Sleepers, darkhorses and those who are just moving on up

It's fantasy football time and I have been having fun trying to see the future without a crystal ball. One thing I learned last year is that some players who everyone thinks is a sure fire must will end the season as a bust and someone who goes undrafted to start the season will finish as a must have. The manager who guesses correctly which "studs" to avoid on draft day and which sleeper to grab will probably win your league.

Last season our league champion drafted what on paper looked to be a weaker team than several other teams. He drafted QB Tom Brady, WR Randy Moss and rookie RB Adrian Peterson. He was at a disadvantage in that he was at work and offline while the rest of us was gathered together in a draftroom. His disadvantage turned to gold as he ended the season with 3 of best players at their position = QB, RB and WR.

So who to draft this year, who to avoid and who are the diamonds that everyone else mistakes for coal?

I am keeping a list of those who are moving up or down in my estimation as I read about the training camps. Among RBs, Willis McGahee is one that is moving down my draftboard. Why? Because the Ravens OL is young, inexperienced and bitten by the injury bug in training camp. That means the new OL is having trouble getting to play together and gel. The Ravens also have inexperienced and unproven QBs competing for the starting job. All of that plus a rookie RB in Ray Rice who may steal quite a few touches and TDs from McGahee is sending Willis down to a RB 2 or RB3 on my depth charts come draft day.

Moving up is Bengals' Chris Perry who looks like he may be the #2 RB for the Bengals this season. Look for him to get 10 to 15 touches a game even as Rudi is back as the workhorse back. RB Kenny Watson moves down for the same reason. But Rudi could be steal on draft day as his average draft position has fallen tremendously. He was a Top 10 pick a year ago and is now being drafted in RB3 and RB4 territory. If he stays healthy, he is still RB1/RB2 material so if you get him as a RB3 or RB4 you have a steal.

Another Bengal RB to watch is rookie James Johnson out of Kansas State. He is the talk of the Bengals' training camp and may send DeDe Dorsey to another team. QB Palmer had this to say "I can't wait to watch JJ, No. 39 on offense play," Palmer said of free agent rookie tailback James Johnson of Kansas State. "He's Warrick Dunn, great hands, explosively fast, real exciting to watch." Cincinnati Enquirer I do not suggest drafting James Johnson as a sleeper - there are better candidates out there such as Chris Johnson, Ray Rice, R. Mendenhall - but he is a player to watch and IF the injury bug strikes the Bengals RBs someone who may surprise. Mostly I see him as a player for next year's draft unless you are in a dynasty league. Then you may want to take a sleeper pick on him.

To see all of my Undervalued and sleeper picks, visit my website http://timnew.com/fantasy_sports

Brett Favre buyout

Can the Packers do anything else to shoot themselves in the foot? Offering Brett 20 million dollars to stay retired? Stupid. The Packers have put themselves into a corner. If they do not take Brett back now and do worse this year than last year, fans will crucify the GM and Head Coach. And rightly so. Favre took the Packers to the AFC finals and lost a close one. Anything less than that this year without Brett will rebound upon the Packers business people. And honestly, I do not see Rodgers getting the Packers that far. He may have the talent, but he doesn't have the experience. And that lack of experience will keep the Packers from excelling this year. With Favre the Packers are legitimate Superbowl contenders this year. Without him, they position themselves to contend in a few years. Will Packer fans be happy with that?

On another point, I think it would be hilarious if Brett was to offer the Packers a buyout. The Packers offered him $20 million to stay retired. How would they respond if Brett offered them $2 million or so to be released? That would be a $14 million deal for the Packers - they get cash plus don't have to pay Brett his $12 million.

And what about the Red Socks paying to get rid of their best player - Manny Ramirez? I wish some of these people with money to burn would send some to me. For a mere million dollars I would write blogs that praised such bone headed moves by management. Boston just wrote off this year and probably the next few. They now become a rebuilding team. Yes they got Jason Bay, but Bay is no Manny.

In one respect the trade does help me in my fantasy leagues. I have Broxton as one of my closers in several leagues and Manny helps him a lot.

If you haven't visited my fantasy Sports pages, take a gander http://timnew.com/fantasy_sports. I have now added even more Fantasy Football information including my subjective sleeper list and list of undervalued players as I follow the training camps.

I have also added twitter. It's a fun addition to the Internet. My id is timdnew

Time for Fantasy Football again

When the NFL season kicks off I will officially be in my sophomore year as a fantasy sports manager. Last year I began playing fantasy sports when my church started a league on ESPN. I quickly became hooked and now have played Fantasy basketball, fantasy baseball, fantasy hockey and already have a half-dozen fantasy football teams drafted this year with another draft planned for this Thursday on Sporting News. That will leave me with ESPN to draft.

I plan to play fantasy football on ESPN (again), NFL.com, Yahoo, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, and Sporting News just so I can experience and compare the features each has to offer. I have teams on 4 of the 6 already drafted. I am also playing in a couple of IDP leagues this year plus one with return yardage.

If you want a one stop site for Fantasy Resources, check out my website: http://timnew.com/fantasy_sports as I seek to collect a wealth of resources for the fantasy sports fan. I am doing it for myself but it should be a valuable "portal" for any fantasy sports player. I am currently collecting Training Camp resources and adding them to the site. Come visit and comment.