Panic and Predictions

Last night, I was checking my lineups and my league message boards (I mainly wanted to confirm a small side bet for this week’s match up in my Atlanta league) when I saw a blurb about Ben Watson not practicing yesterday for New England. Talk about a Fantasy Football panic situation. Watson is my starting TE in both my leagues. Kind of a stupid move, but my feeling was the Patriots were going to expand his role this year and use him more like a 3rd wide receiver, i.e. Dallas Clark or Kellen Winslow, Jr. Before my draft, Watson seemed to be fine after ankle surgery in March, and he started training camp without missing practice. Although he does not get a lot of touches, Watson scored 6 touchdowns in 2007. Now, I have to start Kevin Boss of the NY Giants (I know there is a bye week conflict as well, but Boss ranked high on my sleeper board, and I picked him in the 15th round). Boss is a wild card. He could grab some fantasy points, but my problem is I can't wait and see if Watson practices on Friday. I have to play Boss or risk having a DNP on Sunday. In my other league, my back up TE is Owen Daniels. I drafted him pretty late with a great value pick. The Texans will score a ton of points this year, so Daniels is fine if Watson does not produce.

After checking several other Fantasy blogs and articles, analysts are saying not to start Ryan Grant of the Green Bay Packers. I drafted this guy with my 2nd round pick and out of principle Grant should start; but, he played one snap in the preseason and has a sore hamstring. That can not be good. Grant just got paid lots of money and he claims he is ready to play. Is he? The question is how hard will he run? How many carries? Does playing Minnesota mean not to start him? My 3rd running back is Reggie Bush. He has a great match up in the Superdome versus Tampa. I am leaning toward starting Bush.

Here are my predictions for final conference standings, playoffs, and post season awards for the 2008 NFL season:

NFC East: Giants, Cowboys, Eagles, Redskins
NFC North: Vikings, Lions, Packers, Bears
NFC South: Panthers, Saints, Buccaneers, Falcons
NFC West: Cardinals, Seahawks, Rams, 49ers

AFC East: Patriots, Jets, Bills, Dolphins
AFC North: Steelers, Bengals, Browns, Ravens
AFC South: Colts, Jaguars, Texans, Titans
AFC West: Chargers, Broncos, Raiders, Chiefs

NFC Wild Cards: Cowboys, Saints
AFC Wild Cards: Jaguars, Jets

NFC Championship Game: Cowboys vs. Saints
AFC Championship Game: Steelers vs. Chargers
Super Bowl: Steelers vs. Cowboys

NFL MVP: LaDainian Tomlinson, Chargers
Offensive Player of the Year: Tony Romo, Cowboys
Defensive Player of the Year: James Harrison (Mr. Monday Night), Steelers
Coach of the Year: Eric Mangini, NY Jets
Rookie of the Year: Jonathan Stewart, Carolina Panthers