FANTASY FOOTBALL PRE-SEASON FEATURES

(-Risk) (+Upside) Until last season, no wideout of the acclaim of Moss had ever changed teams and the others that did invariably suffered a decrease in production that lasted at least a season or two. And then Terrell Owens became an Eagle and turned in an outstanding season.

There is no doubt that Moss will be used just as heavily as he was in Minnesota and the ownership and coaches have always craved an exciting ?bombs away? passing game that can change the game in one play and please the fans. No other receiver has that ability as much as ?the freak?. He has averaged almost 13 touchdowns a season since his rookie year and in a full season has never produced less than 1233 yards. His year was shortened in 2004 thanks to a lingering hamstring problem and yet he still had 13 touchdowns in 11 games. His 83% of games with a score dwarfs any other wideout last year.

Trading Culpepper for Collins is not the positive that Owens had when going to McNabb, but Collins has the arm and wits to make good use of his new receiver. He certainly has carte blanche to throw to him. Moss will always attract attention but at least Oakland will have a better running game this season to help out and the re-signing of Jerry Porter is a positive as well. Supremely talented and a lock for at least a top five performance, Moss shouldn?t be avoided merely because he changed teams. There is more risk on a new team, but there has always been rich reward in owning Moss.

Entering his seventh season in the NFL, Holt remains one of the premier wideouts in the game and a perennial contender for best receiver in the game. While he started slower last year with defenses stacked against him, Isaac Bruce exploded for four straight 100 yard games to make they recall that more than Holt was in the game. Holt ended the season as strongly as ever and had a second best six 100 yard games in 2004. His 94 catches were only two behind league leader Derrick Mason and his 1372 yards were 4th best in the league, only 35 yards off the tops by Muhammad.

Holt scored 10 times last year and coupled with his yardage totals had him end up in the top five fantasy wideouts for the second season in a row. He?s in his prime, he?s at the top in his position and he offers great consistency in the most inconsistent position.

The Rams have an outstanding schedule to play against this year and with Bulger entering his third season as the starter, there is no reason to expect Holt to not at least meet his production from last year. If Jackson makes the defense respect the run more, it only frees up Holt that much more. He?s had 211 catches in the last two seasons ? more than any other player. Expect him to rightfully be one of the top two or three receivers taken in every draft.

(+Upside) Johnson ended his fourth season with almost duplicate numbers from 2003 but the bulk of that happened in the last half of the season. Johnson suffered a bit of a scoring drought as Carson Palmer learned the ropes in his first year starting and Johnson only had two scores by week 10 ? a disappointment for a player who had been taken as a top ten receiver in all fantasy drafts. For those who still hung on, he rewarded the wait with five touchdowns in four straight weeks and at least 80 yards receiving in each.

Palmer finally started to gain the needed chemistry with Johnson and returned the star receiver to the top of the boards until Palmer went out injured in week 14. Johnson?s yardage took a nosedive again though he did score twice against the Giants in week 16.

The outlook for 2005 is very bright for the outspoken and talented receiver. Palmer is healthy again and ready to resume what was becoming one of the hottest hook-ups in the league before the injury last year. The offense is no longer in any learning stage and Rudi Johnson is signed for the long-term. Consider Johnson as one of the first receivers taken in the draft this summer and one that has upside from already top ten numbers.

If you are looking for no-risk and high production from your #1 wideout, there?s little reason to look farther than Marvin Harrison. He?s never had less than 1100 yards per season for the last six years and has never dipped below ten touchdowns in that time. He?s exceeded 100 catches in a season four times in his career and has yet to have an off year. Harrison has only missed one game in the last six years as well.

Marvin turned in 86 catches for 1113 yards and 15 touchdowns last year to tie his scoring record. It doesn?t hurt when a receiver plays with the best quarterback in the game and even less so when that receiver is the best on the team. With the explosion in Indianapolis of scores in 2004, Brandon Stokley and Reggie Wayne merely added to the totals ? they did not detract from what Harrison did.

