By Zack Cimini
notjustagame23@gmail.com

The passing game was supposed to struggle early on this season. Lack of preparation to get the chemistry intact was supposed to give the advantage to defenses. When Chad Henne and Cam Newton both throw for 400 yards, the glaring weaknesses in the NFL definitely aren’t at quarterback. Still, it’s hard in the NFL to put together solid outings on a consistent basis unless you’re one of the regular top tier fantasy quarterbacks.

Will there be a dip in fantasy production in week two? Expectantly so. Here are quarterback rankings for week two based upon match ups.

1. Tom Brady
The clinic he put on Monday night is put down as an instant classic performance. As the saying goes, what happens in preseason means nothing. Brady had time to thread the ball wherever and whenever he wanted to. With the freedom and amount of throws vs. the run New England does, it’ll be hard for Brady not to consistently be in the top two or three fantasy quarterbacks each week.

2. Aaron Rodgers
Just because the Packers played five days ago doesn’t mean Rodgers opening night performance should be over looked. Either Rodgers already has a great rapport with his receivers or he found a way to work with his receivers during the lockout. The timing he has in place with Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson is impressive.

3. Mike Vick
A poor completion percentage, but statistically that doesn’t matter in fantasy football. Vick looks as if he won’t have any issues performing with a new contract. Going up against his old team at Atlanta should truly be the unleashing moment for Vick’s return to the top.

4. Tony Romo
Unfortunate errors seem to plague Tony Romo. Analyzing the entire game vs. the Jets though, you have to be impressed with the way Romo played. It looks as if he may be ready to get into the tier one category of fantasy quarterbacks. Replacing Peyton Manning for 2011.

5. Philip Rivers
The San Diego Chargers always raise the level of intensity when they face the New England Patriots. There is an extended past history here. You best believe Rivers is going to want to outshine Tom Brady. It’s his nature to compete. Chad Henne’s dazzling performance is even more of an indicator to boost Rivers for this weekend.

6. Drew Brees
There is a lot of great match ups this week for quarterbacks if Brees is ranked sixth. Chicago is one of a few teams that knows how to game plan and frustrate Brees. The running game never truly got going in week one for the Saints. With a couple of receivers nicked up, Brees could have a tough time having a typical Brees outing.

7. Matt Schaub
The Dolphins don’t get any rest from an offensive attack. Houston ran the ball quite often against the Colts. Mostly to prevent from drubbing the Colts even worse in the total points column. Miami should stay in this game a bit longer. Meaning Schaub should have an aerial attack against the Dolphins poor secondary.

8. Jay Cutler
Cutler never really stretches the field for deep throws, but his yardage numbers add up in chunks. Mike Martz’s system has caught a lot of flack over the years, but it is safe and effective. Matt Forte’s extra YAC is becoming routine to pad Cutler’s stats.

9. Matt Stafford
Kansas City is in for a long season after being embarrassed in a home blowout loss to Buffalo. Detroit’s defense is going to feast off of Matt Cassel’s inability to deliver the ball with accuracy. Expect a lot of short fields and for the Lions to come out and make a statement that they’re a team to be reckoned with.

10. Joe Flacco
Nothing has changed with the way the Ravens defense showed up and stomped an opponent. The difference was in the scoreboard. Instead of a 13-7 victory, the Ravens were able to show some efficiency offensively for a 35-7 blowout. Flacco has shown he can deliver but has been so sporadic throughout his young career. Can he put it together over a full season?

11. Chad Henne
12. Ben Roethlisberger
13. Mark Sanchez
14. Rex Grossman
15. Matt Ryan
16. Josh Freeman
17. Ryan Fitzpatrick
18. Kevin Kolb
19. Kyle Orton
20. Eli Manning
21. Cam Newton
22. Colt McCoy
23. Sam Bradford
24. Jason Campbell
25. Donovan McNabb
26. Matt Hasselbeck
27. Tavaris Jackson
28. Matt Cassel
29. Luke McCown
30. Alex Smith
31. Andy Dalton
32. Kerry Collins

By Zack Cimini

, runnotjustagame23@gmail.com

I just wrote an article detailing out how important running backs are again in fantasy football. The past few years, quarterbacks stole the show a bit by throwing for an inordinate amount of yardage. It’ll tone back down this year, and bring fantasy football back to it’s core value players. Here are running back rankings based upon week one match ups.

