Well done, Chiefs enthusiast (Getty)

Welcome, gamers, to the first Sunday of the 2012 NFL season. LET'S DO THIS THING.

(Pretend I just smacked your face, whacked your shoulder pads, barked like a doberman).

Time to open the fantasy season 1-0. Today, we erase whatever deficit you were handed by Tony Romo on Wednesday night. Let's get after it, chief.

There's good news out there on most (but not all) of the injured running backs, including Browns rookie Trent Richardson. He's on track to start today against Philly, and I'd expect him to get plenty of work. After him, Cleveland's depth chart is full of bad ideas. The early news is favorable on Marshawn Lynch, too; he's expected to face Arizona in the opener, unless his back explodes during warm-ups. And barring some disastrous turn of events, it sounds like we'll see Arian Foster and Adrian Peterson this week as well. (Ben Tate and Toby Gerhart can still make noise, of course. They're in the flex discussion).

The day's only bad news comes from Tampa, where Jonathan Stewart has tweeted that he will not — repeat: NOT — play against the Bucs in the opener. DeAngelo Williams could easily give us a top-10 (top-5?) fantasy day with Stewart sidelined.

Read More »from Game on! Sunday injury updates, programming notes

It's a rigorous decision-making process with the Shanahans (Getty-Roto Arcade)

Are there still fantasy owners out there who enjoy chasing Shanahan running backs? Anyone?

It's possible. Maybe you struck gold with Reuben Droughns or Olandis Gary back in the day — at this point, it would be way, way back in the day — and you just can't quit this coach, this system. You're a zone-blocking zealot. I get it. We all have our ridiculous loyalties. Hell, if Natrone Means were to make a comeback at age 40, I'd probably still add him somewhere, just for nostalgia's sake. That dude won me a title. Some of you no doubt have the same relationship with Shanahan backs.

But here's the thing you need to know about the Shanahan era in Washington: It has not actually produced a respectable ground game, not yet.

We always skip over this detail when we engage in the Royster-Helu-Morris debate. The Redskins ranked 25th in the NFL in rushing last season and 30th the year before. Yes, we've seen individual running backs have occasional nice weeks, but this team is not exactly the late-'90s Broncos. "Zone-blocking" is not synonymous with "great running game." Doing it well still requires O-line competence, with week-to-week (if not year-to-year) continuity. The 'Skins didn't have their starting line together for any preseason game.

So before you scoop up every Washington RB you can find, realize that you're collecting shares of a low-yield attack. It's a backfield that fantasy owners keep asking about, however, so we have to cover it. Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan has suggested the team will "go with the hot hand" in the running game this year (which of course assumes that someone will eventually have such a hand), so let's review his options...

Read More »from The Shanahans prepare to spin their wheel of running backs

No Payton, no prob-- Well, OK, maybe a small problem. But they can deal (US Presswire)

The New Orleans Saints enter the 2012 season facing an unprecedented set of circumstances, a unique mess that the organization brought upon itself, via the Gregg Williams bounty program. The team's head coach, Sean Payton, has been suspended for the entire year and interim head coach Joe Vitt will miss the first six weeks. General manager Mickey Loomis is suspended for eight weeks. Defensive end Will Smith and linebacker Jonathan Vilma are facing suspensions, too. The team was fined, and multiple draft picks have been taken away.

These are not small inconveniences.

Still, Payton's high-yield offensive system remains in place, directed by virtuoso quarterback Drew Brees. This year, play-calling duties fall to offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr., a coach who's been attached to Payton since 2006 and to Brees since '02. Carmichael actually absorbed a greater share of the game-planning responsibilities for New Orleans last season, after Payton suffered a broken leg in a sideline collision in October. He's not unprepared for the challenges of the year ahead.

As Carmichael recently said, "We have a great coaching staff and a great group of players that have been in this system for the last couple of years. Like we've been saying, we're obviously going to miss Sean. We're going to miss him significantly, but we feel comfortable with where we're at."

[Related: Will Peyton Manning be among the Week 1 fantasy flops?]

