Top 5 NFC West Must Haves in Fantasy Football

By Kalen Patrick

The NFC West isn't exactly a goldmine for Fantasy Football talent, but there will be some players who will have big impacts on your teams this year. I want to take a look at who are the 5 players from this division that should be on your radar as you prepare your fantasy football teams this season.

1.  Larry Fitzgerald WR Cardinals - Fitzgerald is the one and only Cardinal who should absolutely be a starter on your team. Think about this, last season Larry Fitzgerald had a QB combination of Derek Anderson, Max Hall and John Skelton throwing to him. That in my books is one of the worst QB situations I have ever seen. What were Larry's stats last year? 90 catches for 1137 yards and 6 TD's. While Kevin Kolb is still somewhat of a mystery, he will be better than those QB's and expect another big year from Fitzgerald.

VERNON DAVIS TE 49ERS

2. Vernon Davis TE 49ers - There are many reasons why Vernon Davis is a must have in Fantasy Football this year. Antonio Gates still has lingering issues with his foot, Peyton Mannings status still seems up in the air which effects Dallas Clark. That leaves fewer TE's you can depend on. Vernon is one guy you can depend on however, he has a great connection with QB Alex Smith and the 49ers offense under Jim Harbaugh will likely lean heavily on the Tight Ends. Expect another big year for Vernon, and with other TE's value in question, Vernon is a must have.

3. Steven Jackson RB Rams - Jackson is the most reliable RB from this division, he has played 31 of 32 games the last 2 years and has gone over 1000 rushing yards every year since 2004 (rookie year). While last year he had a career low in YPR (yards per rush), he is still the one RB in this division you can absolutely depend on to get you production. And with the Rams and young Sam Bradford moving to a new offensive system, expect the Rams to lean heavily on him.

4. Frank Gore RB 49ers - If you are in a PPR league, then Frank Gore is a must have. With his injuries it will drop his draft status and allow you to get him later than normal. However, Gore has always been the focal point of the offense, and he is excellent at receiving too. He will be excellent in PPR and a great addition to any of your teams. Don't make him your feature back but having him would be a wise move. There will be weeks where he will carry your team. Expect multiple 100+ yard rushing and 50+ yard receiving with a TD or 2 thrown in. Again Gore is no longer a feature back, but he is an excellent #2 RB for your team.

5. Sidney Rice WR Seahawks - Sidney Rice has all the talent in the world, and will be reunited with Tavaris Jackson in Seattle. While Tavaris is hardly the ideal QB to have throwing to your WR, he does have a connection with Rice and so you can expect very solid numbers. Rice is made for red zone opportunities, so while his yards may not be too high, I would expect his TD's numbers to be high. Normally in this division a guy like Rice would be higher, but there are question marks surrounding him and his situation. Rice should not be your #1 option at WR, but is a solid #2.

SIDNEY RICE WR SEAHAWKS 

Longshot Option: Danny Amendola WR Rams - If you play in a PPR league he could be a huge surprise addition for your team. He had 85 catches last year, and will now be in a Josh McDaniels offense. Expect a possible Wes Welker part 2 type of season. While he did come on to the scene last year, he will still be invaluable to the Rams in short pass yardage situations. Could turn out to be a great guy to have even at the bottom of your FF roster.

That about sums up my thoughts on the NFC West. You should avoid at all costs having an NFC West QB be a starter on your team. Sam Bradford and possibly Kevin Kolb will make solid backups for your team. The defenses to keep an eye on are the 49ers and possibly Rams.

Break Out Players - 2011 NFL Predictions

By Kalen Patrick

Every year there are players who just seem to take the league by storm and no one saw them coming. I remember predicting Frank Gore to have a break out 2006 season and he ended with 1695 rushing yards that year. Last year both Arian Foster and Peyton Hillis were huge Break Out players, also Michael Vick was quite a surprise too. So the plan here is to predict who I think will break out this year and then re-visit and see how my aim was. So lets get this started.

Matt Stafford QB Detroit Lions - This guy would already be a rising superstar were it not for his injuries, this year I predict him to play more or less the entire season and possibly lead the Lions to the playoffs. He has all the tools and talent in the world, he is a leader (watch the Lions - Browns game where he dislocated his shoulder and came right back out to throw the game winning TD and 2-point conversion). Not only does he have the talent himself, but he also has more than ample talent around him, of course there is Calvin Johnson who is a top 3 WR in the NFL, he also has some other nice options in the passing game with Nate Burleson, Bryant Johnson, Brandon Pettigrew and Tony Scheffler. Also rookie Titus Young the WR from Boise State is the perfect slot receiver. Stafford has been in Scott Linehans offense for a few years now and I see a big year for him.