With four 100 yard efforts and 11 games of at least one score, Harrison tied with Javon Walker as the most consistently good wideout last season. He ranks around that every year and there is no reason to assume he is due for any decline. With so many other headaches for the secondary to face, Harrison is a lock to produce at least his average and as always, can turn in a few monster games to shoot him to the top of the position.

(-Risk) Owens went to the Eagles in the much-publicized move last season and instead of experiencing a decrease in production, Owens was headed for a career best before fracturing his fibula and injuring the ankle socket in week 15. Until that date, he had scored in nine of thirteen games and rolled up 14 touchdowns ? best in the NFL. Only on road trips to PIT, NYG and WAS did he fail to either score or gain over 100 yards. Owens was alone in the NFL for wideouts with exceeding 100 yards in half of his games. Almost no other receiver managed the feat in over just a third of their games.

That?s sadly not the triumphant story going into this season. After only one year with the Eagles and after signing a lucrative seven-year contract for $48 million with a $10 million singing bonus, Owens thinks that is not enough. He is holding out at this time, intends on holding out through training camp and even (as always) for the entire season without yet another deal.

Didn?t take long for Owens to do what he does worst. If all was roses with management, it would be easy to make the case for Owens as the most valuable fantasy receiver this season. Now there is more risk, bad blood brewing and a situation that may require a leap of faith in order to draft him. Obviously this is worth tracking very closely this summer and for a long view, many feel he will now only play one more year for the Eagles ? if that even happens. Depending on the source, Owens will either show up and play or will become a poster child for how a team can refuse to cater to players who ask for too much.

08/11/05 Update: Owens had a heated exchange with HC Andy Reid and has been suspended from the team for the next week. This situation is getting uglier, not better. While Owens has great talent, I would not touch him in a draft personally. He is ranked 8th currently and could be anywhere from the #1 WR to not playing at all. That sort of risk is best to allow someone else to take.

08-26-05 Update: Owens is back with the team and turned in a great performance in the last preseason game. He played as he did last year - almost the entire passing game was to him. He is evidently going to play under his contract but consider him still an injury risk (he tweaked his groin in his one game) and with Owens - you just never know what to expect.

(+Upside) Walker came off an impressive rookie season and promptly had a break-out season that would make almost any third year players green with envy. His 1380 yards were third best in the NFL last year and his 12 touchdowns were better only by four players. There were no hot and cold periods involved here, Walker tied with Joe Horn and Marvin Harrison for the most consistent play in the league with five 100 yard games and ten different match-ups with touchdowns scored. He was second only to Randy Moss by turning in a touchdown and/or 100 yards in 75% of his games.

Entering now his fourth season, Walker belongs in the top echelon of fantasy wideouts for this and many years forward. At least as long as Brett Favre is still playing and needing to distribute about 30 scores a year. Since Favre is back in 2005, Walker makes a solid first receiver for your fantasy team that will likely be impossible to reach past the third round.

With such a great 2004 season, it is hard to say he will do better but so far he has yet to establish where his upside ends. He has basically doubled the production of each previous season for three years and while that cannot happen again without challenging reason and all NFL records; he still is a low risk for repeating his 2004 season. And that level of production and consistency is worth paying for in your draft.

Horn enters his tenth season armed with a new six-year contract that ensures he retires as a Saint. He is 33 years old now and that suggests retirement is not all that distant in the future. Based on his career best season of 2004, it is not in the near future either.

Horn was tremendously consistent scoring last year with ten games of at least one touchdown ? second to only Marvin Harrison. His 1399 receiving yards were second only to Muhsin Muhammad. The main difference here is that while most of the NFL witnessed secondary wideouts doing better in 2004, Horn remained the clearly dominant receiver in New Orleans last season.

His age is a very minor concern and his potential for a great season is always high. He is a lock to gain around 1200 to 1300 yards a season if healthy and he has topped ten scores in each of the last two years. In a position that has the greatest inconsistency anyway, Horn is a highly valued wideout in drafts and makes a great #1 receiver often available after you already have two running backs. The Saints schedule is about the same as 2004 and there have been no personnel changes. His performance should mirror a great 2004 season.

