Tennessee Titans

2013 Season: 7-9

Tennessee Titans

  The Titans finished 2nd in a weak AFC South Division.  First round draft pick QB Jake Locker has started only 18 games entering his 4th season.  Was put on injured reserved week 7 of the season then entered Ryan Fitzpatrick.  Chris Johnson had a hard time keeping adjusted to not having a consistent play at QB and even more questions at the wide receiver position.  Nate Washington caught 58 passes for 919 yards but not enough to be a frequent target for either QB.  Defensively they were 10th in stopping the pass at 225 yards per game.  Played mediocre at best against the run allowing the 3rd most rushing touchdowns in the league with 21.  Bernard Pollard in his 1st season with the Titans had 99 tackles 3 interceptions stepped in to make an impression with the absence of Michael Griffin for most of the season.

Key Additions:  Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt, RT Michael Oher, RB Dexter McCluster, LB Shaun Phillips 

Key Losses:  Chris Johnson, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Kenny Britt

Fantasy Players to Watch:  TE Delanie Walker, RB Dexter McCluster

2014 Season Outlook:  Coming into the season with a new head coach and a QB fresh off a season ending surgery, I don't really expect a whole lot.  Bringing over Shaun Phillips from Denver in his 11th season 79.5 career sacks will help this defense with stopping the run better.  Michael Griffin and Bernard Pollard in the secondary if healthy can be a tough team to pass on.  When it's all said and done it depends once again on the health of Jake Locker.  He has yet to prove to be improving because he stays injured.  Delanie Walker had an immediate impact last season with career highs with 60 catches 571 yards and 6 td's.  He will need to bring that again this season.  They bring in RT Michael Oher from Baltimore to beef up protection and experience alongside LT Michael Roos entering his 10th season.  Losing Chris Johnson will be a blow as they look to have Shonn Greene be the feature back.  Bringing in Dexter McCluster gives them a weapon for Special teams.  He had a league best 686 punt return yards with the Chiefs last season.  In Whisenhunt's first season might be difficult and if Locker doesn't succeed the team will spiral to a 4-12 record.

Detroit Lions

2013 Season:  7-9

Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions were 1-7 in the 2nd half of the season.  They had the upper hand in the NFC North division for much of the season but then hit a downward spiral.  They have the best Wide Receiver in the game in Calvin Johnson who was 3rd in receiving yards.  He had a great season with 84 catches, 1,492 yards 12 td's, and averaged 17.8 yards per catch.  Matthew Stafford who was 3rd in the league in passing yards with 4,650 yards threw 19 interceptions 29 touchdowns.  Reggie Bush's first year with the team turned out to be a great fit for the team.  Bush ran for 1,006 yards 4 td's and 54 catches out the backfield.  Joique Bell was a good spell back for Bush getting 8 rushing td's.  The offensive line allowed the 2nd fewest sacks with 23.  The offense kept the team in some games and lost some.  

The 16th ranked defense played mediocre and undisciplined which was the reason in my mind along with poor coaching decisions during games, is why they didn't make the playoffs.  They were 31st in the league in total tackles.  Suh ended with 5.5 sacks 49 tackles and a lot of penalties.  Deandre Levy lead the team with 6 interceptions while Stephen Tulloch lead the team in tackles with 135, 8th in the league.

Key Additions:  WR Golden Tate, Head Coach Jim Caldwell

Fantasy Players to Watch:  WR Calvin Johnson, QB Matthew Stafford, RB Reggie Bush, RB Joique Bell, WR Golden Tate

2014 Season Outlook:  This can be a sneaky team this season.  They were in a position to make a statement last season but couldn't capitalize.  Bringing in Jim Caldwell to call the shots and adding Super Bowl winner Golden Tate who had 898 yards off 64 catches on last season enters his 5th season partnering with Megatron.  Matthew Stafford shows blurs of eliteness but falls short.  He will have a good front line. The offense returns the 2nd fewest sacks allowed offensive line featuring Dominic Raiola, who has only missed 4 starts since 2002 teams his experience with LG Rob Sims.  This offense will be explosive.  Reggie Bush if stays healthy will be a perfect fit for Caldwell's offense. 

