Lions, Bengals and Bears, Oh My!
Written by MadAlan
August 25, 2005

Are these teams still football’s throw-aways?

None are making the kind of waves a champion creates. I believe that nobody will put the family car on the line to grab these squads. But, lets go to the place where their die-hards live. There is so much positive noise you would be confused by your location. And, not just in those places, many a smart Fantasy player will see the nuggets of gold each of these team’s posses. Much of the hoots and hollers all make sense to me too. I actually spent hours reading about the Lions, Bengal’s and Bears, I too see where the energy is and why so. Maybe Football is not my game, eh?

The Lions
How would you like to stand behind center with the overwhelming arsenal of weapons the Lions have to work with? The Lion’s have the weapons to terrorize any defenses. Check it out, there’s a really good blocking line up-front as well. By now everyone knows about Charles Rogers, Roy Williams and some have even heard of Mike Williams, but do you know the other guy the Lions signed at wide receiver, Kevin Johnson? The Lions stole him away from Baltimore where he spent a hiccup-season last year? With the Cleveland Browns Johnson pulled-in 66 passes in his rookie season followed-up with 57, 84, 67 and 58 more receptions. He was also a better-than-average punt returner and in 6 years he has given-up the ball just one time.

Somehow the Lions signed the once upon a time gifted (at receiving) tight-end Marcus Pollard as a free agent. His prior 9 seasons had been spent gathering in 263 passes and 35 TD’s – all in Indianapolis. Is he an improvement over last year? No. If only because he has zero upside and Stephen Alexander had some, if not much.

Given the full-season to run Kevin Jones should run down fields for a conservative 1500 yards after being coddled in the early season last year; he did take-off for 1133 yards late in the season. He is sudden, fast and swift … get the idea? Jones even enjoys running over the little guys on defenses. The Achilles Heel of the Lions rests here; they will fall straight down like a Kamikaze when Jones does get injured. C’mon, this is the NFL where all running backs get hurt. The Lions possess two of the worst back-up RB in all football.

Whether the Lions will improve enough depends on Joey Harrington, if he will improve on his tender confidence – confidence is contagious - doing the same should spread thru the offensive players like-wise – that alone could put them in the finals. The Harrington method of moving the ball with short outlet passes to these Lion receivers looks highly promising because all four of them are outstanding runners once they have caught the ball.

The foundation is in place for the Lions to arrive in the play-offs this year, something not done since 1999. They must grow up in a hurry to accomplish more. Dick Jauron’s first season as defensive coordinator was a great match-up with the players, they enjoy him because he played the game and explains his patterns in English. His largest problem to overcome is the defensive slowness of the current roster.

With an improved defense and a move-the-ball-downfield offense, enough to get closer to the goal line, Lion’s kicker Jason Hanson could emerge with some high point totals and be worthy of consideration.

The Bengals
It’s not often when speaking on Fantasy Football you start with the offensive and defensive lines on a team. But the changes made by Bengal management on behalf of the two main blocking units will make large improvements within the important players – the ones we will draft or want to own. The defensive line changes will give the ball back to the offense just under two more times than last year per game. That is two more times to gather stats per game, per player over last year. See, it matters. Last season they passed 99 times more than they rushed, a result of playing from behind in many games. This year they want to run more and level the game. The belief is Carson Palmer must have learned something because he was a phenom in the last 3 starts. In those games he passed for 9 touchdowns. He suffered a knee ending injury to finish his season and allowing Jon Kitna to gather some further exercise. The Bengal’s main runner is Rudi Johnson, a bruising inside runner, lacking great speed but breaks tackles and never tires. He rarely wants to leave the field but a better receiver sits behind him in Chris Perry. Perry was the team’s first-round pick for last year and is faster and a better receiver than Johnson plus would be many teams feature back and he does have feature back talent. The Bengal’s also have Kenny Watson as well. Fullback Jeremi Johnson rarely gets the ball.