(+Upside) Wayne was expected to breakout in 2003 when he entered his third season but his 838 yards and seven scores were a disappointment against expectations. That sentiment was quickly washed away when he used his fourth season to serve notice that playing the #2 wideout on a Peyton Manning team was like working at the mint and pulling your pay off the assembly line. How hard is that really?

Wayne ended with 1210 yards to rank 8th in yardage last season and his 12 touchdowns were bettered only by four other receivers. This from a #2 option in an offense. He scored in ten games and had four 100 yard efforts, allowing him the fourth best consistency in the league last year. Now that he has hit his stride, the only aspect left to discover is how high his upside extends.

Given that he has the full confidence of Manning and showed progress even within last season, Wayne should be considered a lock to at least maintain the lofty numbers from 2004. With some luck and a guy named Peyton around, he could be even better. In four years, he has always improved from the prior season. While Wayne remains the #2 in Indianapolis, he?s guaranteed to be a #1 wideout for a team in your league.

(+Upside) The news that Randy Moss was leaving was not met with sadness to anyone holding Burleson on their fantasy team. Nate enters the 2005 season as the #1 wideout on a club that features the quarterback who had the most passing yardage in the NFL last season. In only his second season, Burleson turned on 1006 yards and an impressive nine scores. Now he enters his third year when most wideouts break out and he couldn?t ask for a better situation.

When Moss was out for five weeks last season, Burleson didn?t really experience a huge jump in production. From weeks seven to eleven he had one great game against the Packers but otherwise was held to less than 54 yards in the other three match-ups. What was very encouraging was that Burleson scored in four of those five games. His big season last year was largely four monster games coupled with a dozen others less impressive.

Burleson has to be expected to improve in his third season with an offense that will look his way first on passing downs. The addition of speedy Troy Williamson should work to stretch the defense leaving Burleson with more room underneath. Look for a definite increase in catches and yards but his touchdown totals will be harder to rely on. He ended around 15th best in most leagues last year and he?ll definitely be worth adding to your roster as a #2 wideout. Problem is that you?ll not likely reach him with anything less than a first receiver pick due to the optimism and potential he carries into 2005.

(-Risk) (+Upside) Smith came away from a sterling 2003 season when he ended up much like what Muhammad became in 2004 ? the focus of the passing game and almost ?uncoverable? even though everyone knew he would get the pass. He turned that into a very profitable new contract and then proceeded to pull a hamstring in the final preseason game of 2004. He managed to make it back to the field for week one against the Packers where he suffered a broken leg and was lost for the year after only six catches.

In his place, Muhsin Muhammad had a career year of legendary proportions. The Panthers allowed Muhammad to leave for Chicago so 2005 allows Smith to once again take the primary role and resume what had been so impressive from 2003.

Keep an eye on Smith in training camp for signs that his leg is completely healed and not a factor. To his benefit, it will be almost exactly one year of healing by the time the season starts and Smith is noted for being a very serious and devoted workout warrior. Expect him to resume his productive ways and rekindle the fires of 2003 with even less competition than any time in his career.

Jackson skipped mini-camps this season on a presumed holdout, but he signed a six-year contract worth $25 million in 2004 and his absence in May camps mainly just angered HC Mike Holmgren. While Jackson is the primary receiver in Seattle and clearly the best weapon besides Alexander, he still has never gained over 1200 yards in a season nor topped even ten scores. His 87 catches in 2004 were a career high but his yards per catch were the lowest since his rookie season when he rarely played.

Jackson is a very good fantasy receiver to own if he doesn?t cost too much. He will deliver around 1200 yards and eight scores a year in this offense that has not changed. He turned in five 100+ yard receiving efforts and his touchdowns were spread out through six games during the season last year. He is solid and there is always upside for a little more production in that offense but so far, it has been amazingly static around that 1200/ 8 TD level.

