Let’s hope this fast, strong, SEC scrambler is nothing like his predecessor Jamarcus Russell. Since Carolina brought in Derek Anderson, and will obviously not be in contention for the playoffs with Atlanta, New Orleans, and Tampa Bay in the way, I don’t believe they will just throw Cam onto the field. The chance for him to develop slowly while watching from the sideline is particularly important with the shortened off season. The WRs for Carolina are everything but stellar even with the offseason acquisition of Legedu Naanee and the veteran Steve Smith. We all know he has a great running game in Stewart, DeAngelo Williams, and the newcomer Mike Goodson, which means that when his time finally does come he will have the ability to dish the rock while the defense is forced to respect their potent run game.
Andy Dalton, Bengals –
Dalton was selected by Cincinnati as a must draft when it was made clear Carson Palmer would not be taking snaps as a Bengal ever again. Dalton will now push their heir to the throne, and baby brother Carson, out of the starter’s gig and potentially all the way down to third string with the acquisition of former Raider Bruce Gradkowski. Unfortunately for Dalton, Ochocinco has decided to go to a city known for championships and T.O. will not be returning to Cincy. The Bengals did make a grab at fellow rookie A.J. Green who, based on reports from camp, will most likely become the Dalton’s number one target from week 1.
Christian Ponder, Vikings-
The former Seminole appears to be in an ideal position for a rookie QB. With the Representative Weiner of the NFL finally out of the picture (We’re looking at you and your Wrangler jeans, Favre); Ponder will be able to learn from a very intelligent and very motivated veteran in Donovan McNabb. When the reins are finally handed off to Ponder he will enter into an offense full of weapons with an excellent defense that will keep him in games during the ‘growing pains’. Guys like Percy Harvin and Bernard Berrian have the speed to take quick underneath routes from Ponder and turn them monster gains. The Free Agency signing of Devin Aromashodu means big things for the passing game as they now have three legitimate weapons at receiver with Jenkins and Camarillo competing for that fourth slot. Visanthe Shiancoe is an excellent pass catching TE who is a big target in the red zone. Not to mention the fact that he will be handing the ball off to the most talented running back in the league. The respect that Peterson will draw into the box alone will open things up for Ponder to begin hitting targets all over the field.
Blaine Gabbert, Jaguars-
Gabbert may be in the worst situation for a rookie QB in as long as I can remember. He enters arguably one of the worst franchises in football. Maurice Jones-Drew is a talented back who is showing signs that his career may be closer to the end than we thought. Rashard Jennings is certainly a back that can hit the ground running should MJD go down but that is just not going to be enough to save Gabbert. The only WR for Jacksonville even worth drafting in fantasy football was Mike Sims-Walker who is now the newest addition to the St. Louis Rams. The only thing that Gabbert has going for him is the fact that Mercedes Lewis is an extremely great receiving talent at the TE position. Luckily for Gabbert, he will most likely not be seeing the field any time soon unless he can prove to be a greater talent than Trent Edwards and David Garrard. Maybe Jacksonville can sneak in a few receivers next year before they’re forced to expose Gabbert to the circus that is a Jaguars’ game.
Jake Locker, Titans-
Wow, what a difference a year makes. Locker probably would have signed a contract for upwards of $70 million if he had come out of college last year and will now be making $12 million over the next four years. Ouch. Locker is now in a similar situation to Ponder just with less talent at wide out. He will be able watch and learn (scratch that, he probably shouldn’t watch) from Matt Hasselbeck. Hasselbeck may be far past his prime but the insight he can provide to Locker is absolutely priceless. We saw flashes of brilliance from Kenny Britt last year who, if he can stay healthy, could become Locker’s number one target. The one thing Locker has going his way is the fact that he can always dump it down or hand it off to CJ2K and watch him do all the work.
Fantasy Value: The year where we saw rookies like Matty Ice and Flacco Seagulls come out guns blazing is in the past and there is nothing to make me believe any of these guys can even approach those numbers. None of these guys are really worth drafting unless you’re a big Florida State or Washington fan. Give them a few more years and maybe they’ll be draftable. Until then Locker and Ponder are the only ones who appear NFL ready with the weapons to succeed.
-X
No comments:
Post a Comment