NFL Playoff Review and Look Ahead to Fantasy Football in 2008

It’s been an amazing three weeks of NFL playoffs. Three straight road wins for the Giants. The Pats, not looking spectacular, but good enough to stay unbeaten. The Cowboys, Colts, and Bucs proving that you should never, ever sit your starters down the stretch. (If this year doesn’t teach teams not to take weeks off, than nothing will.)

But if you look closer, you’ll also see there’s a lot to be learned going forward to the 2008 fantasy season as well. Here are some important things to take into consideration for next year.

Giants RB’s-If you are like me and were banking on Brandon Jacobs to be an RB1 next year, guess again. The Giants seem committed to not making Jacobs a feature back. Watching Ahmad Bradshaw, it’s hard to believe he didn’t have a single carry until week 12 and only 23 total on the season. Plus, Derrick Ward looked strong when he was healthy. We can now see why the Giants felt Ryan Grant was expendable. Jacobs looks like he’ll be nothing more than an RB2 next year, capable of occasional big days, but just not consistent enough to build your team around.

Plaxico Burress-It was a terrific year for Plaxico, with over a thousand yards and 12 touchdowns in the regular season. And that was despite playing almost the entire season on a bum ankle and with hardly any practice in between games. Now, Burress says he is feeling terrific and his record day against Green Bay proves it. Don’t be surprised to see Burress go as the 5th or 6th overall wide receiver at next year’s draft.

Eli Manning/Jeremy Shockey-Is it a coincidence that Eli has played his best football, possibly ever, since Shockey went down with a broken leg? Eli seems like the type that could be intimidated by someone as loud and obnoxious as Shockey and that could have a negative effect on the signal caller. Can’t you picture this discussion between Eli and Shockey following a Giants win.

Eli-“42-3! Great win, huh Jeremy?”
Shockey-“Yeah man. But didn’t you see me wide open on that 2nd and 8 play? And then, you just flat out missed me on that long drive in the fourth. Don’t let it happen again, okay?”
Eli-(stares at ground and nods in agreement, then goes to make Jeremy a sandwich)

There’s no reason to expect Shockey to be playing somewhere else next season, so Eli could go back into his shell in September.

Lawrence Maroney-Proving that he CAN and SHOULD be the man. Granted, the Patriots O-line is awesome and defenses are focusing on stopping the New England passing game, but Maroney has carried this team through the playoffs. And if given the chance, Maroney could be a top five RB. But there’s no reason for New England to change it’s offensive philosophy, which means Maroney likely will still be available in the mid to late second round.

Brett Favre-Despite having two top notch receivers, an up and coming tight end, a powerful offensive line and a breakout running back, Brett Favre proved he can still single handedly lose a game better than anybody. I’ll never really understand how he gets away with some of the things he does. If Eli was the one who threw those two god awful interceptions, he would have been fed to the monster in Cloverfield. But when it’s Favre, that’s just Brett being Brett. The Packers are the youngest team in the league and I know good QB’s don’t grow on trees. Favre put up decent fantasy numbers this year, but those around him could probably be doing even better with someone else under center.

Marvin Harrison/Reggie Wayne-We’ve all been waiting for the changing of the guard in Indy and 2007 was finally it. Harrison will be 36 at the start of next season and I can’t see how Wayne will return to playing second fiddle. Harrison will still be a strong play, but his days of being Peyton’s favorite target are over.

David Garrard-A lot of people were critical of Jack Del Rio when he released starter Byron Leftwich just days before the season started. But Garrard proved Del Rio right and then stepped it up another notch in the playoffs, leading his team to a win at Pittsburgh. Given a full season at the helm and more work with his young wide receivers, Garrard could become a weekly start in 2008.

Philip Rivers-More than anything, this postseason has shown that the Chargers are more than just LaDainian Tomlinson and some roid ragers. Rivers, playing with a torn up knee, came through time and time again, making some very tough throws and almost leading the Chargers to the Super Bowl. This despite not having the full services of the league’s best tight end Antonio Gates and the aforementioned LDT. (I can never call him LT again, just because the real LT would never have sat out a Championship game.)

Vincent Jackson-Jackson is fast like ninja and can leap like a jackrabbit. But if you drafted him this year, you were probably screaming at the television watching him turn into Lynn Swann in the playoffs. Jackson caught 18 balls for 300 yards and 2 touchdowns in three postseason games. Compare that with 41-623-3 in 16 regular season games. A lot of teams were counting on him this year and if you were one of them, you probably missed your playoffs. Jackson will be drafted as a WR3 next year, but I’m a glutton for punishment. Take the chance and hope he has turned that corner.

Titans Offense-To be blunt, it’s stinky. There isn’t a single decent receiver on the roster and the running backs are an injury waiting to happen. Vince Young is as athletic as they come and it would be nice to see what he could do with an above average target. But how this team made the playoffs is a mystery of mysteries. Chris Brown, LenDale White and Chris Henry are a fantasy owner’s nightmare. Not that they are lousy, but who is going to get the carries from week to week? Kicker Rob Bironas might be the most reliable player fantasywise. Go get a wide receiver Jeff Fisher and maybe we’ll talk. Otherwise, I’ll be staying the heck away.

Questions or Comments? Write me at garymacfantasygod@live.com