High-risk/high-reward wide receivers were on my mind today after the recent hype being thrown at Marques Colston, Ted Ginn, Chad Ochocinco and Percy Harvin. That got me thinking, "Who might be the Top-10 boom-or-bust wide receivers for this season?" Let's give it a shot:

1. Brandon Marshall – A certified WR1 when not in the back of a police cruiser, Marshall faces questions about the hip surgery, a possible suspension and an ongoing squabble with the Broncos.
2. Marques Colston – Another true WR1 when healthy, Colston is coming off microfracture surgery on his troublesome left knee. That makes two straight offseasons with knee surgery.
3. Dwayne Bowe – Could be a target monster after the Tony Gonzalez trade, but the Chiefs offense figures to struggle to score points this season. We're going to have to change his nickname to "Snacks" if he doesn't stop eating.
4. Roy Williams – Flashed undeniable talent early in his Lions career, but he never could put it all together to emerge as a reliable fantasy stud. Will that change as Romo’s No. 1 receiver?
5. Chad Ocho Cinco – Now going on age 32, is Ocho a prime bounce-back candidate, or he is simply past his prime? As always with the Bengals, there’s a danger of the whole team going in the tank by October.

Continue reading "Ten boom-or-bust wide receivers" »

Posted by Chris Wesseling at 04:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (15)

Four days and counting until our magazine is all done. Apologies about the lack of content in the meantime, but I have Silva and Wesseling chained in the Rotoworld headquarters basement fixing all of my mistakes.

I don't like Julius Jones at this point. Who does? I never liked T.J. Duckett.

But the more I marinate on the Seattle running game, the more I find myself ranking them a bit higher than I'm comfortable with.

It's the ultimate battle of situation vs. talent. Situation often makes fantasy value, but the player still needs to have a baseline of talent to take advantage.

The situation certainly plays in Jones and Duckett's favor. Seattle is installing a run-first zone blocking scheme this year that seems likely to have 400 carries for their running backs. Offensive coordinator Greg Knapp has constructed a powerful running game wherever he has gone, and there is practically no depth behind the top two. Knapp coached Duckett during his best days in Atlanta.

Again, no one is in love with these guys. But every player has value at a certain point in the draft. My current projections has Jones around 35th and Duckett 53rd at running back. I've seen Jones sitting there in round ten and eleven in early drafts, meaning he won't cost much.

But I suspect those numbers will be higher than their ADP, meaning Rotoworld readers could have them on the end of the bench. Should that keep me up at night?

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (27)

There were very high expectations for Jeremy Shockey in his first season with the Saints. Shockey, who knew the ins and outs of coach Sean Payton's offense from their time together with the Giants, was playing for a contract and entering an extremely pass-heavy offense.

Shockey aggravated a summer groin injury in Week 3 and needed sports hernia surgery. He returned more quickly than expected -- missing only four games -- but was obviously short on explosiveness the rest of the way, lost two fumbles, and never found the end zone. He finished as the TE27 in standard (non-PPR) leagues.

Continue reading "Tough to Rank: Jeremy Shockey" »

Posted by Evan Silva at 04:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (21)

Time for everyone's favorite short-lived running segment from last year I forgot about: Tough to Rank. In it, I bring up a player that could seemingly go in any direction and throw it to the floor to find out your infinite wisdom.

First up is last year's Fantasy MVP: DeAngelo Williams. In the first half of last season, Williams was the RB19: 620 total yards, five scores. In the second half, he went bonkers: 1,038 total yards, 15 scores!

The Panthers had 500 rushing attempts and 30 rushing scores last year. Those overall numbers are likely to fall with a tougher schedule that includes both Eastern Divisions.

Continue reading "Tough to Rank: DeAngelo Williams" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 09:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (59)

The last two players in our Tough to Rank series were Javon Walker and Derek Anderson. Didn't get too many specific numbers for Anderson, although I got the diverging opinion (Top-five to outside the top-ten) that I'd expect. People don't seem too worried about Brady Quinn.

Walker got a shockingly low average of WR 40.5, showing the Pancake Blocks reader's infinite wisdom. He'll get drafted in the top-25, but Rotoworld has him pegged much closer to his Tough to Rank score. Today, we'll look at Vince Young.

Continue reading "Tough to Rank: Vince Young" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 12:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (17)

Derek Anderson is not going to lose his starting job in training camp, but the presence of Brady Quinn makes him a difficult 2008 projection. Without Quinn, and with Donte Stallworth added to an impressive receiver mix, Anderson would likely project as a top-7 quarterback.

With Quinn and such a short track record, Anderson becomes a riskier QB1 than most think. The schedule, for one, gets a lot more difficult.

So where would you rank Anderson? He's certainly after the top-five, but does he go below guys like Matt Hasselbeck, Donovan McNabb, Jay Cutler, and Marc Bulger outside the top ten?

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 05:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)

My first tough to rank post about Lee Evans was a rousing success, with most of you skeptical that Evans will rise above WR2/3 inconsistency. He was compared to Chris Chambers, Deion Branch, and Andre Johnson, with most responses indicating Fantasy Nation will be down on him going into 2008.

Today we'll look at Javon Walker, although I'm asking for commenters to take an extra step: Give Walker (and future players) a rough position rank: WR20, 35, etc. I'll let you know the averaged results.

Continue reading "Tough to Rank: Javon Walker" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)

I have broken ground on our magazine, meaning this is the time of year to put together my first rough rankings for 2008. The Draft and offseason activities will change things, but I like getting a skeleton list up early to build off.

Each year, a handful of players at each position are the most difficult to rank. The kind that could be in the top ten or out of the top-25. I'm going to profile these players occasionally here and ask for your opinion. The first player we'll look at is Lee Evans.

Continue reading "Tough to Rank: Lee Evans" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 08:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)