Fantasy (and Real) Football

Reading takes a back seat for the next couple of weeks as I intensify preparations for my fantasy football drafts. I'm pretty excited about this season, and I'm looking to erase some of the bad memories from last year. Here are some early predictions and observations from the pre-season.

• Cedric Benson will be a huge bust (which almost is too easy a prediction now that Rex Grossman has gone down for the year)
• Kurt Warner looked good in his first pre-season action. I find Warner very interesting as a back-up/spot starter. He was amazing in St. Louis, and the receivers in Arizona really are top notch. I could see Warner putting up 3,500 yards and 25 touchdowns. Denny Green has done more with less.
• Joey Harrington was 9-9 in first first game of the pre-season. Can Harrington turn the corner this year? I hope so, because I think the people calling for Jeff Garcia to start are in for a cold-water shock if Garcia ever does get extended action for the Honolulu Blue and Silver. As important as Joey's looking sharp, as one local columnist noted, is that the receivers were 0 for 0 in the dropping passes department. I am convinced that the drops were more of a factor for Joey's struggles last year than people give him credit for.
• Finally, it was nice to see Chris Perry get in some action after being hurt all of his rookie season. I think if he can stay on the field he can really help the Bengals.