 The defense will have to play better primarily in the secondary.  DB's Rashean Mathis and Deandre Levy will look to slow down pass happy offenses. With all the talent this team have and new coaching staff and philosophy this team will make some noise this season.  Wild card playoff team at 9-7

Baltimore Ravens

2013 Season:  8-8

Baltimore Ravens

  The 2012 Super Bowl Champs lost a lot of talent with Ed Reed and Ray Lewis exiting the team.  Played mediocre all season but fell to 2-6 on the road.  Typically if you have a good running game, you can win some games on the road.  Super Bowl MVP QB Joe Flacco signed a huge contract in the off season and the team put him into a huge role.  He threw the ball more than he ever has with 614 passing attempts, sacked 48 times (2nd in the league), 22 int's (2nd in the league), but threw for 3,912 yards which is his most ever.  Ray Rice didn't bring it like he did the previous years to help Joe out from the backfield.  Defense was average at best.  Lardarius Webb came in with 74 tackles 22 Pass deflections.  Terrell Suggs trying to fill Ray Lewis place was tough but he came along well with 80 tackles 10 sacks.  The Ravens fail to make the playoffs which seems to be a usual the year after a team wins a Super Bowl.

Key Additions:  Steve Smith, C.J Mosley

Fantasy players to watch for:  QB Joe Flacco, WR Torrey Smith, WR Steve Smith, K Justin Tucker, BAL D/SPT

2014 Season Outlook:  The Ravens will be a good team this season.  Defensively last season 10th in stopping the run.  DT Haloti NGata at 6'4 340lbs and DE Chris Canty at 6'7 317lbs is a lot of force to have a running game on.  OLB Elvis Dumervil and ILB Daryl Smith both in their 2nd season with the team will be more comfortable with the system.  Daryl Smith ended the season with 123 tackles and 3 picks.  The front 7 will be the best in the league, drafting LB C.J Mosley.  WR Steve Smith enters his 14th season from the Carolina Panthers for all of his years grabbed 64 passes for 745 yards.  Add him to a receiving corps that stepped up and caught a lot of balls.  Torrey Smith 65 catches and 1,128 yards partnered with Marlon Brown who caught 7 td's as a rookie gives Flacco a lot to throw to.  But the off season Ray Rice gate could be a distraction.  Suspended only 2 games for an intolerable act Ray Rice leaves a gap for the running game.  That will be in question along with protecting Flacco.  They have one of the best kickers in the game in Justin Tucker who hit a 61 yarder last season hit 38/41 field goals.  Looks like they can pull off a Wild Card berth losing a first round game 10-6

Dallas Cowboys

Dallas Cowboys

2013 Season:  8-8

In Jason Garrett's 3rd and critical season, the Cowboys had the 6th most TD's scored in the league last season and dead last on defense allowing 415 yards per game.  They dueled with the Broncos and loss 51-48.  This game defined their season last year.

  Tony Romo threw for 506 yards and 5 td's, they ran 14 rushing plays for 52 yards, gave up over 400 passing yards, and 103 rushing yards.  Romo had 31:10 td to int ratio, which is not bad for him, but the defense stunk up the league. They also strayed away from the run in crucial situations for example when they played the Packers having the game all but lost then literally threw the game away instead of running out time on the clock.  They finished 5-1 in a bad division and had a chance to seal up a playoff spot with a win at home against Philly but lost 22-24.  For the 3rd year in a row they lost the last game of the season.

Key Additions:  Rolando Mcclain

Key Losses:  Demarcus Ware, Miles Austin, Sean Lee (ACL)

Fantasy Players to watch for:  Tony Romo, Dez Bryant, Demarco Murray

2014 season outlook:  Things looking really hazy down in Dallas.  Tony Romo had off season back surgery.   His health will be of uncertainty every time he steps on the field.  They went out and signed Brandon Weeden for security of some sorts.  LT Tyron Smith will play a pivotal role by protecting Romo's blind side and RT Doug Free have to be major as well.  Dez Bryant had a pretty good year with 93 catches for 1,233 yards.  After all said and done the Cowboys will need to RUN the BALL!  DeMarco Murray averaged 5.2 yards per carry, 1,121 yards, 9 TD's and 53 receptions in 14 games.  Jason Witten who has missed only 2 games since 2004 grabbed 73 receptions for 8 touchdowns will be key in being a dual threat for blocking and catching.  

