I'm back home from Texas, and while it's always tough to end a vacation, it does feel good to be back in Virginia. I mean, literally it feels so much better. I know it was hot here last week too, but it was seriously hot in Austin. If RVA and ATX had a humidity-off, I think the latter would take the cake. Before I get into the rankings for Week 2, let's take a look back and see what I learned in Week 1...
I'll start with Texas:
1. I already mentioned the heat, but it bears repeating. Texas is hot, ya'll.
2. People in Texas LOVE them some Texas. Whether it's singing "The Eyes of Texas", "Deep in the Heart of Texas", or some other Texas theme song...they belt it out for their home state. Not only that, but they treat the Texas state flag as well as (if not better than) the American flag. I'm not saying it's wrong by any means, but it was interesting to see.
3. Speaking of music, Texans absolutely love George Strait. I don't know who the #2 most popular country music star is in Texas, but it's not even close to this guy. He's all over the airwaves, and you see signs of him in restaurants, bars, etc. When we were at the Brad Paisley concert and his image flashed on the big screen, people lost their $*#+!
4. As for Brad Paisley, that dude is a really good live performer. We got lucky because we had seats pretty far back in the amphitheater (almost to the lawn), but midway through the show he came up to our section with his entire band and performed 3 or 4 songs. He was literally like 10 rows in front of us for that part of the show.
5. Austin isn't that weird. I know that's their slogan and everything, and I thought it was a really cool city. But weird? I don't know. Maybe I'm used to Richmond, and maybe it's also kind of weird. Either way, we had a great time there.
6. We need to get some Texas beers distributed up this way. We went to a few breweries and even more bars while on vacation, and the craft beer scene in Texas is solid. Austin Beerworks, (512), Jester King, Infamous, Karbach, Saint Arnold...the list goes on and on. And the bars around Austin that sell these fine beers are pretty damn amazing themselves.
7. I saw a lot of (older) men wearing those hunting/fishing shirts with the flaps on the back. They wear the hell out of those shirts. I guess it helps with sweating or something, but I found that regular shirts worked just fine.
8. Breakfast tacos are really big in Texas, and I'm a big, big fan.
9. Speaking of food, I can't leave out the BBQ. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it. We went to a few places while we were there, but Black's in Lockhart and The Salt Lick in Driftwood were amazing. And it's not just barbecue. Texans are very serious about their beef in general, and God bless them for it.
10. To lead us into talking about football, I'll make one other observation. Texans do love their football. When we were in Lockhart, we walked around the town a little bit. Every store front had paint on the windows for their high school football team (Go Lions!). It was exactly what I pictured from watching movies like Varsity Blues and Friday Night Lights. And between the Longhorns and Texans games we attended, the fans were very loud and supportive...and they were actually very friendly to me and my wife, even though we were both rocking Redskins jerseys.
So for that reason and many others, a big "thank you"goes out to Texans for their hospitality (except for Cowboy fans, who are still the worst...especially the disgusting couple in front of us, in an exit row, who immediately leaned their seats back and jammed our knees after takeoff and then proceeded to snuggle and make out). It also leads me into talking about what I learned from Week 1 in the NFL. Like I said, we were at a game on Sunday so I wasn't in front of a tv watching all of the games. But I did get to watch most of both 4:00 games, all of the Sunday nighter, and about half of each of the Monday night games after we got back much later than expected due to some maintenance issues courtesy of American Airlines.
Anyway, I watched all of the highlights and reviewed all of the box scores. I've read some fantasy football articles from the first weekend of the season, and here are 10 of my thoughts:
1. The NFC East looks terrible (again). The Redskins killed themselves with turnovers, and the Cowboys and Giants did the same thing. Philly was able to come back from a 17-0 halftime deficit to beat the Jags, but the Eagles were a double-digit favorite in that game! After seeing my team fall to the Texans in Week 1, it at least gives me hope because our division seems so weak. As for Dallas, their defense appears to still be one of the worst in the league. Continue to play your fantasy guys if they're playing the 'Boys (and the rest of the NFC East for that matter).
