It was almost unanimous. All Fear and Loathing needed was one more first-place vote and he’d be the outright favorite in the Eagle Division.Fear earned a JFL-best 26 points and eight first-place votes to finish first in the preseason poll. The improved World of Noise earned 16 points and one first-place vote, while Real Houserville, last season’s division champion, got 12 points.
When you look at the rosters in this division, it’s hard to bet against this poll. Fear looks as strong as he’s ever been and I could easily see this team winning 11 to 12 games this season before nabbing the Liberty Conference’s top seed. He’s got the roster to put up 140 weekly.
Michael Vick has to stay healthy for him to do so, but even if he does miss a few games, Fear should have enough on his roster to get him to the playoffs.
…. Wait. This just in. I’ve just checked the Twitter wires and apparently, Vince Young, who strangely is not a member of the Fear and Loathing squad, deemed Fear to be the “2011 Dream Fantasy Team.”
That should put some pressure on this squad, which is also what World of Noise will look to do.
Noise can contend if Vick goes down — that or if Fear’s hype is too high — but he’ll need a few things to go right on his squad, particularly at RB. Noise had a very good draft — excellent if you compare it to drafts in the past — and he could very well be on his way back to the Super Bowl.
Remember, he was there just two years ago, losing to the Toasters. Noise then was away at boot camp last fall and had his wife control his roster while he was gone. He can’t blame his crappy season on that, but he certainly has made some strides and shown that he’s ready to get back to winning in 2011.
Houserville made some questionable preseason moves, ditching Rashard Mendenhall and Greg Jennings, allowing both to enter draft — if you asked me on Aug. 1, I would have said, “Keep Mendenhall and Jennings, and draft Ben Roethlisberger in the second or third rounds.”
But Houserville, like Indianapolis, remained faithful to Peyton Manning and gave him a vow of confidence for 2011.
We’ll see if that pans out for him.
When all is said and done, though, Fear should own this division. And maybe even the Liberty Conference’s bid to Super Bowl VI.
1. Fear and Loathing
2010 Record: 6-8
Career Record : 32-35
Playoff Record (Appearances): 0-3 (3)
Quarterbacks ★★★★½
Michael Vick was stellar when he was healthy, and all the talk heading into 2011 is about whether or not he can make it through a full 16-game schedule.
The offensive line didn’t look all that great during the preseason, so signs point to no at this point.
Still, the Eagles ran a very vanilla offense and who knows what the regular season will bring. If he does, he’s likely to put up the amazing point totals we saw last season. He had seven games where he posted 30 or more fantasy points, including a JFL-record 64.5 in Week 10 and 50 in Week 15 when Fear was out of the playoffs.
When your QB can score 40, 50 points, you’re in great shape. That can easily cause the opponent to raise the white flag.
Fear has to hope that Vick is healthy enough to do that from Week 1 through 16; because he cannot afford to go to backup Jason Campbell.
Running Backs ★★★★★
The top two are studs and when the season ends, we could look back and talk about the best RB tandem in the JFL.Jamaal Charles and Rashard Mendenhall combined for 2,700 rushing yards and 18 TDs. Mendenhall had 13 TDs as Charles lost goal line touches to Thomas Jones. Mendenhall doesn’t lose touches when the Steelers get into the red zone and he’ll continue to pile up the points, and this will be a thorn into the side of Fear’s division rival Houserville who made a last-second keeper switch to hold onto Darren McFadden instead of Mendenhall.
Fear pounced on the opportunity to draft Mendenhall and it will prove to be a pivotal move because he complements Charles, who caught 45 passes for 468 yards and three touchdowns. That’s an extra 73.5 fantasy points during the season. Charles will continue to be a key contributor for the Chiefs’ passing game.
If that wasn’t enough, Fear added another 1,000-yard rusher from 2010 in Cedric Benson. Now, this would be a lot better if Benson wasn’t just sentence to 20 days in jail for an assault charge. … How assault winds up to be just 20 days, I don’t know. Oh, and then he got the Paris Hilton/Lindsay Lohan treatment and was release early. Why? I’m not lying when the reports say he was released early because he mopped floors and painted. Wow. If only Roger Goodell was so nice. A suspension could hurt Benson’s season. Still, after 1,111 yards and eight TDs, Fear has himself a good third back.
He also has Ricky Williams, now a backup to Ray Rice, and Anthony Dixon, who will play a key goal line role for the 49ers. The only problem with that is, the 49ers have to get to the goal line.
Fortunately for Fear, his backups shouldn’t play any role on his team. Charles and Mendenhall will be in for the long haul.
Wideouts ★★★★★
You may question me for giving Fear five stars here, but it’s hard not to. The names on this roster make you wonder why I’m so high on this guys, but if you look at the 2010 stats, you’ll see why.