MICHAEL CRABTREE - 49ERS WR

Michael Crabtree WR San Francisco 49ers - The 3rd year is always the year where WR's are gonna show their true colors. Crabtree has put up more than solid numbers, in only 27 games with the 49ers he has 103 REC, 1366 YARDS and 8 TD's. All this with a super conservative defensive minded HC dipping his thoughts in to the offense way too much. Now Crabtree is gonna be under the tutelage of HC Jim Harbaugh, and according to many experts, Crabtree's skill sets are tailor made for the West Coast Offense. I'm definitely not saying he is gonna be Jerry Rice Part 2, but he will have a big season, I'm thinking 1000-1100 YDS, 8-12 TD's and in the conversation for a pro-bowl selection.

James Laurinaitis MLB St. Louis Rams - A natural born leader who coming out from Ohio State had all the qualities you look for in a great linebacker besides for elite athleticism. So many of these guys get overlooked in the 1st round and then have the instincts to just be great. Another example in Brandon Spikes in New England. I see Laurinaitis is his 3rd year with Coach Steve Spagnoulo having a HUGE year. The rams have the outside rushers, they have a good line in front of him, it is his chance to explode on to the scene and put him in the discussion with the likes of Jon Beason and Brian Urlacher.

Joe Haden CB Cleveland Browns - It's rare for a rookie CB to have a good year never mind a great year. I see Joe Haden as the next elite CB in the league. I imagine in 2 years time Haden will be in the thick of the discussion with Revis and Asomugha as the top CB in the league. As early as next year I predict offenses game planning away from him. The Browns added a stud DL in the draft and if their pass rush can improve and force opposing QB's in to mistakes. Expect some nice numbers from Haden.

JOE HADEN, SOON QB'S WILL LEARN THEIR LESSON

There we have it, 2 players on offense and 2 players on defense. Let me know what you guys think of my predictions and give me feedback on who you think will be the breakout players.

NFL Next Stop - Los Angeles?

By Kalen
The NFL is so popular that it has vaulted to the top of North American sports and all this without the 2nd largest sports market (LA) not even having a team. I go back and forth as to which team or even should there be a team to move to LA. Yes I do think a team should be relocated to Los Angeles, while many will speak about how the NFL is fine the way it is so why mess with what works? While true in some regards I feel the strength of the NFL the last 10 years has been its ability to adapt and change for the better at the right time. I think now is the right time to get serious about putting a team in LA.

THE PROPOSED STADIUM IN DOWNTOWN LA

This begs the question, which team should move to LA? In a recent report, Tim Leiweke CEO of AEG (the company building the proposed stadium in LA) has contacted 5 potential teams about coming to the city of Angels Story Here . The 5 teams were: the Chargers, Raiders, Rams, Vikings and Jaguars. I look at this list and immediately, I wanna take the Vikings and remove them from this list. Minnesota has had the Vikings for what seems like an eternity, they have too much history there and it would be too big a shame to just up and get rid of the great rivalries they have with the other NFC North teams.

The next team I look at and don't buy may be a little surprising but I really don't think the Raiders will be moved back to LA. They have history in LA obviously, but I feel like the team left under bad circumstances. While a team should be in LA, I feel the Bay Area has proven to be big enough to support both the 49ers and Raiders. Plus the Oakland Raiders just sounds right and I feel they a too big a part of the East Bay community to go without a fight. If given the choice between no team or the Raiders, I'm guessing they would take the Raiders, but I just feel like Leiweke would prefer to go in another direction. Al Davis while probably nearing the end of his ownership, is too unpredictable for LA, he could be there for 5 years and then up and move back to Oakland. Too many question marks with the Raiders.

While the Jaguars seem to be the likely choice to move to LA because they are a newer team, lets not forget that they have been around for some time now, 16 years to be exact. They do have history there, and while I could imagine the Jags relocating in the future, I just don't think it will be all the way over to the West Coast. The NFL doesn't have a history of moving teams that far (Oakland to LA, LA to St. Louis, Houston to Tennessee). If the Jags move I feel it would be to a closer location, especially somewhere in football country like Alabama or Oklahoma.

DESTINED FOR A COMEBACK?

This leaves us with 2 options then, the Rams and the Chargers. Both would be very good options for LA in my opinion. Between these two teams I feel that it should be the St. Louis Rams that move. The Rams have also received a lukewarm reception in St. Louis besides for the winning seasons with Kurt Warner and the Greatest Show on Turf. Besides for that whenever the 49ers or other teams visit the Edward Dome in St. Louis, I see way too many empty seats and it just feels like St. Louis has always been a Baseball town, with the Rams playing 2nd to the Cardinals and the Blues having big support there too.


The Rams have a bright future with their franchise QB in Sam Bradford, and Steven Jackson and Chris Long provide other superstar players. I feel that if the Chargers are moved up to LA that, fans in LA would feel the team still belongs to San Diego and would be more of a Southern California Chargers and not their own team. One thing is for sure, a team will be in LA sooner or later, I think the Rams should be the team to move.
I look forward to hearing your guys opinion on my ideas and would like to hear your own ideas.

