wrong side of 30. However, I like Garcon to breakout and compete for Pop’s top WR.

I think this team will win some games behind the arm of Rodgers, but at the end of the season I expect Pop’s to be at the bottom half of the AFC.