An Early Look at the 2012-2013 NFL Season

It's June 17th, Father's Day, and in honor of all of the football dad's out there I wanted to give you a preview on the upcoming NFL season. We're just about done with the basketball season, meaning that the site will begin it's transition into full time baseball and football mode for the next 4 months or so. In this article I will give you 10 lists from 10 different categories, some pertaining to football and others to random nonsense. Let's start with some ground and pound Hall of Fame guys.

Before L.T. the only multiple rushing award winners since 1990 have been Edgerrin James (1999 & 2000), Barry Sanders (1990, 1994, 1996 & 1997) and Emmitt Smith (1991, 1992, 1993 & 1995). I don't think Peterson, Johnson, Foster or MJD are on the same level as those Hall of Famers. In short, it's hard to lead the league in rushing more than once in your career. My pick to lead the league in rushing for this year is Ryan Mathews from San Diego.

The first 9 are all with the Bengals, his 15 catches last season came from Tom Brady while being on the Patriots. OchoCinco recently signed with the Miami Dolphins to give them a legit outside threat. Chad may slide in as the teams number one receiving option over Davone Bess and Brian Hartline. I honestly think the Dolphins will challenge for the Wild Card this year.

It's very clear that the NFL is becoming a passing league. For you fantasy football junkies this means one thing, elite rushers are few and far between. I've always valued top rushers over top QB's and WR's so this year will be no different for me. I hope this list opens some of your eyes.

I am a big believer in a lot of these guys this year. Jay Cutler can mesh right away with Brandon Marshall in Chicago because they played together in Denver three years ago. In their last season together (2008), Cutler had 4526 yards passing, 1265 of those yards went to Brandon Marshall.

The contract dispute is the only reason I have Matt Forte on this list. If the Bears can come to an agreement with the 26 year old, he'll hold value as a 2nd round pick. Same issue surrounds Drew Brees, although I still don't like him in the first round even if he gets his new extension. Cam Newton and A.J. Green make this list because of the always scary, Sophomore Slump. Sticking with Carolina, I think this is the year Jonathan Stewart asserts his dominance over DeAngelo Williams. Stewart is currently ranked 6 spots lower than the 29 year old Williams.

List #8
10 reasons why LeBron will still be hated after he wins his first championship
1. The Decision.
2. Joining a team that already had two All Stars on it.
3. Changed his number to 6 instead of 23 because of Michael Jordan. What about Julius Erving!?!?
4. He's considered a passer not a shooter in clutch situations.
5. Never told Cleveland management before he went through with The Decision.
6. Got Mike Brown fired while in Cleveland.
7. These words, "Not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six..."
8. People always want to cheer against someone who has their body covered in tattoos.
9. Gives people something to do on Twitter, find me on Twitter @Awies28
10. Happily accepted the role of "Villain."

List #9
One interesting note on each top 10 fantasy QB's
1. Aaron Rodgers had 10 games last year throwing at least 3 touchdowns (didn't play week 17).
2. Tom Brady is 34 years old and is entering his 14th year as a pro.
3. Drew Brees last year had 12 more touchdowns at home than on the road.
4. Matthew Stafford in 29 career games has thrown 37 interceptions .
5. Cam Newton has the 10th hardest strength of schedule this year.
6. Mike Vick - I can't find his stats from 2007-2008. Where was he? 
7. Eli Manning, since being named the starter in 2004, has never missed a start.
8. Peyton Manning had multiple off season neck surgeries after missing all of last season.
9. Tony Romo had one 300 yard game in his last 11 games of 2011.
10. Phillip Rivers - I think San Diego becomes more of a running team this year. Matthews will dominate.

3. Alex Smith threw for over 215 yards in only 4 games last year.

4. The Detroit Lions only had a running back go for over 60 yards in a game 3 times all of last year. They still had the 5th best offense in 2011.

5. Chris Johnson had 4 total TD's last season. He had 38 total TD's in his first 3 seasons.

6. The Kansas City Chiefs did not have a run over 34 yards last year. They also had the second fewest amount of rushing TD's as a team last year (5) despite having the 5th most rushing attempts in the NFL (487). They also had the second shortest "longest reception" of the NFL last year, it was 52 yard reception by Dwayne Bowe in week 4. All I'm saying is that the Chiefs were not as explosive as they wanted to be.

7. Cedric Benson led the Bengals in rushing in 15 of the 16 regular season games last year.

8. BenJarvus Green-Ellis, now with the Bengals, has 24 rushing TD's in the past two seasons combined. Only Arian Foster has more.