From the home office of Foge Fazio: Here is my forecast for what should prove to be an intensely competitive season of RFL action. The ratings below indicate the smallest difference ever between the #1 team and the #16 team. Particularly interesting is the tiny amount of separation between the 14 teams from #3 to #16. These power ratings were derived from player projections at the time of the draft. Some subsequent changes to player status (Vick's broken leg and Jimmy Smith's coke issues) and some post-draft roster gyrations (Jon Kitna and Terry Glenn pickups) were taken into consideration. Chad Pennington's broken wrist happened after these ratings were sent to the publishers. The ratings have nothing to do with any RFL person's personal feelings about how the players might perform this year. 1 Tarang (The Hustlers) - 100 Projected starters: J Garcia, C Portis, J Stewart, P Price, J Smith/K McCardell, C Lewis, J Feely I say the rookie did well in his first RFL draft. Picking 3rd, Tarang was able to land C Portis. I project Portis to outscore R Williams and L Tomlinson this season. Portis looked fabulous against the Colts last night. Tarang's key pick came in round 2. Many are scared by J Garcia's bulging *disk* problem. I feel Garcia and the Niners have been playing the media. I think Garcia will be fine, and I think he will finish as the 4th best QB this year. Tarang then nabbed his WR pair (Price and Smith) in rounds 3 and 4. I don't think Peerless will do much better (if at all) than last year. He's going to be double-teamed more this year, and the injury to Vick could very well suppress his numbers that much more. J Smith's former Jag teammate, Keenan, can fill in for him during his drug-induced suspension. Tarang got solid citizens (J Stewart and C Lewis) in rounds 5 and 6. J Feely in round 8 rounded out his starters. The keys: J Garcia's back; Portis having a passing game in Denver (what does Shanahan see in Jake the Snake?!?) to open up the running game; starting WRs performing up to their potential. Strong points: WR corps looks solid (T Glenn was picked up just after the draft); J Fiedler and A Becht add more quality depth on the bench. Weak points: T Wheatley doesn't project to provide much of anything as the 3rd RB. The Hustlers will be tangibly handicapped during Portis' and Stewart's bye weeks. C Lewis might be in for another disappointing season. 2 Wang (Boyz in the Chinese 'hood) - 96.62 Projected starters: A Brooks, M Faulk, S Davis, J Rice, C Chambers, T Heap, J Brown The 2 Daves were able to shake things up a little on the evening before the official start of the draft - swapping 1st and 2nd round picks. Wang was able to move up 3 spots in round 1 to get the RB he wanted - M Faulk. Brodz was still able to get a top tier RB he liked in the 1st - Shaun Alexander. Brodz' 3 spot move up in round 2 netted him the QB he wanted (P Manning). Gannon and McNair were the next 2 picks after Peyton. Since Wang wanted another RB in round 2 anyway, he was happy to see the 3 aforementioned QBs go (starting at his original round 2 spot) and was able to grab S Davis. Wang followed up his RB pairing with A Brooks, T Heap, J Rice and C Chambers. He was happy to get Brooks and Heap, but waiting until round 5 for a WR clearly had a negative impact. I think Rice will do well this year. He has clearly taken control of the Raiders WR corps away from Tim Brown. But Wang doesn't feel so good about J Porter's caddy. Wang copied Stan's 2k2 draft precendent in waiting until the last round to take a PK. I don't like J Brown, but Wang apparently thinks Brown will benefit from kicking for a newly prolific Seahawk O. The keys: M Faulk stays healthy, S Davis recaptures his pre-Spurrier form, 2 solid WRs emerge from Rice/Chambers/Wayne/Bates. Strong points: Faulk and Davis should form a stellar RB pair. Brooks-Heap should put up nice numbers. T Maddox (with unparalleled WR talent and Riemersma to throw to) should be a solid backup option at QB. Weak points: L Betts and Maurice Morris are the current backup RBs (ugh), none of the WRs can be counted on to produce on any given Sunday (looks like Wang is headed back to the WR points cellar), PK. 3 Mike (Angry Starfish) - 92.00 Projected starters: B Favre, L Tomlinson, A Smith, P Burress, R Gardner, B Miller, J Elam Mike has come in 3rd for the 2nd consecutive year in my preseason poll. Let's see if he can make the playoffs this year. I'm not as high