By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

The preseason is mainly a gauge for the team to analyze depth and workout kinks on the offense and defensive side of the football. While holes filled in special teams and proper depth position is an annual routine, there is another area coaches are looking to develop. Drafted rookies usually get a high percentage of looks and opportunities. Confidence in the preseason from rookies often will carry over to the regular season.

Cardinals rookie wide receiver Michael Floyd is not necessarily lighting up the statistics. In the hall of fame game he caught one ball for fifteen yards, followed up by week one of the preseason with a catch for three yards, zero catches week two, and last night two catches for sixteen yards. Fellow rookies, Kendall Wright and Justin Blackmon on the other hand have had high success and look much more ready to have a fantasy impact out the gate.

Fantasy owners are having a hard enough time figuring out where to rank Larry Fitzgerald in standard drafts, and how much to bid on him in auction drafts. Fitz has put up statistics though throughout his career with Max Hall, Matt Leinart, and both Skelton and Kolb. His statistics actually jumped with Skelton over Kolb last season, but both will get him the football.

A bright side to the fact that Floyd has had dismal preseason numbers is a breakdown of the Cardinals embarrassing quarterback battle. Before Kolb’s performance last night, neither Skelton or Kolb had thrown over the mid 30’s for yardage in the preseason. That’s correct, and this is coming from two guys competing for a starting job. You might not find another team in the NFL that’s had these type of preseason performances just with their backup quarterbacks.

There were some good things pointed out by the ESPN crew on what the Cardinals can do to move forward with the offense. Kevin Kolb is use to the quick pace from when he was in Houston. When Arizona used the hurry up offense he seemed to have a better grasp of the offense, and the team as a whole responded better. It may be just what he needs to get out of the funk he is in.

The Cardinals are going to have to announce the starter here in the next three to five days. Skelton was the favorite going into week three’s preseason game, but Kolb did outperform him Thursday. This could be a hot potato affair which Cardinals fans have become accustomed to since the Kurt Warner days.

That spells trouble for rookie Michael Floyd. If the Cardinals have any success offensively it will likely come through the ground attack. Touchdowns thrown through the air will be gobbled up by Larry Fitzgerald. Expecting either Kolb or Skelton to throw over twenty touchdowns even with sixteen games as a starter would be exceeding expectations.

Those hoping for Floyd to be a rookie sleeper better look the other way at Kendall Wright and Justin Blackmon. Floyd will have the worst numbers of the three, and should not be on any fantasy roster this season. Larry Fitzgerald is the only one worth eyeing, unless Kevin Kolb shows back to back games like his three games in Philadelphia than. Rookies like Floyd may scatter and tease you with a game or two here and there. The inconsistencies and headaches of knowing when that will occur will drive an owner crazy. Spare yourself.

By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

Seattle fans are as passionate as they come. Hardly televised on a national stage, but when they are the 12^th man is truly showcased. No other team in the NFL can get the rise of their crowd as the Seahawks do. Maybe it’s because they lost an NBA team and don’t want any possible threat of an owner wanting to relocate.

In a different market though, you better believe fans would be much more vocal on decisions made under the eye of Pete Carroll. The latest moves at quarterback could cause enough destruction this season to force Carroll out.

Gambling as a head coach is reasonable, but Carroll keeps close ties to his past with former players. Seattle continues to have low talent on the offensive side of the football especially at wide receiver. For a couple of seasons Carroll rooted for the comeback of bust Mike Williams.

Williams started in 2010 when he had no business doing so. You could not of found another NFL team willing to take a shot at Williams, let alone have him with the first team. His season in 2010 was better than expected but his catches came mainly due to his size at 6’5. He had zero ability to separate from the defender, and just was not a receiver that should have been on the field.

This off-season Carroll brought in two veterans that have hit the tail ends of their careers, in Braylon Edwards and Terrell Owens. Owens could not even get phone calls from any teams for months on months. It’s a low risk investment sure, but why not sign the proper free agents or seek young talent in the NFL Draft?

Sidney Rice has not been the same since his breakout year with Brett Favre, and Golden Tate was a 50/50 talent as a second round pick. Their top receiver a year ago was undrafted rookie Doug Baldwin. The hot potato manuevering with Carroll has been all over the place with this team offensively. Carroll and his coaching staff need to come together with a plan and move forward properly.

