Fantasy Football Projections, Week 1: Quarterbacks to Watch (2010)
September 1, 2010 by The Sports Watchers
TheSportsWatchers.com: This post was published 1 year 5 months 9 days ago which may make it irrelevant to your fantasy football inquiry. For up to date fantasy football projections and predictions, go to our homepage at TSW Fantasy Football. 
In Week 1 of the NFL season, it is very important to watch players that are not on your fantasy football team. Why? Because this is where you can make your moves. As much as everyone wants to hype up the importance of fantasy football drafts, so long as you don’t “F” it up, the draft can’t hurt your long-term prospects. It’s missing out on favorable waiver wire pick-ups and potential fantasy football trades that will have you reeling by the end of the 2010 fantasy football season. With that in mind, here are a couple of quarterbacks to watch during Fantasy Football Week 1.
Fantasy Quarterback to Watch: Matt Cassel, Kansas City Chiefs
Opponent: San Diego Chargers
What to watch for: Matt Cassel did not exactly have the best of years in 2009. He was serviceable and wasn’t the worst guy in the world, but he was far from being the guy the Kansas City Chiefs expected to be when they gave him millions of dollars after his (average) season in New England. In 2010, the heat gets turned up. As much as people don’t want to say it, this could be a make a break year for Cassel. I’m not saying that he won’t get another chance after the 2010 NFL season, but he certainly won’t be pre-awarded any starting quarterback jobs in the near future if this season is a bust.
However, things can get off to a good start for Cassel in 2010. The Chiefs Week 1 matchup is against a Chargers defense that was anything but superb last season. With holes in both the secondary and at the linebacker position, the potential for big plays are there. If Cassel gets any kind of help from running backs Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones (and he should), the passing game should be wide open and the opportunities for Cassel to find Dwayne Bowe and Chris Chambers will be plentiful. If Cassel can’t make the best of that situation, that is going to put some serious question marks around his long-term potential as a fantasy football quarterback. If you get less than 200 yards from Cassel in Fantasy Football Week 1, either trade him away or don’t trade for him if he’s on somebody else’s team. On the flip side, a 200-yard passing game, as mediocre as that is, is just enough to know that Cassel has the potential to put your fantasy football team over the top late in the 2010 fantasy football season.
Fantasy Quarterback to Watch: Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings
Opponent: New Orleans Saints
What to watch for: Oh, if ever there were a quarterback to watch for fantasy football purposes, that guy is Brett Favre in Fantasy Football Week 1. With a bum ankle, a short training camp and plenty of head coach controversy, one has to wonder if the Minnesota Vikings and their quarterback are ready for what might be a bumpy season. With rumors swirling around that Favre wants to be able to check out of run plays more often, I’m not so sure the gunslinger is going to have the highly efficient season he had last year. Not to mention, the 2010 fantasy football season already has been unkind to Favre and the Vikings passing game. There’s no Sidney Rice to start the season. Percy Harvin has head issues. And I’m still not sure the Vikings have answered questions at the left tackle position.
All that being said, what you should really watch for is how the Vikings get played. Do teams still come into the 2010 NFL season fearing running back Adrian Peterson and filling the box, or are they more likely to defend the passing game of Favre and the Vikings. Without Rice in the lineup, the odds say that teams are going to put 8 men in the box to stop Peterson and the Vikings rushing attack. If that’s the case, Favre will have his opportunities to throw down the field in Week 1, and we will see just what kind of execution both Favre and the Vikings secondary receivers are bringing to the table. If it doesn’t look good, you might want to consider making one of the first fantasy football trades of the season, and shipping Favre out while you still can.