on LaDainian as most "experts" seem to be. I think he'll finish 5th among RBs. But since Mike is a Chargers fan, the pick makes lots of sense. I think Favre, Plaxico (still pronounced Plexico), and Gardner will give Mike a top-notch passing game. And B Miller certainly isn't a slouch himself. My numbers project A Twain having a decent season, but my eyes are telling me that K Faulk or L Centers or M Tatupu or *someone* will put Antowain's ass firmly on the pine. Elam should be fine - as long as Plummer cuts down his 0.33 TD-to-INT ratio. The keys: Burress (hopefully still T Maddox' #1 target) and Gardner (hopefully P Ramsey won't treat L Coles like Manning-Harrison) keep ramping up this year, A Twain gets his large butt in gear. Mike gave up on Plaxico quite quickly last year - dishing Burress off to Brad and watching in horror as Plaxico became the #1 target of Maddox. Strong points: Bench (D Brees, Z Crockett, Andre Johnson, D Bennett, A Randle-el) should be able to fill in nicely - as needed. I see Brees performing quite adequately this year. Andre seems to've gotten his dropsies behind him. D Bennett could be a sleeper hit. Passing game as noted above is a strong point. Weak points: RB spots - Tomlinson needs to shake his nagging training camp injuries; A Twain needs to hang onto his job; Z Crockett might hit for a TD or 2 during his emergency starts, but can't be relied upon if LT or A Twain can't go for an extended period of time. 4 Josh (Dirty Sanchez - what was that URL again?) - 91.96 Projected starters: K Stewart, A Green, C Martin, E Moulds, Troy Brown, S Sharpe, A Vinatieri Never has a GM had so little regard for the draft. After sleeping through drafts twice in the previous 6 years, Vesh outdid himself and conducted his 2k3 draft from some dingy Slummerville watering hole this go 'round. For each Vesh pick, draft HQs would call Vesh's cell, tell him the top guys available on the ESPN list at one position or another, and then listen to the drunken slobs in the background as Vesh consulted with lush-ious, pouffy-haired townie broads before picking one player or another. The amazing thing of it all... Vesh has apparently put together playoff-caliber talent! Vesh took Ahman in round 1 as he was driving home from work. After draft HQs waited literally nearly an hour for his 2nd pick (and while trying to get the chat thing working properly), E Moulds was allocated to Dirty Sanchez. Vesh then made his 3rd through 12th rounds picks between dropping dreadful lines on the aforementioned "ladies". My numbers tell me that Ahman and Moulds will perform quite well this season. C Martin should have his least productive season in forever, but he should still be a decent #2 RB. The fact that Vesh has Duce Staley at RB #3 also bolsters my numerical opinion of his team. Perhaps the biggest surprise on Vesh's team is my projection for Kordell. I think he has a shot at finishing in the top 10 among QBs. I currently have him tied for 16th (not bad considering Vesh waited until round 10 to take Kordell as his 1st QB), but well within range (1 ppg) of the 9th QB. Troy Brown and T Streets are highly questionable as #2 WRs, but perhaps one will step up. Sharpe should be ok at TE, and Vinatieri should do well at PK. The keys: Change of scenery rejuvenates Kordell's career, C Martin's career doesn't slide too much yet (or Duce has a productive season), 2nd WR steps up Strong points: RB quartet of Ahman, C Martin, D Staley and K Faulk. Moulds and Vinatieri. Backup TE W Walls catching TDs from fellow Mississippian Favre. Weak points: 2nd WR starter must be Troy Brown or T Streets, backup QB is J Blake (can anyone name 2 Cardinal WRs?). 5 Drew (Midget Tossers) - 91.19 Projected starters: D Bledsoe, T Henry, J Lewis, C Conway, M Muhammad, J Shockey, J Reed Draft HQs was relatively impressed when Drew phoned in his 1st 2 picks (RBs T Henry and J Lewis). However... once Drew arrived at the draft location and started picking in person, the glare of the eyeballs of the League Elders seemed to intimidate him. Shockey scored all of 2 TDs last season (and has ignorantly stapled a big bullseye on his chest this preseason). Lots of BUF developments (T Henry emergence, Josh Reed attempting to replace the peerless Peerless, a greater focus on D) would seem to indicate that Bledsoe is due for a dip in production this year. J Thrash and C Conway as your first 2 drafted WRs? It seemed like Drew was purposely