Kalen from the Sports Cave, SPREAD THE WORD

NFC West - Free Agent Moves That Need to Happen

As I wrote in one of my previous posts, the NFC West is unquestionably the worst division in football. All 4 of the teams in this division have a lot of work to do. Here are some free agent additions I think each of the teams should make. These additions should be taken in conjunction with the trades that I wrote about before. Hence, the following trades have occurred:
Arizona gets Carson Palmer, Seattle gets Kevin Kolb and the one change I wanted to make was St. Louis trades for Steve Smith of the Carolina Panthers instead of Chad OchoCinco. Smith has already stated he wants out, and while Smith is not drama free, he won't be as much a distraction as 85 and would provide a receiver that would fit perfectly with Sam Bradford. Also will add a trade the 49ers could explore in addition to a Free Agent signing.

 

The NFC West was a combined 25-39 last season, with 7-9 Seattle winning the division

Arizona Cardinals
Barrett Ruud - Middle Line Backer
The Cardinals added a franchise QB in Carson Palmer in my projected trades that need to happen. That along with the addition of RB Ryan Williams in the draft should go a long way to improving the offense. Now lets take a look at the defense. The Cardinals have one of the more talented secondaries in the NFL, and pro-bowl caliber lineman in Darnell Dockett. While Dockett is a vocal leader, they really need a strong presence in the Middle of the defense. With the departure of Karlos Dansby, there was a clear lack of talent at the linebacker position. Ruud, in my opinion, is perfectly suited to play in this defense, he racks up tackles and can make plays with INT's. One of the more underrated players in the NFL and could vault the Cardinals defense in to one of the better ones in the NFC. With adding Palmer and Ruud, the Cardinals would be a perfect candidate for bounce back team of the year. Something I also touched on in a previous post.


San Francisco 49ers
Jonathan Joseph - Corner Back
In the draft, the 49ers were hoping and praying that someway, somehow, LSU CB Patrick Peterson would fall to them at 7. This was not to be as the Cardinals took Peterson with the 5th overall pick. The 49ers did select talented sack artist in Aldon Smith. Now what the 49ers need is a top end CB. While the only 2 true shutdown CB's in the NFL are Darrelle Revis and Nnamdi Asomugha, Joseph would be an excellent addition to the 49ers defense. Joseph gets overlooked playing for the Bengals and playing beside Leon Hall, but he is one of the better CB's that doesn't get talked about.
While the Pass Rush was a problem for the 49ers last season, their secondary was the major weakness of the defense. By adding Aldon Smith and Jonathan Joseph, the defense under new coordinator Vic Fangio would get a huge talent injection, to go along with other excellent players in Patrick Willis, Justin Smith, Aubrayo Franklin (who the 49ers need to re-sign) and Takeo Spikes.

Jonathan Joseph would be the ideal consolation prize for the 49ers after missing out on Patrick Peterson in the draft

49ers trade 5th round pick to Tampa Bay Buccaneers for QB Josh Johnson
The reasoning behind this trade? 49ers HC Jim Harbaugh was Josh Johnson's college coach, and thus Johnson would be familiar with Harbaugh's offense. While I am not expecting Johnson to start, his impact would be more in helping the other QB's (Colin Kaepernick and Alex Smith) in learning Harbaugh's offense. With the shortened offseason the 49ers QB's will need all the help they can get and having a guy in the locker room who spent years with Harbaugh would be invaluable. Not only this, but it was in Harbaugh's offense which put JJ in the position to be drafted where he was, and I think back in this offense he would make for a solid backup QB in the long term behind Kaepernick. Also acquiring JJ means no more David Carr which is always a good thing for any team.


Seattle Seahawks
Logan Mankins - Offensive Guard
It appears to me that Mankins is not committed to staying with the Patriots, it also looks obvious that he is after a big payday. Well it just so happens that Seattle Seahawks owner Paul Allen is one of the richest men in the World and when it comes to his Seahawks he is not afraid to spend money. Recently Seattle has invested high draft picks to shore up the Offensive Tackle positions (Russell Okung at LT and draftee James Carpenter at RT), but questions still remain in the interior of the O-Line. By adding Mankins, Seattle would be regaining a LG and LT combo with the potential to be as dominant as Steve Hutchinson and Walter Jones were for years up in the Pacific Northwest.
If we take my projected trades, Seattle would have added Kevin Kolb, who would immediately become the franchise QB. Not only would adding Mankins help Kolb in the passing game, but he would be a vital piece in establishing an effective run game. Seattle's biggest problem on offense in 2010 was consistency, at times look great, and at times look awful. Improving at the QB position and adding 2 major additions to the O-Line (Mankins and Carpenter) would go a long way to making the Seattle offense that much more consistent.


