Fantasy Sports Review

The NFC East is the cream of the crop, especially when it comes to the big boys up front. With three of the four teams ranked in the top five in the conference, this is by far the most competitive position in the conference. Dallas and the New York Giants were two of the top teams in the league last year, and Philadelphia and Washington – despite off years in 2007 – are traditionally very tough opponents. What does in this mean in fantasy circles? When in doubt, draft skill players from the NFC East.

Dallas Cowboys (1st in NFC East, 2nd in Conference)

If these guys stay healthy, there isn’t much that is going to get in their way, unless Terrell Owens or Pacman Jones create problems from the inside. With lots of beef up front, Tony Romo will have all day to operate.

LT Flozell Adams
LG Kyle Kosier
C Andre Gurode
RG Leonard Davis
RT Marc Colombo

New York Giants (2nd in NFC East, 3rd in Conference)

The Giants were beasts on the road last season and only got better as the season went on as they rolled up playoff win after playoff win until they were crowned World Champions. It’s funny, this group seemed to get better when tight end Jeremy Shockey was lost for the season with a leg injury. Will the return of Shockey help or hurt? Time will tell.

LT David Diehl
LG Rich Seubert
C Shaun O’Hara
RG Chris Snee
RT Kareem McKenzie

Philadelphia Eagles (3rd in NFC East, 5th in Conference)

The Eagles seem to go as Donovan McNabb goes, but one thing is constant, production from the running back position. And that directly reflects strong play up front. So even if McNabb goes down, expect this line to create running lanes for Brian Westbrook.

LT Tra Thomas
LG Todd Herremans
C Jamaal Jackson
RG Shawn Andrews
RT Jon Runyan

Washington Redskins (4th in NFC East, 10th in Conference)

These guys aren’t the “Hogs” of old, but they hold their own in the trenches. They brought their lunch pals week after week for Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs last year. Can they muster the same effort for a new coach? He’ll have to make them believe.

LT Chris Samuels
LG Pete Kendall
C Casey Rabach
RG Randy Thomas
RT Jon Jansen

This is another post in a series in which we go division by division looking at and ranking the most overlooked factor in the success of your fantasy football squad, the offensive line. So you might want to keep an eye out over the next few weeks - which by the way, I have made it easy for you to do because…

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So far on my predictive trip through the league, picking the Browns over the Steelers in the AFC North has sparked the most debate - and some pretty heated trash talk ta boot. But, I have a feeling this post will have no problem topping that.

This week I take on the ultra competitive NFC east. I have a feeling that all you fans of the teams in this division are a pretty passionate bunch so it should be interesting.

Anyway, let get to it. Seeing as how the Giants are the reigning champs it should be pretty easy to figure out who the favorite is right? Well, not exactly. Check it out.

2008 NFC East Final Standings:

1) Dallas Cowboys

2) New York Giants

3) Philadelphia Eagles

4) Washington Redskins

Thoughts:

I like the Giants but defending a title isn’t the easiest thing to do. Combine that with an ultra competitive division, the loss of guys like Kawika Mitchell, William Joseph and Gibril Wilson along with a tougher schedule, I just don’t think they can win the division.

The Cowboys are reloading and have a very bad taste in their mouth after another disappointing playoff appearance. Oh, and they still have 11 pro bowlers. On paper, it seems obvious.

Meanwhile, the Eagles can never be discounted. They have upgrade their defense by adding Asante Samuel and a pair of decent linbacker, Rocky Boiman (IND) and Chris Clemons (OAK). If McNabb could just stay healthy and get a real threat at receiver, they have just as good a chance as any in the east.

I don’t know what to say about the Redskins at this point. A new coach and slim pickins at the receiver position make it easy to put them last. Do I think they suck? Not at all. They were solid at times last year but they are in a tough division. We’ll see.

Fantasy Notes:

Dallas is all about Romo and T.O. but they are the team to watch in the draft. Rumor has it that Jerry Jones wants to get a big named back but we’ll see.

Barber is easily be a top ten fantasy back - arguably top five - if he gets the bulk of the work - which is likely since Julius Jones in now in Seattle. Even if the Cowboys pick up a back in the draft, Barber would get the bulk of the work early.

The Giants offense should be solid but I imagine after all of the post season exposure, Eli will be going a little early for my taste. He reminds me to much of Troy Aikman (the fantasy player). He’ll have decent games but week to week I bet he averages about a touchdown and a half.

A healthy Plaxico will demand a well deserved top 10 fantasy receiver slot. The two headed Brandon Jacobs - Ahmed Bradshaw backfield will keep owners guessing. I like Bradshaw as a spot duty RB2 or RB3 in points per catch leagues.