trying to prevent Wang from sinking back to the bottom of the WR points list. But Drew apparently had the endgame figured out - doing well in grabbing Buckhalter, Brad Johnson, Muhsin, A Bryant, R Ferguson and Jeff Reed in the 2nd half of the draft. M Muhammad (9th round) might prove to be a Steal of the Draft nominee. But will Peete or Delhomme or Weinke (who?!?) be able to get him the damn ball? The keys: Bledsoe and Henry complement each other well in BUF, 2 WRs step up and prove to be worth starting every week. Strong points: RB trio of Henry, Lewis and Buckhalter - especially if Duce is indeed traded by PHI; "bench" WRs Thrash, Bryant and Ferguson. Weak points: Expected lack of consistent WR production, very low potential for WRs when they do decide to produce, Shockey's ribs (and brain). 6 Ali (Wet Noodles) - 91.00 Projected starters: K Warner, E George, E Smith, M Harrison, R Smith, M Pollard, R Longwell After a 2k2 season where Ali's squad seemed to perform better when he neglected them, the Wet Noodles will look to recapture the double-dip (Steamroller and Ags Bowl championships in the same season) glory that was the HTTA season of 2k. At pick #10, Ali was the first to break away from the RB/Vick run. M Harrison is probably the safer WR pick. TO and Moss probably have the higher ceilings. Manning claims he will try to establish other receiving options this year. I feel Ali did a great job in picking oldies (but goodies) E George, K Warner and Rod Smith in rounds 2-4. In round 5, Ali completed his backfield with Emmitt. Although I don't project him to do too well this year, I will grant that the Cards have a much better OL than Dallas. Marvcus Pollard in round 6 was another "old school" pick. Alge or Jolley would have been much more trendy picks - and should prove to've been better picks. C Wilson in the 7th was quite the eyebrow raiser - particularly with Streets still on the board, but Ali adamantly defended his pick. Ali's bench seems to've turned out ok - with P Ramsey, J Wells, Kevin Johnson and Jurevicius. The keys: K Warner's fingers stay healthy, Eddie and Emmitt have one more productive season left in them - each. Strong points: 1st string passing game (Warner-Harrison-Smith), 2nd string passing game (Ramsey-KevJ-Jurevicius/C Wilson?). Weak points: Pollard might be in for a down season (Dallas Clark should take away a chunk of touches), RB trio could be in for a precipitous fall this season, some age/brittleness concerns. 7 Clark (Deportivo La Coruña) - 90.43 Projected starters: M Hasselbeck, E James, A Zereoue, H Ward, K Robinson, E Johnson, J Carney Clark looks to bounce back from the disappointment of losing Ags Bowl XIII last season (after winning Ags Bowl XII and the 2k3 Steamroller). Clark deserves credit for being the first drafter to take a significant step away from the ESPN cheat sheet - in taking Edgerrin over M Harrison. Many indicators are pointing towards Edgerrin returning to his fine form of 3-4 years ago. Wang touched on this during the draft lottery luncheon - as did Mike mention his desire to grab Plaxico in the 2nd round. Picking ahead of Mike in round 2, Clark clearly forgot Mike's tidbit - selecting the other PIT WR, H Ward. Clark continued his bizarro draft with Koren, Hasselbeck, Amos, Pinkston and Moe in rounds 3-7. Clark's avant garde roster could gel and bring the defending Steamroller champ more trophies (having Clark gellin' like a felon) - or Clark's vision could prove to've been misguided from the outset (in which case Clark would be so not gellin'). Cahney rated highly among PKs. E Johnson seems to have gotten hurt this past weekend. The keys: The Seahawks truly turn into an offensive powerhouse this year (and Clark benefits by having Hasselbeck and Koren), Edgerrin is truly back in form (he did look quite solid against DEN last night), Amos gets a much larger number of touches than Bettis. Strong points: WR quartet (Heinz, Koren, Pinky, Galloway), backup QBs (Kitna and Bulger), backup RB Moe (should benefit from injuries to Bennett and Chapman). Weak points: TE, maybe a lower overall ceiling across the board. 