Kansas City

Last Season: 10-6

The Todd Haley regime took a step in the right direction last season. Jamaal Charles ran for just under 1500 yards, Bowe caught over a 1,000, and Matt Cassel earned a trip to the pro bowl. However, the Chiefs struggled in the division going just 2-4 against AFC west opponents. In order to take the next step, Kansas City will need to figure out a way to win in the division.



The Chiefs used their first round draft pick on WR Jon Baldwin and signed Arizona WR Steve Breston. The surprise in training camp thus far is that neither is currently listed as the started opposite Dwayne Bowe. Somebody named Jerheme Urban is slated as the number 2 receiver thus far. The plan is likely to bring Breston on as a slot receiver and Baldwin as the two. TE Tony Moeaki is Cassel’s safety valve and will continue to be the second leading receiver. Jammal Charles is poised for a dominate fantasy year butwill it translate? He should rceive more carries as Thomas Jones’ role continues to diminish. Kansas City shouldn’t be taken lightly but the Chargers are still the class of the division and I feel they return to the top of the AFC West. The Cheifs will find themselves in a difficult wild card race.

Prediction: 9-7

Fantasy Sleeper: WR Steve Breston



San Diego Chargers

Last Season: 9-7


The AFC West was the Chargers to lose in 2010, and they did just that. Norv Turner’s team has been famous for is early malaise and ability to pick things up before letting you down in the playoffs. Last year,the malaise never really ended. Holdouts and injuries never let the team get off the ground.

Enter 2011, a healthy Ryan Matthews and frisky defenseshould put the Chargers back on top of the division. I loved the resigning of Safety Eric Weddle and acquisition of Bob Sanders. If Sanders stayshealthy, they’ve got one of the best combos in the league. Expect a nice regular season before a playoff swoon.

Prediction 13-3.


Fantasy Sleeper: RB Mike Tolbert



Denver Broncos

Last Season: 4-12


Former head coach Josh McDaniels took a wild gamble when hemoved up in the draft to take Tim Tebow. It’s the kind of gamble that, fair or unfair, needs to pay dividends immediately or its your ass. Well, McDaniels is gone and it appears Tebow will start the year on the bench.

Tebow looks good to me. He will never put up great stats, but he’s a leader and strong as hell. The Broncos aren’t going anywhere and Kyle Orton is a nice asset to trade off. Just a few weeks ago, we all thought Orton was taking his talents to South Beach. New HC John Fox feels Orton’s the better option to win at QB. However, you’re not winning much Orton and you should see if Tebow’sworth the time and effort to develop. Orton to Brandon Lloyd 30 times a game and Moreno disappointing at tailback-no desire to watch this team.

Prediction: 6-10

Fantasy Sleeper: WR Eddie Royal




Oakland Raiders



Tom Cable returned the Radiers to respectability from the ashes of the JaMarcus Russell debacle. For his efforts, he was shown the door. Tom Cable and TE Zach Miller now reside in Seattle. Jason Campbell continues his unprecedented run at learning a new offensive scheme almost every year and Al Davis defies death once again.



I can’t see much coming from this Raiders squad. They have a few pieces but their best players on both sides of the ball are gone and many of the positive changes seem to have eroded. While the AFC West is weak overall, the Radiers will do little to take advantage of it.

Prediction: 4-12

Fantasy Sleeper: RB Michael Bush

AFC EAST PREVIEW

BUFFALO BILLS

Last season the Bills finished the year 4-12. With Head Coach Chan Gailey having zero time with his players in the off season, I do not expect the Bills to make much progress this season. Ryan Fitzpatrick will be behind center, and to his credit the guy is a fierce competitor. However, with the departure of Lee Evans, Fitzpatrick has #1 and #2 targets with Stevie Johnson and Roscoe Parrish. Johnson came alive last year and could be a valuable pickup in fantasy leagues this year, but how much can you depend on the Bills to produce. With CJ Spiller missing valuable time in OTA's, he will likely split carries with Fred Jackson. Jackson has better hands than spiller, but Spiller is absolutely dynamic in open space. The Bills drafted DT Marcell Dareus #3 overall, and really hope that he can bolster their D-line to help stop the run game. With Terrence McGee and Drayton Florence on the corners, it would be huge for the Bills if Leodis McKelvin can step up in the nickel role and give them a much needed bump on coverage on 3rd downs.

4-12 last season, with some competitive games, and their defense could (fingers crossed) be better this season if Merriman and Nick Barnett have Pro Bowl caliber years, I consider the Bills to be similar to the Lions of last season. They will lose a few games by double digits, but for the most part they will be in all of their games for the first 52 minutes, but how do they close them out will be the questions.

