Things I will be watching this pre season (1 Viewer)

[The Ref]

OK football guys, I am finally done with the first cut of my projections for the upcoming 2006 season. I participate in what I consider a very tough Auction style PPR league, so having projections that are reliable is very important (well, as important as any other league).

So now that I have finished my projections, I have come to one conclusion. They Suck. The fact of the matter is my projections, that I will be using at the end of Aug, are going to be greatly different then the set I have now. Of course at some point they will change due to injuries, but they will change a great deal more due to many position battles, system changes, and unexpected increased/decreased opportunity.

Here are the things that I will be watching with a keen eye come the preseason.

1A Tatum Bell vs Ron Dayne.

1B Joseph Addai vs Dominic Rhodes.

2 Corey Dillon vs Lawrence Maroney

3 How many catches for LaMont Jordan?

4 How does Chester Taylor look, and how many Catches is he getting?

5 Who is getting the receptions in Philly? Reggie Brown? Westbrook at WR? Moats?

Other:

Health of Palmer (CJ and TJ).

Health of Culpepper (C Chambers).

How is the Rams O balanced (Bulger, Jackson, Holt)?

Will Ben Roethlisberger stay off motorcycles? (aka, back to 618 carries)

Rivers Hype Justified? (Gates, LT2)

How is the Lions O balanced (Jones, Roy)?

So what will you be watching?

 

[LehighGuy]

I offer the following items to watch

1. Will BAL Jlewis rededicate himself this year or will Anderson take over?

2. Will PHL CBuck make it back to the field this year?

3. Is a battle brewing beteen V Hayes and Staley in Pitt

 

[mlball77]

I just finished my projections recently as well and am feeling similarly. You have a great list going thus far...

I'd add:

1) Benson vs T Jones

2) Involvement of Michael Clayton in TB's passing game

3) Engram vs Burleson

4) NYJ offense... QB and RBs... anything look decent other than Cmart?

5) Does Fred Taylor really have his burst back?

6) Is J. Walker fully recovered and how is he clicking with Plummer?

 

[creeps1313]

Benson/TJones

Zona OLine...although that might be hard to judge in pre-season

 

[Loomba]

You nailed most of the things on my list. Other's (perhaps a few more obscure ones):

1. Cedric Cobb -- Does he get a sniff in Denver?

2. Does Curtis Martin have a viable successor in Cedric Houston etc.?

3. Burleson -- might he surpass DJax?

4. For dynasty purposes, how does Leinart look in preseason? He's going to be handed the keys to a Ferrari pretty soon.

5. Verron Haynes -- Can he unseat FWP?

6. Gado -- I think he is going to start for GBay, but I seem to be in the minority on this one.

7. Favre -- How does he look in the new offense. If okay, watchout for Driver.

8. Michael Clayton -- big bounce back year waiting to happen.

9. Reggies: Brown and Williams. Can either be a viable fantasy starter?

10. Indy O -- will they pass more? Manning owners (like me) would like know.

11. Sleeper TE's: VD and KWII. Could go cheap in auctions with big upside.

12. Gore v. Barlow.

 

[crnerblitz]

Original Poster!

I will add..

Who is looking good in Green Bay? A lot of questions in the running game in GB. Add San Franciscos backfield to that list too. Will Gore flash or fade? While I'm on a roll, let me add the Clevland situation too.

Kevin McBride

 

[Faust]

Cadillac Williams - will he live up to all the talk of more involvement in the passing game?

Ronnie Brown - will he be utilized as much as everyone is projecting?

Michael Bennett and Ashley Lelie - do they change teams?

 

[J R]

How is the Rams O balanced (Bulger, Jackson, Holt)?

If you want to know this, it's probably more important to pay attention to how the defense looks than to watch the offensive distribution in the preseason.

 

[joffer]

Cullllllllllllllpepper

 

[kevinallen]

I'll be looking at many things, but 3 of the more significant for me are...

Chester Taylor and Mewelde Moore

Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson

Seattle's WR situation (Will Jackson be 100% and/or will Burleson become the go-to guy)

 

[Bruno2]

I will be watching these RB battles:

CBrown vs. White vs. Henry

JJones vs. Barber

TJones vs. Benson

Foster vs. Williams

Rhodes vs. Addai

Dayne vs. Bell

McAllister vs. Bush

Taylor vs. Moore (maybe Fason gets in the mix?)