St. Louis Rams
Darren Sproles - Running Back/Kick Returner
The future in St. Louis is all about Sam Bradford and putting him in the best position to succeed. Trading for Steve Smith, gives Bradford a legit pass catcher and by adding Sproles, the Rams would get a change of pace back who would compliment Steven Jackson perfectly. Sproles is a home run hitter in the run game, while Jackson is more of a bruiser who excels at pounding the defense for gains of 5-10 yards. Sproles will also be a huge help in the return game, putting Bradford and the Rams offense in better field position consistently.

The NFC West has essentially been the laughing stock of the NFL the last few years, highlighted last year by the winner having a pathetic 7-9 record. The first time ever a division winner having a losing record. I believe that with the trades and free agent signings made, that would go a long way to improving this division and bringing it back to respectable.

The NFC West - Trades That Should Happen

The NFC West is easily the worst division in football, after the draft not much has changed in that regard. Why is the NFC West the weakest division? Lets take a look at the projected starting QB's for the teams in the NFC West as it stands right now:
Arizona - John Skelton, San Francisco - Alex Smith, Seattle - Matt Hasselbeck and St.Louis - Sam Bradford. Besides for Bradford, the rest of the projected starters leave a lot to be desired. However, once the lockout is over and trades can happen, I can see the NFC West being extremely active in acquiring QB's. So these are my projected trade ideas.


Trade 1
Kevin Kolb to Seattle for two 2nd rounders and Matt Hasselbeck (essentially do a sign and trade). Lets look in to the reasoning of each team in this trade, and why it makes sense.
For Seattle - They need a new QB, the fact that they didn't draft any in April is telling to me. In this trade Seattle would get a young potentially franchise QB. Not only this, but they get a QB who is familiar with the West Coast Offense, so even in a shortened offseason, the transition to Seattle won't be too difficult for Kolb.

                Kevin Kolb would be a welcome addition to the Seattle Seahawks


For Philadelphia - I'm thinking behind the scenes in Philly that Kolb has been hinting at wanting out. He feels he deserves a starting job and he won't get that in Philly. So in this scenario, Philly gets two 2nd rounders and they get an excellent veteran in Hasselbeck. Should Vick go down during the season Hasselbeck would be an ideal back up for Andy Reid.

Trade 2
Carson Palmer to Arizona for 1st and 3rd round picks.
For Arizona - I keep reading on ESPN how the Cardinals will go get Kolb, but the better fit is definitely Carson Palmer. Now of course you guys reading will quickly think, "oh but the Bengals won't trade Palmer!" well I say read my post titled "The Carson Palmer Dilemma". Now the price is quite steep from a Cardinals perspective, but they showed how good they can be with an established veteran QB. Palmer has more years in him than Warner did when he took over the starting gig in Arizona. You know Fitzgerald is pushing for a big move to get a QB and not drafting a QB tells me they are looking at trade options. Ken Whisenhunt cannot afford another season like last year. They go with the big splash, and something tells me this move will keep him in Arizona for some time.

For Cincinnati - Andy Dalton is the QB of the future in Cincy, there is way too much bad blood between Carson Palmer and the Bengals organization to stay together. Eventually the Bengals will wise up and trade him. In this scenario they get some nice picks to build their franchise from. Odds are Cincy won't be too competitive starting the rookie Dalton. So having two 1st round picks, two 2nd round picks (explained later) and two 3rd round picks should go a long way to getting them back in playoff contention.

Now, not all the trades in this division will involve QB's, lets take a look at what else I think should happen.

Trade 3
Chad OchoCinco and 4th round pick to St. Louis for a 2nd round pick.
For St. Louis - Lets face it Sam Bradford needs weapons. He did a solid job with some not so spectacular options at WR. OchoCinco would instantly become the best WR on the team, would provide a reliable productive target for the young Sam Bradford and honestly, he would bring some media attention to the Rams. They have almost become forgotten after so many awful seasons. Now they are ready to take the leap in to the big stage.

                   How good would OchoCinco look in a St. Louis Rams uniform?

For Cincinnati - Its rebuilding time in Cincinnati, and they need a fresh start. They need to move on from Palmer and OchoCinco. Opposite to St. Louis, Cincinnati needs less unnecessary attention in the media while they get this team rebuilt. I can't imagine OchoCinco being too happy to get passes from a rookie with little to no workouts in the offseason. This trade helps give Cincy 2 picks in each of the first 3 rounds.

As for San Francisco, I don't project any major trades to occur for them and I don't think they should be looking for a big trade. Their future at QB is Colin Kaepernick, and they have a nice surrounding cast for him on offense with Gore, Vernon Davis and Crabtree. I do see them looking in Free Agency at a CB like Ike Taylor or Jonathan Joseph.