Dallas’ lack of air support means several things to me:

• If you are a Witten owner then congrat yourself for picking him up because you most likely did so very early. 
• If you drafted Roy Williams then you’re hoping he shows some resemblance of his tenure in Detroit.
• If you drafted Romo you’re thinking you wish you would have done otherwise
• If you drafted either Marion Barber or Felix Jones you were once rejoicing as it looks to be the Cowboys are only prepared for a ground war.  BUT..  they are injured and you are probably rushing to the waiver wire to see if…….  Tashard Choice is available.

In the last three games Dallas has proved they need to run the ball and do the occasional pass to Witten (who happens to lead the team in receptions).

On Monday night Tashard Choice came in and rushed for 82 yards with a score and provided 36 yards from the air.  Dallas has the offensive line to allow their third running back to come in and be successful.  The good news is that he’s probably available in your waiver wire.  Go pick him up…  It’s your choice.

For those 49ers fans, who are also fantasy footballers with teams like mine…Gore, Kevin Smith, and Eddie Royal.  Yesterday was an all-time low.

First…as a 49ers fan…our team is playing out of their mind right now.  Everybody is playing hard.  Thank you Singletary…no thank you Nolan.  As one of my close friends says, “he’s wearing a suit, so he must be hiding something”.  Yeah, Nolan duped a lot of people.  So, at 2-0, against what some believe as the best team in the NFC and in their stadium…we almost pulled off the win.  Talk about heartbreaking.  But I have to admit, that I thought it was possible with Favre at QB.  Oh well.  At least we’re 2-1 and looking like a playoff bound team for once.

Now onto fantasy…I’m in a PPR, hence why I have Gore (who I drafted with the 7th pick), Kevin Smith (3rd round), and Eddie Royal (5th round).  Being the center of the offense, and getting into the endzone, Gore and Smith killed it in Weeks 1 and 2.  To have both of them get hurt the same week, possibly out for a long time, is devastating.  We start 3 WRs in this league, so now knowing Eddie Royal is not needed in the Broncos offense for them to win is also very tough.  Heck, I even picked up Laurent Robinson and played him over Royal yesterday.  What happens?  Like he has been thus far this season, he was heavily involved in the offense (gets 5 targets in the 1st half), and then gets injured…done for the game.

This is my 1st fantasy year having anything like this happen, and at times, I almost want to say forget it and stop playing.  I mean…3 of my top 5 picks!

…done venting.

Over the last year or so we have noticed a trend in office pools that are starting to use confidence points.  Confidence points forces you to choose the winner of each game and then place a point value next to that win.  That point value should equal how confident, or unconfident, you are for that pick.

 Point values are taken from how many games there are that week.  If there are 16 games then the highest value you can place on a team is 16 and the lowest would be 1.

Our first ever confidence points can be found in week 2.  Good Luck.

http://www.thefootballmaniac.com/2009NFLWeeklyPicksWeek2.html

Week 1 is in the books and based on Week 1 (and preseason) performances, here are guys that should be available for pickup, who should either have big Week 2 performances, or you should pickup and keep for longer:

QB – Only one worthy:

1. Byron Leftwich (TB) – Week 2 @ BUF, Week 3 vs NYG – Bucs run offense is stellar.  Defenses have to try stack the box, but Leftwich has the strong arm to go deep with relative accuracy.  The Bucs receiving corps, as a whole, is also looking above average.

RB – Love Bush, Taylor is okay:

1. Michael Bush (OAK) – Week 2 @ KC, Week 3 vs DEN – The Raiders O-Line looked amazingly good against the Chargers.  Bush, as the change of pace and goal line back, is running strong and relatively fast.  He’s a must have as a reserve and deserves starting consideration against weaker run defenses.
2. Fred Taylor (NE) – Week 2 @ NYJ, Week 3 vs ATL – I would only pick him up if you are desperate for another RB.  Patriots really share the workload, but Taylor got the goal line carry for a TD in Week 1.

WR – These guys are all must haves:

1. Laurent Robinson (STL) - The other starting WR in St. Louis, who has MAD game…hands, speed…the works.  As you can tell from Week 1, the Rams will be playing from behind all year, which equals tons of balls in the air.
2. Earl Bennett (CHI) – The other starting WR in Chicago, who is an excellent possession receiver.  He probably won’t have many really big games, but should be a steady 5-7 reception, 60-80 yards a game WR.  Throw in a TD here and there, and that isn’t a bad low end WR2.
3. Mario Manningham (NYG) – I love this guy…and so does Eli Manning.  He’s not on the field enough right now to deserve starting, but I have a feeling he will be as the year progresses.  Manningham knows how to find the holes in the pass coverage and doesn’t drop the ball.

TE – Heap is an every week starter, play Celek based on matchup, while Watson is a coin toss:

1. Todd Heap (BAL) – Week 2 @ SD, Week 3 vs CLE – Okay…he’s definitely back, so get him while he’s healthy!
2. Brent Celek (PHI) – Week 2 vs NO, Week 3 vs KC – He should have been drafted, but if he wasn’t get him now.  6 receptions in Week 1, and that will continue the rest of the season.
3. Ben Watson (NE) – Week 2 @ NYJ, Week 3 vs ATL – As we know with Patriots receivers not named Moss or Welker, it’s a crapshoot on the number of targets they’ll get each week.  So…Watson is gamble, but as evident from Week 1, will payoff big when he gets the ball.

Our 2009 FREE NFL picks are finally available.  You’ll be able to find week 1 and the remaining weeks at the following URL:

 http://www.thefootballmaniac.com/2009NFLWeeklyPicksWeek1.html

Note: Picks are not guaranteed

Here’s a quick recap of all the fantasy relevant news the past week:

• Three new Offensive Coordinators in Tampa Bay, Buffalo (yes, I called that one), and Kansas City. Stock up for all skilled offensive players on those teams
• Pierre Thomas (NO) and Nate Washington (TEN) are looking like they won’t be playing Week 1
• Cadillac Williams will be the starting RB against the Cowboys
• Rookie QB Matthew Stafford will start for the Lions.  Stock up even higher for Calvin “Megatron” Johnson
• Tomlin announces Willie Parker will be the primary RB (no RBBC in Pittsburgh!)
• Brandon Marshall suspension will be lifted.  He’s not listed as a starter for Week 1 yet, but if he is…MAKE SURE he’s in your lineup