Losing the best player on the defensive side doesn't seem to help their cause at all. The defense will be horrible again this season.  Losing Ware and now recently losing Sean Lee for the season spells trouble.  They will need to play lights out on offense to have a chance in this league but defense will lose a lot of games.  5-11

NY Jets

New York Jets

2013 Season: 8-8

Last season was was deemed the Geno project for Rex Ryan and crew.  Rookie Geno Smith won the starting job from Mark Sanchez at the start of the season with a lot of uncertainty.  After waiting until the final week of preseason to name a starter, Rex Ryan put a lot of faith in his young QB and stuck with him throughout the entire season.  Geno ended up being sacked 43 times.  The team finished tied for 2nd in the AFC East and barely missed the playoffs.  When Geno played bad he played terrible, but when he was just ok the team played well. 

With a 25th ranked offense being inconsistent struggling to score points, the defense was the 3rd best against the rush allowing only 88 yards per game.  The biggest problem, Geno had no one to throw to.  Leading receiver Jeremy Kerley ended the season with only 43 receptions.  With 2,158 rushing yards Chris Ivory and Bilal Powell lead the backfield to 6th in the league for total rushing yards.  They made a name for themselves last season.  But the biggest hole to fill on this team was at receiver.  

Key Additions:  Chris Johnson, Eric Decker, Mike Vick

Key Losses:  Santonio Holmes

Fantasy Players to watch for:  Chris Johnson, Eric Decker, Jets Defense

2014 Season Outlook:  Last season was nothing short of a confidence builder for Geno.  He threw 12 td's and 21 interceptions.  Not a good ratio.  With 1,288 yards and 11 touchdowns Eric Decker will need to step his game up to be the number 1 receiver.  Adding Chris Johnson puts a lot of speed on the offensive side of the ball, look for him to have a breakout year in receptions not so much rushing.  Nick Mangold and D'Brickashw Ferguson both entering their 9th season will bring their experience and size to help protect Geno so he can read defenses better.  This season Geno enters with Mike Vick breathing down his neck for the starting job.  With added weapons around him, Geno will be a little bit better and make smarter decisions.  

   Rex Ryan keeps a good strong defense with his teams.  This linebacker combo probably one of the tops in the league this season.  David Harris and Calvin Pace lead the way.  Calvin Pace entering his 12th season had 10 sacks last season, while David Harris lead the team with 124 tackles.  Dee Milliner enters his 2nd season leading the way in the secondary.  He has already claimed to be the best Corner coming into this season, we will see.  If he is I think this team will make a run.  Out of the first 6 weeks of the season, 4 of them are home.  At this point I think they will be a 9-7 team and barely miss the playoffs again.  

New York Giants

New York Giants

2013 Season:  7-9

  In the NFC Least division this New York team started the season very rocky but ended on a particularly high note.  The Giants started the season losing their first 6 games.  Eli struggled mightily throwing 18 td's and 27 interceptions getting sacked 39 times.  The 28th ranked offense was 3rd in the NFC east division.  Not having a decent consistent running game ending up being the biggest hurt to the team.  Victor Cruz with 998 yards 4td's partnered with Rueben Randle who had 41 catches for 6td's.  

  Defensively, Mathias Kiwanuka with 41 tackles and 6 sacks with Antrell Rolle who had 98 tackles and 6 interceptions were the anchors of the defense.  Justin Tuck with 63 tackles and 11 sacks didn't get a lot of help from Jason Pierre-Paul who was pretty much absent all last season.  Overall, if Eli would've played a little bit better, this team maybe should have been in the playoffs.  But with a new back in the backfield each week the wheels never got rolling for the Giants.

Key Additions:  Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Quintin Demps, Mario Manningham

Key Losses:  Justin Tuck

Fantasy Players to watch:  Rashad Jennings, Victor Cruz, Eli Manning

2014 Outlook:  New offensive coordinator may spell some miscommunications and confusion for the offense.  Signing running back Rashad Jennings helps things a little bit for this offense that had a bad backfield.  It will be important to keep him healthy for them to succeed.  Last season Jennings rushed for 733 yards 6td's along with 36 receptions.  Catching out of the backfield will be a good bailout so Eli can bail himself out of the sacks he may face.  LT Will Beatty and RT Justin Pugh started all 16 games last season will need to bring their experience and more to this offensive line.  Receiving corp added Mario Manningham back to the mix from the 49er's.  Eli will have the weapons and the defense will struggle.  

