Evans World 2010 - Preseason

The draft is done. The schedule is set. Let the next session of YLTKWIT begin!

It's good to be back and telling you all what you should be thinking again. I can't express enough how happy I am to have football back in my life regularly. Welcome, Jason, to our league and remember what I said about the new guy not being allowed to win. Let's not have another Rob Foit incident this year.

MY THOUGHTS ON THE DRAFT
- I love my team. Clearly the favorite going into the season.
- Good job, Kevin, drafting for two teams. Never an easy thing to do. We'll see which team you drafted better after week 1. Such irony that the two teams you pick will play each other right away ... and again in 11 weeks.
- Angi, we missed you. I, for one, always feel incomplete without getting to see you.
- Berk, you suck for wearing that damn jersey again.
- Rob, you suck taking the Packers D.
- Good job by all leaving Nathan with what I believe is his weakest team in recent memory. Always fun to sock it to the reigning champ. Don't underestimate him, though. There's a reason he's won as often as he has.
- Something tells me that Tony would have gotten behind on the picks even if he had been in the room. To his credit, I think he made an excellent use of his 12th position.
- Does anyone else find it strange that Berk has more Packers players on his team and I have more Vikings players on my team? A strange juxtaposition (Chris, you'll need to look that word up.).
- Has everyone else looked up who Victor Cruz is yet?
- Strange as it sounds, only 1 Tampa Bay Buccaneer was drafted.
- Mike had the same reaction on his face after the draft that he's had for the past few years. Not sure if he's feeling this is really the year he wins at this point.
- I'll admit that I changed my drafting style this year. I intentionally drafted players in the early rounds who I knew were going to get abnormal numbers of receptions. That didn't sit too well with me. For me, it makes more sense that a player who is a TD and/or yardage king should be the real point-makers. But Nathan proved to us all last year that PPR can do more to help a team win consistently than just getting into the end zone often. Frustrating, but true. We'll have to see if it pans out for me. Came real close to ditching AP with pick #2 and going with Ray Rice who will probably end up with more receptions at the end of the season.
- Thank you all for not helping Tom.

RANDOM PRE-SEASON THOUGHTS
- Week 1 is interesting in that Kevin plays Angi (the two teams he drafted) and Mike plays Jason (Mike being the one who invited Jason).
- For the first time in years, I get to play Tom twice. This is going to be a fun year in many ways. Destroying him in Week 1 will be a great start.
- I know the start of the season is two weeks away, but I find it strange that none of our teams have projected stats for Week 1 over 100 points. The highest is Tony at 96. What IS interesting is how almost all of us have projected between 80-90 points. Could it be that we somehow drafted even teams? Possible ... very possible.
- I loved Chris' idea of a "Retro Fantasy Football" league. It would definitely help spice up the dry months of April-July. I bet if we could find a way to make it profitable, we'd have our million-dollar idea for the year.
- At some point I think everyone should have to explain the name for their teams, except for Tom, Angi and Nathan who are lame and didn't change theirs. Tony is excused from that, in case you're wondering, and I expect Chris to follow custom and change his team name at least twice during the season.

MY PREDICTIONS
Normally, I hate to do these. They're interesting when considering players in draft prep but ultimately are impossible to complete with anything other than gut feelings. Do I think Chris Johnson will break 2000 yards again this season? Yes, I do. But I'm not enough of a number cruncher to look at the Titans' schedule and figure out how he's going to get there. So, here is what my gut is telling me will happen this season:

- Fantasy MVP: Chris Johnson repeats last season. Titans lose early in playoffs.
- Fantasy Flop: Larry Fitzgerald. Best hands in the world are useless if the ball doesn't get to them.
- Fantasy Comeback: Terrell Owens. Call me crazy, but I think if he lets Ochocinco worry about the antics and focuses on the game, he and Carson Palmer will have the success that Owens and Romo had in Dallas.
- Fantasy Rookie - It's a tie between Ryan Matthews and C.J. Spiller. Hard to tell but every Buffalo fan in the world is glad they'll finally have 1 player to watch this season.
- Fantasy Surprise - A couple of people I have here. Kevin Kolb and Javid Best are definitely candidates, but I think Jammal Charles will be the biggest surprise. While I'm sure Weis and company will install a Patriots-style offense in KC, I think the talent and strength of Charles will add a new dimension to that offense and they'll rely on him a lot as the receiving corps develops.

PACKER THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK
- I thought about trying to predict what the actual teams will do this season, but the more I think about it the bigger my headache gets. All I know is the Pack have a great chance at making the NFC Championship, but they've got a tough schedule outside the division.
- If you don't have a Packer on your Fantasy team, look at Berk's lineup and come up with a trade. The Packers are going to be every Fantasy Football owner's favorite team this season, especially the 4 weeks they play against the horrible secondaries of Chicago and Detroit.
- I am so glad Suh wasn't a Lion last year. Aaron Rodgers would have been killed in the game Nathan and I saw in Lambeau. I worry less about it this season with a better offensive line in place, but the Lions are a few successes away from pulling themselves out of the gutter. If Best and Suh serve up the big plays they should and Stafford continues to develop, the Bears could lose both games to them.
- 2011 Draft - Jermichael Finley is the #1 TE pick. #2 will be Shiancoe.

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