To go along with week one’s predictions, we’ll also throw in some season long predictions. Division winners, busts, rookies of the year, and more. We’ve done it year in and year out, so make sure to copy this page, and put our predictions against other sites.

Division Winners

AFC East: Jets
AFC North: Cincinnati
AFC South: Colts
AFC West: Broncos

NFC North: Minnesota
NFC South: Atlanta
NFC East: Philadelphia
NFC West: St. Louis

Super Bowl Champs: Falcons over Jets

Fantasy Rookie of the Year: Ronnie Brown
Receivers have picked up a lot in recent years, in terms of rookie success. This year isn’t going to be one of them. So with the running backs that are starting, there is Ronnie Brown, Carnell Williams, Cedric Benson, and JJ Arrington. Arrington has no offensive line, Brown is in a horrible offense, Benson is too hard to tell right now, and then there is Carnell Williams. Williams is in a solid offense, but will likely split time with Michael Pittman. It’s a tough choice, and it definitely won’t be a runaway, rookie season by Ronnie Brown. Miami’s offense failed to produce anything last season, but Brown’s talent should help him barely top the 1,000 yard mark and get six to seven touchdowns rushing.

Fantasy Bust of the Year: Willis McGahee
He won’t be a complete bust, but he shouldn’t have been ranked a top five back. Therefore, don’t expect top five stats from him. JP Losman is going to really hurt his production this season, and don’t forget about his prior injury history.

Fantasy Athlete of the Year: Daunte Culpepper
Manning should come down a bit in stats, and that’s going to put up a contest between him and Mr. Culpepper. The NFL has really failed on marketing Culpepper, but after this year that will come to an end. No quarterback poses as much danger as a passer and runner as consistently, and he is only getting better.

Mr. Consistent: Amani Toomer and Rod Smith
A potential sixth straight years in posting 1,000 yards was grounded, because of Eli Manning’s struggles last season. Expect the offense to open up with Manning’s arm, and for Toomer to get back in the thick of things. Burress is the perfect receiver to draw attention deep, and that means Toomer will get easier looks and plenty of more throws. Toomer is an adequate third receiver option on difficult match up weeks, and a plug in for a starting receiver that’s on a bye week. Rod Smith and the Broncos are finally set to do some serious damage. It may require doing it with a wild card, but their team is going to scare anyone they face.

Worth the Gamble: Cowboys Vet WR’s
Julius Jones is going to help alleviate tons of pressure on Drew Bledsoe. Bledsoe’s tendency to stand in the pocket too long, is because he can’t move. Once Jones establishes the running game, Bledsoe is going to have that extra time to air it out. Furthermore, that means either Keyshawn Johnson, Terry Glenn, or Peerless Price is going to have a phenomenal year. Bledsoe may have lost a lot of tenacity as his career has went on, but he still has that deep ball. Therefore, Glenn or Price has more of a possibility of catching on as a fantasy sleeper. Considering the Cowboys offense, it was shocking to see how low any of the Cowboys receivers were taken in fantasy drafts. So, the value of your pick on any of these receivers will be worth it.

Week 1 Picks

Here is a quick rundown of Notjustagame.com’s week one picks

New England over Oakland
Washington over Chicago
Bengals over Browns
Denver over Miami
Houston over Buffalo
Carolina over Saints
Jets over Chiefs
Jaguars over Seahawks
Vikings over Bucs
Titans over Steelers
Giants over Cardinals
Dallas over Chargers
Lions over Packers
Rams over 49ers
Colts over Ravens
Falcons over Eagles

The upside of a team is based on the talent level on the field. Accordingly, that works the same way with who is on the sideline. Nick Saban hasn’t even been the Dolphins head coach for six months, but has got the team’s foot off of the reverse pedal. Slightly, the Dolphins now have their feet planted on the gas pedal. It may have seemed that Miami would be a mediocre team for years, after last season, but that will not be the case. Nick Saban won’t let it happen, and south Florida may be transformed back into a winning franchise quicker than people think.

Ricky Williams theme of moving forward and forgetting about the past, is exactly the philosophy Saban wants for every Dolphin. Who cares about the torturous season last year, it can’t be rewritten. By bringing Williams back, Saban is doing more than adding a former Pro Bowl running back. Saban is upping the trade bait the Dolphins will have, and/or protecting Miami’s backfield situation.

