PITZER'S PLAY 'EM AND BENCH 'EM:  WEEK ONE

by Matt Pitzer

September 5, 2007

Sure, the Saints and Colts kick off the 2007 season on Thursday night.  But the real importance for many of us is that it means the start of another year of fantasy shenanigans.

Most of you have already have had your drafts; if not, there are plenty of resources to help you.  Once you have your team, I'll be here every week through the season to give you a few of my thoughts about whom to put on a pedestal, and whom to park in a port-a-let.

Week One might be the easiest week in which to set your lineup all season.  You drafted a team with a clear set of starters in mind and you're not going to make big changes to start the year, even if you don't love the Week One matchups.

What fun is it to snag Carson Palmer and then get scared away from using him by the Ravens right from the start?

Instead, most of the decisions for the first week come with end-of-the-roster types of players -- flex starters or third wide receivers where the choices are made between relatively similar players.  Here are a few players from all levels to consider:

PLAY 'EM

Devery Henderson, Saints. We've heard for months about how bad the Colts' defense will be.  Well, Henderson might be your best chance to get in on the fun this week if you don't have one of the Saints' stars.  Henderson is over his hamstring injury and figures to be the team's No. 2 receiver in a high-scoring game.  As a third receiver, you could do much worse.

Steven Jackson, Rams.  That Jackson is even included here goes against the rule that you shouldn't consider benching your stars in Week One.  But Jackson carried just seven times for 27 yards last year against the Panthers, by far his worst day of the season, as Carolina shut out the Rams.  Jackson is now in the LaDainian Tomlinson class of preparation, in that he doesn't need to play in the preseason to get ready for Week One.  This game has the feel of a possible shootout, meaning plenty of scoring chances for Jackson.

Maurice Jones-Drew, Jaguars.  The Titans might have a good defense, but it will not be well into the season until all of their new parts start working well together.  New defensive tackle Corey Simon, for instance, is not ready to play a big role; if he were, he probably would swallow the diminutive Jones-Drew.  The Jaguars dropped 37 points on the Titans at home last year and Jones-Drew will be part of another big effort this week.

Matt Leinart, Cardinals.  Yes, the 49ers spent the offseason boning up on defense, but all the changes won't sync up immediately and the 49ers did have the 26th-ranked pass defense last year.  Leinart will have a chance to showcase the Cardinals' new offense in the Monday night opener and will get to do so against a still-marginal defense.  Don't buy into the idea, however, that Leinart will be an automatic start every week; but he is for this week.

Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers. What better way for the Steelers to unveil their supposedly wide-open offense than by taking it to the Browns in the season opener?  It would make for quite a statement out of the gate and the Browns, as always, are trying to figure out what they're doing.  Let's see if all the blather we've heard about Roethlisberger and the offense are true.  So play him.

Vikings defense.  It is hard not to be excited about Minnesota this week.  The Vikings are a conservative, defensive-oriented team to begin with, plus they open at home against the Falcons.  And let's face it:  Nobody knows what we're going to get out of the Falcons.  But with Joey Harrington involved, there is a good chance that at least part of it will be bad.

BENCH 'EM

Ronnie Brown, Dolphins.  The preseason produced nothing but negative vibes for Brown and the Dolphins offense.  The line didn't gel, the quarterbacks stumbled and Brown opened the door to Jesse Chatman.  The Redskins' defense comes in reinvigorated by some key offseason pickups and should throw a bunch of pressure at the Dolphins and frustrate them.  The Dolphins aren't going anywhere in this one, especially not Brown.

Mark Clayton, Ravens. This is supposed to be the year that Clayton takes over as the Ravens' No. 1 receiver and he will have plenty of time to do so.  But he still is slowed by a bad ankle and the main threats against the Bengals figure to be veteran Derrick Mason and the speedy Demetrius Williams.  Of course, that is assuming the Ravens actually open up the playbook, which you never can be sure of.  Wait on Clayton.

Jay Cutler, Broncos. The Broncos are on the wrong end of a short, ugly streak, having scored 10 points in each of their last two openers, both on the road.  This year, they're at the Bills, who have some defensive problems to fix but also can have a substantial home-field advantage. This is supposed to be a no-brainer, breakout year for Cutler, despite his limited playing time as a rookie.  Give him a week to prove himself before jumping on the bandwagon.

Greg Jennings, Packers.  He did nothing in the preseason, which was kind of odd considering how well he played when healthy as a rookie.  The Packers say they are not worried, but the opener against an aggressive Eagles defense and a good secondary might not be the best way to shake the idea of a sophomore slump. The Eagles also are about as healthy are they are going to get, which means their defense is as good as it is going to get.

Jon Kitna, Lions.  The Raiders wound up with the league's best passing defense last year, at least partly because they were so far behind every week that their opponents bailed on the pass about midway through the second quarter.  But they also have a couple of decent pass rushers led by Derrick Burgess and a solid secondary led by CB Nnamdi Asomugha.  This will be a good season for Kitna, but try to play somebody else this week.

Carnell Williams, Buccaneers. This is not a good opener for the Bucs, taking the longest road trip possible to the other corner of the country to play the Seahawks.  Seattle is full of small, quick defenders who seem to wear down as the season goes on.  But for Week One at home against an opponent far from home and with plenty of offensive questions?  Don't look for much from the Bucs. and that will hammer Williams' chances. If the Bucs get down early, his carries disappear and so does the idea of getting off to a good start.

THINK ABOUT 'EM

Tatum Bell, Lions. The flip side to the Raiders' league-best pass defense was the 25th-ranked run defense, thanks to a league-high 542 rushes by opponents last year.  So why wouldn't you start Bell?  We're not really sure what we'll get out of Detroit's run game.  Kevin Jones is an extreme longshot to play so you might want to jump on Bell early in the year while he'll still be something close to a feature back.  But Bell needs a big passing game to thrive -- so if Kitna falls apart, so could the run game.

Patrick Crayton, Cowboys.  If veteran starter Terry Glenn deals with injuries all season, this could be a breakout year for Crayton.  He has slowly improved through his first three years and is now just waiting for a chance.  Glenn missed most of the preseason because of a knee injury and might not be able to play this week.  If he doesn't, consider Crayton against a beat-up Giants' secondary.

Stephen Gostkowski, Patriots.  You don't want to have worry about kickers.  If you have a good team, you either have or soon will acquire a good kicker and just leave that position alone every week except for the bye week.  Gostkowski was supposed to be one of those solid guys after missing only one field-goal attempt in the final 11 games last year, including the playoffs.  But problems came back in the preseason with misses in each of the past three games, including one block.  If that continues, it will not be a natural improvement for him as a sophomore.

Bo Scaife, Titans.  QB Vince Young seems to lock in on Scaife way too often for an elite quarterback.  If you're getting points per reception, Scaife is a good bet this -- and most -- weeks, as he could lead the team in catches.  But TDs and big plays are going to be inconsistent, so if you play him you're kind of crossing your fingers there.

Leon Washington, Jets.  The question mark here is Thomas Jones' calf.  Jones sounds like he will be able to play, but he missed a bunch of practice and might not be in the best condition to carry 20 times against a solid Patriots defense.  The easy solution is to give Washington some extra work.  He showed sensational ability at times last year so a few extra carries means that many more chances to break a big play.