Inside the Expert's League
By Erik Morris, EA Expert
With Week 1 upon them, there have been some last minute changes on the rosters and depth charts around the EA Experts league in preparation for the 15 week journey that is the 2008 EA Experts Fantasy Football season.
Featured Matchup: The Glorious Buttchins (P-Track Lamont) vs. Team Pestilence (Dr. Pesti)
(Maitland, FL) - Even with depth and injury concerns on his roster, Glorious Buttchins owner, Patrick "P-Track" Lamont, sounds cautiously optimistic about the upcoming year. Despite having rookies breathing down the neck of both of his starting running backs, Lamont stands by his men. "I really like DeAngelo [Williams] this year, based on his monster pre-season. Stewart will get his carries, but rookie RBs scare me less than rookies at other positions." When asked about the battle between LenDale White and Chris Johnson, Lamont was quick to say, "Everyone hates on LenDale, but the big guy is consistent. It's his job to lose. I think he'll keep it."
Apparently hoping for a rule change to allow 6 starting wide receivers, Lamont's team enters the season with 7 WR on the roster. With Marques Colston and Calvin Johnson clear starters, Patrick had to decide which other receiver would join them in week 1 -- Muhsin Muhammad, Derrick Mason, Deion Branch, Nate Burleson or David Clowney. It seemed a pretty easy choice for Lamont. Earlier in this week's podcast P-Track stated his love for Muhammad. "Without Steve Smith on the field, Muhammad should be poised for a huge game." When asked later about Baltimore's dependable Mr. Mason P-Track was taken aback, "I didn't even realize I had Derrick Mason on my team, to be honest with you."
At quarterback, there's no one on the roster falling through the cracks on this team. The Glorious B's will go into battle with only one quarterback, the injured Tom Brady. Lamont acknowledged the injury, "As a Patriots fan, I am concerned about Brady's health. Fantasy-wise, I can't stress out about it too much - I mean, the guy was [listed as probable] all last season. I'm more worried about their banged up O-line. Backups will emerge on the FA wire as the season rolls along - if it comes to that." If it came down to it, could P-Track actually pull the trigger on his man-crush and put another man at the helm? We won't know until it happens as Lamont sadly laughed it off and refused to answer.
What can be certain is week 1 will be no walk in the park for this team. Dr. Pesti's Pestilence team will host the Glorious B's and with a number of favorable matchups for the Doctor, if Brady isn't able to play at close to 100%, he won't be the only one coming off the field a little lame.
Featured Matchup: The PCBOMBERS (Ben Smith) vs. He Hate Me (Commish Don)
(STILLWATER, OK) - "My Manning's better than your Manning! My Manning's better than yours!" That's the chant being heard all around the nearby campus at Oklahoma State this week, as the PCBOMBERS and owner Ben Smith prepare for this week's Peyton vs. Eli matchup against Commish Don and Team He Hate Me. "There's no question Peyton will out-produce Eli this week and every week of the season. Eli has one good receiver while Peyton has three or four dependable guys." Smith appears just as confident with his less notable starting RB duo of Earnest Graham and Laurence Maroney. "Both go against bad defenses so I'm expecting a good week's worth of production from them. Tampa will hand Graham the ball about 20 times and he could also get six or seven receptions." Of his other back, Smith says, "Maroney will also get 18-22 carries, but not as many receptions." Whether those bad defenses in New Orleans and Kansas City are good enough to keep these starters on the field still remains to be seen.
Speaking of questionable defenses, the 'Bombers are still reeling from the news of Osi Umenyiora's season ending injury. "I hope [the New York Giants D] are out to prove they're not one-dimensional and get fired up to play. It hurt bad to see Osi go down, but you've got to roll with the punches." Smith's faith in the team D may be worse than previously thought as he did mention to me, "a few defenses [are] on my watch list." If Washington looks good against the Giants on Thursday, look for a changing of the guard in Stillwater.
