The Other Six (or half of the dirty dozen)...
And back as promised with the remaining six projections. We're now less than a week away from the Thursday kickoff for the 2003 NFL season. Just proving how little the NFL cares about the quality of play and all that stuff and how much they care about TV ratings, Brittany Spears and a few other people (my mind wanders when I see Brittany so I don't know who else was in the ad) will be "performing" at halftime. My stance on the deal is unless Brittany and Christina will be swapping spit or at least dancing together, I don't want to see a special halftime show.
So now I get to write about the rest of you jokers. I may not be Rick Reilly, The Sports Guy or even Paul "Dr. J" Jugasek, but I have been watching college football all day today so I think I am qualified enough to comment (aka point out all the problems and enough positives to keep you interested) about your teams. Plus, I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
Here we go with the youth of the league....the LB's. The little guy has gradjatated (yea I know) from good old PHS and is trading in the green and gold for the maroon and gold of UMD-dumdee. Only a few years back did the LB's earn their team name from stealing JC's target pick of Fragile Freddy Taylor. This year Jon grabbed Jacksonville's only hope in the first round. This gives him a solid pair of RB's with Henry (crossed fingers, knock on wood and all that good stuff). Throw in my preseason pick for NFL MVP in Steve "Air" McNair and good enough receivers, the LB's have a shot. I give the LB's the same chance I give the Twinkies this year. Yea they might be there in October but have to get by the White Sox (Smitty) first.
On to Team Tang. I feel sorry for Jonny having to keep the 10 year curse. Unfortunately for the team formerly known as MoJo, the 10 year curse may have passed on to the rest of his draft this year. Jonny grabbed an aging C-Mart to pair with a RBBC member in A-Train. Backing those 2 up are RBBC members A-Smith and Betts. Ouch. He's a bit stronger at WR with T.Owens and up and comer Jerry "Not Rice" Porter. Problems here will be how will Garcia's back be? And with only one pigskin in Oakland.....how will they divide it up? So Jonny's team could do well if a lot of "ifs" come his way. So we'll say Jonny is the equivalent of the Royals. There's a chance, but a lot is gonna have to work out to be playing in the playoffs.
As Ohio State scores their first TD of the year....GO BUCKEYES!, Mike is up. Now I know Mike takes a lot of crap for his past actions in this league but he takes it well. I see lots of upside for Mike this season. With future NFL hall of famer Farve keeping the QB seat warm for Mike Vick, the Straights will be all set at QB. Grabbing Tiki and Amos (what kind of first names are those?) as his starting RBs gives Mike a solid pair there. At WR it gets thin. Conway (Vinnie throwing) and Chambers (Fiedler throwing) is a weak pair at best. His ace in the hole is Green Bay's D. This team could make a run at the tough Bison Division. Mike is like the Expos. They'd be a perfect contraction team but they're gonna make a run at the wildcard.
Ben's Team Nookie. Our defending champ. His, along with Smitty's, pure domination in the league and of the Husky division last year was impressive. They say your junior year is the most fun and that should be true for Nookie this year. With Portis and Jamal Lewis at RB, Horn and Shockey catching the ball and Atlanta's D.....Ben is reloaded and ready to roll to the playoffs. Any negatives on this team? Other than concerns at the QB position (Collins/Holcombe/Peete) this team could be great especially if Charlie Rodgers turns into half the player that he is hyped to be. In this league, Nookie is as close as it comes to being the New York Yankees. I'd be shocked to not see Ben in the BIGFFBL final four.
GOO time. Guaranteed award for most improved team goes to Cutts. I think it's mostly due to the karma of moving out of St. Cloud and back to West Arrowhead Road in beautiful Munger, Minnesota Just look at this starting lineup. Warner, A.Green, Good Deuce, Plaxico, Boston, C.Lewis, Hollis and Philly. That's damn good. I suspect that the Husky division may just beat each other up enough this year to keep everyone around the 8-6 mark. Rico got solid depth at all positions and will only fail this year for reasons I can't see at this point. I'm thinking....Phillies. This team looks solid on paper and maybe they'll get a shot at the wildcard.
Last and (according to other prognosticators in this league) least is Jason. The elder statesman of the BIGFFBL was forced to keep Aaron Brooks of the Saints. Now, that wouldn't have been my first pick out of everyone in the NFL but you have to play what you got. Jason's RB's are a little weak but the WR's are ok. Holt will benefit of the health of Faulk and Warner. Rod Smith and Derrick Mason are quality options to start alongside Torry. Jason's make or break will be Kevan Barlow. The SF starting job has yet to be named, but my guess is that by the second half, Kevan will be the man in 49ers land. The question is....is that too late for LRH in '03? I'm not going to call this team the Tigers or Devil Rays.....but I'll go with the Indians. They'll have strong points but the weak points will play a larger part.
There we go. 12 of 12. We're only 5 days away now and the excitement starts. So until then....keep the pointy side forward, your stick on the ice and stay the hell out of Wisconsin.
Need I say more?
BIGFFBL senior writer Jeremy Carlson sounds off whenever he feels like it on www.bigffbl.com