Fantasy Watch: What to watch for once football comes back.
It now appears somewhat clear that the NFL is back and good fantasy players will be working harder than an undrafted rookie over the next few weeks. Here's a few things to keep an eye on.
1. Player movement. It sounds like hundreds of NFL veterans will become unrestricted free agents the minute a new agreement is signed. In reality, many of them will be back with the same team but a lot of big names could be on the move. There's a good chance that most of the fantasy magazines will miss these moves since they usually go to print in late July/ early August. Even if they push that deadline and the printed magazines account for some of the movement, this is reason #478 why a printed fantasy magazine is useless.
2. Depth chart shenanigans. Denver is a perfect example. Knowshon Moreno could be the #1 back or he could drop to # 3 in a heartbeat. The compressed nature of the 2011 preseason combined with all the free agents will make it even more important to watch who's starting.
3. QB shuffle. Donovan McNabb, Matt Hasslebeck, Mark Bulger and Vince Young are all likely to be moving teams. Young's fantasy value is suspect but depending on where they land, the other three could dramatically alter the QB landscape.
4. New look offense. A few teams have been talking about new offenses but the proof may be in the preseason. Atlanta is talking about a new pass friendly offense (potentially great for Matt Ryan) and the Eagles may be running it a bit more (possibly good for LeSean McCoy.)
5. Breakout stars. A lot of owners who looked at stats from the Houston Texan's preseason games last year had a very good feeling about Arian Foster. Printed magazines totally missed the boat but injuries (Ben Tate) and fumbles (Steve Slaton) put Foster in the drivers seat early on. Owners got him in rounds 6-8 probably rode him to the playoffs if not the superbowl. The lesson here? Preseason stats can be overrated but don't disregard them entirely.