Any coach would be comfortable with where the Saints are at, because last year's offense was the most prolific we've seen in the NFL since ... well, ever.

New Orleans established a new league record for total yards from scrimmage last season (7,474) as well as passing yardage (5,505). Brees set the individual single-season mark for passing yards (5,476) and Darren Sproles broke the all-purpose yardage record (2,696). The Saints averaged an absurd 42.44 yards per drive last season, according to Football Outsiders, and they scored 34.2 points per game. They ranked first in the NFL in passing (344.1 YPG), while also placed sixth in rushing (132.9). In the 10 games in which Carmichael served as the primary play-caller, New Orleans averaged 476.1 total yards.

This is a terrifying, record-shattering offense that returns almost every key skill player. The Saints won't have to match last year's Nintendo-style output in order to finish at or near the top of the league in yards and points. In a nutshell, this group is one of the all-time fantasy juggernauts, an easy choice for the No. 1 spot in the 2012 index.

Read More »from Juggernaut Index No. 1: The New Orleans Saints

Kevin Ogletree (US Presswire)

Sure, I can give you plenty of reasons to doubt Cowboys receiver Kevin Ogletree, to dismiss his huge stat line from Wednesday's NFL opener between Dallas and New York. Ogletree hauled in eight passes on 11 targets against the Giants, finishing with 114 and two touchdowns. This is a player who entered his fourth pro season with zero career TDs, just another name on the Dallas depth chart. It's entirely possible that Ogletree's big night was simply a next-man-up event, as two key members of the Cowboys' receiving corps were battling injuries: Miles Austin (hamstring), Jason Witten (leaky spleen).

Still, we still need to give full credit to Ogletree for beating his man all night, like a pinata. Highlights right here.

Usually, Ogletree's man was the dude pictured above, fill-in corner Michael Coe. That guy had a rough night. Now, destroying Coe isn't quite the same as torching, say, Nnamdi Asomugha or Darrelle Revis, but we shouldn't pretend that Ogletree will ever draw much attention from the elite corners. He'll often find himself with friendly match-ups, and he's flashed the ability to win 'em, cleanly and decisively. (On the second of Ogletree's touchdown catches, just for the record, he shed Corey Webster with a nifty double-move).

This is where I'm supposed to tell you not to get carried away with the Laurent Robinson comparisons for Ogletree, because it was only one game. But of course if you take a wait-and-see approach with this player, you'll lose him. He was added in over 180,000 Yahoo! leagues on Wednesday, while his breakout performance was underway. If you were a Robinson skeptic last year, you missed out on 800-plus receiving yards and 11 scores. The Dallas offense has already demonstrated that it can support three ownable wide receivers, plus Witten. It's hardly a stretch to think that Ogletree will have ongoing fantasy value.

Read More »from Kevin Ogletree can’t be covered on opening night

Andy Reid, coach in the crosshairs (US Presswire)

If you want to argue that Philadelphia has way too many ifs and maybes attached, fine. I'll accept that. You have a fair point.

Just because I'm slotting the Eagles second in an index that's entirely about fantasy potential — repeat: FANTASY potential — I'm certainly not saying that this group is a Super Bowl favorite. If we're talking real-life championship odds, Philadelphia doesn't belong in the discussion with the Packers, Giants or Patriots — and perhaps not with the Texans, Saints, Niners, Ravens, Steelers or Falcons, either. This is simply a team coming off an 8-8 campaign, a group that last year failed to properly assemble an impressive collection of individual pieces.

In the first four weeks of the 2011 season, the Eagles managed to lose three games in which they held fourth quarter leads. They followed the same script in Weeks 9 and 10, losing to Chicago and Arizona. And at that point, Philly was 3-6 — a mess, a punchline, a civic embarrassment. Yes, the team surged at the end of the season, winning its final four games. But a solid close against a friendly slate couldn't erase the Eagles' miserable first-half.

