Notjustagame.com

If you blinked this off season you missed some significant changes to rosters. It was far from an average off season and teams were not shy to shake up their depth charts. Usually teams are looking to maneuver for depth behind starters. Not the case this off season as teams unloaded and reloaded at the receiver position. It’ll be interesting to see how these receivers shape out on their new respective teams. Notjustagame breaks down where we see these wideouts.

Javon Walker, Oakland
Clearly Walker is one of the best receivers in the game when healthy. Unfortunately tragedies and injuries have plagued him the past two seasons. We will all be awaiting to see how severe his injuries are from being robbed Monday morning in Las Vegas. At 29, Walker can help develop Jamarcus Russell. Russell has a great arm and should be able to connect on some deep long balls to Walker. The offense of the Raiders is actually in good shape as long as Russell can have a positive start.

Jerry Porter, Jacksonville
Here is a guy that has had a Chad Johnson demeanor for no reason at all. He played behind Tim Brown and Jerry Rice and had it all to be a top wideout. Now entering his ninth season Porter is still looking to make an impact as a consistent receiver. Leaving Oakland might develop the Moss cure for Porter as well. If he comes to camp in the right frame of mind, Porter is going to have all the opportunities in the world to become what Matt Jones and Ernest Wilford couldn’t.

Darrell Jackson, Denver Broncos
Ignore last seasons numbers from Jackson. Blame has to go on the team and quarterback he was playing with. Jackson thankfully gets another shot to find success with the Broncos and emerging quarterback Jay Cutler. Expect Jackson to shake off last seasons rust and get back to the form of his Seattle Seahawks days.

Bernard Berrian, Minnesota
The Vikings felt that Berrian is the guy they needed, but we’re a little hesitant on him. He seems to be more of the Ashley Lelie type. A big play burner with not much else to his game. That’s a great skill set to have but Berrian needs to work more on becoming an all around true number one receiver. Having Tarvaris Jackson as his quarterback also downgrades Berrian to a borderline number two, and decent third fantasy wide receiver.

Ernest Wilford, Miami
Wilferd did a good job in ousting Matt Jones in Jacksonville but is not a fantasy worthy receiver. He will also have to beat out Derek Hagan to garner the number two receiver spot. The plus with Wilford is that he is a big target in the for catches and touchdowns once you cross mid field. Ha, we’re talking the Dolphins here.

Donte Stallworth, Cleveland Browns
This quiet signing by the Browns is tricky scary. Teams that thought they could now blanket Braylon Edwards are not going to be able to. Adding Stallworth gives the Browns one of the scariest offensive threats in the league. Kellen Winslow’s already a beast to go with Braylon Edwards unworldly numbers. Lets just say its going to be a fun show to watch in Cleveland this year.

Bryant Johnson and Isaac Bruce, San Francisco
Combinations just are not working for the 49ers since TO left the 49ers. They tried Brandon Lloyd, Antonio Bryant, Curtis Conway, Johnnie Morton, Arnaz Battle, and the list goes on. In 2007 they revamped and brought in Darrell Jackson and Ashley Lelie. We’re not too sure if these combination is going to work either. Bruce is a great veteran but one that has been on the downside of his career the past few seasons. How much could he possibly have left? Johnson is a guy that was eclipsed in Arizona because of the immense talents of Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald. That doesn’t alarm us. What does is that Johnson started on many occasions due to injuries of either Fitz or Boldin. When he did Johnson did not play like a capable starting receiver should.

Keary Colbert, Denver Broncos
Colbert has been on fantasy waiver wire radar before but just the hot rumor circuit. Catch him in preseason to see how he fits in with the Broncos offensive attack. Mike Shanahan is not afraid to make moves amongst his roster, so Colbert doesn’t have the second spot for certain.

Drew Carter, Oakland Raiders
If Javon Walker is injury plagued or suffers from injuries from being robbed than Carter jumps in with a starting role. Carter really does not seem the type of receiver that is going to make a home anywhere. His fantasy value is limited and will likely stay that way.