Undervalued Week One: Matt Forte , Tim Hightower, Brandon Jacobs

Overvalued (Risky Starters): Chris Johnson and Michael Turner

1. Jamaal Charles

He’ll torment the Bills defense all day. Expect a patented break away long yardage touchdown from Charles.

2. Darren McFadden

McFadden’s going to become an elite fantasy back this season as long as he can stay away from injuries. He loves facing the Denver Broncos, and will make fantasy owners very happy week one.

3. Ray Rice

Even though he’ll be facing Pittsburgh, I like what he is going to do additionally pass catching in this game. Rice gets a heavy amount of carries but gets equal looks out of the backfield. Flacco is a check down quarterback, and may rely on Rice more without Derrick Mason.

4. Adrian Peterson

AP is going to crack the top five each week unless of course an injury occurs.

5. Peyton Hillis

The Browns offense is going to be much more effective than last season. With the expected increased points, Hillis may have been undervalued in fantasy drafts. Facing Cincinnati will get him a jump start in the fantasy points column.

6. Frank Gore

Inner divisional opponents of the NFC West have made Gore’s career. He’ll feast on the Seahawks once again.

7. Arian Foster

I assume he’ll play. Rumor though is that the Texans will ensure he is not over worked, and get Ben Tate some carries. This game could be a blowout. If so, Foster may not get more than twelve to fifteen carries.

8. Chris Johnson

I’m not buying an instant on the field great performance from Johnson. The money is there for Johnson, will the will and drive be anymore?

9. Matt Forte

This should be a tight defensive game, but Forte will cause issues for the Falcons. Total yardage numbers from him will likely be in the top five this week, but the if factor on cracking the end zone bumps him down.

10. Tim Hightower

Everyone thinks that a banged up secondary does more damage to the passing game. In does, but it also causes more issues in the rush defense. The Giants linebackers aren’t great as it is. Expect Hightower to continue off his great preseason with a one hundred yard performance and at least one touchdown.

11. LeSean McCoy

12. Steven Jackson

13. Maurice Jones-Drew

14. Jahvid Best

15. Reggie Bush

16. Beanie Wells

17. Rashard Mendenhall

18. Ahmad Bradshaw

19. Mark Ingram

20. LeGarrette Blount

21. Michael Turner

22. Shonn Greene

23. DeAngelo Williams

24. Fred Jackson

25. Brandon Jacobs

26. Knowshown Moreno

27. Ben Tate

28. Cedric Benson

29. BenJarvus Green-Ellis

30. Felix Jones

31. Marion Barber

32. Ryan Matthews

33. James Starks

34. Joseph Addai

35. Marshawn Lynch

36. Thomas Jones

37. Willis McGahee

38. Jonathan Stewart

39. Pierre Thomas

40. Mike Tolbert

41. Ryan Grant

42. CJ Spiller

43. Larod Stephens-Howling

44. Michael Bush

45. Roy Helu

46. LT

47. Ricky Williams

By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

News this afternoon of Peyton Manning under going a third neck surgery can not be good news for football enthusiasts. From Colts fans to dynasty league owners that thought they were excluded from needing depth because of his starts history. This has all possible not goods to it. It doesn’t sound good, the fact that he hasn’t been able to participate and hasn’t been cleared for anything, doesn’t look good.

If the Colts kept news of Manning being declared out for Sunday’s start until just a few days ago, then how long do you think they’ll let the real information linger? Lately former NFL experts have been more up front about the difficulties coming back from a neck injury. Steve Young, Howie Long, Sterling Sharpe, have all disclosed pertinent information on this. The main forthcoming notes is that each successive issue makes it harder and harder. This could be a career ender.

Being a quarterback you have to be even more concerned for Manning. It has to be treated with extreme caution similar to a player returning with a concussion. As Kordell Stewart stated Wednesday, all functions start from the head down. Even if Manning is able to return, there are many variables to consider. His age, the teams age, and the rust of Manning missing an extended period of time.

As far as 2011, Kerry Collins is the quarterback for now. Think of the last 40 year old starting quarterbacks in the NFL. Of course Brett Favre tops the most recent list. Then you can date back to Doug Flutie and Vinny Testaverde. As the season goes on, the body beating takes it’s toll on the delivery of the football. The proper reads they see, there arm is a tad bit slower in delivering the football. Throw out Favre’s 2009 season, and think of those quarterbacks out their on display.