8 Richard (nameless) - 90.19 Projected starters: D McNabb, W Dunn, J Bettis, T Owens, L Coles, T Gonzalez, J Wilkins Richard waited until the 5th round to take a RB and could end up paying for that strategy all season long. However, Richard's passing game is *very* strong. McNabb rated #1 on my list of QBs - even before Vick got hurt. TO is my #1 rated WR. Laveranues is looking great this preseason. T Gonzalez should reclaim his TE crown. J Wilkins should be solid - as long as he stays healthy and semi-accurate. So what about Richard's ground game... Dunn should lose more touches to Duckett this year, Bettis has lost his starting job to Zereoue, L Johnson is the highest rated rookie (but a healthy Priest would limit Johnson to about 1 carry per game), and T Jones is stuck behind a Pittman who now looks like he just might avoid jail time after violating his probation. The keys: If Richard's passing game continually hits their mark, he might not even need RB points. But having at least 1 productive RB every week would make things much easier for Rich. Rich might look to start a 3rd WR while Bettis spends a significant number of O snaps on the sidelines, but I don't think Timmy Brown or D Terrell are worthy Bettis replacements. Strong points: Passing game, potential of L Johnson and/or T Jones should Priest and/or Pittman get hurt and/or go to jail, backup WRs Tim Brown and D Terrell Weak points: Current state of 4 RBs - no full-time player among the 4, B Griese can't stay healthy long enough to be a decent backup - in neither the NFL nor RFL. 9 Shivan (Big Brown Boys) - 90.01 Projected starters: M Vick/J Harrington, F Taylor, T Hambrick, D Boston, C Rogers, A Crumpler, D Akers I originally had Shiv in 3rd place, but then Vick got hurt. A fall from 3rd to 9th due to the difference between Vick and Harrington for 4 games... what better indication of just how close most of RFL's teams are in the power ratings?!? Or is this drop in the rankings due to a huge difference between Vick and Harrington? Not only is Vick's loss a blow to fantasy football GMs worldwide... it's a blow to football fans - period. Will Shiv's GMing abilities be up to the task of compensating for this temporary setback? We shall see. I do not rate J Harrington very highly, so Shiv will need each of his other 6 starters to pick up the slack. I have Taylor, Boston, Alge and Akers rated relatively highly. But I am not sold on Hambrick or Rogers at this point. Luckily for Shiv... he could start Chrebet or Finneran over the rookie Rogers. There currently isn't a valid RB option to fill in for Hambrick (the *other* Troy). A starting lineup with no Vick - and Chrebet and Finneran in the WR#2 and RB/WR starting slots? Shiv's opponents in the first 4 weeks (Ali, Clark, Drew, Mike) are salivating. The keys: A hot start from Harrington-Rogers in Motown could help overcome the Vick boo-boo. Shiv needs Taylor healthy and Hambrick productive. Which D Boston will show up this year? The 2nd-team All-RFL WR from 2k1? Or the 3rd place finisher in Bust of the Year balloting from last year? Strong points: 4 pretty good WRs, potentially fearsome lineup once Vick returns. Weak points: Harrington, Hambrick, and a gimpy D Chapman as the only backup RB. 10 Stan (The Belching Brides) - 89.30 Projected starters: K Collins, T Barber, C Garner, C Johnson, D Stallworth, B Franks, PK TBD Stan has begun to establish himself as a draft visionary. Last year he waited until the 12th round to pick his PK (where he stole the eventual top scoring J Feely). This season... Stan went for the yardage hogging RBs in the first 2 rounds (Tiki and C Garner), then Stan picked his starting WRs and TE - before finally getting a QB in round 6. And to top it all off, Stan didn't bother drafting a PK at all. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Tarang was the only GM to draft a backup at every position. A lot of prognosticators are projecting big numbers for Kerry Collins this year. I have a more tempered opinion of how she will do this season. I do think Tiki and Charlie will be a very productive RB duo. My pick for the best pairing... Tarang's Portis and J Stewart. I like Stan's starting WRs (Chad and Donte) talent-wise, but they are probably a middle-of-the-pack pairing numbers-wise. Booba will be fighting off Wesley Walls for TDs. Perhaps this will be the year when Booba's bad hands catch up with him. And plenty of free agent PKs are there for Stan to take. The keys: Collins QBs at a higher level like all the other predictors say, Chad and Donte continue their upward trend, C Garner holds J Fargas back just enough. Strong points: RB trio in Tiki, Charlie and G Hearst; some potentially good backup WRs in T Taylor and J Morton. Weak points: I say Kerry is one, I think TE and PK could potentially be 2 more, using 3 draft choices on LaMont Jordan, K Watson and Mike Anderson (after already securing Tiki/Charlie/Garrison) might prove to've been RB-fishing overkill. 