The moment we have been waiting for the last 9 months is finally here! The start of the NFL season is tonight which of course means we kick off another exciting season of Fantasy Football! The draft is in the books and it is worth mentioning that the award for Pre-season / Draft champion goes to Big Papa! Congratulations! However, as of now we don’t give out trophies for being awarded the best draft and it is about time to prove it on the field.
Can Bossman repeat? Will PackMan12 make their 6th playoff appearance in a row? Will U Don’t Know make the playoffs after an 8 year drought? Well we are about to start the process of getting these and other intriguing questions answered as we kick off week 1!
Oh and guys.. think you can beat the editor in picks? Well then let’s find out. Go into each matchup prior to the Thursday night game starting and pick the team you think will win. Yahoo automatically keeps track of the tally throughout the season and sometimes it is fun to see what your peers think rather then just the guy writing the preview. Enough of that, let’s get to the Week 1 preview!
Pack Attack (0-0) vs Sportsfreak (0-0)
What better way to start the season then with one of the bigger rivalries in the History of the league going head to head? Both Pack Attack and Sportsfreak will be looking to start out the season with a W and even though it is just week 1 getting the win against one of your biggest rivals always carries a bit more weight. And it won’t hurt that they may be watching the games together this weekend! Sportsfreak went with a young team this year and with that carries risk / reward. Winston at starting QB is no doubt an ascending player and then Ezekial Elliott who has soared up draft boards since being drafted by Dallas and Corey Coleman hopes to make the same type of impact as a OBJ did a couple of seasons ago. If these three guys pan out and the likes of Cobb and Murray get back to their form of two seasons ago this will be a dangerous team.
Prediction:
Check out the Yahoo predictions for this one.
Historical Look at this Match-Up
Pack Attack holds a 8-7 edge in their 15 games played over the years and holds a slim edge in average points scored at 117.89 to 114.67.
16hrs Ahead of You!! (0-0) vs BIGBOY! (0-0)
It is the start of a new season for everyone but for both of these teams I know this day couldn’t come soon enough. For 16hrs they could’t wait to get back to the playing field as they built a lot of momentum last year having finished the season strong with a 4-2 record and 6-7 overall. They are hoping to carry that momentum over into this season! For BIGBOY! well it was one of those seasons that had lots of highs and one really BIG low. The highs consisted of being the top seeded team in the regular season and the odds on favorite to win it all and then the LOWS of losing the championship game by 1.99 points…. 1.99! Well, BIGBOY! it is time to move on and what better way to do that then getting a W in the opener. 16hrs loaded up at WR in the draft (Nelson, Marshall, Decker, Lockett) and may be suffering a bit at RB with Blount and Langford but overall they have a well rounded team if all can stay healthy and the Jets offense can perform given that they have two Jets WR’s starting. BIGBOY! also loaded up at WR with 3 of their first 4 picks being WR’s (Cooks, Landry, Edelman). This is a team that would certainly appear to get better later on in the season when Bell is back from his 3 game suspension and Tyler Eifert returns from his injury. As long as the injury bug stays away this team should be primed for another playoff run!
Prediction:
This game has the potential to be a close match up. I like the talent of BIGBOY! overall however some of the match ups favor 16hrs so with that said I am going to go with 16hrs keeping that momentum from last season and starting out with the W. Look for Russel Wilson to have a 30 point day to lead them to a slim 1.99 point victory over BIGBOY!
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
BIGBOY! holds a 4-2 record in their 6 meetings and has dominated in average points at 123.64 to 106.71.
Big Papa (0-0) vs teamAlaska (0-0)
Both of these teams finished outside the playoff picture last year and will be looking to turn things around. For Big Papa it has been 4 straight years without a playoff berth and now that they have the mantle of “Best Draft” I think there confidence is at an all time high going into this season. For teamAlaska they too have been on the outside looking in at the playoffs for 4 straight years. The last time they made the playoffs was their Super Bowl winning year and they will be hoping for another similar run this season. Big Papa drafted a very well rounded team by starting with two top WR’s in Julio Jones and Amari Cooper and then followed that up with the QB that wanted in Drew Brees. The weak point for this team looks to be their RB position as they will be going with Jonathan Stewart and Rashad Jennings however both of whom given where they were drafted could turn out to be steals and very well could determine how this team finishes in the end. teamAlaska has a really solid group of WR’s in A. Robinson, Keenan Allen, Vincent Jackson and Mr. Snead. Not to mention now that Arian Foster is the starter in Miami, James White is playing the Dion Lewis role for a few weeks in NE and Carlos Hyde always shows flashes of potential this is a team that could sneak up some people.
Prediction:
This could turn out to be a shootout but I really like Julio Jones to have a big game against Tampa and look for a shootout in NO which will favor Big Papa as they have Brees and Cooper. I am going with Big Papa to win this one.
Historical Look at this Match-Up
Big Papa holds a 9-4 regular season edge in their 13 meetings. Big Papa has averaged 122.63 points to teamAlaska’s 109.46 points.
Bossman (0-0) vs. PackMan12 (0-0)
Bossman is coming off an incredible season which saw them finish it off with a Championship! Bossman it seems is always at or near the top of the standings and they will be looking for another Championship run this season as they face off against PackMan12 who has been a model of consistency since joining the league 5 years ago. Never once have they missed the playoffs however in those 5 playoff appearances they have yet to get the ultimate prize and that is a championship! You know what they say “if you want to be the best you need to beat the best” and now PackMan12 will get the first chance to do just that this week. Bossman drafted Gronk with their first pick (#10) and then used their next two picks on Doug Martin and Devonta Freeman which was slightly unusual as it has seemed in the past they have traditionally loaded up at the WR position. They are going to need big things from both of those RB’s this season if they are going to want to defend that title. PackMan12 was a bit out of his element as for the first time in 2 years they did not get the #1 pick and the lowest pick they have ever gotten was #6 so picking at #11 had to feel a bit odd. Not to mention this is the first season in their now 6 drafts that they did not pick a QB in the first round. I thought this was interesting but their #1 pick back in their first season in the league was Mike Vick… A QB in the first round philosophy had worked pretty well in previous years for PackMan12 so we will see how not drafting one until round 8 will help or hurt them.