What’s going on with the carousel at quarterback is just ridiculous. First the Seahawks brought in Tavaris Jackson for four million a year at a two year contract tenure. Not a bad move considering the Seahawks did not have much to work with a year ago after losing Matt Hasselbeck. Jackson was more of a knee jerk signing to ensure a starter post lockout.

Were I disagree with the treatment of Jackson is their denying him of an opportunity in preseason to prove himself. If you do not want him apart of the quarterback competition, trade or release him before hand. A player getting paid four million a year should not be sidelined during preseason games.

Short tenured contracts seems to be the way Seattle likes to go. Signing Matt Flynn to a three year 26 million dollar contract. Only ten million is guaranteed so the Seahawks would not be on the hook like say the Arizona Cardinals with Kevin Kolb. Money management with their quarterbacks is not the issue, it’s the handling of playing time.

Rookies just do not come in and start. Sure the last couple of seasons has bucked that trend, but the fact that Seattle wants to put in Russell Wilson to start a preseason game is stupefying. Flynn has not been stellar but deserves the opportunity to play based on the contract and research the Seahawks signed him on. All you’re doing is rattling the confidence and brewing controversy even if the team names Flynn starter after Wilson’s start Friday.

Wilson may be the eventual starter for the Seahawks, but Carroll is jumping the gun once again just like his quick free agent signings. This should not even of been a quarterback battle. When have you ever heard of a quarterback just signed for over eight million a year, having to deal with a quarterback controversy as soon as the NFL Draft was concluded?

Never Pete…..never.

Experimenting with signings such as LenDale White can’t happen anymore. Stick to certain players and build forward not backward.

By Zack Cimini

Arrogance and cockiness go hand in hand with the elite players in sports. Most can tone it down to keep the view of the audience oblivious to a players actions. Whether its yapping of the mouth to the opposing team, or basic body language. DeSean Jackson has never been one to tone down his talents.

He has high stepped the last ten yards of touchdowns, ran twenty yards sideways inside the five yard line on a punt return touchdown against the Giants, and flipped the football before the end zone against the Cowboys on Monday Night football. Those are just a few of Jackson’s antics that have been just a natural part of his on-the-field demeanor.

At points in a professional athletes career humbling times occur. Last year for the Eagles was an eye opener, as a team and an individual level for DeSean Jackson. Playing as a franchise tagged athlete, Jackson had the type of numbers that would make a team let the athlete walk away. The team seemed to fold as he did, and never had any type of consistency. Jackson has admitted he did not play at his highest levels a year ago. Based on the Eagles play he likely was not the only one.

The Eagles know and the NFL knows that Jackson is a gem of a talent. Still only 25, Jackson seems like he has been in the league much longer. He played in the latter last hooray for Donovan McNabb in which he first became the deep threat people know of today. Against the Cardinals in the 2009 NFC Championship, Jackson made one of the best catches for a touchdown in recent playoff memories.

He has been through the short lived Kevin Kolb era, and now entering his third season with Mike Vick.

Maturity seemed to start to hit Jackson as the Eagles season imploded last year, and he realized his future could be in jeopardy. His contract could have been much higher than what he received in the off-season. Only 18 million of it is guaranteed, which means Jackson is going to have to earn the rest of the mid 50 million dollar contract.

Maybe watching greats just when he was a rookie like Randy Moss, Chad Johnson, and Terrell Owens struggle to find jobs suddenly and fade so quickly awoken him.

Media circles our stating Jackson seems like a new person, and much more focused. Philadelphia has one of the top defenses in the NFL, Mike Vick, and LeSean McCoy. The difference though will be with Jackson. Jackson’s open field speed and ability to get open just creates that extra dimension teams can’t stop.

The focus will always be on Vick because of his history and being the quarterback. In many rankings, Jackson can be found in the late teens and even early twenties. That is much too low for a player of Jackson’s caliber. I expect a breakout year from him, and to be a top ten fantasy receiver this season, and top five in a handful of weeks this year.

He never has been a top fantasy receiver, but has been one of the top open field and speed receivers in the NFL. Sooner or later that should lead to a breakout year, which will be this season.

By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

Two weeks are completed officially in the preseason. Fantasy drafts done before now were pretty much tune ups for the ones forthcoming. Throw your outdated fantasy magazine away, and keep coming here for weekly rankings and daily fantasy updates.

1. Arian Foster- A couple of seasons ago, Foster was undrafted in most leagues just as he was by NFL executives. Now he is at the top of the list for fantasy running backs.

