RFL '99 Faulty Forecast

• 1) Ali Eslambolchi 568.4

  virtually perfect receiving corps with freeman, owens, and coates. elam is top-notch. marino could put up some big #'s this year.
  the key: if ali can get RB production from priest holmes, fred lane, james stewart, and/or salaam, this team could be unstoppable.
  also... the fact that ali was able to overcome his aversion to DALLAS (by drafting lafleur) shows a GM with the maturity to roll through the season with the target on his back.
  
  

• 2) Tim Purwin 537.1

  m harrison and mccaffrey could be big for purwin. longwell is good. fauria was great as a buff.
  the keys: 1) having greg hill or lawrence phillips step up as fred taylor's partner in crime, and 2) a 2nd dose of flutie magic.
  for a team projected this highly, those are 2 mighty big keys to keep purwin from going postal.
  
  

• 3) Gary Eigen 533.6

  the verdict is in on this very strong team with randall cunningham, murrell, rice, mcduffie, dudley, and mort andersen.
  solid supporting cast with aikman, reidel anthony, and stoyanovich.
  the key: having skip hicks or someone else step up as the 2nd RB.
  
  

• 4) Dave Wang 523.8

  this weak cast was built using foge fazio's own player projections (a fact heavily mocked in Draft HQ's), so this #4 preseason ranking should be taken with many grains of salt. :-)
  wang is praying that...
  m faulk won't go soft after signing for big $'s, plummer can stay healthy, rob moore and michael irvin can recapture their lost magic/skills, biakabutuka or abdul-jabbar can hold a starting job, sharpe can score with griese or bubby lobbing the ball, and richey can convert on some of the opportunities SF will generate for him.
  the obvious prayer: BARRY UNRETIRES and extinguishes all the fires burning in the league office!!!
  
  

• 5) Wally Grayeski 508.1

  levens, moulds, jimmy smith, and gary anderson are 4 potential All-RFL studs. hoard could score a ton of goal-line TD's.
  wycheck is a stellar insurance policy for cam cleeland. what's the latest on cleeland, wally?
  the big question: will "crazy wally" get a productive rfl QB out of mcnown or couch?
  
  

• T-6) Josh Veshia 503.4

  will vINTy continue on his newly found path under parcells? or will he revert to his buccaneer/brown/raven form when his QB rating was as low as his # of INTs was high? curtis martin and bettis are a great rumbling RB pair. bruce, tony martin, and walls should be solid producers as the pass-catchers. vanderjagt should put up bigger #'s now that the colt O seems primed for a strong season.
  this team seems to have it all, so foge is confused about the #6 ranking.
  
  

• T-6) Pat Callery 503.4

  has all-universe WR moss and a bunch of steady tortoises. calloway, the rocket, and jake reed (and newly acquired crowell) look to be 2nd fiddle to moss. tyrone davis might haul in quite a few TD's with brooks' retirement and chmura's potential retirement. should get ok RB production from antowain and napoleon. chandler is stoked to have his RB signed and available for swing pass TD's.
  the concern: some might feel this team as capable of across-the-board "underachieving" on the scale of this year's la dodgers.
  
  

• 8) Joe Pynadath 503.1

  terrell davis *should* be THE superstud once again, but rumors have surfaced regarding a loss of focus on the straight and narrow - now that TD has been cast under the (lack of) direction of GM joebob's "influence." league insiders also warn of the potential corruption of solid citizen cecil "choir boy" collins.
  herman, mathis, and eric green are a top-flight WR/TE trio. brad johnson goes from the vikings to the redskins... does anyone now have a better appreciation for *reliable* receivers?!?!?
  the key: having enough bribe money to keep this band of hooligans between the white lines.
  
  

• 9) Dylan Steeg 501.4

  emmitt and staley could be poised for big #'s this year - though "big" for staley's eagles is certainly a relative term. bledsoe is the "hometown" choice for all of us who have ventured through those parts.
  stephen alexander might be brad johnson's only decent target. some think del greco might surge past anderson and elam this year.
  the key: getting solid numbers from the WR's (darnay, muhsin, engram, and andre reed).
  
