(10) Brooklyn Goldsmiths vs. (7) Ja
Two Goldsmiths are amongst the most reviled players in fantasyland- Chad Ochocinco after his miserable season last year, and Cedric Benson for basically his entire career. Both have a shot to redeem themselves this year, and in week one they will have an easy go of it as they face on of the league's worst defenses in the Broncos, in Cincinnati. At least one should get on the board. Rodgers dominated in the preseason- whatever that means- and faces the Bears' terrible pass defense to start things out. On the other side of the ball in that game, Matt Forté faces the similarly unimpressive Pack D. Ja lives and dies with the Chargers- they go against the Raiders, one of the worst defenses in the league last year, but in large part due to being on the field all the time. Greg Jennings will do well with the aforementioned Packers-Bears matchup, but LenDale White at RB2 has to face the Squealers tonight, and the W/R slot is filled with Donald Brown, whose role in the Indy offense remains to be seen.
The Bolden pick: The unspectacular but solid Goldsmiths start the season out right.
(8) Taking the Reins vs (12) City of Champions
TTR has a tough go of it in week one- every starter is facing a team that won at least eight games last year. There are also questions about the health of many TTR players; Antonio Bryant and Brian Westbrook never even appeared in preseason games, so their workloads could be light. With Tampa's rotation at running back, it remains to be seen whether Earnest Graham is a viable RB2. CoC on the other hand faces an easier set of games; DeAngelo Williams is the only skill player going against a playoff team from 2008. While a couple starters on this team are in situations where their workload week-to-week will very (Chris Henry, Derrick Ward) for week one they should hold off TTR and come back with a win.
The Bolden Pick: Tough match-ups and injuries for TTR sink their hopes on week one- City of Champions prevails.
(3) Megatron vs (6) Eat Gilberts Grapes
Some of Megatron's opposing defenses this week are the stuff dreams are made of- the Saints, Lions, and Rams were all bottom-10 squads last year, and little-improved since then. Tom Brady makes his first start in a year; I guess the rumors of a leg amputation that were swirling about eight months ago proved to be a bit overblown. Megatron should put up big points this week, and are the Yahoo picks to win the first weekly prize. They face off against EGG, a solid team in their own right with decent match-ups as well- Randy Moss is the only skill player going up against an above-average defense, and belongs to Buffalo. EGG's hopes hinge on Pierre Thomas, who faces not only cannibalization from Reggie Bush and Mike Bell, but his own injury issues as well.
The Bolden Pick: Megatron rolls to a win in week one.
(11) Roarin' Rob vs (13) Bad Newz Kennels
It's a new season for two of last year's more infamous failures- Rob started strong (as per usual) but faded late, while Manos never stood a chance from the moment Tom Brady's knee shattered. Rob lineup reeks of homerism- Jay Cutler goes at QB and Bernard Berrian (Skittles must think he is still a Bear) at WR. Their individual skills notwithstanding, Cutler has a very weak set of wide receivers, while you-know-who will be lobbing INTs in the general direction of Berrian; too bad tackles don't count for any points in this league. Skittles' other receiver, Donald Driver, is older than the Beer Dean. He does have three running backs going, and they should hold up their end of the lineup well enough. BNK seeks to at least tie last year's win total, but it may not happen so soon. Despite what Joja might have you believe, Roethlisberger is nothing more than an average NFL QB, and it sounds like he could use some PROTIPs from them when it comes to getting laid. I like the receivers on this team, and for the time being Clinton Portis should put up good numbers. LeRon McClain is a risky start though- regardless of last season, he's a fullback now, and in the contemporary NFL that means you might not touch the ball all game.
The Bolden Pick: Roarin' Rob starts out with a win...sound familiar?
(5) SINS Bolden vs (4) Vandelay Industries
Two of the better teams go at it in this one- both teams have good depth and won't depend heavily on any one player throughout the season. For SINS, Peyton Manning (a couple of games last year excepted) won't disappoint you, Ray Rice and Jamal Lewis (at least for now) will get carries, and each of the receivers will get plenty of looks. Yahoo is predicting little playing time for the impossibly-ghetto-named Knowshon Moreno, but they don't realize what I do from watching too many Bengals games; I would always go long a rookie playing against them. Vandelay should have completed its trade for Ryan Grant by this time, giving them a strong 3 RB attack, and each one will be going against subpar defenses in week one. Schaub will face the tough Jets D, but Vandelay has a hedge in starting the Jets D.
The Bolden Pick: Vandelay wins its first R-time game.
(14) TWSS vs. (9) Soak-n-Suds
As of now, TWSS has some lineup changes to be made- Matt Cassel is questionable for Sunday; if he cannot go, TWSS will have to put in David Garrard, as weak of a fantasy starter as you find at QB. TJ Duckett, inexplicably taken in the seventh round in spite of his recently-released status is still listed at W/R; he will probably be replaced with Darren Sproles, who is a big question mark at this stage of the season. Brandon Jacobs, Steve Smith, and Antonio Gates are the core of this team, and there are no issues with them, but they alone cannot handle the scoring. Soak-n-Suds will have picked up Darren McFadden and Beanie Wells by Sunday. I really like Run-DMC this season, and contemplated taking him over Ronnie Brown at pick #6 in the draft. Joe C is a big OSU homer, and that assuredly played into his decision to pick up Wells, but considering he is backing up a running back who gained only 2.9 yards a carry last year, he could be starting material for SNS soon enough. SNS is deep enough at wideout that this game should be a cakewalk.
The Bolden Pick: Personnel issues deplete the already-weak TWSS; Soak-n-Suds picks up an easy win.
---Game of the Week---
(2) Suit Killers vs. (1) Beer to the Dean
Both teams have been the league's elite for the past two seasons, and no reason to believe it won't continue again. I had Beer to the Dean as my top ranked team on the strength of their running game- while Chris Johnson has to go against Pittsburgh tonight, Steven Jackson and Adrian Peterson won't have such a tough time of it, as they face Seattle and Cleveland, respectively. Eddie Royal will almost certainly get more chances than any other receiver for Denver this week, and the Matt Ryan to Tony Gonzalez combo could be a good way to double up on points. Beer Dean still has no kicker, but no position is more interchangeable, and no point distribution more random. The Suit Killers are going with last year's winning combination of Warner to Fitzgerald, and will need their dragons if they are to beat BD this time. Jonathan Stewart was limited all summer with injuries- he is practicing now, but could see limited playing time on Sunday. Yahoo is seriously underrating Felix Jones, predicting less than 6 points for him this week; indications are that the Cowboys are going to expand the role of the running game in their offense this season, and Jones is a critical component of it.
The Bolden Pick: I sort of have to pick Beer Dean here, for the sake of logic, but either team could put up big points this week.
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