As always, the big question in Phili centers around McNabb. Can the guy stay healthy? Are his receivers good enough? Hard to say on either after last years roller coaster ride. It would be cool if they were able to cash in on those Chad Johnson rumors, but the chances seem pretty slim. Look the the Eagles to get one of the top receivers in the draft.

The fantasy situation in Washington centers around Clinton Portis but it will be somewhat of a wildcard with a new coach coming in. According to The Washington Post new Head Coach Jim Zorn plans to start out the season as a run first team, slowly move towards balance and then to his own version of the pass first west coast offense.

So there you have it, my early thoughts on the fate of the teams in the NFC East. Keep an eye out for my next post, I’ll be looking at the NFC North. Can a Favre-less Packer team repeat? We’ll see.

In case you didn’t know, subscribing to the Goat is at the all time low price of free. You can subscribe to The Fantasy Football Goat by email and have this stuff in your inbox seconds after I post it or you can subscribe in your feed reader or on your home page. Either way you get the info fast and easy. Don’t understand this whole subscribing thing? Check out this short video on RSS. Isn’t technology great

With the exception of Brian Westbrook and the retired Tiki Barber, when it comes to fantasy players in the NFC East, all that comes to my mind is the word inconsistent. But, things may be looking up. A new coach in Dallas, Eli and Plexico putting in some OT and Brunell as back-up in Washington could all spell value for your squad in 2007.

Before sharing my notes with you I want to explain a few things. I have added a position category for the offensive line (OL). I rarely see anyone else paying much attention to this when breaking down players, but, it is pretty important to consider when getting a feel for their true value. Cliche’ or not, it all starts up front.

Also, when you see PMTS it means “pretty much the same” meaning not much has changed with this teams particular positions since last year. Just saving you some time. You know these teams already and we are just interested in getting up to date at this time.

Ladies and gentlemen, the NFC East.

Dallas Cowboys
OL - May lose RG Marco Rivera. Added LT Leonard Davis from Arizona (who weren’t to disappointed to see him go).
QB - Brad Johnson will back up Romo.
RB - PMTS who will get the reps with the new coach?
WR - PMTS
TE - PMTS with Witten getting more looks in the new offense.
K - The veteran leaper Martin Gramatica vs. draft pick Nick Folk.
D - New head coach Wade Phillips has a history of building strong defenses (Chargers most recently). He gets the 14th ranked D, an upgrade at free safety with newly added Ken Hamlin and first round draft pick Anthony Spencer to line up opposite Demarcus Ware on the line. Many think Spencer could get rookie of the year.

New York Giants
OL - This unit is suspect at best. No depth and let LT Luke Petigout go.
QB - PMTS
RB - Lose Tiki. Added Rueben Droughns and have Brandon Jones listed as the starter.
WR - Plexico doing overtime with Eli. Toomer rehabbing. Drafted Steve Smith from USC.
TE - Lost back up to Vikes and added Kenin Boss to back up Shockey.
K - Lost Feely and added Arena Leaguer Marc Hickok (who beat out the stupid kicker Vandy and Edinger in tryouts) to compete with Josh Huston. Update: added Lawrence Tynes (traded from Chiefs).
D - One big question mark. Released Arrington and Carlos Emmons. Left Strahan, Sam Madison and with some rookies.

Philadelphia Eagles
OL - PMTS always solid
QB - McNabb, Feely, Holcombe and drafted Kolb
RB - PMTS with third round pick Tony Hunt
WR - Lost Donte Stallworth. Added Kevin Curtis and Bethel Johnson to work with Reggie Brown.
TE - PMTS
K - PMTS
D - Lost SS Micheal Lewis. Good coaching, always solid.

Washington Redskins
OL - PMTS but Added T Jason Fabini from Dallas. Note: finished 6th in rushing and 15th against the pass last year.
QB - Jason Campbell spending a ton of time with coaches in the offseason.
RB - PMTS added Derrick Blaylock
WR - PMTS
TE - PMTS
K - Shaun Suisham
D - Added MLB London Fletcher and Fred Smoot to the secondary. More depth at corner. Drafted best defensive player in draft LaRon Landry.

Fantasy wise there are ton of question marks with all of these teams but a few things stand out. I am betting the Dallas defense will provide your team with some nice value if they can stay under the radar (Shhhh!). In Washington, I say Jason Campbell figures it out which means Moss, Cooley and Portis (or Betts) look pretty damn good.

In New York a suspect D along with Plex and Shockey coming in to work with Eli in the offseason could signal high point totals (just nervous about that line). I think Kevin Curtis has a chance to see a bunch of balls and its Phili’s division to lose if McNabb can stay healthy.

I’ll be back in a few to give you my notes on the NFC West.