Fantasy Football Approaches

The fantasy football magazines should be hitting the stands in full force this month. Who are the best fantasy prospects for the Redskins? Let me run through the offensive starters and key players.

Laveranues Coles - est. 1400 yds, 9-10 TDs; he'll have a bigger year in Gibbs' offense (3rd round)

Rod Gardner - est. 900 yds, 6 TDs; Gardner will also have a bigger year but not huge (a late round pick)

James Thrash - est. 400 yds, 1-2 TDs (do not draft)

Darnerian McCants - est. 200 yds, 3 TDs; McCants' red zone TDs will likely give way to Portis rushing them in (do not draft)

Clinton Portis - est. 1700 yds rushing/receiving, 15 TDs (a mid-1st rd pick)

Mark Brunell - est. 2400 yds passing, 16 TDs/7 INTs; I see Brunell missing about 1/3 of the games due to injury (draft as 3rd QB)

Patrick Ramsey - est. 1100 yds passing, 6 TDs, 4 INTs subbing for Brunell

Chris Cooley - est 200 yds, 2 TDs; not worth drafting

John Hall - impossible to gauge

My guess is that the new look Redskins will probably get off to a fast start to the season. They can catch teams by surprise with Gibbs' new wrinkles. As more game footage on the Skins collects over time, teams will be able to adjust and game-plan better. If Brunell is especially hot, evaluate the option to trade him mid-season when he has peak value.

What about the Redskins defense? As a scoring defense, I don't see anything out of the ordinary, especially lacking an intimidating line up front. A strong line causing mayhem forces more turnovers and scoring opportunities.