There is no real reason to expect any changes to Jackson unless he actually does continue to holdout during training camp. His numbers don?t warrant a big jump in pay during mid-contract since he is delivering exactly what he already was when he signed that contract. Expect a solid season from Jackson and a good, consistent performance each week that won?t win you many games, but he won?t be the reason you lose either. With Robinson now gone, Jackson is even more important to the Seahawks.

(+Upside) If you need proof that Johnson should have a bright career, consider that his 2118 receiving yards are more than any other top 5 draft pick managed in their first two seasons for the last 20 years. He comes off a sophomore season that witnessed four 100 yards efforts and scores in five different games. Johnson had a red hot start to the season with weeks two through five producing four scores and 467 yards but his production largely dipped for the rest of the year, only scoring twice and failing to reach even 50 yards in any of his last four games.

Johnson was injured in the Vikings game of week five and even though he spent a few weeks listed as questionable, he continued to play. Johnson is a certain star in the league and the main impediment to him reaching the highest levels of production is the offensive scheme and the fact that Houston has no other receivers even remotely close in talent to him. He commands constant double coverage- or more - and the results are telling.

Johnson will continue to improve; he is as talented as likely any wideout in the league and just now entering his third season. That talent will ensure he remains worthy of being a #1 fantasy wideout but the overall offense will likely prevent him from entering the highest tier of receivers.

(+Upside) Roy Williams came to the Lions in 2004 as half of what was expected to be an explosive duo along with Charles Rogers. Since week one saw Rogers only last for a single play, Williams found himself to be ?the man? almost from the start. He responded very well for a rookie, scoring four times in the first three weeks and averaging 90 yards per game. And then, as all true Lion receivers must, he suffered an injury which affected him for almost the entire season.

Williams had a high ankle sprain but only missed two games. He ended the year with 817 yards and eight touchdowns which were excellent numbers for a rookie even if he had been healthy for all sixteen weeks. Williams wasn?t.

The season will start with Roy still in the split end spot with Rogers takes the flanker. Mike Williams will man the slot and together the trio could produce some great numbers. With an impressive rookie season and a healthy ankle once again, Williams is the least risky receiver to take from the three and regardless of what Rogers or Mike Williams produces, Roy will get this possession catches and he is the only one with significant playing time in the offense and with Harrington. And with this offense, there?s no chance the secondary will be loading up against Roy ? he should be even better in 2005.

(+Upside) Clayton was the fourth receiver drafted in 2004 but he dominated all other rookie wideouts last year, ending up around 12th best in his position in most scoring scenarios. His 1193 yards were 12th best in the league and he was 350 yards better than 2nd best rookie Lee Evans (843). Evans had two more touchdowns but Clayton was an instant star who landed in the right situation last year.

His scoring came almost entirely during the second half of the season and while he only had two 100 yard efforts, he was tremendously consistent with yardage ? even if he were a veteran. Twelve of his games had at least 60 yards receiving and he is just getting started. For any rookie to have 80 catches speaks volumes about how polished and mature Clayton was when he entered the NFL.

Clayton provides the possession role but he?s also a factor in the redzone and can provide the occasional long gainer as well. With Galloway healthy again and Ike Hilliard on board, Clayton won?t be asked to carry the passing game on his shoulders and more importantly won?t be the only receiver to concern the secondary. He?s only getting started and already has been in the top dozen receivers in the league ? that?s a player worth riding while he rises. Only an improved running game in 2005 will throw any risk into Clayton improving on already impressive numbers.

(+Upside) Coles has spent the last two seasons with the Redskins where he was the #1 receiver, but with Spurrier that only meant he got the most of many passes to many receivers. Last year he also had many passes ? the most thrown to him of any wideout in the league (167) but he only caught 90 of them. Some thought that was still a heroic effort considering the accuracy of those passes and he was bettered only by five other receivers for catches in 2004.