Brandon Lloyd quietly had a great season last year for the awful Broncos, catching 77 passes for 1,448 yards and 11 scores. Tampa’s Mike Williams also scored 11 TDs and had 964 yards last season.
Those two WRs are among five receivers on this team that had more than 100 targets last season, so Fear really did a great job in the draft. He picked up a favorite of mine, Chad Ochocinco, and we all know that this WR has been a member of Fear before. He’s set records for points scored on the bench because Fear would purposely bench him because he actually hates him.
When he drafted him this year, he said that Ocho was going right to the bench again.
If he wants to win, I’d advice starting him. Tom Brady is going to find him for scores and I do not think it’s that big of a stretch that he could have a season like Randy Moss had when he first joined the Patriots. If that’s the case, Fear’s three wideouts could battle with the Jammers for the best trio of wideouts in the JFL.
But it gets even better for Fear. He also has Pierre Garcon, who had 119 targets last season and 67 catches for 784 yards and six TDs. Jason Witten also had 1,002 yards and nine TDs, and that was without his main man Tony Romo for most of the season. Romo is back for 2011, and if he stays healthy, Witten could improve on his 94 catches from last season.
After talking about all those guys, I really don’t need to talk about Jerome Simpson and Jason Hill. If they produce, the rest of the JFL should just retreat.
Tight Ends ★★★★★
I already talked about Jason Witten in the section above, so all you need to know is that he is a five-star TE and he’ll be that again this year.
Team Outlook
Fear and Loathing’s best move last year was to pick up Michael Vick. Unfortunately for Fear, he was one of the few fantasy owners who did not win a Super Bowl with him. More than 60 percent of leagues last season boasted champions who had Michael Vick as their starter.
Fear figures to join the party this season.
And when you’re rolling with a starting lineup of Vick, Charles, Mendenhall, Ocho, Williams, Lloyd, Witten — oh, and the Packers defense — you’re in good shape.
Just look at this, that starting lineup, including his kicker Neil Rackers, scored 148.2 points in Week 1 last season. And that included a down 3.3-point week from Jason Witten. The starting lineup averaged a combined 127 points per week. If Fear can have that average this season, he’ll easily win the points title, the division and maybe even his first playoff game in JFL history.
That’s right, he’s 0-3 in playoff games.
That should change in 2011.
2. World of Noise
2010 Record: 4-9
Career Record : 26-43
Playoff Record (Appearances): 2-2 (2)
Quarterbacks ★★★½☆
The Noise needed a quarterback in the draft, and would you look at that, he found one. Taking care of business right away, Noise plucked Sam Bradford with the fourth pick in the draft.While I think there may have been a few QBs who would have been better for the 2011 season, there’s no doubt in my mind that the Noise has just picked up his franchise QB for the next five to seven years, at least.
I think Bradford will be a very solid QB and he will continue to grow after an impressive rookie season. His touchdown total was just 18, but he still threw for 3,512 yards. I expect to see similar yardage totals with 23-27 TDs.
And if by chance, Bradford has some sophomore struggles — though I doubt it — Jay Cutler could be a suitable replacement, depending on the matchup. And third-stringer David Garrard could have a few good weeks, too, but I mainly expect to see Bradford for the Noise. The backups, the inexperience of Bradford and the team that he plays for is a reason why the Noise only got 3½ stars at QB. But there is great potential for Bradford to have a 4 or 4½ star season.
Running Backs ★★★½☆
Finally, the Noise has jumped off the Ronnie Brown-Ricky Williams train. The Dolphins gave up on the two, so Noise did the same thing.
Now, he’s hoping for a little magic from LaDainian Tomlinson, while getting great seasons from Knowshon Moreno and Jonathan Stewart. These are not bad picks at all, but all three come with questions. I could make arguments for why each one will have a great fantasy season, while I could make just as many arguments to why they won’t. It will be interesting to see how it comes together for the Noise because this is the spot that will make or break his team.
The three also have to get the job done because they are the only three backs on his team right now.
That could pose a major problem as the season goes on, especially if injuries happen.
Wideouts ★★★★½
Now, here’s where the Noise have the chance to, well, make some noise.
Andre Johnson is among the top 5 receivers in the game right now (my top five is Andre Johnson, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, Larry Fitzgerald and Dwayne Bowe; with honorable mention going to Calvin Johnson). Those six are the elite receivers in the game. If you’re lucky to have one, you’re in great shape.
The Noise also has Marques Colston, who quietly had 1,023 yards and seven TDs last season, and Plaxico Burress, who has the chance to put up some numbers with the Jets. James Jones isn’t a bad backup because Rodgers will throw 35-40 TDs and Jennings isn’t catching them all.
And lastly, I like Davone Bess if Chad Henne gets going. Bess had 125 targets last season and caught 79 passes for 820 yards and five TDs. He could certainly break out this year if Henne does.