  Adding Quintin Demps from the Chiefs and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie from Denver gives a big helping hand to a empty defense.  MLB Jon Beason hopes to be back for the season opener, but has been facing lots of injuries in the past seasons.  I expect another struggling season for Eli and the gang.  5-11

St. Louis Rams

St. Louis Rams

2013 Season: 7-9

The Rams in the same tough division as the Super Bowl champions NFC West and QB out for the season after 7 weeks still had a chance to get into the playoffs up until the end of the season.  The 30th passing offense in the league struggled in their division going 1-5.  

They were good on defense with Robert Quinn, Jake Long, and James Laurinaitis stopping offenses.  They ranked 3rd in the league in team sacks with 53.  Robert Quinn with 19 sack was a half a sack behind the league leader. 

 The departure of Stevan Jackson left big shoes to fill, but Zac Stacy stepped up with 973 yards rushing 26 receptions.  Speedy Tavon Austin made some plays in his rookie season playing in 13 games grabbing 40 catches for 4 touchdowns. 

 The team had the 4th most penalty yards.  That and a hurt QB early in the season doesn't help your team win football games.

Key Additions:  Kenny Britt, Greg Robinson, Tre Mason

Key Losses:  Daryl Richardson

Fantasy Players to watch for:  Zac Stacy, Tavon Austin

2014 Season Outlook:  The Rams have the 3rd toughest schedule this season.  The uncertainty of Sam Bradford while being in as tough as a division as they are in makes the season outlook really cloudy.  Adding Greg Robinson from Auburn will help to keep the QB protected combining his youth with LT Jake Long's experience.  Tre Mason was my favorite RB last season in college and he joins his teammate.  The offense adds Kenny Britt to the receiving corps.  It's the defensive side of the ball that I think will be the strength of the team.  

Chris Long off one end and Robert Quinn coming off the other is a force.  MLB James Laurinaitis has started every game of his career now entering his 6th season, last season had 116 tackles.  Not to be outdone LOLB Alec Ogletree ended up with 117 tackles.  Youth in the secondary and Sam Bradford has me thinking not to highly of this team.  I think this will be a 6-10 team.

Buffalo Bills

Buffalo Bills

2013 Season:  6-10

The Bills were in a lot of close games last season.  E.J Manuel started 10 games looked decent throughout. Injuring his knee in the game against the Browns caused him to miss 5 weeks   He took a beating being sacked 28 times  The defense was the 10th best defense racking up 57 sacks which ranked 2nd in the league.  Kiko Alonso 3rd in the league with 159 tackles, Mario 4th in the league in sacks and Kyle Williams put this team on their back and tried to carry them through a competitive AFC east division.  

Key Additions:  Mike Williams, Brandon Spikes, Sammy Watkins

Key Losses:  Stevie Johnson, Kiko Alonso (ACL)

Fantasy Players to watch for:  Sammy Watkins, C.J Spiller, Fred Jackson, Bills Defense

2014 Season:  Andre Reed one of my favorite wide receivers to watch got inducted into NFL Hall of Fame.  Kiko Alonso tore his ACL during a workout put an end to his season.  E.J Manuel back healthy and has received a talented rookie wideout in Sammy Watkins.  If these 2 can stay healthy this team has potential to make some noise in the league.  Left tackle Cordy Glenn and Right Tackle Erik Pears entering his 9th season have a huge task to keep EJ upright.  Last season the Bills were 2nd in the league in rushing with 144 yards per game.  This was without C.J Spiller for majority of the season.  Fred Jackson ran in 9 touchdowns last season 6th in the league.  Offensively they look pretty tough.

The addition of Brandon Spikes from New England will help the void of Kiko.  Though they are going to miss his presence on the field.  Mario and Kyle Williams will put pressure on QB's forcing mistakes.  With the combination of a good defense and a pretty good offense, I think this team will be pretty good.  With a home friendly schedule this will be a playoff team at 9-7

Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota Vikings

2013 Season:  5-10-1

'There's no place like home' seemed to be the slogan for the Vikings last season, finishing the year 0-7-1 on the road.  Right after the tie with the Packers I immediately wanted to forget that it ever happened, but it did.  Their 2nd meeting ended in a 26-26 tie. 