The story of this year is reuniting him with the quarterback he had in his breakout third year of 2002. That season he had 1264 yards and five touchdowns. That year he ended on a hot streak for the final seven weeks when he never gained less than 70 yards in a game and had three match-ups of 114, 158 and 126 yards. He began to click with Pennington finally just in time to get shipped off to the Washington ?money is no object? Redskins.

His great finish to the 2002 season with Pennington was a bit driven by a soft schedule for that time period but regardless, Coles has become a very reliable possession target regardless of the quarterback. He has never scored more than seven touchdowns in any season but he has remained over 80 catches in each of the last three years. Figure him to get better as the year progresses and to maintain that natural possession role he has perfected. His lack of touchdowns limit him from becoming a top wideout but his consistency with yardage makes him a solid #2 choice for a fantasy team.

(-Risk) (+Upside) After an astounding ?rookie of the year? season in 2003, Boldin carried high expectations into last summer until he suffered a meniscal tear in his right knee that required ten weeks on the sideline before he could hit the field again. Shaking off the rust and general soreness from his knee injury, he only managed to snare a handful of short passes in his first three games before starting to regain his form.

Boldin was also held back from having to learn a new offense and a new position since the rookie Larry Fitzgerald was given the flanker spot while Boldin moved to split end. He only scored one touchdown last year but did end on a higher note, recording two 100+ yard efforts in the final four games.

The outlook should be much brighter this year, with the offense in its second season and Kurt Warner on board to toss the rock. The addition of the speedy Arrington should also help give the defense much more to think about and Larry Fitzgerald will be one year better. The Cardinals have a light schedule this season and while Boldin may not equal his rookie year when he was the only real receiving option, he?s in line for a solid season with upside if Warner can improve the offense.

Entering his third season in 2004, Lelie did experience a breakout year as expected and had scored in six of his first eight games before cooling down for the rest of the year. Lelie has improved in each season and in 2004 topped 1000 yards for the first time. He only caught 54 passes last season but ranked #1 in yards per catch as the only player over 20 yards per play.

Lelie is a great long ball option for Plummer but his ability will develop into more since he has the size to also play a possession role and with Rod Smith now 35 years of age, Lelie will become the clear #1 receiver in Denver no later than next year ? possibly this season even with Rod Smith around.

Lelie has become a solid fantasy receiver though he has not turned in any monsters games so far. But he?s already shown good chemistry with Plummer and a nice, upward path to his progress every season. Expect no less than what he managed in 2004 and with a tougher schedule in 2005, he has nice upside for even bigger numbers this year.

(+Upside) After two straight seasons with at least ten scores, Ward reverted almost exactly to his production of 2001 (within one yard). He simply no longer was the focus of the offense as he once was when Ben Roethlisberger took over. Complicating matters as well were all the rushing attempts that were winning games. There was simply much less need to throw the ball than ever before.

Now that Burress has left, the pendulum should swing toward Ward more as clearly the most talented receiver on the team. In the games when Burress was out of the line-up in 2004, Ward still was no better but late season saw the Steelers already winding down for a playoff run and ahead on the scoreboard in every game. It is very promising for 2005 that Ward had over 100 yards and a score in both playoff games with Roethlisberger.

Unless the running game somehow falters and Roethlisberger begins to throw significantly more, there is no career year facing Ward in 2005. He will be the primary receiver but that hasn?t meant much in the last year. He should improve on his totals from 2004, but merely the loss of Burress does not immediately equate to Ward returning to his previous level of production. The offense has changed and Ward is no longer the primary scorer, he?s merely a very good possession receiver that is no longer used as heavily.

(-Risk) Bennett started the year as the #2 wideout but was expected to be challenged by Tyrone Calico. That never happened thanks to Calico missing the season due to injury and after a furious flurry of three games near the end of the season, Bennett ended up 1247 yards ? 7th best in the NFL last year. His 11 touchdowns were four more than even Derrick Mason had. Through the first eight games, Bennett only had 388 yards and one score. In the final half of the season, no other wideout was hotter. He totaled 859 yards and ten scores in those final eight games.