11 Gary (West Coast Offense) - 89.12 Projected starters: R Gannon, D McAllister, J Horn, I Bruce, Keyshawn, D Jolley, S Janikowski True to the team name Gary picked before the draft, Gary punted on RBs after Deuce (not the lamer Duce) and went nuts picking passing game components. Gannon-Horn should form quite a compelling twosome. I Bruce (has the game passed him by? will troy edwards or k curtis be the new #2 guy?) and Keyshawn (will he only catch balls between the 20s? will he continue to fumble away the damn ball when he does have a shot at breaking one?) clearly have a few question marks by their names. Jolley was groomed well by Cals last year - and should be a sleeper hit at TE this year (as long as Teyo needs time to work his way into more PT). J-kow rated highly in my projections, but my eyes have been telling me otherwise this preseason. After taking Deuce in the 1st, Gary finally returned to RB in rounds 7 (A Peterson) and 11 (D Rhodes). A Train has shown many signs of coughing up his job to Peterson, but my current projections are weighed heavily in the incumbent's favor. D Rhodes might not be healthy enough to be Edgerrin's backup this year. And that other guy looked good against DEN last night. The keys: I Bruce and Keyshawn come up big this year, Gary's 3-Raider strategy works as well as last year's Ags Bowl champion, Zach. Strong points: Gannon-Deuce-Horn "triplets", WR depth - with McCaffrey as the 4th guy on the d chart, backup TE M Ricks is also supposed to be good. Weak points: Peterson and Rhodes are far from an ideal RB #2 and #3 pair; backup QB Brunell might lose his job soon; Bruce, Keyshawn and McCaffrey might struggle to produce 2 worthy starters every week (at WR#2 and RB/WR). 12 Zach (Spunk Monkeys) - 88.54 Projected starters: S McNair, P Holmes, TJ Duckett, D Mason, D Jackson, J Stevens, M Hollis Last season's Aglione Bowl champion Zach seems to have had a bit of a rough go of things on draft day. Last season's RFL MVP fell into Zach's lap at #5, but Priest had not looked good in his preseason action prior to the draft. If Priest's hip holds up, the dude *is* playing for a contract this year. Air McNair seemed to be a bit of a reach in round 2. Sure, he is probably one of the toughest son of a bitches in the league... but will that translate into more TDs this year? And then came Zach's Michael Bennett pick in round 3... Commish Wang "warned" Zach with a "Is that your final answer?" at Draft HQs, but Zach had not heard of Bennett's injury. If this pick had been made by a lesser GM, Commish Wang might have intervened more directly (yeah, right). But Wang felt that Zach has the abilities to overcome what might prove to be a bit of a setback. The keys: McNair throws for more TDs (Zach would prefer that Spunk Monkey teammate D Mason be the recipient of those tosses), Priest's leg doesn't fall off at the hip joint, Duckett pushes Dunn to the bench, D Jackson and J Stevens hold off Koren's emergence for 1 more year. Strong points: Zach's bench appears to be pretty strong - with D Carr, Q Morgan, M Boerigter and Teyo Johnson; McNair and Priest *should* perform quite well this season. Weak points: M Bennett should prove to be a wasted 3rd round pick (J Horn or D Boston certainly would look good on this team). As such... RB #2 (currently Duckett) looks pretty weak. How long will Zach keep Bennett tucked away on his roster? Once the bye weeks start, Bennett might have to be made available. The overall ceiling for the 4 WRs and J Stevens looks pretty low, but maybe Teyo will take off. 13 Joebob (Chocolate Love) - 88.54 Projected starters: T Green, R Williams, T Canidate, A Toomer, M Booker, C Fauria, M Vanderjagt A drunkard kicker who badmouths his head coach and All-Pro QB... just the latest in the long, brown line of misfits harbored and/or cultivated by the enigmatic Joebob. With the first pick in the draft, Joebob chose to go the "safe" route with Ricky Williams. Although I project him as the 2nd (tied with Priest) RB this year, I felt Portis was the way Joebob should have gone. Joebob then reached - with really long arms - to grab T Canidate in round 2! I consider Trung to've been the 38th-ranked RB in the draft. Joebob took him as the 19th. I think Joebob rebounded