The precious time of preseason football has come to an end. Many are relieved and ready for real football, but maybe they should hold that thought. Based upon the struggles of certain teams, and the minimal acquaintance time for rookies and new teammates, it’s going to be a long first month of the regular season. So what does this mean in the fantasy football world?

It’s definitely going to be a circus month. Don’t expect any reliance of rankings to help bolster your team’s chances of winnings. Furthermore, expect the no name borderline starting players to make big contributions. That will fade quickly for those players, and then you’ll see the big name athletes come into form.

It just seems like NFL teams are no where near prepared to start this season. That’s a trend that can be supported year in and year out, as team’s don’t get enough real game time preparation. All the training camp drills and mini simulation drills are great, but the sloppiness and timing against other opponents you can’t prepare for. So why do people continue to hate on the NFL preseason, and propose to it being reduced?

Injuries are going to occur, regardless if the preseason was cut short or not. Jeff Garcia breaking his leg in Detroit’s last preseason game was a perfect example of how one play can change a season. The Lions could have sat him out and prepped him for backup duty in the regular season, but it just was an unfortunate injury. Injuries happen, and simply reevaluating on decisions is plain stupidity. The Lions needed to test Garcia more, and see if he could showcase that he is worthy of being the Lions starting quarterback. Everyone knew that based upon the previous four weeks of preseason, Harrington had Garcia beaten by a long stretch.

So Garcia is out, and the media is starting a frenzy once again about cutting the preseason short. The whole reason for having depth at a position is for injuries. All Garcia’s injury did was bump up the third stringer into the backup spot, and gave some other quarterback new life as a third string. Success in the NFL often occurs because of breaks, and getting a shot usually happens because of injuries.

It was sad to see the majority of the NFL teams sitting out their starters completely. Shying away from competition is what that gives off. Indianapolis was a team that went winless in the preseason, and still decided to sit out their starters against Cincinnati in their last preseason loss. On the flipside, Cincinnati gave their starters some tune up time, and looked solid. Maybe it doesn’t make a difference at all in the Colts case, but I can guarantee it will. The slightest mishap of a Manning throw that is picked off in the first game will be because of timing being off.

All in all the NFL is primed for one of the most exciting years of football. New England’s dominant days seem to be behind, and that means a new contender will have the ultimate shot at bumping them out. Both conferences really don’t have a front runner, but the playoff caliber teams are bundled together with little leeway. Lets get this first few weeks of the season over with because it’s going to get ugly.