The Wheel in the Sky Keeps On Turnin'

It's hard to believe that there were nine head coaching changes after the season had ended. And that doesn't include San Francisco and Oakland who fired their coaches mid-season. They, however, decided to avoid the head coaching market and retained intern coaches, Mike Singletary and Tom Cable.

Because there were nine teams to analyze, I have decided to split it up into two installments so ladies and gentleman without further ado, part I.


-Seattle-


This was the last git-go for Mike Holmgren as he had decided this would be his final year before the season began. With this expected news Seattle wasted no time in promoting Jim Mora Jr to coach in waiting. This offseason Mora brought in Greg Knapp who had spent the previous two seasons as offensive coordinator of the Oakland Raiders. Mora and Knapp are well acquainted as the two spent three seasons together, 2004-2006, as head coach and offensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons.

Knapp's forte is the west coast offense so look for Seattle to focus on the running game and throw short quick passes. This bodes well for rbs Julius Jones and TJ Duckett. They are coming off disappointing seasons, and you never know who Seattle will bring in through the draft or free agency so consider these guys sleepers at best. QB Matt Hasselbeck is coming off a disappointing season also. This coupled with the fact that the focus is going to be on the ground game limit his potential for next season. He's a solid backup QB but don't rely on him as your starter.

The wide receiving core is riddled with question marks, and injuries. Deion Branch when healthy is a quality no. 2 borderline no.1 receiver, however, he spent much of last season on the sidelines due to injury. Bobby Engram is entering his 14th year, and has had injury problems of his own. This is why many draft experts have Seattle drafting Michael Crabtree, the young phenom from Texas Tech. At 6-3 214 Crabtree has excellent hands and playmaking ability after the catch. He also won the Biletnikoff Award in his only two seasons at Texas Tech. He clearly has the talent to be an outstanding player in the league. In a one year league use a middle to late round pick on him as rookie wide receivers tend to struggle adjusting to the NFL game. In a keeper league he should be drafted near the middle of the first round after the top-tier running backs have been taken.

Gus Bradley, who was previously Tampa Bay's linebacker's coach looks to bring the Tampa 2 defense with him to Seattle. The Tampa 2 is known for its solid defenses in fantasy play and this unit should be no exception as Seattle has talent on the defensive side of the ball with linebacker L. Tatupu and cornerback M. Trufant. The talent of the teams in their conference doesn't hurt matters either.

Bragging Rights

Another season of Fantasy Football has come and gone. For most the season ended in bitter disappointment. But, for the lucky few who ran the gauntlet and emerged victorious, the season ended with a thrilling victory that, effectively, guaranteed bragging rights for the next year.


This past season I cemented my place in fantasy football lore by making it to the final game in all three of my fantasy leagues. Unfortunately, I fell three points short of the trifecta due to Deangelo Williams' 108 yard 4 touchdown performance against the Giants. I was SO close!


Perhaps even more gratifying than the victory -excuse me- victories was the feeling I got as I stormed through the fantasy football season annihilating everything and everyone in my path, leaving only the scorched remains of my friends fantasy teams in my wake.


Okay, sorry, I'm done. The truth is the fantasy football season is never over. Once the season has ended it's time to analyze what worked and what didn't work for your team. It's also very important to go back and look at the draft to discover where mistakes were made and what can be done to improve your draft for the upcoming season.

Don't forget, this off-season saw a record number of head coaching changes. A new head coach means different coaching philosophies. On my next post I will look at all of the head coaching changes and analyze how they will affect players fantasy values.