The Vikings said good bye to the Metrodome after playing there for 32 years.  They also said goodbye to 3rd year head coach Leslie Frazier and Jared Allen.  Allen finished 7th in the league with 11.5 sacks.

In 14 games Adrian Peterson rushed for 1,266 yards, which was 2nd in the league.  Coming off a magical 2012 season where he was only 9 yards shy of breaking the all time season rushing record Peterson entering his 8th season increased his mileage behind 3 different quarterbacks.  Christian Ponder stunk up the 1st half of the season, then entered Matt Cassel who stepped up stunk it up but bounced back at the end of the season, Josh Freeman for a very brief stint got a chance to stink it up as well.  Greg Jennings in his 1st season with the team led the team with 68 receptions 804 yards.  Vikings were the 13th ranked offense in yards per game but 10th in the league in fumbles.  All of that with possibly the best running back ever in their backfield.   

Defensively they were the 2nd worst.  Injuries and youth in the secondary really hurt the Vikings chance to be a good team on defense.  Chad Greenway anchored the defense, was 10th in the league in tackles with 134 tackles.  Lost a few close games that could be remedied with experience and health on both sides of the ball.

Key Additions:  Anthony Barr, Mike Zimmer, Linval Joseph, Captain Munnerlyn, Linval Joseph, Teddy Bridgewater

Key Losses:  Leslie Frazier, Jared Allen, Kevin Williams, Toby Gerhart

Fantasy players to watch:  Adrian Peterson, Greg Jennings, Cordarrelle Patterson, Kyle Rudolph

2014 Season Outlook:  As the new stadium is under construction, Vikings will have to play outside in the Gophers TCF Bank Stadium.  Late in the season it will be some cold cold games.

The Vikings brought in a Defensive coordinator to be Head coach to help steam this defense with Mike Zimmer.  They also drafted Anthony Barr from UCLA in the 1st round.  Went out and got CB Captain Munnerlyn from the Panthers, entering his 6th season, recorded 74 tackles and 2int's with Carolina last season.  He will make a huge impact in the young secondary with a healthy S Harrison Smith and CB Xavier Rhodes.  They also added DT Linval Joseph from the Giants to line up with the young Shariff Floyd to help plug the middle.  So they lost some very good experienced players in Jared Allen and Kevin Williams, but they replaced them with some pretty good talent.  Chad Greenway have been playing lights out during his career entering his 8th season recording 899 tackles throughout his time with the Vikings.  The defense will be a lot better than 2nd worst from a year ago.

The offense is strapped with arguably the best Running Back in history Adrian Peterson.  Matt Cassel at this point is the starter, but drafting Bridgewater will help to keep the pressure on him if he's not performing well.  It will be a smart idea to build Teddy up before throwing him in the fire. Cassel will need to have significant protection on the offensive line because he will be surrounding with some weapons.  Cordarrelle Paterson will be a weapon on Special teams and on offense that the league will know who he is by season's end.  The league will not want to punt to Marcus Sherels watch out if he catches one or intercepts a pass.  Kyle Rudolph back healthy will get attention away from Greg Jennings which will open up defenses around the league.  In the toughest division in football, I think the Vikings will make a lot of noise if the defense plays ok.  A little biased yes! But I see a 11-5 season and an exit in the NFC championship game   

Cleveland Browns

Cleveland Browns

2013 Season:  4-12

Josh Gordon took this team and league by storm last season.  He led the league with 1,646 yards, caught 87 receptions and 9 touchdowns.  He also had 3 different starting quarterbacks throwing him the ball, not at the same time but if it was he probably can catch all 3 at the same time.  
The Browns ended last season as the 9th ranked defense in the league and the last team in AFC North Division.  Their 3 QB's were sacked for the third most times in the league with being sacked 49 times.  Brian Hoyer seemed to bring the team along with 615 yards passing for his 3 games but ACL tear took him out for the year sending the team in a downward spiral.  Finished with 7 game losing streak ending the season 1-7 on the road.  

Key Additions: Karlos Dansby, Miles Austin,  Donte Whitner, Johnny Manziel, Ben Tate, Justin Gilbert

Key Losses:  Josh Gordon?  D'Qwell Jackson

Fantasy Players to watch:  Josh Gordon?, Miles Austin, Browns Defense, Ben Tate

2014 Season Outlook:  Lots of questions coming into the season for this team.  Josh Gordon still waiting word back the league from an appeal of a year long suspension, which QB will start the season, where will Lebron be?  