Tight Ends ★★★★☆
Dallas Clark and Greg Olsen were key components in their offenses until last season. Clark was injured for much of 2010, and Olsen caught only 41 passes for 404 yards and five TDs. Clark is in trouble if Peyton Manning is out for a significant amount of time, and Olsen has to hope Cutler can get him the ball more than he did last season. I’m basing the four stars on their history and what they can do, but it’s not likely I’ll rank them this high after this season.
Team Outlook
The Noise cruised to Super Bowl IV behind the power tandem of Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown who averaged a combined 30-plus points per week. That tandem failed him in the Super Bowl, and it failed him all last season.
With no Eagles on this roster, other than the defense, the Noise may actually have a chance — and that’s not saying it’s bad to have Eagles; it’s just that normally, when Noise has an Eagle, it’s Jason Avant or David Akers.
Noise will struggle against the top tier teams, but he should easily pick up 7 to 8 wins this season and contend for a playoff spot.
3. Real Houserville
2010 Record: 9-6
Career Record : 25-19
Playoff Record (Appearances): 2-3 (3)
Quarterbacks ★★★½☆
Well, the news got a little worse for Houserville early this week. He found out that Peyton Manning would be doubtful for the first game of the season and now there are many questions surrounding Manning.So begins the Kevin Kolb era in Houserville, and that may not be as bad as one would think. Kolb has a few weapons and a very good coach in Ken Whisenhunt who will help him mature. Remember, it was Whisenhunt who groomed Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh, so there could be some great moments ahead for Kolb.
At this point, Houserville will need that if he is to defend his division title this season.
If not, there’s always the hope that Cam Newton will come around.
Running Backs ★★★½☆
There’s a lot of faith in Darren McFadden, faith that I do not have, but the good thing is, Houserville drafted his handcuff just in case. The duo of McFadden and Michael Bush could be an interesting one if the Raiders can continue what they had last season between the two backs. They combined for 1,800 yards and 15 TDs. They averaged about 25 fantasy points per week as a tandem, so Houserville may start both, hoping for all the points.
If not, then he has some tough choices. DeAngelo Williams, Shonn Greene and Mike Tolbert are all in time shares. Greene was expected to breakout last year, but he didn’t scored just two TDs.
Williams had a slow start, gaining just 361 yards and one TD in the first six weeks before missing the rest of the season with an injury.
Tolbert had 11 TDs last season, seeing a lot of time with rookie Ryan Mathews struggling through an ankle injury. Mathews is healthy and the fantasy totals from last season are in question for Tolbert.
Wideouts ★★★★☆
Mike Wallace is the star of this corps after catching 60 passes for 1,257 yards and 10 TDs, and his season really didn’t take off until Big Ben came back from suspension. Wallace is more of the home-run kind of WR, though, where he’ll catch three or four passes for 100 yards. He has the big home-run TD capability, which is great when it happens, but when it doesn’t, you end up with weeks where he scores 3 points.
He’s not the possession receiver like Wes Welker, who had 26 more catches last season that Wallace. Brady will look to Welker again this season and Wallace and Welker will clearly be mainstays in Houserville’s lineup.
I also like the upside to Anquan Boldin this season. I liked it last year, but I think the addition of Lee Evans will open up the underneath routes for Boldin.
Houserville also has Hines Ward and Emmanuel Sanders in case he wants to go three-wide with Steelers. Ward’s numbers continue to drop and Sanders hasn’t developed yet.
And then there’s Nate Burleson, who could get some points with Stafford, if both stay healthy.
Tight Ends ★★★½☆
Rob Gronkowski is alone on the roster now that Houserville ditched Brandon Pettigrew, a move that confuses me. I’m high on Pettigrew this season — hence the reason I quickly added him once he cleared waivers — but Houserville went the other direction. Gronkowski, after scoring 10 TDs last season, will get some starts this season, but he still only had 546 yards last year, so it’s very hit or miss with him. In fact, half of his TDs last year game in two games.
Team Outlook
It’s hard to predict what Houserville will do this season. Manning could return and propel him past his division rivals. Or Kolb can surprise and do the same.
Or, the offseason decisions and draft strategy could come back to haunt him. The good thing is, Houserville has two young QBs in case he has to move on away from the Manning era. It had to come to an end at some point. It’s just tough to see it end. I know the feeling. I had the same thing with LaDainian Tomlinson. Then came the season where I had to keep him because of his history but I shouldn’t have. That may be the case for Manning this season, but no one can blame him. Ditching Peyton Manning at this juncture is a move no one can make. Maybe going into 2012, it will be easier if this is truly the end of the Manning era.
With Kolb, McFadden and Wallace, he’s got a decent core to build around. It just will not be enough for 2011 — unless, of course, his division rivals falter.
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