a bit by picking Toomer in the 3rd, but then the questionable picking resumed with M Booker (4th), C Fauria (6th), C Bradford (10th), and T Couch (11th). As for this year's Mr. Irrelevant... Joebob bestowed that honor upon Ricky's backup, T Minor. The keys: Canidate *does* have skills and potential, but will he progress in Year 1 with the 'skins? T Green has some WRs step up and catch TD passes. MarTay Booker proves me wrong and develops a rapport with Kordell. Strong points: Having M Pittman (as long as he avoids the pen) as the 3rd RB makes the RB position a strength. A Lelie and C Bradford as 3rd and 4th WRs could work out quite nicely for Joebob. Weak points: Relatively little upside for all players not named Ricky, T Couch lost out to Kelly, Fauria might lose a chunk of his freakish number of 2k2 TDs to Brodz' D Graham. Joebob has since replaced Couch with vINTy. The move might've meant something if L Coles hadn't jetted to the 'skins. 14 JoePa (Samurai Penguins) - 87.90 Projected starters: T Brady, C Dillon, W Green, T Holt, J Porter, R McMichael, O Mare JoePa seemed to've grabbed the "Slowest Picker of the Draft" award away from Stan this year, but not due to any dropoff in Stan's latency. While at Draft HQs, Clark and Ali seemed to form an alliance with respect to holding out as long as possible before making picks. Although I appreciate the fact that JoePa didn't go with the ESPN cheat sheet in making his 1st 2 picks (Dillon and Green), I feel he would have been better off taking 2 of the following: F Taylor, E George, J Lewis, C Garner. I understand JoePa has some history with Fred (a history of frustration when it was never clear if Fred was healthy or not - and whether he would play of not), but even 2 of the other 3 should tangibly outproduce Dillon and Green. JoePa must have been happy to have T Holt fall to him in round 3. J Porter might have been a bit of a reach to start the 4th. But with Raider fans taking over the league, Porter probably would not have been available at the end of the 5th. Brady threw for quite a few TDs last year. McMichael caught quite a few TDs in the 1st half of last year. I think JoePa added nice depth with Alstott, S Moss and Ike in the 7th, 8th and 10th rounds. The keys: Brady and Holt hit the marks they've established in their pasts, the young guns (Dillon, Green, Porter and McMichael) come close to their vast potential. Strong points: Solid starters and backups at RB, WR and TE (Stephen Alexander backs up McMichael); tremendous upside in the aforementioned foursome of young guns. Weak points: C Redman probably wasn't worthy of an 11th round pick, I don't see S Moss or Ike coming through quite yet. I guess this is the annual team that ranks lower overall than my weak points would indicate. 15 Cals (Love Touch) - 87.55 Projected starters: D Culpepper, K Barlow, A Thomas, R Moss, J Reed, F Jones, R Lindell Cals finally abandoned his "No Vikes" policy and went Culpepper-Moss in the 1st 2 rounds. Cals even went so far as to pick J Reed in the 5th. Cals might have thought he was getting Jake Reed, but no... this "J" stands for Josh. By waiting until late in the 3rd round to start picking RBs, Cals clearly is severely lacking in guys for Daunte to hand the ball to. I wouldn't be surprised if Daunte ends up leading Love Touch in rushing yards! K Barlow apparently will get the bulk of touches in SF, but G Hearst is still fully in the picture. A Thomas apparently is still the #1 RB in CHI, but everyone and their grandmamas fully expect A Peterson to take over at some point this season. All you have to do is remember that big "OVERRATED" stamp on A Train's profile in that mag Cals had at Draft HQs. Cals' saving grace might be Vikes rookie RB O Smith - not Otis; Onterrio. A 3 Vikes starting lineup vs. a 3 Raiders starting lineup... I think there was such a matchup in a Super Bowl a few years back... Raiders 32, Vikes 14. I am a bit confused as to why I have JoePa's team rated so poorly, but there is no such confusion with Cals' team. Although I do rate Culpepper and Moss very highly, I project very pedestrian numbers for Barlow, A Train, Josh, Freddie and Lindell. The keys: 4 of the 5 "pedestrian" guys prove me wrong, Onterrio takes off before A Train loses his job, Culpepper-Moss get that Randy Ratio thing figured out. Strong points: Culpepper-Moss, strong backups in J Plummer (again, numbers-wise) and O Smith, some potential in P Warrick