Smart offseason transactions to help boost the team drafting speedy Corner Justin Gilbert and Johnny Manziel also acquiring Karlos Dansby from Arizona, last season collected 122 tackles, 6.5 sacks, 4 int's.  They combined his experience with Safety Donte Whitner and WR Miles Austin for the offense.  Justin Gilbert who ran a 4.3 at the combine will learn fast on the job partnering with Joe Haden to help the defense return back to form from last season.  Whoever starts the season at QB will need to stay upright a lot more this season.  Ben Tate was signed to tote the load which should open some opportunities for young backs to make a name.

  

The Offensive line is the most important piece to this team.  LT Joe Thomas has started every game in all of his 7 seasons.  Just a few more points here and there while staying healthy would've changed their record from a year ago.  This season it all weighs on if Josh Gordon plays.  I will base my record outlook on if he receive half season suspension and Manziel starting at least 6 games.  8-8     

Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta Falcons

2013 Season:  Matt Ryan completed the 3rd most passes in the NFL last season with 439, but unfortunately he thew the 7th most interceptions in the league with 17.   Ryan was sacked 44 times, 3rd most in the league.  

After finishing 1st in the NFC south division in 2012 and finishing the season so close to the Super Bowl, Falcons fell to a low in their franchise for the 2013 season.   Injuries and poor defensive play sacked the team.  The defense ranked 27th last season.  Julio Jones started with 41 catches 580 yards in only 5 games before going down with season ending foot injury.  Roddy White also went down with injury after hauling in 63 receptions for 711 yards.  Steven Jackson was added to the roster but also got a bite of the injury bug after catching 33 passes from Ryan.  Tony Gonzalez grabbing 83 receptions 859 yards and 8TD's in his final season was the best thing about watching the Falcons last season, Hall of Fame talent indeed.  

Key Additions:  Devin Hester, Jake Matthews

Key Losses:  Tony Gonzalez, Asante Samuel 

Fantasy Players to Watch for:  Julio Jones, Roddy White, Devin Hester, Steven Jackson, Matt Ryan, Jacquizz Rodgers

2014 Season Outlook:  Falcons had to solve the problem of getting Matt Ryan sacked 44 times last season.  They Picked up Jake Matthews 1st round to create the needed stability with Justin Blalock whose only missed 2 games in 7 seasons.  Matt Ryan will need protection.  He found plenty weapons to throw to when he got the chance to.  Tony Gonzalez left big cleats to fill.  Harry Douglas and Jacquizz Rodgers stepped up showed they belong when Jones went down.  Matt Ryan in his 7th season has proven he is an elite qb but hasn't yet reached the big game.  He is surrounded with a duo of big time wide receivers and now to add Devin Hester to the mix.  If this offense can stay healthy, watch out.

The defense on the other hand, needed more of a boost.  Watch out for Ra'Shede Hageman, 6'6 318 lbs rookie DE from Minnesota.  Osi Umenyiora comes in his 12th season with 82.5 sacks will anchor the defense.  Youth in the secondary have me wondering if this will be the same defense as last season.  It will be a really good offense and special teams but defense will hurt them in some games.  Much improvement from last season and a better Matt Ryan I see 9-7.

Oakland Raiders

Oakland Raiders

2013 Season:  4-12

The Raiders were out-manned most of their games last season.  The final 9 games of the season they were 1-9 allowing 389 yards per game.  They ended the year the 22nd ranked defense in the league, 23rd offensively.  As much as they struggled on defense they struggled just as much on offense.  They were 5th in offensive penalties.  Matt Flynn was the projected starter at the beginning of the season but he ended up getting traded after Terrelle Pryor won the starting job.  Things fell apart in Oakland

Key Additions:  Justin Tuck, Lamarr Woodley, Greg Little, Matt Schaub, Maurice-Jones Drew, Carlos Rodgers, James Jones

Key Losses:  Rashad Jennings, Terrelle Pryor

Fantasy Players to watch for:  Maurice-Jones Drew, Rod Streeter, Sebastian Janikowski, Darren McFadden, Raider Defense