2. Chris Johnson- One year as Johnson had last year is going to make too many fantasy owners shy away from drafting him above a couple other backs. He has looked like the Chris Johnson we have come to know. Resembling that Chris Johnson would push even Arian Foster off the top spot.

3. LeSean McCoy- McCoy is durable and a safe bet to continue thrashing opposing defenses. He is right up there with Ray Rice in terms of what he can do out of the backfield.

4. MJD- MJD needs to get himself back in the Jaguars team facility. I’m sure he is keeping himself in shape but holdouts have typically been detrimental to running backs. With an improved Gabbert, MJD should even be more of a threat.

5. Ray Rice- Look for Rice’s numbers to dip slightly. The Ravens defense is not as sharp as it’s been, which means the offense will throw the football more. It’s good for the long term protection of Rice, but not what fantasy owners want to hear.

6. DeMarco Murray- Since when has a third round pick stormed the NFL quite like Murray? He was a true surprise. Now at full speed, Murray should continue his destruction.

7. Darren McFadden- Health is a big question mark with McFadden or he could easily be right up there with Foster and Chris Johnson. Having not stayed healthy for an entire season yet, he has to remain a bottom first round pick.

8. Ryan Mathews- Mathews is the back now that people like to put the most uncertainty on. Why? He is a young back with fresh legs, that is coming off a solid year. Young backs with talent such as Mathews usually break in even higher following a year like Mathews had.

9. Michael Turner- Atlanta seems ready to not only take over the NFC South but erase the memory of their wild card loss to the New York Giants. With New Orleans hit with question marks, Atlanta has their foot on the gas to storm by. Turner does not have to be a weekly force with yardage. With the explosiveness of the Falcons offense he is a lock for double digit touchdowns.

10. Matt Forte- He now has his contract, which should have been restructured a few seasons ago. Forte does not seem like the type of back that would decline after getting a paycheck. He has been the Bears offense the last two seasons. Additions of Alshon Jeffries, Brandon Marshall, and Mike Bush should be more to the benefit of Forte than hurting his stats. The offense will be more in sync and lead to bigger plays for Forte.

11. Steven Jackson

12. Reggie Bush

13. Ahmad Bradshaw

14. Frank Gore

15. Adrian Peterson

16. Shonn Greene

17. Marshawn Lynch

18. Jamaal Charles

19. Isaac Redman

20. Donald Brown

21. Doug Martin

22. Ryan Williams

23. Fred Jackson

24. Trent Richardson

25. Jonathan Stewart

26. Darren Sproles

27. Beanie Wells

28. Willis McGahee

29. BenJarvus Green-Ellis

30. Mark Ingram

31. DeAngelo Williams

32. Roy Helu

33. Stevan Ridley

34. CJ Spiller

35. James Starks

36. Kevin Smith

37. LeGarrette Blount

38. Michael Bush

39. Cedric Benson

40. Peyton Hillis

41. Toby Gerhart

42. Keiland Williams

43. Rashad Jennings

44. Ben Tate

45. Daniel Thomas

46. Jason Snelling

47. Robert Turbin

48. David Wilson

49. Kendall Hunter

50. Taiwan Jones

By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

The new wave of quarterbacks is as rapid as ever. Notjustagame breaks down the top ten quarterbacks that are either in their rookie season or upcoming second season. From a fantasy standpoint these are the quarterbacks of the future for your keeper dynasty leagues. Of this crop of quarterbacks who will end up being the Cade McNown, Akili Smith’s, or Tim Couch’s?

Just like in the NFL, fantasy football is a win now mentality. Here is who will reign in their class of quarterbacks in 2012.

1. Cam Newton- Newton is a top fantasy quarterback let alone in a class of first and second year quarterbacks. Questions regarding his pocket presence and ability to read pro defenses were squashed quickly last year. Let downs do not happen after a year like Newton had last year. He should only improve and get better.

2. Andrew Luck- The hype of Luck being the best quarterback to come out since John Elway is going to surpass Tim Tebow’s daily ten minute media segment. I’ll take that. Luck is actually performing well to garner proper attention.

3. Andy Dalton- Dalton has one of the top young playmaking receivers in the league in AJ Green, and a solid tight end in Jermaine Gresham. He is not going to light it up every week, but Dalton has quarterback smarts. He won’t kill you repeatedly with turnovers and makes just enough plays to have solid fantasy value. For this year he sits in the top three, but there are rookies from this class that will likely pass him soon.