  

• 10) Clark Goebel 500.5

  will favre be able to hold off hasselback for the starting job?!? can dillon hold off a healthy ki-jana? will enis keep edgar from blading him in the back? will rod smith and chrebet continue as reliable point scorers? will brunell throw the ball to brady? will vinatieri's leg fall off as a result of all the FG attempts (due to the pats' lack of TD scorers this year)?
  the gut feeling: this team is fairly rugged, but not in the same class as the 3 clear front-runners (ali, purwin, and eigen).
  
  

• 11) Kevin Archibald 495.9

  manning and jamal are arguably the top 1-2 punch in the league this year. unfortunately for archibald... the balance of the roster might resemble a ghost-town. a not-so-good chargers team might drag natrone down with the sinking ship. thigpen, holt, and troy edwards have much to prove this season. gary brown's blood clot in the buttocks is no laughing matter. gonzalez has elvis as his QB. brien is questionable as an rfl PK.
  on the other hand: means and brown *could* combine for solid RB#2 production, 2 all-star WR's could emerge, and the saints *could* provide brien with a shot at big numbers. well... the first 2 are certainly more likely than the 3rd.
  
  

• 12) Joe Parker 494.3

  joe pa is banking the season on the dreadlocked pairing of rookie RB's edgerrin and ricky. the black sox are also hoping for some black magic from air mcnair. the receiving trio (d alexander, f sanders, and j riemersma) is capable of a LOT - or a little. opie cunningham should continue as an above-average PK.
  the skinny: this team has unlimited potential - in both directions. foge sees weeks where this team could put 70 on the board - and weeks where this team might have trouble getting into double digits. this is clearly the darkhorse/team-to-watch.
  
  

• 13) Team Desai 481.4

  pickens in the 4th round?!? does shiv-man know something chris mortensen doesn't?!? watters might have been a reach in the 1st round, keyshawn was a gift in the 2nd. kordell could be the key to this team.
  charlie garner looks to've won the SF job from phillips - for now. morton is trying to fight off crowell in DETROIleT. santiago has the potential to supplant the injured cleeland in joining sharpe and coates as the top TE's. hall should be an above average PK.
  last comment: team desai has gone to the well THRICE too often in adding tiki barber to its roster YET AGAIN!!!
  
  

• 14) Dave Brodkin 475.4

  the unfortunate circumstances surrounding having to draft via phone seem to have caused brodz and brian to land near the bottom of the preseason rankings. brodz has the proven GM abilities to make a move up in the power ratings during the season. the league office will keep an eye on brian's potential for GM of the Year honors.
  eddie george and alstott/dunn could prove to be a strong RB pair. carter and glenn could also prove to be a strong WR pair. freddie jones is a good TE. an above average QB could emerge from griese/batch. hollis could be a big scorer with the jaguars this year.
  schroeder and rob johnson provide added bench strength.
  hmmm... this #14 ranking seems a little low - now that foge thinks about it.
  underestimate this franchise, and they'll whack you in the bum.
  
  

• 15) Stan Wilson 454.9

  editor's comment: thanks a lot, foge, for pissing off my week 1 opponent!
  foge feels stan jumped the gun a little on kevin faulk and derrick mayes. brunell, robert smith, and tim brown form the solid foundation for this squad. greg clark is primed for a brent jones-type season. hanson is a perennial choice for most underrated PK.
  the key: if stan can rummage around in the closet for adequate RB and WR complements (or if 2 birds come out of the faulk/mayes/jermaine/madre/c warren/t simmons bush), this team would be a contender.
  
  

• 16) Brian Grayeski 425.0

  steve young should battle terrell for player of the year again. taking galloway in round 2 might prove to be the death blow for brian g's inaugural season. the RB situation is scary with bam morris and charles way. stokes and mccardell could be ok as the WR pair. glover and chmura are good TE's. carney and boniol are not expected to have any opponents on the run.
  the bottom line: if galloway signs, 2 RB's fall into brian's lap, and carney starts kicking 5 FG's per game again... this fledgling franchise might not finish in the cellar. ;-)
  

©1999 RFL Inc.
All rights reserved.

Revised: September 14, 1999