The mess in Jacksonville

Gore vs. Barlow

Parker's backup (Staley, Hayes, Humes)

Can Perry stay healthy enough to start chipping away at Rudi's carries even more?

KJones' backup (Harris, Calhoun, Pinner)

Gado vs. Green vs. Davenport (basically whoever is healthy enough to play)

Martin vs. Houston vs. Blaylock vs. Washington

 

[UnknownCoach]

I dont pay oo tmuch attention to veterans in preseason. The coach's are looking more at their younger players.

Guys I do want to see this preseason.

QBs

Chad Pennington

Vince Young

Aaron Rogers

Andre Smith

Phillip Rivers

JP Losman

Fryre

RBs

Addai

Gado

Lendale White

Norwood

Maroney

Lee Suggs

Ciatrick Fason

Cedric Cobbs

Brian Calhoun

WRs

Troy Williamson

Roddy White

Reggie Brown

Charles Rogers

Mike Williams

Chad Jackson

Matt Jones

Reggie Wiliiams

TEs

Kellen Winslow

Vernon Davis

ect.

 

[nygiants56]

1. how does Ben Troupe Look with Volek? Troupe has star potential and could become a big time TE.

2. Ben Watson - how does a pending Branch holdout affect the offense and does Brady focus on Watson more in 2006?

3. is Gonzalez his usual TD-catching self, or are his glory days officially gone?

4. How does Trent Green look with the new OC, and does KC try to pass more?the guy threw for 4k 3 years in a row, does he look like he'll head back into the top 5 QB rankings?

5. Mcnair/Mason combo - how does it look in camp and is Mark Clayton clicking with McNair, because if this team can't run, they're going to finish in the top 10 in passing.

6. Does Gruden take the chains off of Simms and let him air it out?

7. Chicago can't seriously be considering Rex Grossman over Griese, right? I'll be watching Griese in preseason, bigtime..he could make all the difference in Chicago's offense!

8. Does Linehan look like he's going to once again use RBBC in St Louis? if you see it in preseason, you're going to see it in the regular season.

9. Has RBBC taken over in Minnesota with the 3-headed RB monster they have?

10. Matt Jones - has a good thing going with Leftwhich, does Jones look like he's taken that 'next step' towards becoming a great WR?

 

[The Ref]

Looks like I need to re think T Jones and C Benson.

There is a lot of good things in this post for things to watch. Keep em up.

 

[valhallan]

How is Brees' arm

 

[King of the Jungle]

r-e-g-g-i-e!

 

[WhoDat]

1. What will the Lions play calling look like? Obviously, the team is going to leave most of the presents in the bag but what will Martz open in August? I am very curious to see the run to pass ratio and how Martz uses his personnel.

2. Will my favorite chubby and maligned rookie, L. White, take the starting job in camp or does C. Brown or T. Henry hold him off?

3. Will Dillon pucker and pout preseason or wait a little while? He's already played the resume and respect cards. Is it possible he is benched prior to September?

4. Does Barber or Jones put their thumbprint on the starting job?

5. Winslow, Hilton and Putzier...who becomes the best value play at TE? How well does each look in their respective offenses?

6. T. Owens...Can he and Parcells make it into September without knotting horns? That team's season hinges on that coach-player relationship.

7. Carson Palmer's knee...How much of a pokergame is Lewis playing right now regarding Palmer's health status. Speaking of Bengals, does Lewis continue to lose control of players or manage to pull things back under control?

 

[The Ref]

6. T. Owens...Can he and Parcells make it into September without knotting horns? That team's season hinges on that coach-player relationship.

7

This isnt something I'll be watching because ESPN will be watching this 24/7 come mid Aug.

 

[Franknbeans]

You nailed most of the things on my list. Other's (perhaps a few more obscure ones):

5. Verron Haynes -- Can he unseat FWP?

FWP is going nowhere

 

[The Ref]

You nailed most of the things on my list.  Other's (perhaps a few more obscure ones):

5.  Verron Haynes -- Can he unseat FWP?

FWP is going nowhere

Maybe not, but there is a rather large clump in the RB 16 area this year. If Haynes is getting a lot of reps it would be something to consider. With that being said, I am with you on this one.