Fantasy football strategy, rankings, and podcasts

On this week's Retrospectical, we return to a very familiar topic. The NFL is something that is very near and dear to both of us, as indicated by our ability to endlessly jabber about fantasy football. This show, however, has no fantasy football!

We go over some current and long standing NFL topics, including the Combine, teams relocating to LA, concussions, punishments and the commissioner and finally, rules changes. We'll continue to track all kinds of topics within the NFL, and expect some more fantasy football talk by the time the draft comes around.

OK, thanks for coming back and reading my picks again for the third year, but before you read any further just stop. I want you to take a deep breath – I’ll wait … … …

Can you smell that? It’s football! And it’s back!!

The 2014 NFL season is finally upon us with the defending champion Seahawks to kick things off against the Packers this Thursday. The great thing about the NFL is that things really do reset every year. Seattle is an obvious choice to repeat, but not a definite one. It is always anybody’s game.

Which makes my job pretty hard in week 1! After an off-season of changes, we really don’t have a complete idea of what these 32 teams have to offer for 2014. Week 1 is always the most difficult week in a confidence pool. Stick with me though and you’ll be on your way to weekly and cumulative success!

Week 1…2014…HERE WE GO!!!

(HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

16 – PHILADELPHIA over Jacksonville – I actually like the foundation the Jaguars seem to be laying. Blake Bortles could be a top quarterback at some point. That point just isn’t right now, mainly because he’s not starting yet, and the Jags are still the Jags.

15 – CHICAGO over Buffalo – It’s a little odd to think the Monsters of the Midway moniker now seems to be more fitting of the blue and orange offense. Even with a healthy Sammy Watkins, the Bills wouldn’t be able to match the fire power of the Bears.

14 – KANSAS CITY over Tennessee – The Chiefs were the big “Worst to First” story of last season and should be able to carry that momentum into the new season. Hopefully, for their sake, they can forget about blowing a huge lead in the playoffs. Playing the Titans should be able to help them quickly forget.

13 – PITTSBURGH over Cleveland – The Browns ended up as the answer for one of the biggest questions of the 2014 NFL Draft - who will draft Johnny Manziel. So for that, and really several reasons, Cleveland does not deserve to win this week.

12 – New England over MIAMI – I think we may be seeing the end of the Patriots dominance of the AFC East soon. It’s just not going to be this year.

11 – DENVER over Indianapolis – I’m still pretty proud of the fact that I called the Colts handing the Broncos first loss last season on a Sunday Night Football game. The two are back on Sunday Night again, but this time it’s in Denver and I’m pretty sure the Broncos still have the taste of the Super Bowl still in their minds.

10 – DETROIT over New York Giants – The Monday Night schedule starts in Motown this year. The Lions still have one of the biggest offenses with all-everything receiver Calvin Johnson. The Giants are going to be a confusing team this year – and I don’t mean that in a good way at all.

9 – ARIZONA over San Diego – The second half of the opening week Monday Night double header takes place in Arizona. I think the Cardinals offense will surprise many this year. If Carson Palmer can stay healthy, Bruce Arians will want to air it out and Palmer has the options to do so.

8 – HOUSTON over Washington – I don’t have any faith in RGIII. He still needs to prove something to me in order to be considered a top quarterback. With JJ Watt on one side of the Houston defensive line and Jadeveon Clowney now on the other side, Griffin should be able to be contained enough for the Texans to end their 14 game skid.

7 – DALLAS over San Francisco – Suspensions and injuries will catch up to the 49ers this year weakening the once dominant unit. A strong offense will help out the Cowboy’s weak defense which leads to Jerry’s boys being the subject of the first ever BOLD PREDICTION OF THE WEEK – THE COWBOYS WILL WIN THE NFC EAST THIS SEASON. (see, it’s a bold prediction because, well, the letters are in bold type…see what I did there?)

6 – Cincinnati over BALTIMORE – The road to a repeat in the AFC North won’t be as smooth as it was for Cincy last year. However an offense with so many options should help the Bengals get past this first big road test.

5 – SEATTLE over Green Bay – A game that Packer fans have been waiting for since two replacement refs had absolutely no idea what was going on in the end zone. Green Bay should give the Seahawks a run in the NFC this year, but the 12^th man celebrating the city’s first championship since the 70’s will prove to be a bit too much to handle.

4 – ATLANTA over New Orleans – The NFC South might be the most entertaining division this year. You can make a claim that all four teams could finish on top, including the league’s basement dwellers a year ago the Falcons. Look for Atlanta to rebound in a big way this year. There’s no better way to start than knocking off the Saints.

3 – Carolina over TAMPA BAY – Staying in the division, the defending champs have a tough start defending their crown. Simply put, this game, and really the Panther’s season, relies on the health of Cam Newton. It looks like he should be a go, but if not, keep this game on the same line put the Bucs as the winner.