Currently, Williams is making minimum dollars and as soon as he showcases his abilities he’ll want that restructured. Miami is having enough problems with trying to sign Ronnie Brown, and that is the back Miami wants to be the future. So, plan A will come into the fold, when Miami seeks to trade Williams to a team for an athlete or high draft pick.

The happy go lucky pictures that Williams and Miami present back together is just a ploy. In the end both will be happy, and move on in different directions.

All the talk in the AFC East of teams ready to knock off the Patriots has been whispered in the direction of the Bills and Jets. Both teams had solid years, but the Bills didn’t do anything to keep that continuing in the off season. JP Losman is going to take some time, and Miami should be able to be at least third in the division. Chad Pennington’s shoulder problems aren’t over, and Curtis Martin is a great back but he is getting older every year as well. The Jets success all revolves around Martin’s health and skill level. If they start to deteriorate so do the Jets, as controlling the clock is how the Jets win.

Take a look at Miami’s roster, and you’ll see a team glowing at almost every position, besides quarterback.

An average quarterback can be worked in, if he is surrounded by great talent. The running back position is set, and quietly Miami has also finally got themselves a cast of receivers. Chris Chambers, David Boston, and Marty Booker make for one of the best trio sets in the league. Boston is the true sleeper, as he can bring the Dolphins team up a few notches if he has released his demons of the past few seasons.

The offensive line has been a work in progress, and the Dolphins know they’ll need the entire preseason to figure out how they’re going to get that unit to mesh. As long as they can give adequate protection and blocking, that’ll be an upgrade from last season.

AJ Feeley got a lot of harsh criticism last season, but that was partly due to his offensive line. It was still no excuse for his misguided throws, but an extra second or two should help show his strengths. Gus Frerotte is a dark horse veteran, but he won’t start unless Feeley finishes the preseason like he played last year.

Miami is going to be a .500 team at best, and it makes no sense to throw in a veteran that’s not in the team’s future plans. They’ll live or die with Feeley, and if he is not the answer they’ll be looking to fill that void in the 2006 draft.

Defensively, Miami has some big names, but age may be a factor. The defensive line may be the best in the league, with Kevin Carter, Jeff Zgonina, Vonnie Holiday, and Jason Taylor manning the starting positions. Of course at linebacker remains pacman tacklers in Zach Thomas and Junior Seau. In the secondary, they lost Patrick Surtain in a trade, but they drafted Travis Daniels, and signed cornerback Reggie Howard and safety Lance Shulters.

Overall, signs of last seasons close losses and the changeover in attitude looks like a significant reason to factor in the Dolphins as a dangerous team in 2005. Not dangerous as a playoff contender, but a team that knowingly won’t be considered as an automatic W.

All aboard. A free boarding pass can be handed out to eighty percent of football fanatics. Once they see one glimpse of a great season, it’s a cause for a celebration. Perhaps the athlete does deserve greater attention in fantasy football drafts, but please don’t get out of hand with player projections.

We are not going to name names, but there is a particular fantasy football magazine that has some outrageous player rankings. It’s one thing to be bold, but backing that up with factual evidence would help.

Warning: The next paragraph goes into specifics of the aforementioned.

Okay, when I first saw this wide receiver posted at the numero uno position, I almost past out in laughter. I was so dumbfounded that I dropped the magazine, and paced back and forth real quick. As I rubbed my eyes and glanced down again, the previous vision was still there.

Drew Bennett…2005’s number one receiver.

Yes, yes, laugh it up. If comedy central had their own fantasy football show, then this would be a reasonable determination. Wait, take that back, it still wouldn’t.

It still has me shaking worse than Charlie Murphy’s giggling during the Prince episode on Dave Chappelle.

There are so many mind boggling factors that would ring a bell to not even consider Bennett as a top ten receiver.

Before we start on that top five list, we want to say that this has nothing negatively to do with Drew Bennett. The sole purpose of this article is to clear cobwebs out of owners that may have been brainwashed from reading that magazine.

Breathe in deeply, and arrive back to Earth.