and D Patten. Weak points: 5 pedestrian guys projected in starting lineup, clear and present danger that top 2 RBs (picked in 3rd and 4th rounds) will get no more than 10 carries per game. 16 Brodz (The Axis of Evil) - 87.54 Projected starters: P Manning, S Alexander, S Mack, D Driver, J Walker, D Graham, M Gramatica Unfortunately for Brodz, his draft seemed to fulfill the prophecy of his team name - as The Axis of Evil seems riddled with 3rd-world talent. Peyton, Shaun Alexander and Driver should perform adequately... but starting S Mack, Javon and the Pats #2 TE week in and week out?!? Brodz looks to be dealing from a position of weakness this year. Clearly in a panic mode regarding his post-Shaun RB situation, Brodz used 5 draft picks on RBs this year. S Mack looks to start this year in HOU, as he finally strikes out on his own - out from under F Taylor's gimpy thumb. But I do not see big numbers for Mack in TX. M Shipp (developed under Brodz' tutelage last year) was the 7th round pick. The Cards didn't sign Emmitt to let Shipp do anything other than catch 3rd down passes. Najeh Davenport and Maurice Morris... these guys have a little game, but only when Ahman and Shaun are severely hurt. Brodz only picked 2 WRs - both of whom are on the Packers. And Brodz took 3 QBs... if Manning throws more TDs than INTs this year, there are some big points to be had. Brodz gambled and "won" with his K Holcomb pick. Brodz was unfortunate in losing with his Pennington pick. The keys: S Alexander runs well (and consistently) enough to compensate for lack of production from the 2nd RB slot, Brodz finds a WR worth starting (opposite Driver) from the FA pool (most likely neither D Northcutt nor B Shaw is the answer), D Graham turns into the 2nd coming of B Coates. Strong points: Manning-Alexander-Driver triplets (but these 3 aren't as good as Gary's Gannon-Deuce-Horn), backup QB Holcomb. Weak points: 4 weak RBs after Shaun, 3 weak WRs after Driver, D Graham probably needs another year to develop. ----------------------------------------- From the desk of JoePa... I saw the curious ratings from our beloved friend, Foge Fazio, and I quickly realized that this was not an acceptable system. Including a rating of the 10th, 11th and 12th men, who may or may not see any playing time, makes no sense. Since we have so much extra time to kill between Draft Day and Opening day, I thought I would do my own predictions. My ratings are based on the projected starting line-up. After all, when you go up against a team, you are more worried about his starting RB's than you are about his 4th receiver. 1. Wet Noodles (Ali) 74 - Only Emmitt is the weak link. Possibly overrated. 2. No Name (Richard) 80 - Other that Bettis and Dunn, very strong starters. 3. Boyz in the Chinese 'hood (Wanger) 81 - The greatest WR ever is the only weak link. 4. Shaolin Penguins (JoePa) 89 - solid at all positions with some upside as well. 5. Angry Starfish (Mike) 91 - The #1 back, good WR's… and Antowain Smith. 6. Dirty Sanchez (Vesh) 97 - Good RB's, great WR's,…and Kordell. 7. Deportivo La Coruna (Clark) 100 - solid starters at each position now that Zeroeue won the job…Needs a new TE. Could be underrated 8. The Belching Brides (Stan) 103 - Missing PK and K. Collins puts this team in the middle of the pack. Possibly underrated. 9. West Coast Offense (Gary) 104 - Projected to start 3 WR's, which could be a revolutionary strategy for the RFL. 10. Chocolate Love (Joebob) 111 - Candidate is iffy and Fauria is a backup, otherwise good. 11. Midget Tossers (Drew) 113 - The QB, TE and RB's are very good, but the WR's drop his rating. 12. Big Brown Boys (Shiv) 114 - Vick is still great, but it is Hambrick and Rogers that drop the rating. 13. The Hustlers (Tarang) 121 - As opposed to Foge, I say James Stewart and Jimmie Smith sink their rating 14. The Axis of Evil (Brodz) 129 - This ranking is a little better for Brodz, but what can I do when he took his back-up QB in the 5th round? 15. Love Touch (Cals) 134 - Both RB's and Josh Reed sink the rating 16. Spunk Monkeys (Zach) 136 - The selection of Bennett hurt, but a healthy Priest Holmes can make up for many mistakes. The Bottom line on pre-season predictions is that they are based on a guess about the production of players and assuming good health for everyone, which never happens, of course. We all have different projections for players, which is why they play the games! Good luck to all Joe Pa