2 – Minnesota over ST. LOUIS – While doing your fantasy football research over the summer, you saw that the Rams were set to be a team to watch on the defensive end. They get a tough test to prove themselves right off the bat with Adrian Peterson. I don’t think they can pass this test.

1 – Oakland over NEW YORK JETS – The future for the Raiders has come a little earlier than expected. Second round pick Derek Carr ends up being the first quarterback in the 2014 Draft to start a game. Carr looked solid in the pre-season and a revamped defense may be able to contain the Jets enough to help Carr keep his composure on the road.

Back again this year to take a shot at winning all the money and the glory of being the survivor pool champion. So far I am off to a poor start. I procrastinated on getting my payment in and the gentleman who runs the pool only excepts cash/check payments to a P.O. Box. So I mailed my check on Tuesday hoping it will be enough time to make yesterdays deadline. My hesitation might have stifled me, but hopefully my article can help our Drinkfive followers win some greenbacks.

Last year my early season strategy was to look for the lower tier teams that had favorable match-ups to get all the stinkers out of the way and give me more options as the season went on. Well that ended up biting me in the ass when first time starter Brian Hoyer crushed my dreams early on leading the then win-less Browns over the Vikings. So this year I am going to adjust my strategy a bit and keep it simple stupid. With that in mind I am picking this week's biggest favorite the Philadelphia Eagles to roll over the always rebuilding Jacksonville Jaguars. Last year the Jags defense appeared to be on the rise at the end of the season, but they will not have enough offense to keep up with the high octane Eagles. The 10.5 point favorites should win handily in their home opener, while the Jags fans anxiously await the debut of rookie QB Blake Bortles. I set the over under at 6 games until he is anointed the starter.

Have a great season everybody!

With so many options to choose from, sometimes fielding a fantasy lineup can be quite the headache. Obvious are the starts akin to Antonio Brown, Brandon Marshall, Matthew Stafford, Adrian Peterson and the games other bigger names. However, it’s the tougher choices – namely the less obvious starts – that will end up winning your league.

Here are a few names you might want to consider:

Johnathan Dwyer RB Arizona – Lead back Andre Ellington is out for a significant amount of time – 4-6 weeks or more. If you drafted the injury prone Ellington, you would have been smart to draft Dwyer, but if he was on your waiver wire – snag him and start him when the matchup is right. This week, the matchup could be right. Arizona plays at home against San Diego, whose team defense finished near the bottom last season (especially on the road) and they haven’t really done much to improve for 2014. Dwyer might not catch a lot of balls in the backfield, but is a big, plodding runner who was already expected to handle a good amount of goal line duties. Now, with Ellington out of the picture, he will get the chance to rack up some serious yards, especially with Arizona’s pass attack opening up the run game. Stephan Taylor will also see some reps, but I expect Dwyer to hit the 100-yard mark with a few catches and at least one score as a strong RB2 play.  

Darren Sproles RB Philadelphia – Philadelphia didn’t sign the super versatile Sproles to sit on the bench. This week the Eagles take on what could be the worst NFL defense this season and Sproles will certainly get his shots in Chip Kelly’s high flying offense and when he does the Cowboys will have a tough time containing him. It might be a stretch to start Sproles as your number two running back in Week 1 (although he could pay off), but he will make a nice flex option as a lower-end RB2 with a ton of upside. Starting running back LeSean McCoy has already admitted he expects Sproles to get a good amount of action, and in Kelly’s fast-paced offense, there is certainly room for both.   

Ryan Fitzpatrick QB Houston – If you are in a league that starts two quarterbacks or more, Fitzpatrick could be a sneaky QB2 pick. Apparently, there is still a quarterback competition going on in Houston with Ryan Mallett standing by if Fitzpatrick falters – talk about incentive. Houston plays at home against a Washington defense who struggled against the pass last season and any quarterback who has an Andre Johnson to throw to can never be discounted. I like Fitzpatrick as a QB2 with big game potential. 250 passing yards and a couple of scores are not out of the question.

Emmanuel Sanders WR Denver – Talk about a year with breakout indications written all over it. Sanders now is hooked up by one of the game’s best quarterbacks in Peyton Manning, Eric Decker has split to New York and Wes Welker a concussion away from retirement and is currently serving a four game suspension due to breaking the NFL’s substance abuse policy. Let’s not forget that Sanders has always had speed and talent. Week 1 has Denver hosting Indianapolis in what should be a shootout. Sanders will certainly benefit. He was dealing with a minor thigh issue, but fantasy owners should not worry as he has already practiced in full in will be a full go on Sunday. Sanders should be started as a WR2 with confidence and WR1 potential in this very favorable match-up.