So you want to win a championship? Fantasy Football Week 2 preview

It’s that time of year again! All of the studying, planning, analyzing, & over thinking has come down to this one week. No not finals week, but more importantly the start of football season. And with the beginning of the season comes fantasy football.

After all that time prepping your league, endless hours of research, and many sleepless nights it’s time to see who has what it takes to take their team all the way. And just like Bart Scott, I’m sure you all just CAN’T WAIT ™!

Yes, indeed Scott did try to trademark the term “Can’t Wait” when in fact he should be worrying more about the phrase “I’m going to Disneyland”. If you’ve been living under a rock for the past year or you just enjoy entertaining sports interviews then here you go.

Now that week 1 is almost complete and players have shown what they can do, it’s time for YOU, the owner, to decide who gets to start and who gets a reserved, front row seat on the bench for week 2. Before making any final decisions, let’s take a look at a select few week 1 projections & compare them to the actual totals.

Aaron Rodgers, QB,GB                  Projected- 62     Actual- 76

Tom Brady, QB, NE                       Projected- 52     Actual- 140

Adrian Peterson, RB, Min             Projected- 48     Actual- 27

Andre Johnson, WR, Hou             Projected- 42     Actual- 33

Antonio Gates, TE, SD                    Projected- 30     Actual- 21

Neil Rackers, K, Hou                        Projected- 12     Actual- 14

(Projections & actual points based on ESPN.com’s scoring guidelines)

Obviously projections are in fact only a prediction of what will happen in the next week. There are many factors that affect how well a player will do. It’s better to go with a guy that you know can do a decent job rather than a guy you hope to have a breakout week.

So who do you start for week two? And who do you watch to snatch up down the line? At quarterback it’d be ridiculous not to start either Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers if you have them. I’m sure having Brady changed the outcome for many fantasy teams last night after a 517 yard game against the Dolphins in Miami. At running back, I’m going with Darren McFadden out of Oakland & LeSean McCoy out of Philly.

Also, keep Arian Foster in mind. Houston plays at Miami this week, even though Foster is still a little banged up, he could definitely do some damage against that Dolphins defense.

At defense, either the Ravens at Tennessee or the Packers at Carolina are sure to be entertaining (and productive) in week 2.

Now Mr. Irrelevant comes into play. You waited until the final rounds to pick a kicker & you grabbed “the most accurate kicker in NFL history” out of San Diego, but Nate Kaeding is out for the season. Most people don’t care about their special teams as much as other positions, but in close matchups a kicker can make or break your team. Keep an eye on New Orleans kicker John Kasay. He may be up there in age, but he’s an easy pick up to help boost your team to victory.

With risk comes reward, but also consequences. Be sure to keep these in mind when you’re making final decision for your line up next week, but don’t be afraid to take chances because you might just discover that diamond in the rough.