2. Guys are going to get injured, so hopefully you drafted well and can work the wire for depth. As of this writing, we don't definitively know the Week 2 status of guys like Eddie Lacy or Doug Martin. What we do know is that highly drafted fantasy players will miss considerable amounts of time this season. It will happen, so be ready when it does with guys on your roster.
3. Every year, more and more teams seem to be using running back committees. That doesn't mean you can't find fantasy value in them because you definitely can. It just makes it frustrating from week to week for certain guys, and it makes me happy I drafted "bellcow" types with my first 3 draft picks.
4. The Hard Knocks effect is real! The Falcons appeared to be firing on all cylinders once again on offense. Their D is still going to give up points, but who cares for fantasy value? If you own an Atlanta position player, you have to be optimistic after that win over the Saints in Week 1.
5. Who is this year's Zac Stacy (a guy NO ONE selected in fantasy drafts but who could be a top-10 RB in the second half of the season)? With Ray Rice now officially out of Baltimore, my pick of Lorenzo Taliaferro could actually be right. We're still at least a week or two away from that (potentially) coming to fruition though, as he's buried on the depth chart behind Justin Forsett and Bernard Pierce. But Pierce's fumble and subsequent benching against the Bengals could help the rookie's chances, and we'll see if he gets in the mix tonight.
6. What gives, Andy Reid? Jamaal Charles touched the ball just 11 times in their loss to the Titans. That ain't going to get it done for the Chiefs, and it sure won't get it done for fantasy owners. Reid admitted it was "negligence on his part", and I'm sure Charles will get fed in Week 2 (and beyond). Speaking of that game, I like the way my dark horse AFC South pick looked. Stay tuned on the Titans...
7. The biggest surprises of the week might have been the Bears and Patriots both opening up their seasons with losses. Don't panic though...at least if you're a Pats fan. New England lost a division game on the road, and they'll bounce back. The Bears lost at home to the Bills...so, um, yeah.
8. Speaking of Buffalo, Sammy Watkins will NOT be the top fantasy rookie WR this season. I made a bet on this during my fantasy draft, and I might have also made it against Mike Evans as well (the details are a little fuzzy for some reason). My thinking was that guys like Brandin Cooks and Kelvin Benjamin would be for real and appeared to be in better fantasy situations than the other, higher draft picks. Week 1 showed that, and we'll see if that trend continues.
9. And while we're talking rookies, I'll mention Carlos Hyde. This was one of the few games I actually saw quite a bit of over the weekend, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Niners destroy Dallas. The big thing I noticed was how Carlos Hyde ran when he got the opportunity. Frank Gore is in a contract year, and I wouldn't be surprised to see San Fran give the rookie more touches as the year goes on (and consider letting Gore go at the end of this season). If anyone looks like this year's Montee Ball, it's Hyde.
10. I used the phrase "Don't Panic" earlier, and for the most part I'd say that applies across the board. It's only Week 1, so try not to overreact. If you own Aaron Rodgers, Demaryius Thomas, or Jamaal Charles? Relax...it'll be OK. But if you have guys like Larry Fitzgerald, Victor Cruz, or Trent Richardson? You may want to pay attention to what happened in the first week of the season. Michael Floyd looks more and more like the #1 WR in Arizona, Eli and the Giants are struggling in their new offense, and TRich still looks like the same running back he was last year. Maybe all of those things will magically change, but you should at least keep an eye on those situations if you have any of those guys (among many others).
I know what you're thinking..."Get to the rankings already!"
Well, you could have just scrolled through all of that and skipped down to the rankings. But if you've read this much, then maybe just read a little more. If you've read my rankings the last couple of years, you know I took great pride in getting them out before Yahoo, ESPN, and other expert rankings. I would then do a Friday update after the Thursday night game, compare my rankings to ESPN's, and give you some players I'd be high/low on based on their rankings versus mine.