5. Derrick Mason’s Gone
Drew Bennett has developed rapidly, but will now have the burden of leading the receiving corp. Derrick Mason had that pressure for the last several years, and helped Bennett’s growth tremendously.

4. Size
Big receivers with quickness and extreme raw ability are linked hand and hand. At 6’5, Bennett is listed in that category of rare receivers that aren’t project players melting on the sideline. Still, when is the last time a tall receiver has done well in the NFL? Uh, Uh? Plaxico Burress and Marcus Robinson are the only two to even consider. The key point with those two athletes is consistency. They’ll bounce back and forth on the radar with a few off the chart performances, but then there are the weeks when they won’t even catch the ball. It’s a problematic situation that won’t go away with tall receivers.

3. McNair’s Health
Steve McNair deserves a lot of praise for what he has endured over the last several years. If he is fully recovered there is no kind of ending script to see how he can finish out his veteran years. That has been a big if over the last few seasons, so that gap of certainty bumps Bennett down automatically. When McNair tried to play hurt last year it hurt the offenses direction. McNair also is a chain to chain quarterback, while Bennett is a big play receiver. That doesn’t mesh well, unless the Titans plan on opening up the deep pass. Figuring two to two together and banking on Bennett as the number one receiver just is out of the question.

2. Travis Henry and Chris Brown
Here are two running backs that could easily both be ranked as top fifteen in the league. There won’t be an official starter, as Jeff Fisher has stated that they will use both. Expect the Titans to be running the ball effectively with both backs like the Falcons and Rams do. That could open up the deep ball for Bennett after long drawn out drives catch the defense sleeping.

1. Where’s Volek?
Looking…looking….looking. There it is. During the three week stretch from NFL week thirteen through fifteen, Bennett produced more than half of his season totals. His yardage numbers were 517, and touchdowns was eight. Take that away and for thirteen games Bennett had 730 yards and three touchdowns. He did his damage when Billy Volek was quarterback, and when Chris Brown was banged up. Hmm, Volek isn’t projected to start, and the fact up above is a ding dinger for run-run-run.

Now that we are complete with that tirade, lets get realistic. Bennett is one of the elite emerging receivers in the league. He presents a lot of problems for defenses, but gearing to shut him down will also become easier. Especially since Tennessee has serious question marks at that position. Bennett will now face the opposing teams number one corner with Mason gone. If Bennett does create problems for the number one defensive back, than the defensive coordinator will just adjust with a crowding scheme.

The lack of Titans depth at receiver and Bennett’s barely dabbed success put him right inside the top twenty receiver rankings, on my list. He literally outperformed his previous two seasons combined with his stats from last season. Bennett’s trust from fantasy owners can’t come until after this season, when a realistic figure of a season should happen.

With Moss, Harrison, Owens, Johnson, Walker, etc, it may be awhile before Bennett even cracks the top ten.

You can breathe a sigh of relief, as your treatment has been successful. Once I snap my fingers, your memory will be erased of reading that magazine.

Snap.

Training camp battles exist on every roster, and are one of the main reasons that coaches push their athletes hard in camp. They want to know who can gut it out for a complete season, and whose talent truly outshines one another. For the most part the athletes that have to out duel each other are backups or special team hopefuls. Solidified starters have the insurance to succumb to off-season rust, and work their way back into things. Coaches may not be happy, but it is expected with veterans. Getting back in shape, turns into the veteran aspect of training camp.

A starting running back is an overused term in today’s NFL world. Just because the running back is a starter, does not mean the stat column of carries will show that. The range varies greatly now with a lot of backs, and that is a good thing.

The term “starter” should be labeled as crutch carries. If the starter is used too much they are going to miss a stretch during a season. The span could be a few weeks to the whole year and be a severe crutch all season for the franchise. If the crutch carries were reduced, who knows how that could have prevented an injury.

With the majority of teams becoming smarter and using a tandem split carry system, it has changed running backs into an even more dynamic force. Backup running backs are like the sixth man off the bench in basketball. They are an important catalyst that brings that unexpected change of pace that can ignite a drive.