Fantasy Sleeper: Buster Davis WR

Prediction 3-13


MIAMI DOLPHINS

Last season: 7-9

With Tony Sparano still holding down the fort, and Chad Henne (feelings hurt and all) behind center, the Dolphins are hoping for a big season in Miami. The departures of Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown led to the arrival of Reggie Bush from the New Orleans Saints. Bush will get a bulk of carries, so it will be interesting to see how he holds up throughout the year, while Daniel Thomas (rookie from KSU) will likely get some carries as well. Chad Henne must have a good season. It seemed like the Dolphins would take a run at McNabb or Orton, but they stayed quiet and only brought in Matt Moore. So Henne is the guy Dolphin fans, the guy that has thrown more INTs than TD in both of his seasons as starting QB. Brandon Marshall, a man of two minds, could go for 100+ receptions this season as the Dolphins are going to have to throw a lot more now that their two ball carriers are gone. Marshall is a star in this league, but he also will get some help from up-and-comer Davone Bess and Brian Hartline.

Looking at the defense in Miami, they were good last year which is why their record is a little misleading. 7th against the run and 8th against the pass, the Dolphins defense was stout. Forcing turnovers will be critical this season and you can bet that Vontae Davis and Chris Clemons have a small wager on INTs for this season. I would like to see something out of Jared Odrick, 2nd year DE out of Penn State, as he has a tremendous upside as a pass rusher and run stopper.

Fantasy Sleeper: Daniel Thomas - how long will Bush be healthy...

Prediction: 6-10


NEW YORK JETS

Last Season: 11-5

Two straight years with Mark Sanchez behind center and two straight years of falling one game short of the Super Bowl. While I am not a big fan of Sanchez, that is a crazy-good start to a career. But could this be the year that Rex and the Sanchize get it done? Keeping Santonio Holmes was huge for the Jets as he and Sanchez has great chemistry. Losing Braylon Edwards and Brad Smith will be interesting to see how the offense adapts, but the late addition of Derrick Mason was a nice move by the Jets front office.

Defensively we all know the Jets are terriffic Revis island and Cromartie are two dominant corners, but look for Brodney Pool (FS) to step up and have a better season this year. Looking at the Jets schedule, it gets hard right away with a tough three week road trip against Oakland, Baltimore, and New England beginning week 3. The Jets cannot have any let down games this season as the AFC is too competitive to make the playoffs without 10 or 11 wins. Sanchez will be the leader once again, but can the Jets man-up for all the talking that their coach does. Could be a fun ride in New York this year.

Fantasy Sleeper: Joe McKnight

Prediction: 12-4


NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

Last Year: 14-2

Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are a dynamic duo having one more games in the past 10 years than any other quarterback/coach tandem. (Manning/Dungy and McNabb/Reid right behind them) The Patriots offense will always be good with Brady behind center. It got some upgrades with Ochocinco and draft pick Shane Vereen. So expect the Pats to put up points and Brady to have another MVP-caliber season.

The main focus for New England is their defense. Horrible against the pass (30th), they spent the off-season trying to upgrade their d-line to get more pressure on the quarterback. Albert Haynesworth, yeah, he can help a little bit. With Haynesworth's presence on the line, he will attract double teams, Tight Ends staying in to help protection, and it will open up outside blitzes from corners, safeties, and the line backers. Great move by the Patriots with Haynesworth, especially if he plays anything close to a few years ago with the Titans.

With out of division games against the Steelers and Eagles on the road, and a home contest against Peyton Manning, I think the Patriots will have a few tough games, but for the most part be double digit wins.

Fantasy Sleeper: Aaron Hernandez TE

PREDICTION: 13-3

NFC EAST PREVIEW

Dallas Cowboys

The storyline heading into last season focused on if Dallas could be the first team to host a Super Bowl. We all know how that turned out. Aside from Jason Witten and DeMarcus Ware (and perhaps the flashes shown by Dez Bryant), the entire team appeared to regress. The o-line got old, the secondary self-destructed, and Marion Barber died. New coach Jason Garrett did keep things competitive over the last half of the season, which says a lot about the man. The squad could have easily mailed it in.

Garrett brings a steady hand to a team that needs it. The Princeton educated coach played under Jimmy Johnson. Johnson’s style of discipline and independence (from Jerry) brought the team its last tastes of glory. To bring the charisma of Johnson into the fold, Dallas signed Rob Ryan to coach the defense. The defense, which ranked among the franchises worst ever last season, sorely needed a shot of bravado. Dallas also took a very conservative approach to free agency; cutting under-performers such as Marion Barber’s corpse, Roy Williams, and Marc Columbo, and re-signing the likes of Doug Free, Kyle Kosier and Marcus Spears. The offense will perform well with Felix Jones, DeMarco Murray & Co. handling the run attack and as long as Romo stays upright, Austin and Bryant should both have nice seasons. If Marty Bennett can finally emerge as a legitimate threat to compliment all-pro Jason Witten, the passing game will be among the league’s best. Defensively…who knows…The secondary is counting on Terrance Newman to stay healthy, Mike Jenkins to bounce back and Alan Ball to stay away. I could see another 6-10 year just as easily as a 11-5 year. I say 9-7 and they miss the playoffs, but stay competitive in every game.