On the receiving end of the team Chad Johnson is the primary receiver regardless of how many players are guarding him or how many hands are holding him he catches the ball. Being “The Showboat” he is he also will let you know he has caught the ball with antics galore. Johnson is a leader with his work ethic and blocking with the desire to be the best wide-out in all football. T.J. Houshmandzadeh is the other starting receiver; he owns the complete trust of Palmer in many important situations enabled with tremendous concentration and soft hands. They were collegiate teammates at Oregon State and head coach Marvin Lewis loves his toughness and smarts. Peter Warrick could work from the slot along with Bengal disappointment Kelley Washington. Warrick is the type player who is the under-appreciated performer, the guy who moves the chains downfield. This is a decent group of players that will provide decent numbers for anyone’s team .. well … maybe not Washington. One more thing to add here, a receiver named Chris Henry. Henry has the talent to be a starter but character flaws really hurt him in the draft. He is a possible sleeper if he can get on the playing field.

The Bears
When Rex Grossman went down for the season, did he take the Bear season with him? The city of Chicago says ‘NO,’ before the Grossman injury the Bear’s had added much more power-blocking for the offensive line, one that gave up 66 sacks the season before, by adding ORT Fred Miller and OG Roberto Garza to fortify the line’s strength. The previous pass protection prevented Grossman from throwing with any semblance of timing and rhythm – nothing shakes his confidence. Either way this is not a big-play offense with or without Grossman to run it. In fairness to Grossman his 2004 supporting cast on offense couldn’t have beaten a college all-star team. The aggressive attempts to sign Kurt Warner, Brad Johnson and Jay Fiedler all failed and none were acquired in the off-season.

This season will be all Chad Hutchinson’s for now and he was not even drafted upon leaving college. The big Hutchinson (6-5 237 pounds) is highly mobile for a big man and has a quality attitude that exceeds his arm’s ability in strength. Don’t be surprised to find he can and will move the chains, reminding you of Vinny Testaverde. Hutchinson’s past included too many interceptions and the tendency to hold the ball too long. When Hutchinson goes down it will bring to light Bears 4th round draft pick Kyle Orton and he will shine as the big surprise because this guy can throw accurate deep passes that should make new Bear Muhsin Muhammad smile and score.

Running back Thomas Jones is not the perfect fit for the Bear offense; he has the toughness but not the durability. Jones is a slashing runner with excellent quickness and footwork. He bursts through seams and is good at changing direction. His hands should be good at receiving but his receiving confidence seems lacking, enter first round pick Cedric Benson. Benson is a between the tackles runner with great field vision and hits the holes at full speed. He does not go down easy. Benson does have the talent and qualities that more fit the Bears style better than Jones. Jones did lead all Bear receivers with 56 receptions last year.

Muhsin Muhammad looks like a tight end, only in appearance, because he also is a beautiful sight on the field running past all who make that mistake, this man is very fast. He uses his body as well as any split receiver, blocks like a truck and brings it on each and every play. He never relents … with soft hands too. The Bears don’t posses a legit 2nd receiver so Bobby Wade will fill that role. When second round draft pick gets it going he might fill that role. Wade is just too small for the wear and tear of a number two and should be a three or four. His marginal size and mediocre top-end speed is a Bear killer. Expect Bernard Berrian to take his place by the second or third game. Berrian is a matchbook bigger but is a better receiver with a great deal more speed. It will take some game time to see if he is as tough a man as Wade. Mark Bradley was the Bear’s second draft pick right behind Benson with both intended to help build an offense. Has all the correct skills but is really the same size player as Berrian, in fact they look much the same in most ways. One difference is Bradley is a blazer with a great deal of upside. Justin Gage is OK for a possession guy at the most, but he would not be starting for most NFL teams. Desmond Clark is exactly what the Bear’s want, as a wide receiver or slot receiver because of his size, hands and speed. The problem is he is also the best tight end as well. Aaaaaaarrggh. Behind Clark is Dustin Lyman and if you know of him you must be family.

Before the loss of Grossman kicker Edinger was a decent kicker for Fantasy drafts .. not now.

Madalan

Madalan.asw@verizon.net