The only thing that can possibly match Tebow-mania is the recent building of the Legend of Russell Wilson.
The rookie passer has been recently named the starting quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks, ousting Matt Flynn who was expected to win the job. Wilson’s saving grace has been his mobility and his ability to create plays outside of the pocket.
Much has been made of his lack of prototype height and at [5'10" 5/8] he will be the shortest starting quarterback in the NFL but he’ll also be throwing to one of the weakest wide receiving corps in the league.
Wilson has performed well this pre-season against suspect defenses and with all the scrambling he’s already done, one has to wonder how long his small frame [203 lbs] can hold up to the punishment he’s going to absorb at the next level.
While there have been a number of people pointing out his lack of batted passes last year behind a extra large Wisconsin offensive line, Wilson only attempted 309 passes in a run-heavy offense that gave him a lot of space and time in the pocket to locate lanes to throw in their play-action passing game.
Wilson has athleticism that a lot of quarterbacks don’t have but that’s not going to allow him to sustain a continued success and at some point he’ll have to execute more of his passes from within the pocket and in tight quarters. Defenses will force the issue here and either force him out to a side of the field or play contain and test his arm.
When push comes to shove, Wilson’s scrambling and broken plays will only get him so far which will force him to rely on targets such as Sidney “Glass Shoulder” Rice, Braylon “Street Light” Edwards and Golden “Maple Bar” Tate.
I’d be shocked if Wilson makes it past week 5 as the starter and fully expect head coach, Tweet Carroll, to bench him in favor of Matt Flynn after the team can’t score any points.
Hold me to it and bash me in the comments now but something stinks of Tim Tebow to me here.
On an earlier show this month, Fantasy Football Weekly, we decided to talk about some of today’s top fantasy football producers and which of the all-time greats of the game they resemble.
(This was sparked by Favre comparing Romo to him.) We’ll talk about who each of these players compares to…. the top players and the value guys.
QUARTERBACKS
- Tom Brady – Reminds me a lot of Joe Namath. Tall statuesque passers that could kill you from the perspective that they could place a football anywhere on the field and as a vertical threat, he kept defenses honest and allowed the Jets running game to thrive.
- Drew Brees – A tough one because his uncanny accuracy is extremely unique and his knowledge and timing in the Saints offense has been flat out record breaking with some of the stuff he’s been able to do. A bit undersized and not as gifted an athlete, I’d have to throw an undersized Lenny Dawson out there. Just because of his consistency and the way he was able to take his game to a new level under his former coach Hank Stram.
- Aaron Rodgers – This one was easy for me. Steve Young. Rodgers is a big time athlete, he can make plays on the ground but he is possibly even more deadly accurate than Young was in his 49ers hayday.
- Jay Cutler – Sonny Jurgenson, Classic gun slinger with crazy arm strength and ball skills. Delivered an insanely pretty pass, very similar to Cutler but I’d still give the edge to Jay… that guy can spin it like no other.
- Carson Palmer – Dan Fouts, exudes control of the offense out there and even though people might forget it but Palmer was just as hyper productive as Fouts in his early years. Similar lack of presence against a pass rush but both have great deliveries.
RUNNINGBACK
- Arian Foster – I don’t mean this as an insult to Mr. Foster here so please focus just on the player and not the current person…. OJ Simpson. In his day the Juice could spot the back cut and devastate a team from the backside. His best attribute was his change of direction ability and acceleration. Read more…
I haven’t written anything at the site’s blog here in a while and since we’ve been hitting up the IDP content lately, it’s probably a good idea to transfer some of the notes into actual site content.
Here’s some news to note first…
- The Tennessee Titans have big plans for DE Kamerion Wimbley – Not only did Titans’ Jerry Gray, who spent a season in Seattle, compare Kamerion Wimbley to Chris Clemons but said that both players get off the ball extremely quick. If Clemons production is any indication, then Wimbley or Morgan could be due to rack up double digit sacks.
- Starting Safety is up for grabs in Miami – Now that veteran strong safety Yeremiah Bell is now playing for the Jets, there’s a wide open competition for his spot. While Reshad Jones has the inside track to the free safety spot, Tyrone Culver and former Vikings’ safety Tyrell Johnson will likely battle it out for the rights to the strong safety position. The early favorite looks to be Tyrone Culver but this is definitely one to watch all summer.
- Andre Branch is a rare rookie w/ an early shot at PT – The Jaguars newest player could end up being one of their most important. Great article here that gives you a little background on Branch and focuses on how little the Jaguars have at defensive end outside of Jeremy Mincey. Read more…
If you haven’t already entered the FF Weekly Playoffs Challenge, I recommend doing so immediately because www.TheFantasyExchange.com is giving away a prize package to the winner of the competition.
All you need to do to enter is post a comment in the section below or just e-mail joe@thefantasyexchange.com, type “PLAYOFFS” in the subject and you’re in!
You can also hit me up on twitter at @FantasyExchange to enter and keep up with the competition as it’s going on.
League Home Page: http://www27.myfantasyleague.com/2011/home/70549
RULES
This a Weekly Pick ‘Em pool that requires each owner to submit their best group of players each week to score the most points throughout all four weeks of the playoffs.
YOU CAN ONLY USE A PLAYER ONCE DURING THIS COMPETITION
It’s free to enter and you can play fantasy football in the post-season for a chance at a prize package, what more could you ask for? OK – I’ll work on getting some scantily clad women in the picture. 
Is it WAY too early to start thinking about 2012 rankings?
Maybe it is but that isn’t stopping our friend Shane P Hallam, who is compiling a master list of fantasy football experts and their initial PPR Rankings over at GOAheadScore.com.
Why not post some of these here at TFE? Well the following is my entry for the master list which cannot include rookies and is a limited number of players but it may be helpful if you, like Shane, also have an early draft to prepare for.
Feel free to rip these rankings in the comment section or just hit me up on twitter: @FantasyExchange
-
QBs
1. Aaron Rodgers
2. Drew Brees
3. Tom Brady
4. Matt Stafford
5. Tony Romo
6. Cam Newton
7. Philip Rivers
8. Michael Vick
9. Eli Manning
10. Ben Roethlisberger
11. Peyton Manning
12. Matt Schaub
13. Jay Cutler
14. Carson Palmer
15. Matt Ryan
16. Josh Freeman
17. Ryan Fitzpatrick
18. Sam Bradford
19. Andy Dalton
20. Joe Flacco
21. Mark Sanchez
22. Jake Locker
23. Christian Ponder
24. Kyle Orton
Read more…
On our last episode of “IDP Report Radio”, we brought up our initial 2012 Rankings and I had a lot of people asking where they can access that online.
Well, here’s my list from the show that includes extra sleeper picks just in case you would like to make fun of them at some point this off-season.
Don’t worry, this is NOT a final edition and you can expect some more extensive rankings when the draft is a little closer but until then, please enjoy ripping these apart…
Feel free to submit some feedback here or up on twitter: @FantasyExchange
-
• Defensive Linemen Rankings
1. Jared Allen-MIN
2. Jason Pierre-Paul-NYG
3. Terrell Suggs-BAL
4. Trent Cole-PHI
5. Justin Smith-SFO
6. Julius Peppers-CHI
7. Calais Campbell-ARI
8. Jeremy Mincey-JAX
9. Charles Johnson-CAR
10. Chris Long-STL
Read more…