A couple of years ago the designated backup running back, was either a brute fullback type goal line runner or referred to as a scat back. Versatility has changed that, as big backs have enough shiftiness now and the Warrick Dunn’s and Tiki Barber’s of the world have thrown scat back out of NFL terminology.

Running backs are going to get banged up, and it has nothing to do with the size of the back. They get hit all the time, and it just takes that one hit to cause the same type of injury on a 200 pound back or a 230 pound back. You can look at trends and durability, but if a back is being pummeled the stress is too immense on the body. Teams now have lessened the load a bit, to prevent early wear and tear on their main backs.

Jamal Anderson is wondering where the extra five to seven carries off his back were in 1998.

A quarterback may be thrown to the ground ten times a game, and the affects are vivid on the next sequence of plays. A coordinator may have to call a run or a screen, just because the quarterback is shaken up that bad. When the off-season comes around the quarterback can be heard saying they will be resting up, from the beat downs they have taken.

If a quarterback is that bruised, imagine how a running back feels midway and at the end of a season? It is unimaginable and amazing that a back can come back and repeat another successful campaign. Stringing seasons of greatness together is going to fade out more and more in the future.

When Ricky Williams carried the football 775 times in two seasons with Miami, his mind probably started hallucinating for more reasons than what he was smoking. The benefits of him walking away for a year, probably has completely changed the future duration of his career. Miami was working his legs to feel like they were forty when he was only in his mid twenties.

No one wanted to talk about that when Williams announced retirement last season. The fact that Ronnie Brown is in Miami, makes Williams even happier. He will be lucky to get 150 carries. Meaning he will go from carrying 775 times in a two-year span, to 150 in a two year span. That is a huge drop off rate, and will be enough to recoup his legs to the status they should be.

Everyone is worried about Tennessee’s new tandem of Chris Brown and Travis Henry. Who is going to win the job? Is Tennessee ready to write off Chris Brown?

Quit worrying, this is the latest style of backfields and it is only going to grow. Look at the league a year or two ago, compared to now. The numbers have jumped drastically in the new look philosophy of having a collegiate type tandem system at running back.

What this system does more than anything is bring out the second running back’s skills even more. Is the starter a product of the offensive line or a legit hands down number one back? Watching Kansas City last season, you could say that maybe Priest Holmes would only be a great instead of stellar back on another team. When Derrick Blaylock and Larry Johnson are able to have monster years, it is an obvious fact.

Flip it the other way around. If a running back is off to a struggling year, and suddenly the backup is showing more, than ding-ding there will be a new starter. It is the type of judgment coaches think they have locked down in the off-season, but there is only one way to find out and that is in a real game.

Bettis-Staley… Dillon-Faulk… Dunn-Duckett…Westbrook-Bulkhalter. Those were the backfields of the four teams that made it to their conference championship game. Success is strongly dependent on use of depth in the backfield.

The cream of the crop is a given in fantasy drafts, as everyone takes their pickings for the first five to six rounds. Luck has a lot to do with early round success but real success starts when that first questionable pick is made. Sometimes it may look idiotic and out of place, but it gets the rest of the owners thinking aggressively. It may create a whirlwind of early jumping the gun picks, and separate the veteran fantasy owners from the rookies.

Five years ago a person may have bought a regular 32” television for a hefty price. Nowadays the same television can be bought in the mid two hundred to three hundred dollar range. It doesn’t necessarily mean that television is useless and going to burnout quicker. It just means there is a fresher newer product on the market. The HDTV phase is entering the game, but their will be plenty of American consumers that will remain satisfied with their huge regular tube.

In the NFL, rookies, potential young standouts, and players in their free agent contracts are jumped on more and more than ever before in fantasy drafts. The over the night benefits seem to outweigh the risks in owner’s minds. Rather than settle for that veteran athlete that has proven he can play, they’ll go for the younger version for unexpected territory.

Mushin Muhammed, Jimmy Smith, and Isaac Bruce last year proved that sleeping too much on proven veterans is a no-no. The same goes for Jerome Bettis and even Emmitt Smith, as they shocked the world with their resurrected numbers. So who are the athletes this year that will continue to prove that the curtain hasn’t closed?

