What to Watch For: Football’s Back!

So football is back.  As if it ever really left.  I, for one, never felt that football had gone just because its offseason was rife with negotiations and so-called tense conversations between the NFL, owners, and the players’ union.  But how I felt is neither here nor there.  What matters is that the 16-game season will come as we had all hoped.  Now my primary concern is piecing together an impeccable fantasy football roster.

There are some obvious tips that I’m not going to get into because they are both logical and, well, boring.  Such boredom includes choosing a hard-nosed defense to play week in and week out like the Steelers’ or the Ravens’.  I’ll leave that ground work for you to deal with on your own (or for a different post).  I want to talk playmakers.

The Cardinals have acquired the Eagles’ Kevin Kolb as of three hours ago.  Cards fans have cause for celebration; Anderson is an overrated bum.  The way I see it, their quarterback situation just got a lot better.  Kolb is the kind of hard-working, blue-collar presence that fans can get behind like they did Kurt Warner.  If it didn’t already sound great, Kolb’s from the great state of Texas, like me.  Unfortunately it cost them one of the game’s most talented DBs in Rodgers-Cromartie.

The odds-on favorite for MVC (Most Valuable Cardinal) this season.

But Kolb won’t be the one with the standout year.  Not yet, at least.  Instead, Larry Fitzgerald will have the kind of year that will finally land him in conversations of the best wide receiver in the game today.  Fitzgerald, a “hand-catcher” much like Jerry Rice, is believed to have the best catching ability in the league.  He has had four consecutive 1,000-yard seasons and in his last 200+ receptions he has recorded 0 fumbles.  Those are sure hands.  With a likely two- or three-back rotation, the Cardinals will have to rely on a balanced offensive scheme and a lot of Kolb’s passes will be going to Fitzgerald.  I doubt that the team will come together as needed to make a 10-win season but they may still squeak through to the playoffs.  We did, after all, see a losing team beat the defending champions in the first round of the playoffs last season so it’s not impossible.  Thanks, Seahawks.

Foster's incendiary season-opener against Indy made him the league's leading rusher for the entirety of the season.

Arian Foster is also due for an explosive season.  Well, another explosive season.  From his rookie season 2009 to his sophomore season last year his rushing yards increased more than six times over.  And in Week 1 he tore apart the Colts defense for 237 yards making the whole Colts organization feel the absence of Bob Sanders.  His style of running is so great to watch and reminds me what I love about football.  Near the line of scrimmage he employs a slashing style reminiscent of Emmitt Smith and once the 6′ 1″ Foster finds space he runs like a modern Walter Payton with a bag of tricks as deep as Santa’s on Christmas Eve.  Foster demystifies many of the unorthodox but effective maneuvers that squeeze every last inch out of situations.  And he squeezed out a lot last year.  Foster’s 1,616 yards made him the league’s leader separating himself from second place Jamaal Charles by 149 yards.  I predict that Arian Foster will play for a long time and will have a wildly successful career.  Moreover, he will be the next player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season.  And that Texans organization has a lot of good things going for it.  A few talented tacklers in their front seven wouldn’t hurt, though.

Finally, the no-brainer.  Pick Aaron Rodgers.  Pick him early.  Pick him via karaoke if that’s what it takes.  He is the most talented team-leader I have seen.

It's still Tom Brady's throne but Aaron Rodgers is making a raucous run at being the league's best quarterback and leader.

The team rallies around him and his receivers perform for him, not for their pay checks or ego or to prove anything to anyone.  They run their routes hard and catch with sure hands because they respect their quarterback.  No quarterback is respected that way in today’s game.  He has a top-5 completion percentage, 3rd-best regular season QB rating and has quietly shown off his get-up-and-go with 350+ rushing yards last year and what I consider to be the best end zone celebration with the claiming of the championship belt.  In early February 2011, he backed it up by claiming the championship.  He received no belt.