DJ Hackett, Carolina Panthers
A fresh start and great shot at catapulting his statistics is in the hands of DJ Hackett. Steve Smith has never really had a guy to alleviate pressure and defensive schemes from him. Hackett showed with Seattle that he can be a decent threat. We will see how he meshes with Jake Delhomme. What we are more worried about is if he’ll hang onto the ball more consistently. Even at that Hackett goes into 2008 as a solid number two fantasy wide receiver if you load up early on running backs and a quarterback early.

Marty Booker and Brandon Lloyd, Chicago Bears
The true change on this team should have came at quarterback. Neither Lloyd or Bookerhave had decent seasons in quite some time. Either being the second or most of the time third options as a Redskin and Dolphin. It’ll be a long rough year for the Bears offensively and rapid changes will be in the works.

The big time points have not been coming from the running backs. A few owners will throw that untrendy receiver selection in the midst of every running back being scooped of the board. Those that landed the big time receivers are likely off to a 2-0 start. Where do your receivers stack up in the NJG rankings?

1. Steve Smith
Smith is the new Cris Carter. All he does is score touchdowns.

2. Chad Johnson
Johnson is a special player that is a part of a potent offense. A year ago he was actually struggling to get the ball in the first half of the season.

3. Andre Johnson
There was no telling what he could do with a quarterback. Last years reception leader is showing how great he is.

4. Reggie Wayne
It took him awhile to become the stud he is now. He learned well from Marvin and now he is the best fantasy threat of a Colts receiver.

5. Randy Moss
He tricked everybody with his training camp hamstring injury. No, Moss is fine and playing with a good quarterback for the first time since Randall Cunningham.

6. Terrell Owens
Just waiting for the TO show off the field to start.

7. Marvin Harrison
No one can match his career numbers since 1996.

8. Javon Walker
Walker has come into this season ready to repeat the success of last year. He is a yardage king that should post a decent number of touchdowns.

9. Anquan Boldin
He is the toughest receiver in the league. He’ll make the tough catches over the middle and punish defenders. A definite plus receiver in points per reception leagues.

10. Torry Holt
It’s crazy to see him barely cracking the top ten. He hasn’t lost anything; he is just a part of an incredible field of wide receivers. There are no worries with Holt as your number one receiver.

11. Larry Fitzgerald
Once Matt Leinart is comfortable, Fitzgerald and Boldin will both be top in the top six or seven for fantasy wide receivers.
12. TJ Houshmandzadeh
Complementing Chad Johnson perfectly, and still posting numbers that make Chad Johnson’s owners jealous.

13. Roy Williams
Being a part of Mike Martz’s system means a lot of balls are going to be thrown. Williams should enjoy his best season yet, even with the spread offense of the Lions.

14. Plaxico Burress
The only thing clicking right now for the Giants is Manning to Burress.

15. Marques Colston
We all knew the fantasy season Colston had last year was a bit of a mirage. Still he is the focal point and will get his fair share of big games.

16. Joey Galloway
The year of age means nothing at wide receiver continues with Joey Galloway.

17. Lee Evans
Off to a horrid start, but JP Losman and Evans have a connection that occurs in bunches.

18. Donald Driver
Favre is throwing balls vintage 1996 style. Driver is right up there with Marvin Harrison for long term receivers that have been reliable.

19. Braylon Edwards
As long as the passing attack is there, Edwards is going to make a lot of people that drafted him late grin all season long.

20. Chris Chambers
His poor season last year caused a lot of grumblings on where to take him. Thus he slipped a few rounds later and thus far is giving owners quality yardage points.

21. Lavernues Coles
When Chad Pennington is quarterbacking the Jets, Coles numbers are extremely strong.

22. Hines Ward
He has definitely tailed off from a few years ago. The reason being that the Steelers don’t attack through the passing game like the receivers from one through twenty do.

23. Darrell Jackson
Jackson was supposed to be the big play receiver Alex Smith needed. Right now either both are not on the same page, or Jackson is being shut down.

24. Deion Branch
Seattle usually has a steady offense, but for whatever reason has struggled at times.

25. Jerricho Cotchery
He went from a waiver wire gem last year to emerging weekly. Cotchery had a magnificent game against the Ravens defense.

26. Bernard Berrian
For how horrible Rex Grossman has been, Berrian hasn’t completely fell off the fantasy map. If Grossman could show a glimmer of last years early 2006 self, than Berrian could be a huge gem.

