The Boys Are Back In Town

What time is it?

…GAME TIME.

Well, kind of. Football is back, *THANK YOU GOD*, and I am fucking excited. In fact, I watched some lame ass game between the Saints and Cardinals just to get my fix. That all ends tonight when a seemingly better Vikings team takes on the Seahawks. Yeah, All Day probably wont play, or if he does, the exploding shoelaces wont be laced up. But that doesn’t mean there isnt anything to watch for. In fact, this is prime time for prospecting, as many of those guys you get as box hits will be on display. Here are some players to watch and see:

Darren McFadden and JaMarcus Russell - These guys will be playing, but Russell probably wont play for long. Instead he will spend most of the time on the bench contemplating why his parents gave him such an awful name. McFadden, on the other hand, should be on display to see what he can do much like All Day was last year. If he does well, expect his cards to rise to even more inflated prices, despite it only being pre-season. The people who buy then are not prospectors, but idiots. I expect McFadden to have ten carries and maybe one or two runs broken for long yardage. Again, this is preseason, so this wont transfer. Its basically a glorified scrimmage.

Felix Jones, Jonathan Stewart and Rashard Mendenhall - I have a feeling these guys will have better years than McFadden because they are playing behind more polished teams. Outside of McFadden and Russell, I can barely name more than a few guys on the squad. I have said before that Felix Jones is the guy to collect, but his prices are so high that I am cancelling that. Im guessing all three have pretty good pre-seasons.


Matt Ryan, Brian Brohm, and John Booty - All of these guys are playing on teams with QB drama. Now that Favre is gone, thank god again, Brohm has potential to see the field this year behind a good team. Rodgers may not perform and you can guess that Packer fans will call for heads to roll if he sucks. Ryan, on the other hand, shouldn’t start, but he probably will make it on to the field by week 4. This never, EVER works, unless your name is Peyton Manning, who still managed to suck his first few years. Preseason will be a good place to watch and see what potential he has. Last but not least, Booty is on a team with 4 QBs, 2 of which are inconsequential. I want to see him in a pro-style offense and see if he can work some magic with the scrubs of the scrubs. Frerotte and Bollinger are worthless journeymen who are on this team because Jackson cant stay on the field. I would expect one of them to be gone if Booty does well.

Domique Rogers-Cromartie, Tyrell Johnson, and Calais Campbell - These defensive guys were at the top coming into the draft. Most of them will play pretty early, and I would expect that all of them will be pretty good. Keep on the look out as these guys wont have many, if any cards, and it might be wise to jump on them if they are cheap and playing well.

Vernon Gholston, Chris Long, and Glenn Dorsey - These guys will probably be very good, with Gholston as the highest bust potential. All three will play from the beginning, which means you might want to get the cards now. Chris Long will be the best of the three, so make sure you have some of him saved up, he wont be around much after this year.

Calvin Johnson, Trent Edwards, Selvin Young and Kolby Smith -Calvin was ok for the lions last year, but I think they are expecting more this year. Same with Edwards. Now, as for Selvin and Kolby, they better show some good things to justify those prices. Need I remind you that Selvin's SPAs have approached $250 a piece? God, people are stupid.

So, with that, pull up a comfy chair and some popcorn, and get ready for some football. Yes its only pre-season, but for card people this is a good time to see your guys in action before they ride the pine for the year.