Well, things are changing in 2014. Matthew Berry is now doing his "TMR200" on Tuesdays, and sites are getting their rankings out earlier and earlier. And while I enjoy doing these rankings, I'm not breaking my neck to get them out on Tuesday mornings. In fact, I'm going to do the opposite. This year, I'm going to give you rankings on THURSDAYS: one list, no Friday update, comparison versus ESPN ranks, and I'm going to expand each position a bit to account for not removing Thursday night players (since I'm not doing an update). I found that most people read my early rankings anyway, and not so much my Friday update. I think this will work out best.
And since I've been doing this for a while now, I don't think anyone will question that these are MY rankings.
I'm not piggy-backing on anyone here.
So with all of that being said, here are your rankings for Week 2. I'll keep the position lists in bold for those who don't care about my commentary and just want to see the damn rankings. But I hope some of you actually do enjoy the comments after each section, and feel free to make your own comments below (including start/sit questions or anything else).
Here we go!
I'll start with Texas:
1. I already mentioned the heat, but it bears repeating. Texas is hot, ya'll.
3. Speaking of music, Texans absolutely love George Strait. I don't know who the #2 most popular country music star is in Texas, but it's not even close to this guy. He's all over the airwaves, and you see signs of him in restaurants, bars, etc. When we were at the Brad Paisley concert and his image flashed on the big screen, people lost their $*#+!
| Up close with Mr. Paisley. |
5. Austin isn't that weird. I know that's their slogan and everything, and I thought it was a really cool city. But weird? I don't know. Maybe I'm used to Richmond, and maybe it's also kind of weird. Either way, we had a great time there.
6. We need to get some Texas beers distributed up this way. We went to a few breweries and even more bars while on vacation, and the craft beer scene in Texas is solid. Austin Beerworks, (512), Jester King, Infamous, Karbach, Saint Arnold...the list goes on and on. And the bars around Austin that sell these fine beers are pretty damn amazing themselves.
7. I saw a lot of (older) men wearing those hunting/fishing shirts with the flaps on the back. They wear the hell out of those shirts. I guess it helps with sweating or something, but I found that regular shirts worked just fine.8. Breakfast tacos are really big in Texas, and I'm a big, big fan.
9. Speaking of food, I can't leave out the BBQ. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it. We went to a few places while we were there, but Black's in Lockhart and The Salt Lick in Driftwood were amazing. And it's not just barbecue. Texans are very serious about their beef in general, and God bless them for it.
10. To lead us into talking about football, I'll make one other observation. Texans do love their football. When we were in Lockhart, we walked around the town a little bit. Every store front had paint on the windows for their high school football team (Go Lions!). It was exactly what I pictured from watching movies like Varsity Blues and Friday Night Lights. And between the Longhorns and Texans games we attended, the fans were very loud and supportive...and they were actually very friendly to me and my wife, even though we were both rocking Redskins jerseys.
So for that reason and many others, a big "thank you"goes out to Texans for their hospitality (except for Cowboy fans, who are still the worst...especially the disgusting couple in front of us, in an exit row, who immediately leaned their seats back and jammed our knees after takeoff and then proceeded to snuggle and make out). It also leads me into talking about what I learned from Week 1 in the NFL. Like I said, we were at a game on Sunday so I wasn't in front of a tv watching all of the games. But I did get to watch most of both 4:00 games, all of the Sunday nighter, and about half of each of the Monday night games after we got back much later than expected due to some maintenance issues courtesy of American Airlines.
Anyway, I watched all of the highlights and reviewed all of the box scores. I've read some fantasy football articles from the first weekend of the season, and here are 10 of my thoughts:
1. The NFC East looks terrible (again). The Redskins killed themselves with turnovers, and the Cowboys and Giants did the same thing. Philly was able to come back from a 17-0 halftime deficit to beat the Jags, but the Eagles were a double-digit favorite in that game! After seeing my team fall to the Texans in Week 1, it at least gives me hope because our division seems so weak. As for Dallas, their defense appears to still be one of the worst in the league. Continue to play your fantasy guys if they're playing the 'Boys (and the rest of the NFC East for that matter).
 |
| Martin struggled against Carolina, and got injured to boot. |
3. Every year, more and more teams seem to be using running back committees. That doesn't mean you can't find fantasy value in them because you definitely can. It just makes it frustrating from week to week for certain guys, and it makes me happy I drafted "bellcow" types with my first 3 draft picks.
