DUDE REPORT: Fantasy Football

This is my fifth dude report and it is the fifth that is about sports. This serves as evidence that I am a sports nut. Basketball, baseball, football…I like it all. To take the “nuttiness” to a higher level I enjoy playing fantasy football. Those of you who don’t like football particularly fantasy football, because you think it is something sports nerds use as an extra excuse to analysis stats, because it makes your spouse cheer for odd players on odd teams, or because it make for a frantic hour on the computer before Sunday’s noon kickoff to make sure the lineup is set…you are right on all accounts.

With that all said, my two sports fan highlights of the year are filling out my NCAA March Madness bracket and drafting my fantasy football team. Nutty, nerdy, over the top…guilty on all charges!??! Below are my predictions for this year’s fantasy football season.

If after all that ranting you are interested in giving fantasy football a try or looking to join another league, I would love to offer ESPN’s Gridiron Challenge. It is free, fun, and not too time consuming. I have started a group: Winneconne, etc with the password: packers. (Background: Winneconne is the name of my home town in Wisconsin. I am a Packer fan.)

Before we dive into more sports, I wanted confirm that I still have plans to take the DUDE REPORT into dude topics beyond sports. Grilling, landscaping, and why we all should demand Hollywood make Anchorman 2 to list a few future topic examples!?!?

Booms: (Players who will exceed expectations this year)
QB: Tony Romo, DAL
RB: DeAngelo Williams, CAR & Jonathan Stewart, CAR
RB: Michael Turner, ATL
WR: Greg Jennings, GB
WR: Hakeem Nicks, NYG
TE: Jason Witten, DAL
K: Matt Prater, DEN
DEF: San Francisco 49ers

Busts: (Players that may still have good years, but will underperform to expectations)
QB: Eli Manning, NYG
RB: Rashard Mendenhall, PIT
RB: Ryan Grant, GB
WR: Larry Fitzgerald, ARI
WR: Mike Sims-Walker, JAC
TE: Owen Daniels, HOU
K: Jay Feely, ARI
DEF: Denver Broncos

Sleepers: (Late round picks or players no one is talking about that will make an impact)
QB: Kevin Kolb, PHI
RB: Arian Foster, HOU
RB: Cadillac Williams, TB
WR: Jeremy Maclin, PHI
WR: Jacoby Jones, HOU
TE: Jermaine Gresham, CIN
K: Neil Rackers, HOU
DEF: Cincinnati Bengals