2014 Season outlook:  This team has added some pieces this off season that puts them into a position to make some things happen on both sides of the ball.  Added 1st round draft pick LB Khalil Mack to help boost the defense.  Justin Tuck and Lamar Woodley coming off both edges adds experience and a lot of sacks.  Tuck with 60.5 career sacks 11 last season and LaMarr Woodley with 57 career sacks.  MLB Nick Roach ended with 112 tackles is now surrounded with talent on the Dline now also in the secondary.  Raiders adding Carlos Rodgers from the 49'ers combines his 17int's and 9 years of experience to Charles Woodson's 56 career int's and 16 seasons.  This defense will be tough and the offense adding some new faces is up in the air at this point. 

 Matt Schaub the new starter in town with David Carr being a safety blanket.  They went out and signed experience also on the Offensive line.  Adding 9th year LT Donald Penn from Tampa and 5th year RG Austin Howard from the Jets, both started all 16 games last season.  Denarius Moore and Rod Streeter are now joined with James Jones and Greg Little. The WR are stacked with speed.  The Raiders have the toughest strength of schedule going into this season.  In their tough division they will be good but will need one more year to gel as a team.  My projected finish for them is 6-10  

Tampa Bay Bucs

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

2013 Season:  4-12

Greg Schiano's team was equipped with a team from the 2012 season that seemed promising.  Josh Freeman started the season at QB but ended up tanking being traded to the Vikings.  Rookie Mike Glennon got the job and led them to be the worst offense and ranked dead last in passing. They began the season with 8 losses.  Doug Martin suffered season ending injury which gave a chance for Bobby Rainey to come on the scene and make an impression.  The Revis project didn't go as well as expected recording 50 tackles and 2 interceptions.  Darelle Revis exited out after the season to New England.

Key Additions:  Lovie Smith, Mike Evans, Josh McCown

Key Losses:  Darelle Revis, Mike Williams

Fantasy Players to Watch for:  Vincent Jackson, Doug Martin, Josh Mccown

2014 Season outlook:  Lovie brings his defensive mind set to a team that wasn't all that bad a year ago.  Lavonte David is a beast at outside linebacker bringing his 145 tackles and 7 sacks last season to join Gerald McCoy.  They bring in Mike Jenkins to help replace Revis as well as Michael Johnson from the Bengals.  Leslie Frazier was brought in to be the defensive coordinator.  Mike Evans was drafted to go along side Vincent Jackson at Wide receiver.  New QB Josh McCown, who had a good year filling in for Jay Cutler last year, will have a speedy healthy backfield.  Doug Martin healthy and Bobby Rainey spelling him will be great tools for the offense.  Lots of new faces but I feel this team will make some noise in the NFC South but not that loud.  I think they will improve to a mediocre team at 8-8.  

Washington Redskins

Washington Redskins

2013 Season:  3-13

Ongoing controversy sums up the season for this team.  Changing the team name, QB coming off major knee surgery, head coach and owner not getting along, etc.  All this while having the 5th best running attack in the league.  In his Rookie season, Robert Griffin III rushed for 815 yards 7 TD's and passed for 3200 yards.  RG3 second season he wasn't as mobile limiting his movement in the pocket.  Having a not so good Offensive line played a part in this as well.  Sacked 38 times, threw only 16 tds. He was held out of all preseason games and started opening day.  This was a mistake that ended Mike Shanahan's tenure as head coach in the nation's capital.  The team started 0-3 and ended the season on an 8 game losing streak.  Bright side to this team last season, Alfred Morris and Roy Helu jr. is a good 1-2 punch in the backfield.

Key Additions: Desean Jackson, Jay Gruden, Ryan Clark

Fantasy Players:  Robert Griffin III, Alfred Morris, Desean Jackson, Pierre Garcon      

2014 Season outlook:  There will definitely not be a name change this season, confirmed by owner Daniel Snyder, but the protests will continue.  Jay Gruden comes in as the new chief and is left with a potentially dangerous team.  RG3 received a gift with the addition of Desean Jackson to now a pretty good trio of WR's.  Joining Pierre Garcon and Santana Moss, Desean Jackson in his 7th year is in a great position to do some amazing work.  A weapon on punt return.  Running game will improve as RG3 will be healthy.  Defensively Ryan Clark brings his experience to join Deangelo Hall at corner.  Brian Orakpo is a force at LB that players will have to know where he is at all times.  His 60 tackles 10 sacks was a bright shining spot on a mediocre defense last season.  This team will be much improved.  I think they will go worst to first in NFC East division lose 2nd round of playoffs.  I'm thinking they may end this season 11-7.

