The “official” Pre-Season has opened and an excited buzz is in the air. Teams are starting live action and finally have the chance to hit someone NOT on their own team. Yet with all the “newness” of another season and this exuberant feeling that the season is close and Fantasy Football will begin anew I always find myself with mixed feelings. The first is that excitement, the second is disappointment. Let’s face it pre-season football sucks. You work yourself up into a frenzy to see your team and, especially in game 1, you get 1 series of starters and the rest is an excruciating 3 hours of watching bums that don’t belong on your kid’s high school team. It’s brutal. And this feeling won’t get any better as we move on to game 2. We all know the starters will only play one, maybe two, quarters in game 2 and then again the bums come out. I know, I know. If I were a TRUE football junkie this wouldn’t matter, right? Wrong. It’s for this reason precisely that I prefer Pro Football over College Football. I love watching the best perform. The college game is ok, but I usually like to watch the games in which two major teams are playing one another. Those 50 – 0 blowouts that the Florida Gators put out are terrible to watch. Who wants to see one completely outmatched team play another much superior team? Not I.

From a Fantasy perspective these early pre-season games have little use. You MAY get a glimpse into a diamond in the rough, but it’s unlikely. How many of us held Hank Basket in high regard from his stellar pre-season performances? Oops, did I say that out loud? I know what you’re thinking, but I blame Ron Jaworski. What was I doing listening to a guy nicknamed the “Polish Rifle”? I deserve what I get. But I digress. Teams that have new coaches and new systems often play their players more during these games to get them more reps in their new schemes. I watched the Redskins game the other night and they played their starters into the 2nd quarter. This is unusual for the first pre-season game, but again certain teams need to get their guys up to speed. This is especially true in today’s game where coaches only get 2 – 3 years to prove their system works. Now Mike Shanahan (Redskins coach) has a proven track record so he should get more rope, but with Daniel Snyder (the owner) who the hell knows.

One player of note that I am growing more and more happy with is Julian Edelman wide-receiver of the New England Patriots. He seemed to do very well in game 1 and with the uncertainty of Wes Welker I will keep a close eye on him for a possible move up my draft board. Edelman did well last year in the absence of Welker and a full off-season working as the replacement should have done him wonders. I’m certain to have more analysis on this later in the pre-season. One last thought, “Chill out Cowboys fans”. I am hearing rumblings of complaint on their offense after only 2 games. Come on. It’s freakin pre-season.

My best advice for these early games is to enjoy that brief kickoff excitement, enjoy hanging with your friends or fan clubs at the bars that show your games, and enjoy those early drink specials. Then gear up for pre-season Game 3 where you will get the clearest glimpse into what your team and your fantasy prospects will look like.