27. Santana Moss
28. Calvin Johnson
29. Reggie Brown
30. Jerry Porter
31. Isaac Bruce
32. Santonio Holmes
33. Wes Welker
34. Joe Jurevicious
35. Shaun McDonald
36. Derrick Mason
37. Brandon Marshall
38. Mark Clayton
39. Amani Toomer
40. Devery Henderson
41. Antwaan Randle El
42. Marty Booker
43. Vincent Jackson
44. Dennis Northcutt
45. Mike Furrey
46. Bobby Wade
47. Ronald Curry
48. Joe Horn
49. Patrick Crayton
50. Roydell Williams
51. Greg Jennings
52. Dwayne Bowe
53. Arnaz Battle
54. DJ Hackett
55. Drew Carter

A change for the better has finally began to take place in Buffalo. They may have let two solid running backs walk from the team. Having let Willis McGahee and Travis Henry go could have been questionable, but the Bills feel that Marshawn Lynch can grow with the youth of this Bills team. Lee Evans has been making big plays during his short young career. Now that it seems that JP Losman has turned it on and matured the two have built a budding scary connection on the field. Changes have been many for this team offensively over the last five years. Finally, they’re going to be building forward this season on.

From a fantasy standpoint, Lee Evans already proved what he is capable of doing in 2006. He is an unquestionable number one fantasy wide receiver, yet is still slighted by fantasy owners. The days of surpassing receivers that have been a top the fantasy charts is coming. Move over Mr. Harrison and Holt, as Lee Evans may be the top receiver this year in the AFC. Reason being is that he is the Bills only main receiver target, as opposed to the majority of other teams that have even great strength at the second receiver spot.

Why are fantasy owners ignoring the facts and letting Evans slip? It’s foolish to not nab Evans by the third or early part of the fourth round. Especially if you’re an owner that stock piles early on running backs and misses out on the top five or six receivers. The Bills offense might not have the effectiveness of what has become the norm at the running back position. Marshawn Lynch will go through his rookie struggles but worries of his preseason struggles should not be alarming. If anything the balanced proportion of pass over run will just grow more in the passing department. Evans numbers of nearly 1300 yards and 8 touchdowns are surely not going to decline.

Last year when JP Losman starting coming along towards the second half of the season, a soaring link occurred. The Bills became more competitive, winning five games and losing three tight ones. Two by a point and another by three. This translated into Evans having plenty of monster games and scoring six touchdowns during the second half of the year.

Look out for both in your final drafts this upcoming week or so. Evans should start going more around his worth due to his preseason, but quarterbacks are under valued. Losman should be taken as a sure fantasy backup and may over take your starter if you do not snatch a top eight quarterback. The Bills should be exciting this year and be in a good spot for the future. With Chad Pennington struggling and Trent Green trying to adapt in Miami, the division could be a good spot for the Bills to have a good chance at going 4-2, or even 5-1 in it if they can steal one from the Patriots.

Only ten years ago the tight end position was rather non existent. There were stars at the position and the rest were situational pass catching targets but mainly blocking specialists. Ben Coates, Frank Wycheck, and Shannon Sharpe were the rare serious threat tight ends to have on your fantasy football roster. Drafting a tight end was like picking a kicker for fantasy owners. Now rankings are not clear cut and can actually shift on a week to week basis. Call it a vast improvement from five to seven years ago, as tight ends are catching more balls then ever and sometimes even considered the number one pass catching target on teams. For guys like Tony Gonzalez, Kellen Winslow, Todd Heap, Alge Crumpler, and Antonio Gates that is a definite fact.

Since Antonio Gates transcended the position with his dominance in 2005, more teams have caught on to utilize the tight end more. Instead of the tight end position having six or seven strong candidates for fantasy owners, there is enough talent to consider drafting a backup tight end for sleeper consideration. That’s how advanced and deep the position has become. All the worries of having to jump on a tight end do not have to happen anymore. Notjustagame.com analyzes some tight ends that you can get late in drafts after owners have snatched up the first tier. Times change quickly when teams see quick advances. There are a viable twenty tight ends to stick on your draft cheat sheets.