[AccuScore: Eagles part of three-way battle for supremecy NFC East]

Head coach Andy Reid somehow missed the playoffs with a roster that was well-stocked and well-hyped, loaded with play-makers. Of course he's on the hot seat. He's fortunate that owner Jeffrey Lurie didn't place him on the ejection seat. Reid got the very least out of an exceptionally talented squad last season. If the team minimizes its potential again this year, giving away winnable games, he'll be gone.

But now I'm veering off the appropriate path. I'll remind you once more that the goal of this series is to assess the fantasy landscape, taking a team-by-team approach. Whatever else the Eagles might appear to be entering 2012, no one can reasonably argue that this squad isn't a fantasy buffet. Philly features the No. 3 running back in our preseason ranks, as well as our No. 7 quarterback, the No. 15 and 27 wide receivers, the No. 12 tight end, the No. 3 defense and our No. 12 kicker. We've been drafting the [expletive] outta this team for the past month.

Read More »from Juggernaut Index No. 2: The Philadelphia Eagles

The good news, if you're a Kenley Jansen owner, is that the Dodgers' closer should be able to return by mid-September. He's been sidelined since August 27, due to an irregular heartbeat.

The scarier news, if you're Jansen himself, is that you'll need to undergo a surgical procedure in the off-season in order to correct the arrhythmia. Details here from the Los Angeles Times:

The heart procedure Jansen is considering is called cardiac ablation, which typically inserts a small catheter through a vein and through to the heart, where an electrical charge is used to destroy the problem areas of the heart.

"If I do the surgery I will be off the [blood thinning] medicine, so that would be good for me," Jansen said.

So it's no big deal, really. They'll just correct the problem by threading a tube into his heart, then frying whatever isn't working. Problem solved.

Tip of the cap to Jansen for his commitment to return this season, and we wish the big man an easy recovery, free of Read More »from Closer Report: Dedicated Dodger

He's highly skilled, this Rodgers dude (US Presswire)

Any discussion of this franchise has to begin with quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who just delivered what may have been the greatest individual campaign in the history of his position. He established a new single-season record for passer rating (122.5) while averaging 309.5 yards per game and protecting the ball as well any QB has ever protected it (just six total turnovers).

Rodgers not only possesses an elite quarterback's skill-set — arm strength, mobility, accuracy, quick-release — but he combines excellent physical tools with a rare ability to process information, pre- and post-snap. He's terrific at reading and manipulating defenses (, plus he's freakishly precise, even on the most difficult throws. His weapons-grade accuracy enabled last year's absurd TD-to-INT ratio (45-to-6) and a league-leading yards-per-attempt average (9.2).

From the perspective of this Bears fan, Rodgers is disturbingly great. Equally disturbing: Green Bay's receiving corps is fantastic, and it's deep. Plus it has year-to-year continuity.

This is, simply put, a frightening offense, orchestrated by an all-time quarterback. The remorseless beatings should continue for another season in the NFC North, with no end in sight.

Read More »from Juggernaut Index No. 3: The Green Bay Packers

Bill Belichick, looking radiant (Getty)

The first and most important thing you need to understand about this team is that they are not trying to help you, ever. The Patriots are not generous with information, whether about injuries or defensive schemes or pregame menus or footwear selections or ... well, anything. Ever. They aren't in the business of helping fantasy owners. Under Bill Belichick, this franchise has become a terrifyingly powerful institution about which little is known. Like the CIA, or Tom Cruise.

If you want to believe this writer from the Boston Globe when he tells you that "Aaron Hernandez has ascended to [Tom] Brady's No. 1 option," that's your business. When published, that nugget was treated by several fantasy outlets as if it were breaking news. But at best, all we really get from the hard-working folks who cover this team is thoughtful guesswork, based on whatever the Pats choose to show in practices and exhibition games. We almost never get scoops about New England's intentions.

The only people who can be accurately referred to as "Patriots insiders" are actually working for the team, and they never talk.

Despite the relative secrecy surrounding New England, there are of course a few things we can safely say about this phenomenally high-yield offense. Let's review, bullet-style...

Read More »from Juggernaut Index No. 4: The New England Patriots