This brings a hot topic to the front of discussion. With the season in jeopardy, how will the Colts front office manage the year? Will they try and sign veteran David Garrard to see if they can make a run? Manning for years made this average team above average. So quarterbacks that are on the cusp of average will expose this team all out. Defensive coordinators will finally be able to attack freely without worries of getting burned over the top or across the field.

Remember Kerry Collins had the Tennessee Titans off to an 0-6 start out the gate, and basically forced the Titans to start Vince Young. As bad as Young is and was, he managed to get the Titans on a win streak. The season is not looking bright, but being in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes is highly probable.

If Manning is out for the season, there is only the Seattle Seahawks that look like they would have a similar horrible record when the season ended. Even if some of the teams that are starting rookie quarterbacks end up towards the bottom of the NFL, they already have their signal caller for the upcoming years.

Wouldn’t that be something if the Colts were able to nab Luck, and Manning came back in 2012 fully recovered? Luck already showed patience in returning for his senior season, so sitting behind Manning would likely not be a problem. This would be awfully similar to what happened with the San Antonio Spurs. Aging veteran David Robinson was the heart and soul of the Spurs, and when he missed an entire season the team felt it 100%. Landing with the number one pick as a result, they built a formidable wall in the interior and Robinson had a wing man to dominate the paint.

Colts fans down right now have this other side of the spectrum to look at for the year, because it’s going to be an ugly one.

notjustagame23@gmail.com

The news of the day comes out of Indianapolis. In years past, Peyton Manning’s body was able to recoup just in time to get on the playing field week one. Signing Kerry Collins seemed like a desperation move. Now though it looks like Collins may end up earning that $4 million. Out of all backup quarterbacks over the last few years, Collins seems to always make a substantial amount of starts.

If you’re drafting your money league or bragging rights league in the next few days, here is an updated quarterbacks ranking list.

1. Drew Brees

Brees was one of the quarterbacks that had a major incline in interceptions last season. Twenty two in total in fact. He seemed to have the Brett Favre in him a little too much last year. Maybe it was because of the prior seasons success, that he was a little too care free. Brees gets more freedom than any quarterback in the league. Look for him to get back on the proper page, and aim for over 5,000 yards again.

2. Aaron Rodgers

How will Rodgers handle the success of winning his first Super Bowl? Remember Green Bay got hot as a team on the tail end of last year. It wasn’t a typical Super Bowl run. The good thing for Rodgers is he has many weapons at his disposal. Complementing the aerial attack with a solid ground game will be key to Rodgers staying ranked as a top three quarterback this year.

3. Philip Rivers

The gunslinger with a mouth has been as quiet as a mouse this off-season. Has he matured to the point that he is going to lead this team by his actions from game one? There comes a point when a player with exponential talent puts it together one hundred percent. Not just as an individual but to the extent that his teammates feed off of that and absorb it. Look for the Chargers to get off to a hot start this year.

4. Tom Brady

New England is still capital of the short yardage passing game. They’re so clever at the ways they disguise the lack of a true running game. You would think that would have hurt Brady by now, but they still get the short hot routes delivered with ease. Tight end play is on the upside as well for Brady. Both rookies Gronkowski and Hernandez proved that they’re going to garner more drawn up plays by the Patriots. The only thing scary with Brady is if the offensive line can patch things up and protect him.

5. Mike Vick

Part Two of his incredible comeback starts with mega millions back in the bank. We are a tad bit worried about Vick for multiple reasons. Added pressure to build upon an outstanding 2010 season. Receivers that have been top notch caliber, but Maclin is coming back from a long bout with an undisclosed health issue. DeSean Jackson has been tough his whole career but has had to deal with injuries just about every season. Vick’s age at 31 has not been brought up like it should. His body was able to take the fresh licks last season. Now that he played twelve games for the first time since 2006 it should be very interesting to see how he mid season.

6. Tony Romo

7. Matt Ryan

8. Matt Stafford

9. Matt Schaub

10. Peyton Manning

11. Kevin Kolb

12. Ben Roethlisberger

13. Eli Manning

14. Joe Flacco

15. Sam Bradford

16. Ryan Fitzpatrick

17. Josh Freeman

18. Matt Cassel

19. Jay Cutler

20. Kyle Orton

21. Colt McCoy

22. Rex Grossman

23. Donovan McNabb

24. Mark Sanchez

25. Chad Henne

26. Luke McCown

27. Matt Hasselbeck

28. Jason Campbell

29. Alex Smith

30. Cam Newton

31. Andy Dalton

32. Tavaris Jackson

33. Vince Young

34. John Beck

35. Shaun Hill

36. Jake Locker

 37. David Garrard

By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

Maybe Tiki Barber can stop waiting by his cell phone for renewed found work in football. Dancing with the stars or a behind the scenes gig looks like his only chance for a job this year. Arizona you would of thought would have been a possibility after Ryan Williams went down for the season. The Cardinals though opted to go the typical way. Wait for a team to cut an athlete that fits their needs.

