By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

NFL fans are forced to pay attention to what the media shoves in their face. The era of glitz and glamour is not only in Hollywood, it’s turned to the profession of sports. Brett Favre’s drama with retiring or playing on and twitter comments galore have shifted the attention from one athlete in particular. An athlete that a year ago was looking like an immature college athlete. Nit picking about his contract, new coach, and threatening of a holdout. Wanting to leave Denver he demanded a trade that did not happen. To keep from getting fined he attended training camp and mocked drills. Off the field he was embroiled with issues with his ex-girlfriend.

It seemed like a rough year was ahead for Brandon Marshall. Instead once the season began he stormed the scene and shined. Even Josh McDaniels joined the hoopla for a bit when they mutually hugged postgame after another incredible performance from Marshall. The soap opera had its ups and downs but the sides agreed that Marshall had to go elsewhere. His talent is unquestionable.

Now Miami has its hands on a receiver that’s entering the trending dominant years of a superior talent. He has kept his name out of any high profiled negative stories, and thus far is just doing his duties. With new talents rising amongst receivers, Miles Austin, DeSean Jackson, Sidney Rice, etc. there isn’t too many talents that have done it consistently. The aforementioned receivers are literally coming off their first breakout years. Other top receivers in the mix are aging a bit, Steve Smith, Chad Johnson, Terrell Owens, Randy Moss, and Reggie Wayne.

Many rankings have Marshall all over the board, but there is no way he should be ranked outside a top five fantasy receiver. Every intangible you can think of for a receiver, Marshall excels at. He gets open on any type of route he runs with ease. Comparable to Andre Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald in that category. Over the past three years he has had over 100 catches an area he holds to himself in the league. Everyone assumed last year would see a decline in his stats due to his issues with the Broncos and their quarterback. Ugh, Kyle Orton.

Orton though did a fine job or should we say Marshall was able to get open and exploit defenses. Either way as a Dolphin a rise in production is foreseeable. Chad Henne has better all around skill sets than Orton and will use Marshall even more as a safety valve then Orton did. Young quarterbacks have a tendency to do that and learn to build their confidence this route. Last year Henne’s number one option was Ted Ginn Jr a great special teams threat but surely not a number one wide receiver.

We see Henne and Marshall developing nicely over the next three to four years. A year from now the only question when it comes to fantasy number one receiver will be, Marshall or Andre Johnson.

By Zack Cimini

You can bank on Brandon Marshall’s ADP dropping even more after his latest antics during Wednesday’s Broncos practice. Yes Brandon we all know that you deserve more than your set to make this year, but is this really the way to go about it. Before we delve in and rant on Marshall take a look for yourself at what he was doing during Broncos practice drills.

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Drawing attention to yourself this route is absolutely ridiculous. What could the end result possibly be, besides hurting his pockets even more? Then again could he be doing this because of how Jay Cutler got what he wanted after he pouted and was eventually traded?

For those of you that have had your drafts In June and July you’ll all be a part of the best case scenario for Marshall. The best case scenario is that Marshall either wakes up and realizes he’ll have to play his way out of Denver. That he has already showed though with back to back 100 catch seasons, so maybe Marshall will continue the route he is exhibiting. Josh McDaniels is fed up and with Marshall close to free agency anyways maybe they’ll cut their losses and grant him his wish.

This would be the ultimate best case scenario for fantasy owners. Especially for owners that have had their drafts within the last few weeks. Right now Marshall’s ADP according to myfantasyleague.com is early to late fourth round depending on a ten or twelve team draft. That’s probably offset due to him going a lot higher a few months ago. We’d guess he’s probably going in the sixth rounds right now.

The upside to Marshall is what we know he can do. When he is on the field and wants to perform he has showcased being an elite wide receiver. You’d have to put him in the first tier wide receiver class even if Orton was throwing him the ball. The first tier class currently consists of Randy Moss, Larry Fitzgerald, Andre Johnson, and Calvin Johnson.

We all knew about his off the field antics but now that we’re seeing his selfish attitude on the field, it’s almost comparable to being a GM ready for the NFL draft. The talent may be there but talent is easy to find. We’d pass on Marshall and let some other owner worry about knowing what they’re going to get from him on a week to week basis. He’s not worth the hassle until he shows he can mature and do his duty and obligations.

We’d also expect the Broncos organization to think hard about some sort of discipline to Marshall after his absolute mockery of the Broncos practice.