No other athlete in the NFL over the last decade has been more underrated than Curtis Martin. Is it because he just performs and has a quiet demeanor on his job tasks? Everyone was planning on Martin relinquishing his starting position to Lamont Jordan, and it turned out Jordan couldn’t do it in four years. Martin’s production seems to be increasing at a steadily rate since he past the age of 30. At his pace he’ll be entering elite territory with some of the best overall career running backs. Seemingly statistics like that were comparable to Emmitt Smith during his dominant run. As expected Smith was usually ranked as the number one or two running back in the entire NFL. Yet, Martin has rarely even been mentioned as a top five running back. It’s outrageous and stupefying that his consistency, work ethic, and durability locks are not secured in fantasy owners minds.

At the quarterback position there aren’t any names that’ll make your jaws drop as bargains, but there are some intriguing names. Drew Bledsoe has dangled around being a premier and bust of high hopes quarterback his entire career. Similar to Jake Plummer he manages to do just enough to always have a starting job. His erratic play is what has kept him from obtaining the status everyone thought he would after leading the Patriots to the Super Bowl many years ago. Maybe the reunion between Parcells and Bledsoe, will key in some of that natural instinct ability Bledsoe once possessed. If he can stop holding onto the football and not second guessing himself, he’ll be one of the best bargains of any fantasy football draft.

At wide receiver a lot of great ones have stepped down. Over the last decade Jimmy Smith and Eric Moulds have been synonymous as reliable threats. At first it was their raw skills, but as they grew older and wiser their understanding is what keeps them their. Stats don’t lie, and both haven’t had a down year ever. The best thing about them is they can be drafted as a number two and if you’re extremely lucky a number three in fantasy leagues these days.

Packaging together a great fantasy football team, is like sending a UPS package from New York City to China. Rough spots will surface suddenly. Devotion and smart analytical thinking is the best overall key. Don’t overload too much on what you’ve heard, and keep a little of every ingredient on your team. A veteran here or there, a rookie, proven youngsters, and new faces in new places should all be included on your winning team.

Be Prepared To Make A Quarterback Change-Preseason 2000

He had a career year throwing for nearly thirty touchdowns and 3,500 yards. After completing that season fantasy owners were very high on him for the 1999 season. That quarterback was Vinny Testaverde who went down with an Achilles tendon injury in the first game of last season.

He was a proven veteran that had always had great seasons passing in the NFL. He was coming off of a season in which he threw for 36 touchdowns and over 4000 yards passing. Many people had him ranked the number two quarterback on their fantasy football draft boards in 1999. This quarterback was Steve Young, who lasted only two games before being knocked out with a serious concussion.

This quarterback was coming off a year in which he dazzled the NFL with his great heroic performances to earn his team a playoff spot in 1998. He led comeback after comeback for his team and won a playoff game. Fantasy owners were very high on him and many had him ranked as a top five for quarterbacks. His name was Jake Plummer and he missed four games due to a finger injury, and played the rest of the year not at 100 percent.

Testaverde, Young and Plummer aren’t the only quarterbacks that suffered through an injury prone season. In fact, 23 out of the 31 NFL teams had different quarterbacks at some point during the season, whether it was due to injury or a quarterback being benched. I guess you could throw Brett Farve in there because he played all season hurt even though he never missed a start.

If that isn’t a reason to stay away from drafting a quarterback early, then I don’t know what is. Here is a list of quarterbacks that were backups last season, and because of their teams starting quarterback going down last year they had an opportunity to start. All of these quarterbacks played so well, that they will be starting next season in the NFL.

Tony Banks
Cade McNown
Tim Couch
Rob Johnson
Kerry Collins
Damon Huard/Jay Fiedler
Kurt Warner
Jeff Garcia
Akili Smith
Donovan McNabb
Shaun King

There will be 11 new starting quarterbacks that weren’t starting week one of last season. A big reason for that is because of the old veterans retiring, like Dan Marino and Steve Young. But the main reason is because quarterbacks are inconsistent and injury prone.

More than likely, a quarterback that you draft as a starter is going to go down with an injury during the season or will be benched due to poor play. So I have come up with a list of quarterbacks that are backups entering training camp now and have the ability to surprise people when they get an opportunity to play this season. Stay tuned for that article.