Icon SMI

More Articles from Fantasy Football Freaks

Reminder: Site Survey for the 2012 Season
iPad Winner Revealed
Super Bowl Rankings
Conference Championship Rankings
Divisional Round Rankings
Wild Card Weekend Rankings
Fantasy Football Freaks are the Champions of the 2011 All Pro Leagues 32 Team Expert League
Week 17: Gems for the Last Weekend
The Freaks Projections and Ratings 2011 Week 17
The Freaks Sleepers 2011 Week 17

Week 1 of the NFL preseason is in the books (except for Monday night's Jets at Texans) and despite limited playing time and boundless questions about what it all means, there are some takeaways and observations of note regarding QBs around the league. Here's what I saw:

Tarvaris Jackson
Jackson has a lot riding on his shoulders in Seattle. Right now, he's the starter, and unfortunately he got off to a shaky start. In limited action he went just 3/5 for 13 yards. Granted neither Sidney Rice nor Mike Williams started, but Jackson had barely any time to get the ball downfield anyways. Early on he lost starting tackle Russell Okung to an ankle injury and was promptly sacked. It sounds like Okung may be fine, but to lose him would surely be another nail in Jackson's coffin.

The only upside we saw was his ability to take off running. He picked up a first down on a nice scamper, but he can't run all the time. He needs the O-line to step it up and he has to hope that Rice and Williams will make a difference by drawing more attention away from the line of scrimmage.

One last note of disappointment on the passing game, offseason pickup TE Zach Miller did not record a single catch - or target. Loved him in Oakland, worried about him at this point.

Matt Cassel
Cassel didn't attempt a single pass in his opener, but he did get credited with a lost fumble. Who doesn't love to start the season off that way? There's not much to worry about at this point, he has good receivers and a top notch running game. He's also coming off a solid 3,000 yard season with 27 TDs to only 7 INTs. I want to talk about him here though because the Chiefs were just dominated by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tampa should be an excellent football team this year, and KC should get used to that. They have a very difficult schedule. That's why I'm not big on this guy in 2011. He could still put up middle of the road numbers, but his upside is limited.

Alex Smith
I have high hopes for Smith this season. The Braylon Edwards acquisition should be good for him, but like Tarvaris Jackson, he won't be able to do anything if the O-line is as porous as they were this week. Smith was 2/7 for only 10 yards, but it wasn't really his fault. The kind of pressure both he and rookie Colin Kaepernick saw was ridiculous. If San Fran can't clean that problem up and offer some pass protection then this otherwise talented team is going to be in for another dismal season.

Kevin Kolb
We didn't see a lot of Kolb, but what we did see was positive. He was 4/7 for 68 yards and didn't turn the ball over. He also hustled out 19 yards on the ground, including 15 on one attempt. His doubters are going to have to see a lot more before giving him any credit, but he still looks like a legit NFL starter to me and I'm looking forward to him making strides as the season goes on.

Early Doucet and Andre Roberts combined for only three catches, so we still need to see more of what they can do. Todd Heap is another nice weapon who also chipped in 2 catches for 21 yards. Larry Fitzgerald had 2 catches for 60 yards including a 43 yarder. All in all, Kolb has decent weapons.

Rex Grossman
Remember when it sounded like Washington was going to roll with John Beck? Well he didn't take any snaps in this one. The bulk of attempts went to Grossman who tops the depth chart and finished 19/26 for 207 yards, 1 TD, and a 109.0 passer rating. I think Grossman's the right move for this team and preserves fantasy value for players like Santana Moss and Chris Cooley. He may not be a world beater, but Beck is 0-4 in his career and instills me with far less confidence.

Matthew Stafford
Stafford + Healthy = instant fantasy football man crush. You have to love what he did against Cincy in a short amount of time: 6/7 for 67 yards and 2 TDs. That's a passer rating of 148.5. Most important, he looked great doing it, making it look easy. Imagine if he could stay healthy and finish 16 games. I'm going to take a few minutes to daydream...

Chad Henne
Final stat line 4/8, 77 yards, 1 TD, 2 Int. The Int's are just disturbing. He was broadcasting passes and making poor throwing decisions. He's been rumored to be on thin ice for a long time now and we have to wonder how much more time before he falls through. Former Panther Matt Moore is waiting in the wings. His performance questions keep Brandon Marshall, Davone Bess, Daniel Thomas and others in a lurch.

Colt McCoy
McCoy is headed into his sophomore season and he started off on the right foot. Playing against the Super Bowl champion Packers, he went 9/10 for 135 yards and 1 TD. Granted, it would be much more impressive if he did that in the regular season, but it beats getting pounded into the ground. McCoy put up some "get me by" numbers last season and should be improved in 2011. His fantasy value is limited by his division. He averaged 15 points across 2 games against Pittsburgh last year, but on general principle you hate to pick a guy that plays the Steelers and Ravens twice.

Other Notes
Cam Newton CAR - 8/19, 134 yards, 0 rushes
Dennis Dixon PIT - 1/10, 29 yards
Andy Dalton CIN - 11/15, 69 yards, 1 INT
Blaine Gabbert JAX - 9/16, 85 yards
Ryan Mallett NE - 12/19, 164 yards, 1 TD