1. San Diego ChargersPredicted Record: 14-2
Playoff Seed: 2
Key Player: LT,When you have the MVP on your team its difficult and really fruitless to argue for anyone else. Michael Turner may get some hype for being one of the best backups in the league, but lets face it if LT has a down year or even worse gets injured than they're gonna see their record slip a lot.
Fantasy Player to Eye: Vincent Jackson, Everyone's favorite sleeper this season began to emerge as one of Rivers' favorite targets last season. Here's something to hold back that enthusiasm however. Jackson caught only 27 passes last year and did not record a single 100 yard game. So try to temper your expectations a little bit.
Why the Record: This is definitely their high water mark and means that just about everything went smoothly in the transition from Marty ball to Norv Turner. The talent is still their to be dominant this season, but 14-2 is probably a stretch.
Projected Wins: CHI, @GB, KC, OAK, HOU, @MIN, IND, @JAX, BAL, @KC, @TEN, DET, DEN, @OAK
Projected Losses: @NE, @DEN
2. Denver Broncos
Predicted Record: 9-7
Key Player: Jay Cutler, Last year some proclaimed him the best Quarterback in the draft and many including myself scoffed at the notion. Why would you rather have a QB that never did anything at Vandy instead of a QB that dominated college football and lead his team to two National Title Game. Well last season Cutler showed signs that maybe those people were right, and that he could be the best QB of the bunch. Well this season is pretty much on his shoulders. So go out and continue to prove those people right Jay.
Fantasy Player to Eye: Javon Walker, I don't know about you but holding my friend in my arms as while he dies of a gun shot wound would pretty much scar me beyond belief. Maybe Javon Walker can avoid thinking about it while he's on the field and perhaps he used it as a motivating factor for his offseason workouts to dedicate himself to the memory of Darrent Williams. But a fantasy has to worry about the effects of that fateful night.
Why the Record: The Broncos should have a good team this season. They added Spermanator Travis Henry to upgrade their backfield and they have Cutler with a few games under his belt. They do have a lot of difficult games on their schedule though and they can expect Cutler to lay atleast a few eggs this season.
Projected Wins: @BUF, OAK, JAX, SD, GB, TEN, @OAK, KC, MIN
Projected Losses: @IND, PIT, @DET, @KC, @CHI, @HOU, @SD,
3. Kansas City ChiefsPredicted Record: 6-10
Key Player: Offensive Line, The offensive line is what everyone is using as the downfall of the Chiefs offense this season. During their high flying Vermeil days they had Willie Roaf and Will Shields and dominant defenses lines while scoring 35 points a game. Now both are gone, and the question is how much will it effect Larry Johnosn's production?
Fantasy Player to Eye: Tony Gonzalez, For years Tony was hands down the best tight end in fantasy. The last two years? He was a bust for where you picked him up at. I think this season his name is probably carrying where he was drafted and his owners are going to end up disappointed once again.
Why the Record: The division is a killer and so is the fact that they had the second best record in the division last year and thus get another Hermbowl at the Meadowlands and a home game versus the Bengals. Again I think I hit the worst possible record I think the Chiefs will have this season.
Projected Wins: @HOU, MIN, JAX, GB, DEN, OAK,
Projected Losses: @CHI, @SD, CIN, @OAK, @IND, SD, @DEN, TEN, @DET, @NYJ
4. Oakland Raiders
Predicted Record: 3-13
Key Player: Lane Kiffin, the key for the Oakland Raiders is for their coaching staff to come up with some way to get points on the board with the talent they have on their roster. It appears as if they are going to start McCown during week 1. He's had a few solid games in his past, but one would think that Culpepper should be the starter here. It will be interesting to see if the Raiders have any life this weekend against Detroit.
Fantasy Player to Eye: Lamont Jordan, I love drafting Jordan this season. Last year he was a 2nd round pick, which I scoffed at completely. This season he can go somewhere around the 100th pick, and he's the teams starting running back and should get the bulk of the touches throughout the game. There's some risk, but at 100 its well worth it.
Why the Record: They have no QB set in place. They come off a season where their offense was the worst in the NFL bar none. And they continue to play in the AFC West with three teams who are significantly better than them. And they wasted their #1 pick on a player who won't have any impact on this season.
Projected Wins: CLE, KC, @JAX
Projected Losses: DET, @DEN, @MIA, @SD, @TEN, HOU, CHI, @MIN, @KC, DEN, @GB, IND, SD
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