PREDICTION: 9-7

Fantasy Sleeper: RB DeMarco Murray

Washington Redskins

Mike Shanahan’s first season in Washington went about as well as every other Dan Synder hire. I suppose the biggest lesson learned from the 2010 season for the Redskins was “If a division rival (who you play twice a year) wants to trade you their starting quarterback, you might want to decline.” The off field dramas, from the McNabb out of shape issue to the adventures of Albert Haynesworth, proved more interesting than anything happening during the games.

The Redskins have put together a solid secondary. They bulked up their defensive unit signing Safety AJ Otogwae and CB Josh Wilson to an already formidable secondary group, stole up-and-comer DE Stephen Bowen from Dallas and used their first two draft picks on OLB Ryan Kerrigan and DL Jarvis Jenkins. I love what their doing on defense but is it enough to compensate for their issues on offense? To improve the locker room, the Skins dealt 100 million dollar man and alleged sex offender Albert Haynesworth and cut the slumping Clinton Portis. Washington brought in RB Tim Hightower as Portis’ replacement. Hightower started well in Arizona then trailed off. I seriously doubt he will make waves in the NFC East. Santana Moss remains the most potent weapon on the offensive side of the ball and Fred Davis appears poised to have a breakout season (especially in the likely event Cooley goes down). However, who will get the ball to them? John Beck, who looked great in the game he won in Miami (the only game he won in Miami) and Rex Grossman are the top QB’s for this team. In a quarterback driven league, the Redskins do not appear to have a starting caliber quarterback on the roster. Expect good things on defense and hideous things on offense.

PREDICTION: 5-11

Fantasy Sleeper: TE Fred Davis

New York Giants:

The team appeared poised to make a run at a championship coming into last season. However, in true Tom Coughlin form, wild swings between good football and bad football led this team home come playoff time. Consistently inconsistent play occurred at all levels of the team and it does not appear the Giants did a lot to address their issues in the off-season and lost a couple of keys to their past success.

The departure of TE Kevin Boss likely hurts the worst. Boss proved a reliable and consistent target for Eli Manning. I was shocked to see the Raiders steal him away so easily. There’s still a good deal of talent around Manning. Hakeem Nicks is a fantastic receiver and the Ahmad Bradshaw/Brandon Jacobs combo give the Giants a fighting chance in any game. Defensively, the Umenyiora saga drags on and the team lost its number one draft pick to injury indefinitely (Prince Amukamara). I see the team struggling throughout the year with the pendulum swinging towards bad football more often than it does towards good football. Ultimately, Tom Coughlin loses his job at year’s end and the team enters a rebuilding process on the defensive side of the ball.

Prediction: 8-8

Fantasy Sleeper: WR Mario Manningham

Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles entered 2010 with dreams of the Kevin Kolb era. Those quickly faded into oblivion and the Michael Vick redemption tour took center stage. The Eagles with McCoy, Jackson, and Vick appeared unstoppable at times last season. Vick played like some 13 year old Madden junkie was controlling him. Defensively, they played an inconsistent brand of football. Rookie Safety Nate Allen flashed potential and Asante Samuel pieced together another pro bowl year, but overall they lacked an identity. This lack of identity paired with the wear-down of Vick ultimately led to their demise.

Everyone knows the Eagles won the off-season. On paper, they appear the number one contender to unseat the current NFL champion Packers. The Eagles ended free agency loaded with names: Cullen Jenkins, Nnamdi Asomugha, Ronnie Brown, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Jason Babin, Vince Young, Steve Smith and the list goes on. Rarely does this methodology work out. However, Andy Reid runs a tight ship and the Eagles count themselves among the best run organizations in the NFL. Michael Vick’s health will determine the fate of the Eagles. If he can stay healthy, and I mean at full strength not dinged up all year, the sky is the limit. Vince Young is a nice insurance policy and could whether the storm but he’s simply not prepared to take the team for a deep playoff run. With a healthy Michael Vick, the Eagles are clearly the class of the division and perhaps the conference.

Prediction: 12-4

Fantasy Sleeper: WR Jason Avant

NFC NORTH PREVIEW

Chicago Bears


For all the hype of a Mike Martz-Jay Culter offense, little came of it. The Bears ranked 28th last season in passing. Not exactly a rebirth of the greatest show on turf. Then again, the team did finish 11-5, so something went right. Chicago’s season ended on a sour note after Jay Cutler left a playoff game in the hands of Todd Collins and Caleb Hanie. Cutler received a barrage of criticism for his lack of toughness. When you play for a team that boasts the likes of Mike Ditka, Richard Dent and Mike Singletary you had better be an amputee candidate before you leave a playoff game.