Jacksonville Jaguars

     

Jacksonville Jaguars

2013 Season:  4-12

Last Season the Jaguars didn't earn their first win until November 10th against the Titans.  Finishing 3rd in the AFC South Division, the Jacksonville Jaguars were the punching bag of the NFL.  2 of their 4 wins came against the worst team in the league.  The Jaguars offense finished 31st in rushing also in total yards.  The 27th ranked defense allowed the 4th most rushing yards in the league.  Justin Blackmon's year long suspension didn't make things any better for 1st year head coach Gus Bradley.  

Key Additions:  Toby Gerhart, Blake Bortles, Chris Clemons, Marquis Lee

Key Losses:  Maurice-Jones Drew, Blaine Gabbert

Fantasy Players to Watch:  Cecil Shorts III, Mercedes Lewis, Toby Gerhart

2014 Season Outlook:  Former Seahawks Defensive Coordinator and Zumbrota, MN native, Head Coach Gus Bradley entering his 2nd year may be in for his final year as the Jags coach.  Drafting Blake Bortles with their 1st round pick one would think will be their QB answer to their offensive problems.  Nah! Coach Bradley is sticking to his top guy Chad Henne who threw 14 picks and was sacked 38 times as the opening day starter for the season.  Justin Blackmon will probably never return to this team.  This leaves an open void at WR that Cecil Shorts, Marquis Lee, and Alan Robinson hope they can fill.  Although they added Toby Gerhart and Marquis Lee, the Jags are lacking offensive talent.  Tackle Luke Joeckel played only 5 games due to injury and a young O-line may not be enough to win a lot of games.  Their defense may come along and help win some games.  Paul Posluszny in his 8th year, added Chris Clemons from Seattle who brings 58 career sacks and 13 career forced fumbles to the squad may add some stability on that side of the ball.  Starting Defensive End, Red Bryant will make some noise as well, all 6'4 323lbs of him.  Not looking for any surprises from this team.  They will be the worst team in the league but a building of a possibly really good quarterback in Blake Bortles.  

2014 Projection:  Due to uncertainty on offense, I think this will be a 3-13 team

Houston Texans

Houston Texans

2013 Season:  2-14

After making the playoffs in 2012, The Texans started the 2013 season 2-0 with high hopes, but went downhill from there, ending the season with a 14 game losing streak.  LB Brian Cushing and RB Arian Foster being put on injured reserve (back) was a huge blow to the team.  Matt Shaub played horribly throwing 14 interceptions and getting sacked 21 times.  Case Keenum came in to replace Shaub but didn't make much of a difference.  This is a team that finished 11th in offense and 7th in defense so they have some pieces in place but not the right system.  

Key Additions:  Jadaveon Clowney, Bill O'brien, Ryan Fitzpatrick

Key Losses:  Ben Tate, Matt Schaub, Daniel Manning

Fantasy Players to watch:  Andre Johnson, Garret Graham, Arian Foster, Texans Defense

2014 Season outlook:  Bill O'brien entered his 1st year as head coach with his hands full.  He didn't buy into the draft a QB carousel. Everyone thought that would be the Texans biggest void to fill.  Instead they bring in a veteran in Ryan Fitzpatrick and choose to go defensive with Clowney with their first overall pick.  Although Fitzpatrick is a head scratcher, it's great way to start his stint strengthening his defense.  Offensive line has lots of experience playing together.  Duane Brown putting on some extra weight this offseason maybe will help to add protection for the QB this year.  Andre Johnson is one of the best WR in the game and was a topic of trade rumors for a short minute but everything seems to be well for now.  Arian Foster's health will be key for the offense.  Ben Tate did an exceptional job last season filling in, but he is now in Cleveland.  The defense will be stellar.  It will be hard for teams to gain a lot of yardage on the front 7 with Watt and Clowney, Cushing coming at you from different angles.  If they are to break out their funk from last year Fitzpatrick has to play well, Foster has to stay healthy, and Special teams needs a boost.  I think they will improve but not a whole lot.  My projection 6-10