For all the hype surrounding GM John’s blockbuster deal with
the, let’s just call him the rattlesnake, to acquire Megatron, All Day, and then
furthering it by trading for Rodgers the end result after week 1 was glaring.
Depth. Or in the case of the Washington Professional
Football Fantasy Team…a lack of depth. With all the moves made to make the worst team
of 2013 into a contender, week 1 showed that you can’t just trade and spend
your way to greatness. In fact if anything week 1 proved that acquiring assets
and knowing when to let them go (i.e. the NFL Patriot way) will always win out.
We will look back on the 2014 draft in one of two ways.
1) The year the Washington Professional Football Fantasy Team went from worst to first and revolutionized UFL rebuilding or
2) The year the Washington Professional Football Fantasy Team won back to back toilet bowls without the benefit of getting to pick 1st, thus ensuring that no mega deals for 1st overall picks ever get made again… HAHAHAH yeah right.
So what have we learned after 1 week other than the dangers
of trading with a snake oil salesman from Buffalo?
- We learned that the Bucs are going to need a shakeup to their roster quickly if they plan on defending their title. There are a lot of running backs on that roster, and if Charles goes down or sees his carries drop this team will be facing a long season.
- The Steelers are a hapless franchise that may need more than a year to recover, and need to start dealing Tight End’s for assets that can help them now and in the future as soon as possible.
- The Chargers dominated in both their matchups and look to be on pace to recover their form from the glory year of 2012. But with instability at QB will it be enough?
- The Patriots, assuming they get the attention they deserve will be a midrange force this year. While they lack depth at RB, they are a solidly built team assuming everyone produces to their level. Like any team built by GM Viau their prime years are behind them though and in 10 weeks we most likely will be talking about whether or not they will contend for the toilet bowl or the final wild card spot.
- The Bills could pull off the rare, or in this case standard Quintana operating principle™ of “Look at me guys I am rebuilding and I am going to tell everyone about it for the rest of the draft… OMG look at me my team could make the playoffs and I am going to tell everyone I see about it!”
- The Dolphins look like a legitimate threat if everyone can stay healthy. While the rest of the league obsesses over wideouts, the Dolphins have quietly accumulated depth at RB and if their Week 1 showing is any indication, it is a strategy that could pay off with a spot in the playoffs.
- The Cowboys again have another solid depth filled team, but as is always the case with the team from Dallas, will it be enough? Can building a blue chip roster win it all? Or does this team need more personality? They say character only counts in things that are real, that fantasy is no place for character players, but I think in the interests of karma and purification the Cowboys need to add a bit of fun to their roster. Maybe add another Kicker to lighten the mood and be like “hey man, I don’t care about what you think, I am going to hoard kickers because kickers are fun”.
- The Eagles, the greatest team to never win a thing. On paper… juggernaut, so what happens every year? I really don’t know. Much like their GM they disappear for long stretches and when they return it’s like… hey I know you, you’re cool… what happened man? They are kind of the Leo DiCaprio of the league. Great in everything they do, but never win anything.
- What happens when a commissioner, no longer saddled with the burdens of commissionership is given the chance to focus on his team? Hours and hours of waiting for a name to be called when we get to the draft is what happens. On paper the team is solid, and appears poised for another date in the playoffs. However, lacking a true WR1 could be their undoing. Look for Gabe to deal away picks and prospects to fix those holes sooner rather than later, you can take that to the bank.
- The Broncos proved that they can contend this year, Matt Ryan could very well make this team look a lot better than it deserves. Lacking a true WR1 and borderline WR2s will be this squad’s downfall. GM Teoli better be working those emails soon or scouting the waiver wire because something needs to happen.
- An impressive two victories by the Texans could have us believing in them as a legitimate Supreme Bowl contender and indeed they are. Assuming GM Biondi gets decent production out of Kapernick there could be many more victories in the short and long term, and with almost 9 Million in cap space he has the ability to add some nice pieces (looking at the Washington Professional Fantasy Team here) if he wants to shore up a hole or two.
So where are we headed this year? Was week 1 a good
indication of where the UFL centers of power are, or was it just another week
of UFL parity.
Week 2 picks :
Miami (+2.5) at NY
Giants
The Giants get the edge because of the matchup at TE, but
look for the Dolphins to keep this matchup close. It looks like the Fins are going
to run 4RB-1WR-1TE formation to neutralize the beast here, lacking faith in
their receiver corps to get the job done. Pick: Giants.
New England (+7) at Philadelphia
The Eagles get the edge because they win at every positional
matchup. The Pats are going to need big games from their entire lineup in order
to sneak out a win here. Pick: Eagles.
Denver (-3.5) at Pittsburgh
It’s the opinion of this writer that the Steelers are a legitimate
contender to go winless this year. Even on a bye week. They are one Tom Brady injury away from
oblivion. Pick: Broncos (Lock of the week)
Tampa Bay at Buffalo (Pick’em)
Two teams with very similar rosters who are going to be
battling for a wild card spot all season. This matchup could prove to be vital
at the end of the season. There may never be as important a week for roster decisions as this for these two teams. Pick: Bills
San Diego (-1.5) at Houston
Ironically the Chargers are favorites here because they own
the Houston defense. And we here at the uflguy love, LOVE it when one team
loses to that same team’s defense. You could say we are big on Schadenfreude. Pick:
Chargers
Washington (+4.5) at Dallas
The Washington Professional Football Fantasy Team are the
perfect antithesis to the Dallas
Cowboys. One organization drafts well, makes smart tactical trades, the other gets
sucked in by the bright lights of fame and believes in swinging for the fences.
Both GMs have been rewarded with precisely 0 titles though, despite always
fielding star studded lineups. Unfortunately the depth hole in all positions
for the Washington Professional Football Fantasy Team is just too deep to
recover from. Pick: Dallas.
uflguy out
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