An average legitimate figure to predict from the first tier of tight ends is numbers of 900 yards receiving and six touchdowns. We have considered nine tight ends in our first tier, with a specialization category asterisk on the names of Antonio Gates and Tony Gonzalez. As they will likely have a slighter edge in both yards and touchdowns from the other first tier tight ends. Who follows Gonzalez and Gates are (by no specific ranked order) are Chris Cooley, Jeremy Shockey, Jason Witten, Alge Crumpler Vernon Davis, Kellen Winslow, and Todd Heap. The trend amongst them is that they all are growing substantially in their teams offensive plans and their great athletes. Numbers from them will be steady or better from their prior seasons. Even with Alge Crumpler who is going to be without Vick but does not change the fact that he is a big target and knows how to get open. He’s done it without any wideouts supporting him and now he has Joe Horn to spread it out for him.

Behind the mentioned nine tight ends above are tight ends that can sneak into the bottom ten in ranking. Tight ends making our second tier are Benjamin Watson, LJ Smith, Dallas Clark, Heath Miller, Eric Johnson, Daniel Graham, and Randy McMichael. For the most part these guys all have strong offenses that love to pile up the yardage and scoring numbers. Getting away with snatching one of these guys as a starting tight end might not be as bad as owners may think. Most owners do not draft back up tight ends and certainly will not do it rounds after getting a tier one tight end.

That means you can holdout extra rounds to build on other areas without worrying about who your tight end is going to be. In other areas when quarterbacks and receivers start getting snared is when you see a dominoes affect begin from owners. With the likelihood of more tight ends having decent years like last season smiling and adding that extra back or getting a top defense can be done while tight ends get snatched.

For the first time there is even a third tier of tight ends. Not any of these tight ends should be drafted but maybe the second tier tight end you draft as your starter does not work out. Then scrambling on the waiver wire must be done and these third tier guys will be there. Marcus Pollard in Seattle has a chance to be a strong sleeper. Jerramy Stevens may have never filled the tight end role but Pollard has the veteran skills to do so. He has reliable hands that the Seahawks are not use to (Led the league in drops 06), and should have his fair share of decent games.

Over in Chicago, Greg Olsen and Desmond Clark as a duo is a twist that keeps both of these athletes in the third tier. We’ll have to see how the Bears figure both in the offense to bump either or in tier rankings. Last but not least David Martin in Miami creeps on the radar. He is a newcomer but the quarterback of the Dolphins is not at throwing to tight ends. Trent Green has the automatic wandering eyes to the middle of the field from throwing to Tony Gonzalez for the last five years. Miami always seemed tight at involving Randy McMichael more but you can bet Green’s instinctual heavy reliance on a tight end will make Martin involved.

Making that tough decision on number one receivers is tough enough. How do you do it when there are two caliber number ones on the same team? Very few teams have the close gap of a number one and two receiver as the Cardinals do. You could throw Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison as a close second, but the edge still belongs to Harrison because of his longevity. They’re so good that once one is picked the other should be going within a few picks after. The questions are who has more value with the second year starter, Matt Leinart, and how will both fare with a new head coach?

You’re not going to go wrong with either player. Boldin has dominated since being a rookie second round pick, and Fitzgerald has lived up to the expectations that have been built on him since college. As Cardinals together you’d still have to call it a toss up on who’s better when both are on the field? The reason why is that Boldin was hurt for two seasons in a row for stretches, until last season. Then last year was the year Fitzgerald was slowed down with an injury that may have affected him for a few weeks after his return.

With that in mind both are still building rapports with Matt Leinart. Also with new coach Ken Whisenhunt the offense and team will be transforming into a new mode. While at Pittsburgh the style was grind it out with a great running game, which the Cardinals have and still likely do not have. They have the weapons at wide receiver and Whisenhunt knows this just like the rest of the league. Expect him to still want to have some form of a strong running game but to also unleash in the passing game unlike his days at Pittsburgh.

Many owners and magazines have Larry Fitzgerald as the man ranked number one in terms of fantasy football. He is a big play guy that owns defensive backs when it comes to positioning with his size or deep balls. So Fitzgerald’s value is more of in the touchdown category then receiving yards, which is always considered better since getting that six points for a touchdown is crucial in fantasy football. Just consider last season Fitzgerald played in thirteen games and only caught six touchdowns. In fact he was on his way to having a lower amount than that, until he finished the season with four touchdowns in the last five weeks.

