Monday, September 3, 2012

Meet The DDL Franchises! Part II

Andy Murray's Whoopin' Stick - Owned by Sam
Best Player - Matt Forte
Strengths - Running Back Starters, Wide Receiver, Quarterback
Weaknesses - Running Back Depth, Tight End, Fragile Quarterback

The Whoopin' Stick feature one of my personal favorite draft selections, Matt Forte. For a 10th overall selection, Forte displays superior reliability and relative health compared to other running backs available. Also, the wide receiver corps of Julio Jones, Dez Bryant, and Percy Harvin could be sneaky good this season, so long as Dez stops committing acts of violence against his immediate family members.  Matthew Stafford at quarterback is a phenomenal talent, but he is so injury prone that Grantland.com's Bill Simmons refers to him as Matthew Stafford If He Stays Healthy. He must be considered a risk for that reason.

Montclair Bees - Owned by Eric
Best Player - Drew Brees
Strengths - Quarterback, Wide Receiver Depth, Quarterback Depth
Weaknesses - Running Back Depth (If everyone has the same weakness, is it still a weakness? Interesting question.), Tight End

After a major trade that sent Calvin "Megatron" Johnson on his way, The Bees now have a significant strength at quarterback. Although Megatron is the best wide receiver around, the acquisition of Brandon Lloyd, as well as the presence of Steve Smith(The Old but Good One) and Eric Decker, should mitigate his loss. The Bees upgraded from risky QB Michael Vick to proven fantasy star Drew Brees. Jamaal Charles at RB1 is a calculated gamble; however, it must be mentioned that, like everyone else's running backs, he is an injury risk, and there simply isn't enough depth to replace his loss. This is more a factor of the NFL's running back situation than any fault in our team owners' strategies, but it will be affect at least a few DDL franchises at some point this year. One other point about the Bees: Philip Rivers is a superior backup quarterback, and I would not be surprised if his trade value rises, should anyone else's quarterback get injured.

cute and cuddly kittens - Owned by Nora
Best Player - Arian "The Vegan" Foster
Strengths - Wide Receiver Starters and Depth, Running Back #1
Weaknesses - Running Back #2 and Depth, Tight End

The kittens will depend on Foster heavily to mitigate a lack of any kind of support at running back. They will also make up for that with a fantastic set of wide receivers. AJ Green, Victor Cruz, Steve Johnson and DeSean Jackson are all very good weapons, and I think Green, in particular, is in for a great season. However, the running back situation behind Foster could be the doom of this franchise. Willis McGahee finished 21st overall among running backs last year, and only then with a big boost from Tim Tebow's presence; I don't believe he has much left. Behind that, Roy Helu, James Starks, and Montario Hardesty all share a lack of both talent and opportunity, which is a bad combo in fantasy football. Cam Newton at quarterback will be an interesting player this year - will he maintain his ridiculously high fantasy value? Or will he regress, and if so, how far? He will likely determine the fate of this team.

Montclair Mounties - Owned by Colron
Best Player - Calvin "Megatron" Johnson
Strengths - A Risk/Reward Strategy featuring Run-DMC and Michael Vick, Tight End
Weaknesses - A Risk/Reward Strategy featuring Run-DMC and Michael Vick

Colron has been mighty busy in the preseason, making not one, but two blockbuster deals right out of the gate. The result is the most boom-or-bust team in the league. I simply cannot tell you with any conviction that Darren McFadden and Michael Vick will be worth the investment. It comes down to health with these two players, as well as the repeatability of Megatron's value from last season. If Run-DMC and Vick get 14 real starts apiece, and Megatron returns value at least relatively close to last season's monstrous numbers, this team will be tough to beat. But that's a lot of big "ifs". If nothing else, this will be an entertaining franchise.  P.S. The Gronk is freaking awesome and I love him. So he's got that going for him. Which is nice.

Bloomfield Bumsrush! - Owned by Patrick
Best Player - Chris Johnson
Strength - Proven Talent Across The Board
Weakness - Question Marks Surrounding Most Of That Talent

Hey look, it's the 2009 NFL All-Pro Team! Peyton Manning, Adrian Peterson, Chris Johnson, Andre Johnson, Brandon Marshall, and Vincent Jackson! Patrick collected a lot of the players I wasn't sure about going into this season, so that makes me unsure of what to make of this team. Peyton could be amazing, CJ2K could lead the league in rushing, as could Peterson. I actually love Brandon Marshall this season, as he returns to his glory days of catching fades from Jay Cutler. But all of those players have holes to their games too, be they injury (Peyton, ADP, Andre), or commitment (CJ2K, Marshall) or the uncertainty of talent moving to a new team (Vincent Jackson). I have no idea how well this team will fare. How's that for hard hitting analysis?

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