4. Robert Griffin III- RG3 is going to get the love of the NFC East division this year. The NY Giants, Dallas Cowboys, and Philadelphia Eagles have solid defenses with well known pass rushers. Welcome to the NFL.

5. Blaine Gabbert- Before the preseason, you probably would not of found many fantasy football leagues were Gabbert even was drafted. The stock meter on Gabbert has changed to the watch list. Deservedly so as he looks like a transformed quarterback. Keeper league value and fantasy backup value are suddenly tied with Gabbert’s name.

6. Brandon Weeden- Weeden comes in being drafted by the Browns with expectations of starting from day one. That’s true support from a franchise that could of signed a free agent veteran instead. Weeden is a big quarterback that should play more like his age instead of his amount of time in the NFL.

7. Jake Locker- Like a pitcher in the MLB or an NBA D-League call up that gets an opportunity, good things tend to happen with an opportunity suddenly. Last year Locker had semi success filling in for an injured Hasselbeck. With the pitchers and D-league call ups, the rise usually comes down fairly quickly once teams can scout and realize your weaknesses. Locker is going to experience that this season and will struggle like a rookie in his second season.

8. Christian Ponder- Ponder sure hopes that AP will not be rushed back and is healthy. If not Ponder not only will have one of the bottom ten receiver sets but also one of the worst backfields. Not a combination you want to have as a second year quarterback. The elusiveness he showcased last year will change rather quickly if he starts taking a beating.

9. Ryan Tannehill- He has the familiarity with the offensive system but Tannehill is going to struggle the most of anyone. His fantasy value is about as high as Kevin Kolb right now.

10. Russell Wilson- One thing about head coach Pete Carrol, he is not afraid to make changes. With the way Russell has performed this situation could turn very similar to the Arizona Cardinals. Though Seattle paid a hefty price for Flynn, Wilson could find his way onto the field sooner than later.

By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

Results are supposed to dictate a decision to win a job. That is the normal case in a position battle in the NFL, especially at quarterback. Miami and the Tennessee Titans decided they did not need anymore game play to decide on their starting quarterbacks. They went the youth route and now both teams can move forward without the hassle of a weekly sparked debate.

How ready are both quarterbacks or will this year be weekly lessons of rough outings? Based on last years results by several rookies, the window to have a positive impact right away is possible. Preparation and training has come along way for talented quarterbacks. Still both will experience their fair share of mishaps.

It was not like either had a specific edge over their veteran quarterbacks they were competing with. Matt Moore was the veteran Miami had on the roster but had already leaned more in the direction of David Garrard before his injury. When Garrard went down, the job was basically Tannehill’s.

Tannehill looked much better in the first preseason game than he did against Carolina. The main reason for that likely has to do that he played against the first team defense against Carolina. He had a tough time finding passing angles to deliver throws, having several balls batted down at the line of scrimmage. Another issue versus Carolina was the lack of a ground attack to help Tannehill. Neither Reggie Bush or Daniel Thomas had an impact you would of liked to see to help Tannehill out. Bush’s carries went nowhere, and forced Miami to throw with Tannehill higher than they would of liked.

With a nucleus of wide receivers that are mainly possession receivers at best, Miami is going to need to throw a lot of quick outs and intermediate throws. The batted down balls Tannehill experienced against Carolina may become a trend, as defenses do not respect Miami’s receivers and know a quarterback is going to have a quick clock with that talent.

Brandon Marshall and Chad Johnson sound quite good right about now.

In Tennessee it’s a little bit different with Jake Locker. His preseason numbers have been paltry. In action though last year, Locker showed he has a lot of promise. The move in Tennessee’ s case was more based on timing than anything. Locker is going into his second year and they want to get the return on investment with him. Chris Johnson is showing that he is back to his old form, which will loosen up Locker’s immediate responsibilities.

With the attention on Johnson, Locker will get away with the dump off throws and scrambles that often hurt young quarterbacks. He will likely have numbers similar to what Andy Dalton did a year ago as a rookie. Mistakes may be a little bit higher as his accuracy is not as good as Dalton’s, but he will make up the fantasy numbers with his legs. If you have a safe bet number one quarterback, you can be at ease with Locker as a fantasy backup.

Pile up depth at other roster positions and grab Locker late.