Another key factor to think about is a position the Cardinals will use now that Whisenhunt is there. They’ll utilize the tight end position which is one factor from Pittsburgh Whisenhunt will not have go away. Leonard Pope and drafted tight end Ben Patrick will be involved and will obviously take away some touchdowns from either Boldin or Fitzgerald. The Cardinals tight end value from a fantasy standpoint is still bottom tier in the league and not worth taking a look at. With an extra 25-30 catches in the hands of a tight end this will certainly drop some numbers for the Cardinals wide receivers.

The reason why Boldin should be ranked higher than Fitzgerald is for a few reasons. He always ranks near the top of the league for catches per year. The balls will keep coming his way because he is one of the best receivers at getting open in the ten to fifteen yard range. Those types of catches don’t show up on highlight reels, but they add up. If you noticed last year against the Chicago Bears, the Cardinals came with that exact approach. They drilled the ball to Boldin in the median routes and it resulted in a huge day for him. One thing that hurt Leinart’s stock in the draft just a tad was the strength of his arm. For Boldin that only boosts his stock for fantasy football, and gives him the slightest of an edge over Fitzgerald.

Obviously, if healthy, both are going to be top ten receivers, but Boldin will be closer to the top.

Assumptions to jump on athletes for success happens daily in sports. Wide receiver Matt Jones is a guy that everyone has their eye on as being a “sleeper”. All of these predictions are based on how well he finished the 2005 season. What has bolstered his expectations for the 2006 season was the retiring of Jimmy Smith.

Doesn’t anyone think that may harm Jones for his second season? People are overlooking the fact that Jones is still learning and trying to adapt to being a wide receiver. This is the same guy that played quarterback in college and just was converted to wide receiver to play in the NFL. He has all the tools to be a solid receiver and can be in appropriate time. But the Jaguars need to acquire a veteran that can help bring this young group of receivers along. If not, there may be growing problems in Byron Leftwich’s week to week injury report.

It’s just too much to expect crazy fantasy numbers from Jones this season. Just on today’s fantasy football weekly show on ESPN, the analyst predicted 900 yards and 11 touchdown receptions for Jones. Those numbers are bold to predict, and for the analysts sake those numbers were predicated on the way Jones played last season.

Defenses last season really had no clips of Jones. None of his tendencies were known; good or bad. How often do you see a player that has been unscathed in a sport do well from the start? In baseball the pitchers can get away with it. In any sport you could find a prime example of when fresh talent excels just because there is no footage on them. Mike Vick use to scorch any NFL team just with his legs until the Tampa Bay Buccaneers figured him out. That led to the rest of the NFL copying that script and holding Vick down a bit with his legs.

Jones is likely going to struggle if the Jaguars have to count on him as their number one wide receiver. It’ll be awfully easy for defenses number one cornerbacks to shut down Jones. Now that he is the main guy, defenses will key in on his weaknesses. There are sure to be a handful as there is no way he has figured out all the necessary tactics to not be exposed by veteran corners.

Jones should still be a force for touchdowns as he is a big target that Leftwich will find. Another downside to Jones is that the Jaguars do not have the strength of a solid core of receivers. This is the same staff that has been under the wings of Jimmy Smith for a couple of years, but none have ever excelled. In years past, when did you ever see a Jaguars wide receiver other than Jimmy Smith on a fantasy team? That answer would have to be shoved back to the Keenan McCardell days, which were last in 2001. Youngsters Ernest Wilford and Reggie Williams are now entering their third seasons and have been fairly non existent thus far in their careers.

The Jaguars rely on their defense to game plan what they do offensively. Their defense is usually stellar so they play almost as conservative as the Pittsburgh Steelers. While people may be thinking that Matt Jones will gobble up the majority of Jimmy Smith’s stats, that is not going to happen. Numbers will be dispersed in proportion amongst the youngsters, but none will have stellar stats. For now you can do a couple of things with Jones.

Sell him high and package him in a two for one deal to gain another player for your fantasy team. You can also just keep him on your bench and wait for a significant game to consider inserting him as your third wide receiver.

Notice soon that Matt Jones will be either stagnant on fantasy teams benches or a high percentage waiver wire dropped athlete.