Field Vision

Well its finally time for us to stop all the pandering and hope that our player put our proverbial money where our mouth's are. So I am going to go ahead and run thru my start em and sit em for the week. This is purely a match-up exercise... and you will never see Tom Brady in my start em cuz you should always start Brady no matter who they are playing. This is more a tool to try to point out starters who could have a bad week and back-ups who might blow up. So looking at the match-ups is crucial. There are some great games this week and in my opinion none better than Cleveland v Dallas... talk about big... big points! The opposite of that might might be Jacksonville v Tennessee... yuck. That's a 13-10 game if I've ever seen one. Anyway, lets move on to start em sit em.

QB

Start em of the week: Kurt Warner. Arizona plays SF this week and the 49ers had one of the worst pass D's in the league last year ranking 22nd. The last time these two teams matched up Warner torched the 9ers secondary for 484 yards and 2 TDs (Warner did have a few turnovers but have over 25 FFL points that game). I have no reason to believe that Warner can't put up similarly huge numbers this week against a paltry 9ers team that will have trouble on both sides of the ball.

Best of the rest: Brett Farve (v Miami), Jay Cutler (v Oakland), Donavan McNabb (v St. Louis)

Sit em of the week: Marc Bulger. My distrust of Bulger is well documented but I think nearly everyone would agree that that is a terrible match up for the Rams field general. Jim Johnson is going to blitz, blitz, and blitz some more this weekend at the always hard to play at Linc. Bulger is going to be on his back half the game and the other half he is going to be handing it off to Jackson. If you have Bulger leave him on the bench this week.

Worst of the rest: David Garrard (v Tenn), Matt Hasselbeck (v Buffalo), Matt Schaub (v Pittsburgh)

RB

Start em of the week: Laurence Maroney. Last year the Chiefs had one of the worst run D's in the league and I don't think that Glenn Dorsey is going to be a huge difference maker in week one. NE is going to blow the Chiefs out of the water and I think Maroney is going to be the guy to do it. I think Billy Boy is going to be cautious with Brady and his injured foot... which means they are going to feature the running game. I also have a feeling that Bill is going to want to show off how smart he is this year by leading one of the most potent RUSHING attacks in NFL history...

Best of the rest: Thomas Jones (v Maimi), Marion Barber (v Cleveland), Reggie Bush (v TB)

Sit of the week: Ryan Grant. Grant is going to have a big year. He just isn't going to get started on the right foot. The Packers play Minnesota this week... I shouldn't have to say much more. Last year the Vikes D allowed a measly 74 ypg on the ground and then went out and added Jared Allen. Ryan is also going to be the focal point for opposing D's until Rodgers can prove he can chuck it.

Worst of the rest: Larry Johnson (v NE), Maurice Jones-Drew (v Tenn), Willis McGahee (v Cinci)

WR

Start of the week: Calvin Johnson. Man would I love to have Calv John this week. The lions are going up against Atlanta this weekend and according to Kevin Seifert at ESPN Johnson has been quietly lighting it up at practice. Accordingly, look for Detroit to come out passing early to put up some quick points. Johnson is a good candidate for 100+ yards and a TD or two this week.

Best of the rest: Santoino Holmes (v Houston), Nate Buhrlson (v Buffalo), Joey Galloway (v NO)

Sit em of the week: Chad Johnson. I know its hard to sit someone like Chad but this might be the week to do it if you have good depth at WR. I just don't trust his shoulder at all. One more funny fall on it and its game over... and with a hi-flying guy like Ocho Cinco that doesn't seem too unlikely. With Housh on the other side Palmer and the Bengals might play it cautious w Chad. I'd stay away this week.

Worst of the rest: Torry Holt (v Philly), Dwayne Bowe (v NE), Jerricho Cotchery (v Miami)

Here is my team for Bracken's FFL Challange

QB: Derek Anderson

RB: Steven Jackson

RB: Darren McFadden

Flex: Fred Taylor

WR: Larry Fitzgerald

WR: Torry Holt

TE: Dallas Clark

Tyler over at Midwest Coast Offense is a big supporter of making FFL as fun as possible by adding your hometown players that you are going to root for anyway. Basically, Tyler argues, that FFL is supposed to be fun... and there is nothing fun about having a bunch of players you hate (i.e. Tom Brady) on your team. Thus, to maximize your amount of enjoyment from your team you should draft players you already root for anyway. That is basically how Tyler makes FFL fun... and to a certain aspect I think that he is right... regardless of what it may be... you should do everything in your power to make your team yours and make it as fun as possible. The way I like to do this is by playing GM.

You have very little control over the players you do and don't draft. Sure, there is a lot of decision making involved (Do I take Laurence Maroney with my third round pick or Steve Smith) but, at the same time, you are limited in what you can do. If Tyler is drafting ahead of me and takes Maroney I have no choice but to snag Smith... so in order to help make my team feel more like my very own creation I like to scourer the league and make as many deals as I feel will help my team. In other words... im not afraid to pull the trigger.

For instance, just last night I made a trade with Tyler in our keeper league. I had two of his more favorite players (Maroney and Josh Brown) and I had the need for a little more WR depth. So after talking to him the two of us agreed to this trade...

Grant gets: Jamal Lewis, Phil Dawson, and Benard Berrian

Tyler gets: Laurence Maroney, Josh Brown, D.J. Hackett

Now there really isn't a winner or loser in this deal in terms of players. The three pieces are all kind of a wash. However, both Tyler and I will feel that we made a good deal for a few reason.

1. Tyler got two players that he wants on his team and got rid of two players he doesn't care for.

2. I made a deal and now have more of a vested interest in seeing Lewis, and Berrian do well this year.

Lets say that we didn't make this trade and Maroney goes off and has a big year. I'm happy cuz I made a nice draft pick but I was kind of forced into drafting him and I don't get any real added pleasure out of it. On the other hand, lets say that Lewis has a nice year. I would argue that you might get MORE enjoyment out of Lewis' performance because you traded for him and therefore have invested more in his success or lack there of.

Fantasy Football is exactly that... a Fantasy. None of us are going to be NFL GMs so this is our one chance to set into the executive box and wheel and deal. So I say fire away. Take risks, don't be afraid that D.J. Hackett might have better TD potential than Benard Berrian and veto a trade. Get out there... talk to the other owners... and truly make your team yours. Now I'm not at all advocating going out and trading Tom Brady for Marc Bulger... trading for the same of trading almost always leads to poor results. However, there isn't a FFL team out there that couldn't use a little tweaking (unless thru some miracle you have Brady, LT, AP, Moss, and TO on your team). So tweak away... and most importantly... have fun!