More on the injury front as Peyton Manning gets ready to take the field this week, despite some lingering injuries. Smith was defensive about the health of his star QB and first round pick, "The guy has started 160 straight regular season games! If Peyton plays in all 16 games, I should only need to replace him for week 4, when he's on bye. If the Colts were concerned about Peyton Manning, they would have signed a third string QB. Right now it's just him and [Jim] Sorgi."
In other news out of Oklahoma, occasional fantasy producer Leon Washington was let go by the PCBOMBERS to make room for the much less heralded Tarvaris Jackson to back up Manning. The pickup surprised many as Jackson is known more for handing the ball to Adrian Peterson more than anything else. Compounding the confusion was the fact unproven Limas Sweed and Matt Leinart still remain, warming the bench. When asked to explain these unexpected decisions, Smith made some interesting comments regarding his two backup QB's and the now departed RB:
"I was kind of hacked at Leinart for not winning the starting spot like I hoped; that said, I'm not about to drop him because I still expect him to get his job back. The Cardinals have a great offense and whichever QB they settle on will produce great fantasy numbers. Ordinarily, Jackson would not be 'Bombers material. But he could surprise some people this year, especially if he and Bernard Berrian click. If he has a big first week, I want to be the guy who picked him up early... The [releasing Washington] was a tough call because he does have potential, but so do several other backup RBs who are still available. Kevin Faulk, LaMont Jordan, Aaron Stecker and Kenton Keith are all still available. The thing about all these RBs, with the exception of Faulk who will play quite a few passing downs, is they only become valuable fantasy players if their starter goes down. Here at Oklahoma State, I've had a few chances to see Sweed (University of Texas) play. He's big and really good at positioning his body. I think he could become this year's Dwayne Bowe."
Bowe, another PCBOMBER, could not be reached for comment as he was busy preparing for his flex assignment in week 1 against New England.
Crystal Ball Bold Predictions
Pestilence over Glorious Buttchins by 6
Legend over I Love Lamp by 12, if Chad Ocho Cinco plays the entire game and doesn't change his name.
Frito Banditos over Hug It Out in a tight one decided when Rashard Mendenall finally holds onto the ball after realizing he's only got $1,000 left of his rookie signing bonus.
The Rick falls just short against ReppinHorns by 4
Peyton is the better Manning. Baltimore's defense might let me down on this pick but aside from QB and DEF all other positions are close or going the other way; PCBOMBERS lose to He Hate Me by 5.
GoodFellas come out squeaky clean against Team Ruston; win by 2
Fightin' Kyle Orton's over Colossus by 3, unless Jeremy gets wise and takes Rudi Johnson out of the starting lineup.
Other news around the league…
Joining a long list of backup running backs on the Free Agent wire, Buffalo's Fred Jackson was recently released by He Hate Me. Jackson was a last round draft pick this year, but couldn't keep the roster spot as the Rod Smarts needed to fill their open kicker position before the season opener. Putting the toe to leather will be Josh Scobee. Jacksonville tied for the 5th fewest Field Goals made in 2007, so with names like Akers, Bryant, Wilkins and Hanson still available you can be sure Scobee was just as surprised as this writer when he got the call. He Hate Me management was unavailable for comment.
Author's Bio - Erik Morris
Erik Morris joined EA Sports in 2003 and currently works as an Analyst for Tiburon's Central Technologies Group. You can probably find him at Ray Jay watching his beloved Bucs or alma mater USF roll through the competition. He's played Fantasy Football since 1998 and truly thinks that the Bucs are better off with Jeff Garcia this year.
Comments or Questions? Email us at fantasy@ea.com
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Important Dates
| 07/16 - Live Draft Tracker available on Xbox LIVE™ and PLAYSTATION®Network |
| 09/03 - Prize Eligible Registration Cut-off |
| 09/04 - Live Score Tracker available on Xbox LIVE™ and PLAYSTATION®Network |
| 09/04 - Start of Pro Season |
| 10/22 - Midseason League Drafts Begin |
| 11/02 - Midseason League Scoring Begins |
| 11/27 - Trade Deadline |
| 12/06 - Waiver Deadline |