4. The Hard Knocks effect is real! The Falcons appeared to be firing on all cylinders once again on offense. Their D is still going to give up points, but who cares for fantasy value? If you own an Atlanta position player, you have to be optimistic after that win over the Saints in Week 1.
5. Who is this year's Zac Stacy (a guy NO ONE selected in fantasy drafts but who could be a top-10 RB in the second half of the season)? With Ray Rice now officially out of Baltimore, my pick of Lorenzo Taliaferro could actually be right. We're still at least a week or two away from that (potentially) coming to fruition though, as he's buried on the depth chart behind Justin Forsett and Bernard Pierce. But Pierce's fumble and subsequent benching against the Bengals could help the rookie's chances, and we'll see if he gets in the mix tonight.
6. What gives, Andy Reid? Jamaal Charles touched the ball just 11 times in their loss to the Titans. That ain't going to get it done for the Chiefs, and it sure won't get it done for fantasy owners. Reid admitted it was "negligence on his part", and I'm sure Charles will get fed in Week 2 (and beyond). Speaking of that game, I like the way my dark horse AFC South pick looked. Stay tuned on the Titans...
 |
| Brady and the Pats should right the ship as soon as this week. |
8. Speaking of Buffalo, Sammy Watkins will NOT be the top fantasy rookie WR this season. I made a bet on this during my fantasy draft, and I might have also made it against Mike Evans as well (the details are a little fuzzy for some reason). My thinking was that guys like Brandin Cooks and Kelvin Benjamin would be for real and appeared to be in better fantasy situations than the other, higher draft picks. Week 1 showed that, and we'll see if that trend continues.
9. And while we're talking rookies, I'll mention Carlos Hyde. This was one of the few games I actually saw quite a bit of over the weekend, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Niners destroy Dallas. The big thing I noticed was how Carlos Hyde ran when he got the opportunity. Frank Gore is in a contract year, and I wouldn't be surprised to see San Fran give the rookie more touches as the year goes on (and consider letting Gore go at the end of this season). If anyone looks like this year's Montee Ball, it's Hyde.
10. I used the phrase "Don't Panic" earlier, and for the most part I'd say that applies across the board. It's only Week 1, so try not to overreact. If you own Aaron Rodgers, Demaryius Thomas, or Jamaal Charles? Relax...it'll be OK. But if you have guys like Larry Fitzgerald, Victor Cruz, or Trent Richardson? You may want to pay attention to what happened in the first week of the season. Michael Floyd looks more and more like the #1 WR in Arizona, Eli and the Giants are struggling in their new offense, and TRich still looks like the same running back he was last year. Maybe all of those things will magically change, but you should at least keep an eye on those situations if you have any of those guys (among many others).I know what you're thinking..."Get to the rankings already!"
Well, you could have just scrolled through all of that and skipped down to the rankings. But if you've read this much, then maybe just read a little more. If you've read my rankings the last couple of years, you know I took great pride in getting them out before Yahoo, ESPN, and other expert rankings. I would then do a Friday update after the Thursday night game, compare my rankings to ESPN's, and give you some players I'd be high/low on based on their rankings versus mine.
 |
| ESPN guys are ranking sooner, so I'm ranking later this year. |
And since I've been doing this for a while now, I don't think anyone will question that these are MY rankings.
I'm not piggy-backing on anyone here.
So with all of that being said, here are your rankings for Week 2. I'll keep the position lists in bold for those who don't care about my commentary and just want to see the damn rankings. But I hope some of you actually do enjoy the comments after each section, and feel free to make your own comments below (including start/sit questions or anything else).
Here we go!
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