Vernon Davis' fantasy value:
I was listening to a fantasy football podcast from ESPN and a remark was made about not being that high on Vernon Davis because he has Alex Smith throwing to him. In the last two years, Davis has put up 1,879 yards and 20 TDs. And who was his quarterback for 20 of those 32 games? Oh that’s right, Alex Smith. Then again, Alex is entering his seventh year in the league. You’re usually a worse quarterback in your seventh year than in your fifth or sixth, right? Especially if you’ve replaced the worst head coach in the league, who knew nothing about offense, with an offensive minded coach. And if you’ve added another weapon on offense, in the form of Braylon Edwards, that opposing defenses have to account for. But yeah, this year Alex is really going to have a negative effect on Vernon.
Arizona's preseason ranking:
Most preseason rankings had the Arizona Cardinals finishing in second place in the NFC West. Unless Kevin Kolb is the second coming of Kurt Warner (which I’m going to guess he’s not), how do they foresee that happening? Since Arizona last won the division, they’ve lost Warner, Anquan Boldin, Antrel Rolle, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Karlos Dansby, Tim Hightower and Steve Breaston. They’ve added Kevin Kolb, Kerry Rhodes, Joey Porter, and Patrick Peterson. Kolb, Rhodes and Porter are downgrades from Warner, Rolle, and Dansby and Peterson’s just a rookie. Now, I’m not saying it’s impossible that Arizona finishes in second. But if you’re just looking at their team on paper, how on earth do you project them to do well? Their roster looks seriously downgraded from their previous playoff teams. And while they beat Carolina, they also gave up almost 500 yards to them. Anything can happen, but I just don’t get why people think Kevin Kolb makes up for all the other roster changes.
Peyton Manning's value:
I was listening to Mike & Mike last week and they talked about what kind of effect that Manning being out for the year would have on the Colts. They mentioned that it would have a more drastic effect on the team than the one Brady had when he missed the whole year. That parlayed into saying that Manning is more valuable than Brady. The problem I have with using this scenario as a comparison between Manning and Brady is that it’s not really about them. It’s about their back-ups. The man who stepped in for Brady that year was Matt Cassel. The man who will step in for Manning is Kerry Collins. One, it turns out, is a starting caliber quarterback who had been in the system for three years prior. The other is a just-retired player who has been in the system for three weeks. You don’t use the drop-off from Manning to Collins or Curtis Painter with Brady’s drop-off to Cassel to compare Manning and Brady's value to each other. That isn’t a commendation of Manning. It’s an indictment of his back-up. The true value of Manning and Brady should be done by comparing Manning and Brady. Not by comparing how the Patriots do with Cassel versus how the Colts do with Collins/Painter. Saying Manning is more valuable because his back-up is of less quality is meaningless. The Colts are worse off than the Patriots because they have a worse back-up quarterback. Not because they have a better starting quarterback.
Manning's injury may be Luck-y:
With news that Peyton Manning had a third neck surgery, people have suggested he just shut it down for the year. Not only would that be the best thing for him, but it could benefit the team long-term if it put them in a position to draft Andrew Luck. I hope that doesn’t happen. Since they’ve had Peyton, they’ve put no time into developing a backup quarterback. If that backfires on them while Peyton’s out, they deserve that. You can’t put all your eggs in one basket and not expect disaster when that basket breaks. But if that were to land them the best QB prospect out there, because it happened to be the year Luck was coming out, that would just be ridiculous. The best QB in the draft should go to the team that needs it in the near future. A team with a starting quarterback of Manning’s caliber should have to develop a quarterback that could eventually take over. Just like the Patriots did with Cassel and are doing with Mallet while they still have Brady, what the Packers did with Rodgers while they had Favre, and even what the Eagles did with Kolb while they had McNabb. Not have one fall in their lap while their star quarterback is injured.
On a positive football related note, the NFL had a very strong opening weekend. Not just in quality, but record breaking as well. Rodgers and Brees set a record for each having 300+ yards and 3 TDs with no interceptions during the same game on opening weekend. Ted Ginn Jr. became the first player to return a kickoff and a punt for a touchdown in the first game of the year. Cam Newton threw for 400+ yards, the most by a rookie in his first game. Sebastian Janikowski tied the NFL record with a 63-yard field goal. Dallas lost for the first time in history when leading by 14+ points in the 4th quarter, bringing their overall record to 241-1-1. And Brady threw for 500+ yards, which is a team record. There's definitely worse ways to kick off a new season than with half a dozen historic happenings. Should be a good year.
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