Chester Taylor has been a solid veteran running back in the NFL. He gave an extra edge as a backup to Adrian Peterson as a Viking, and did his role as a Bear. For those teams there were already formidable backs ahead of Taylor on the depth chart. Dividing up any fantasy relevant carries was not going to happen there.

Sometimes an abrupt change right before the season starts is a good thing. If he wasn’t cut, Taylor just would of rode the bench in Chicago. Now he goes to Arizona where they’ll actually depend upon Taylor right away. The Cardinals starting running back in Beanie Wells has not gained the full support and trust of head coach Ken Whisenhunt.

He has been highly injury prone, and Whisenhunt never could pick his decisive number one back between Hightower and Wells. The Cardinals obviously sent more mixed messages than anything to Wells by drafting Ryan Williams in the second round.

Due to Taylor not registering fantasy relevant numbers for the last three years, we wouldn’t recommend drafting or over reacting to this signing. Especially considering he only gained an average of 2.4 yards per carry last season. Pay attention to how the Cardinals use him the first few games of the season. He should get around the same amount of carries per game as he did as a Bear last year. Lets just hope that he does more with the pigskin to garner a waiver wire acquisition.

With Beanie’s track record with being in and out of the lineup, there’s a good chance Taylor could start around three games this year. Unlike other teams stock piled at running back, the Cardinals aren’t. That would mean Taylor would get the majority if not all carries, besides for certain third down packages for LaRod Stephens-Howling.

By Zack Cimini

All around the locker room typically when a team has a poor season the fingers start pointing at the foundation at quarterback. For the Buffalo Bills last season it was the opposite. They were in the majority of their games because of surprising quarterback play from Ryan Fitzpatrick. He came into the season ranked near the bottom of fantasy quarterback rankings, only too become a fantastic waiver wire pickup and viable fill in starter for teams that were suffering at quarterback.

Gaining confidence from your organization is an ultimate psyche booster. The Alex Smtih treatment the Bills were giving to Trent Edwards finally came to a halt. When the Bills said they have their guy at quarterback as the season unfolded, and in the early off-season, it had to of given Ryan a tremendous boost. Especially this past draft, in which quarterbacks were selected like it was a quarterback sweepstakes in 1999.

Can Fitzpatrick lift his accuracy woes he displayed last year? He only completed 57% of his passes even though he was able to keep defenses off guard?

His rise did come out of no where, since he had opportunities with the Rams and Bengals and didn’t necessarily look like more than a career backup to say the least . The stint with the Rams included an impressive outing against the Houston Texans, but his outings as a Bengal in place of an injured Carson Palmer were awful.

No one could have anticipated Fitzpatrick throwing for eleven touchdowns in his first four starts of the season in 2010.

The I don’t believe it until I see it carried over until that fourth game last year against the Ravens. Fitzpatrick absolutely picked apart the Ravens secondary, with precision and daring throws. His rise led to the catapult of Stevie Johnson, who also shot up the waiver wire to become a more than viable starter. It was apparent that Johnson had become the go to guy, and by dealing Lee Evans, Bills management had must feel secure with Johnson as the number one wide receiver.

Subtract those four games from Fitzpatrick’s year and the year looks blindingly bad. He did not start the first two games, but from week eight on he only threw for multiple touchdown throws twice. There are certain variables that would lead you to believe the reasoning to that. Buffalo never had a consistent running game with CJ Spiller not showing first round pick value as a rookie. Also his decline coincided with the Buffalo winter.

At 28 though, Fitzpatrick is now a capable veteran. Look for him to be the same hot potato type fantasy quarterback as last year. You’ll likely miss out on the four touchdown games, but he will serve his purpose as being a solid fantasy backup quarterback. A bye week filler and worst case injury fill in. Do we see Fitzpatrick throwing for 23 touchdowns in 2011? Maybe not that high. The Bills should get some sort of running game going, that should cut Fitzpatrick’s red zone touchdowns a tad.