The Bears were so taken with the 2010 Dallas Cowboys, they decided to shop former Cowboys like they were at some sort of JoS A Banks sale. Chicago signed Roy Williams to be their number one wide receiver. An interesting proposition, considering Johnny Knox (last year’s number 1) caught 51 balls for over 900 yards last year and Roy Williams hasn’t matched that for some time. The Bears also brought over WR Sam Hurd and the artist formerly known as Marion Barber. Kidding aside, Barber and Williams give them red zone threats and actually compliment existing pieces. Williams is a big tall receiver and a nice target for Cutler near the goal line. Barber’s best years were as a backup, and in Chicago he returns to that role. If he can rekindle some of that ferocity, he should serve as a nice change to the smaller faster Matt Forte. Throw in first rounder OT Gabe Carimi and the Bears have done a few things to improve their offense. Defensively, the Bears still have Julius Peppers and Brian Urlacher. Although weathered, I see no reason to doubt this group. The key to this year is Cutler and Martz; can they make it work in a competitive division? Is Cutler the reincarnation of Jeff George or is he something more than a big arm?



Prediction: 10-6


Fantasy Sleeper: Marion Barber




Minnesota Vikings


In hindsight, the Brett Favre interception that ended the Viking’s 2009 season was a prelude of things to come. The Vikings started 2010 with the Favre saga. Prominent Viking players flew to Mississippi and pleaded with Favre to secure his return. Then we found out Favre had a penchant forlechery. Next we found out that he was completely washed up. Panic ensued. The Vikings acquired Randy Moss only to realize he too was washed up. In the end, creepy Brad Childress lost his job, Brett’s streak ended, and somebody named Joe Webb was under center.



The top storyline leading into 2011: Can Donavon McNabb redeem himself and bring the team back to contender status? Doubtful. McNabb’s leash will certainly be longer than the one he wore in Washington. Minnesota wants rookie QB Christian Ponder to develop along the sidelines and unless the team tanks, he will remain there. The Vikings lost Sidney Rice to free agency and did not replace him with a viable deep threat option. If McNabb stumbles, defenses will focus on locking down Adrian Peterson and essentially stifle offensive production. The team’s offensive fate hinges on McNabb and that’s a dicey proposition especially since the team cut future Lipitor Spokesman OT Bryant McKinnie. Defense is Coach Leslie Frazier’s specialty and he’ll have his workcut out for him. The loss of Ray Edwards, who served as a nice compliment to Jarred Allen further complicates his work. I think its going to be a long season in Minnesota , one where the lack of a stadium and rumors of a Los Angeles move dominate storylines.


Prediction: 5-11


Fantasy Sleeper: WR Michael Jenkins



Green Bay

The Packers took it all last year. They didn’t always look the part but they peaked at the perfect time. Aaron Rodgers is a statistics machine. As long as the team provided him with a modicum of protection, he delivered. Rodgers did this despite the fact opposing teams keyed on him and ignored the Green Bay running attack after Ryan Grant’s injury. Pair that with all-pro Clay Matthews and dominate force BJ Raji and you find yourself holding theLombardi.



Green Bay enters 2011 with a target on their backs. The team has questions along the offensive line and Charles Woodson is a little long in the tooth. They’re playing what should be the most competitive division in the NFC, and both the Lions and Bears made improvements. That said, the Packers have stars in the right places, a top notch QB, great receivers, a fantastic pass rushing duo and great veteran leaders. They’ll make another run at theNFC Championship.


Prediction: 11-5


Fantasy Sleeper: WR James Jones



Detroit Lions

The Lions finished 6-10 last season and struggled to keep key players healthy. The team has come a long way from the Matt Millen days. Calvin Johnson is a force of nature on the offensive side of the ball as is Suh on the defensive side. However, Javid Best and Matthew Stafford couldn’t stay healthy and the team continued to struggle.



The health of Matthew Stafford and Javid Best will continue to be a point of concern for the Lions in 2011. Shaun Hill is a quality backup but he’s not going to get you many wins in this division. The team added depth on both sides of the ball by drafting DT Nick Fairley and WR Titus Young. There’s a lot for Lions fan’s to get excited about but should do so with trepidation. Stafford has given no indication from previous years he can stay on the field. Also, Detroit lacks a quality secondary. The team’s pass rush may inspire fear, but the secondary will not. I think they’re headed in the right direction, but 2011 isn’t going to become a breakout year for the long tortured franchise.

Prediction: 7-9

Fantasy Sleeper: WR Titus Young