His claim to fantasy fame came in a three week burst that totaled 517 yards including a 233 yard effort against KC. He had ten touchdowns in three games. In the other 13 games of the year, he only scored three times and averaged only 56 yards per game. That is far more similar to his norm.

Bennett will undoubtedly be drafted too early this season by fantasy owners looking at total stats and remembering that monster 233 yard, 3 TD effort against the pathetic KC secondary. He does assume the #1 role with Mason gone but that should mean lesser numbers from more attention, not more production. There is a new offense to learn and McNair is back as the starter. Last year, Bennett played seven times with McNair and only scored once with an average of 54 yards per game.

Bruce is no youngster at 33 years of age, but he remains a consistent performer. He comes off a 1292 yard season that was his best since 2000. He started red hot last year with four consecutive 100 yard games thanks to secondaries focusing their attention on Torry Holt but he cooled and only had two more similar efforts in the last 12 games.

Bruce may wear down a bit during the season due to his age but he is a very consistent yardage receiver that makes a rock solid #2 or #3 wideout for a fantasy team. He scored in six different weeks and had over 75 yards in ten of his match-ups. Throw in that he has only missed one game in the last six years and Bruce still makes sense for your team despite his advancing years.

Look for his age and lack of big yardage games last year to allow him to drop a bit farther in drafts than warranted. With Holt an established star and Jackson likely to pump up the running game, Bruce should be a lock for a consistent role as a possession receiver with enough scores to make him a positive addition to any fantasy team.

Just when Driver seemed to be returning to the same obscurity he showed in his first three years, he turned in a career best season in 2004 with 1208 yards and nine touchdowns, just a bit better than the 2002 season that gave him his good name. And now 2002 is no longer considered a freak year ? Driver really is that good.

While Robert Ferguson was slated to move up and take over the #2 role last season, Driver would have none of that. After the first month of the season had Ferguson getting more passes and Driver doing less, Ferguson had an Achilles strain to his left foot and never again challenged Driver for the #2 role. From week five onward, Driver had eight touchdowns and four games over 100 yards. Only seven receivers had more touchdowns last year than Driver did. Only eight wideouts had higher yardage.

The Packer offense returns all the same players and the schedule is the same strength as last season. This unit is good enough to go on autopilot though an expected improvement on the defensive side may reduce the need for late game passing. Driver still goes too cheaply in drafts in spite of his top ten numbers from 2004. He makes a tremendous #2 wideout for your team and offers probably less risk than your #1.

(+Upside) The Bills grabbed Evans with the 13th overall pick in the 2004 draft to provide the Peerless Price clone that had been missing for two years. Mission accomplished. Evans scored as many touchdowns as Price did in his one big season before jetting off to obscurity in Atlanta.

The exciting aspect to Evans? rookie season was that he was actually the #3 best fantasy receiver for the final six weeks of the season, catching 29 passes for 469 yards and seven scores over that time period. Now Evans has to adjust to a new quarterback in J.P. Losman and that could delay progress. Evans has been magic with the longball though and there?s a lot less learning curve for hitting him streaking the sideline than completing a crossing pattern. The learning curve may not be long at all if Losman can deliver on his promise.

Expecting Evans to improve what are already stellar numbers for a rookie may be a tall order with a new first-year quarterback, but his ability to catch deep passes and stop running only when the grass changes color means he?s a reasonable risk to take as a #2 fantasy wideout. He?ll likely never have a high volume of catches, but he?ll do a lot with the ones he does catch.

Rod Smith now is tied with Jimmy Smith as the oldest starting wideout in the league this year and unlike Jimmy, Rod has played full seasons every year since 1997 which includes topping 1000 yards in seven of his last eight years.