Prediction:
I expect this to be a lower scoring game as some of the key players are facing tough match ups. For Bossman their RB’s Freeman and Martin will be the key as mentioned earlier and they face off against each other this week. I expect this to be a close game with PackMan12 coming away with the small margin of victory.
Historical Look at this Match-Up
Bossman holds a 4-1 edge in their 5 regular season meetings to date thanks to a dominating 130.66 points scored average to PackMan12’s average of 104.51. Maybe I should re-think my pick after seeing this as it seems Bossman has PackMan12’s #.
DaUnderdog (0-0) vs HHH (0-0)
Both of these teams are coming off season in which they missed out on the playoffs. For DaUnderdog the silver lining is that they finished the season off strong winning their final three games to have them tied for a playoff spot (based on record) but ended up missing out on the playoffs because of the tie breaker in points scored. They will be looking to build on that momentum this season. Like many seasons past DaUnderdog drafts with their heart as they loaded up with Packer players (5 in all). I really like Lamar Miller and Tavon Austin this year and of course Rodgers should be back to his normal self so those three guys along will help keep them in games but they are going to need help from other players if they want to contend this season. For HHH they have struggled the last 5 seasons as they have missed out on the playoffs each time. They will be looking to change that trend this season. They drafted with their first three picks what one could argue to be the best RB trio in the league of Gurley, Lacy and Charles and they will certainly need this group to produce if they want to break that playoff drought. Doug Baldwin is a fairly safe pick at WR but DeVante Parker and DeSean Jackson are risky plays as your starting WR’s.
Prediction:
This one also would seem to be shaping up as a close game but I am going to go with DaUnderdog to get the win led by Rodgers and company (yes now maybe I am picking with my heart). Look for Gurley to have a monster game on Monday night for HHH to make this one close!
Historical Look at this Match-Up
DaUnderdog holds a 8-5 edge in their 13 regular season meetings. DaUnderdog has averaged only 106.60 points in those games but HHH has been dreadful with an average of only 98.04 points.
pack slayer (0-0) vs U Don’t Know (0-0)
pack slayer is coming off a 7-6 season from a year ago however that was good enough to get them into the playoffs for the 4th time in their 5 seasons in the league. They were able to upset PackMan12 in the first round but couldn’t get past BIGBOY! in round 2. Despite the success pack slayer has had they have yet to get the opportunity to play for a championship and they will be hoping that this is the year where all that changes. They went with a really well rounded core of WR’s (Hopkins, Jeffery, Hurns) and RB’s (Rawls, Hill) in the first 5 rounds of the draft. As everyone in the league hopes they will be looking for that core group to lead them to the playoffs yet again this year! For U Don’t Know they are going to try to put the past 8 years in the rear view mirror and move forward with a clean slate. Sitting at 8 years without the playoffs that is the longest playoff drought in the history of the league by 3 years! This is not the stat anyone wants to hear and I know U Don’t Know coach has got to be frustrated with. This year in the draft they got one of the best WR’s in OBJ and QB in Cam Newton. They followed that with some nice high upside late round picks in Breshad Perriman, Michael Thomas and Tajae Sharpe. For them to break that 8 year slump they will need a couple of those players to have a big year and hope that Henry eventually becomes the #1 for the Titans.
Prediction:
Week 1 is always tough to predict how playing time will actually flow for some of these players so with that said I feel a bit more confident in U Don’t Know’s team right now and specifically I like OBJ, Hilton and Melvin Gordon to surpass their predicted scores and have big days. U Don’t Know with the W.
Historical Look at this Match-UP
pack slayer holds a 3-2 edge in their 5 regular season meetings. pack slayer has averaged 126.50 points to U Don’t Know’s 109.90 points.
Rapids Plungers (0-0) vs Showboat (0-0)
Rapids Plungers is coming off a down year per their standards as any season that doesn’t result in at least a playoff berth is considered unacceptable. Rapids Plungers does boast the fourth highest winning percentage in the league at .596 and usually is in the running for a playoff spot at the end of the season with 6 of their 8 seasons they have finished over .500 but the one thing missing is that elusive championship. In this years draft that went with pass catchers in the first 5 rounds (Green, Watkins, Reed, Benjamin, Jones Jr) so naturally the weak spot on the team would tend to be RB and the gamble they took is that one of their handcuffs or up and coming rookies will get the starting role at some point this season. For Showboat they couldn’t wait for this season to start. After winning back to back titles in 2013 and 2014 they laid a major egg last season with a 1-12 record. They will be looking to get back to their winning ways this season as they look to become the first team in History with 4 championships. Showboat took the opposite approach of Rapids Plungers in the draft as they took RB’s (D. Johnson, Ingram, and CJ. Anderson) with their top three picks. They were able to round out the draft with some solid receivers and TE. Barring injury this looks like a much better team then a year ago and one that might be able to compete and make it back to the playoffs.
Prediction:
I think David Johnson and Eli Manning will have monster games this week and if some of those throws are going to Shepard then this could get interesting but I am going to go with Rapids Plungers to get the win in a close one.
Historical Look at this Match-Up
In the 8 meetings we are at a dead heat with both teams winning 4 games. Rapids Plungers holds a slight edge in PPG at 118.05 to 113.86.
Enjoy the first week of the season everyone!