Smith led the Broncos with 79 catches last year and he turned in a respectable seven touchdowns. His 2004 season turned around a two-year decline that was expected from the aging star and he has shown a good chemistry with Jake Plummer. In only one game last year did he fail to have at least five catches and he almost always stayed at or above 75 yards per game. In spite of his consistent play, he only once managed to crest 100 yards when he turned in freakish 208 yards against the Falcons in week 8.

Smith has slowed down a step and yet he still is relied on for the possession catches and he?s smart enough to find the endzone around half of his games. The Broncos will have a much more challenging schedule in 2005 and he will be needed more than ever. Ashley Lelie is stepping up his production but Smith will remain consistent thanks to the possession role. He cannot rank as a #1 fantasy receiver but makes a solid #2 with consistent performance with the chance ? at least once a year ? to turn in the monster game.

(-Risk) (+Upside) Branch was entering the magic third season in 2004 and after promising progress, he was expected to have a break-out season. His first game ? 86 yards and a touchdown ? seemed in line with expectations. Then in week two against the Cardinals, Branch suffered an apparent knee sprain that the NE injury spin machine cloaked, dismissed and trivialized. He did not return to the field for seven games, a long time for those fantasy owners waiting for HC Belichick to dive into the waters of honest disclosure.

Deion ended with 454 yards and four touchdowns for his eight full games played. In his absence David Patten became the preferred scoring target for Brady and Branch had his supposed break-out year delayed. With Branch healthy and Patten gone, there is no reason why 2005 should not be the big year expected in 2004.

The Patriots have a complicated passing scheme that does spread the ball around more than almost any other team. But Branch is clearly the wideout with the most talent, speed and situation to matter most. Branch was already improving in 2003 and with his 2004 campaign cut short by injury; many have forgotten the expectations that this former second round pick should have this year. He?ll likely not get enough passes to turn into a #1 fantasy receiver for your team but he?ll make a great #3 guy with upside to become a solid #2.

(+Upside) After four seasons in the NFL, Chambers has a good name in fantasy football in spite of never once exceeding 963 yards in one season. His eleven touchdowns in 2003 were reason to take notice but last year he fell back to only seven scores and 898 yards even though he had a career high of 69 receptions.

Since the Dolphins are in a rebuilding year and installing a new offense, Chambers will have a tough time reaching his first 1000 yard season and with the drafting of Ronnie Brown, there is no doubt that the run will be used more heavily this season. That could actually help Chambers who suffered in 2004 when the defense never respected the run. Notable too is that Chambers has had big touchdowns totals in the past, but he typically pumped up his stats with a few big games. 2004 was actually his best with consistency since he had four 100 yard efforts against only two the previous season even though his overall yardage fell.

Consider Chambers to be more risky than last year with the new offense taking time to come together. Only three of his seven scores last year came from Feeley. Look for a similar performance to 2004 this season and that is probably the high side. As the primary receiver in Miami in a year that they will undoubtedly need throw much of the time, his downside is not that low. He makes a suitable #2 fantasy receiver and a safe pick with that expectation.

(+Upside) While Fitzgerald may not have made the rookie splash that Boldin had the previous year, his freshman effort was considered both promising and a success. He ranked only behind Michael Clayton for rookie wideouts and ended the season with eight touchdowns, only seven wideouts had more than him in 2004.

The Cardinals are in the second year of the new Denny Green inspired offense and are looking to create a ?pass first? scheme that will rely heavily on both Boldin and Fitzgerald. The first receiver taken in the 2004 rookie draft, Fitzgerald failed to turn in his first 100+ yard effort but did top the 90 yard mark three times. He also had back-to-back weeks with two touchdowns in games against STL and SEA ? both divisional rivals.

Look for Fitzgerald to continue to improve and become an even bigger part of the offense. Once Boldin returned last season in week eight, Fitzgerald?s numbers dipped for about a month before rising back up. He should enjoy Warner as the quarterback and with a lighter schedule than most, the Cardinals passing game should look much improved in 2004. Fitzgerald shouldered a big load with Boldin out last year but with new weapons for the offense and a bit more experience, he?s a lock for improvement in 2005.