1. Drew Brees : Even with Sean Peyton out last year and the merry go round at the helm, Brees still finished atop the points for QB’s in 2012. I think a repeat is in the making for this year.
2. Aaron Rodgers : Numbers wise Rodgers had a down year but with that being said he finished third in points last year and added a strong RB in the draft.
3. Peyton Manning : Bringing in Welker for the slot will amplify their offense even more than it was last year. Plus the addition of Montee Ball to the back field reminds me of when Fox had the bash brothers in Carolina.
4. Tom Brady : This is kind of high for me, but on shear talent Brady deserves to be here. Losing Welker to Denver, and the uncertainty of Gronk. I think Brady could have an off year. But I will reassess the situation closer to my next rankings.
5. Cam Newton : Third year in the league and I think it’s his time to shine. The rushing yards might dwindle a little bit if Carolina decides to run the RBs more, but inside 5 yards is Cam’s specialty. He gets you rushing TDs which other players aren’t, and I think his passing game will thrive this season.
6. Matt Ryan : With arguably the best WR duo, in Jones and White. Also added Jackson in the backfield, I’m a little cautious to see if it’s a big change from Turner.
7. Robert Griffin III : His second year in the same system, we will see how he comes back from his knee injury last year.
8. Matthew Stafford : Brought in Reggie Bush to assist their backs, should be a nice receiver out of the back. Still has Megatron, which would boost any QB.
9. Andrew Luck : Led the Colts to the playoffs last year, finished in the top 10 in fantasy. Don’t see much improvement from this year. Solid top ten QB.
   

   Jan 6, 2013; Baltimore, MD, USA; Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (12) during the AFC Wild Card playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens at M

10. Eli Manning : If they keep Cruz, Eli could move up. If Cruz leaves that would only leave Nicks as the proven WR. He will move further down the totem pole if there is no Cruz.
11. Tony Romo : As a professional QB, he has his moments that make you shake your head. But in the fantasy world last year he finished right above Luck. He can have a huge game, just no consistency, and had multiple games with multiple interceptions.
12. Joe Flacco : Winning the Super Bowl last year was a high, coming into this season he lost a big target in Boldin. Still has the down field threat, so I predict a couple big games this year.
13. Colin Kaepernick : San Francisco drafted WR, TE and RB in draft. But the biggest impact players were brought in through free agency with Boldin and Manningham.
14. Russell Wilson : One of the biggest moves in free agency this year was Seattle’s addition of Percy Harvin. Still have the beast in the backfield so the passing game can only get better for Wilson.
15. Andy Dalton : Got a TE in the draft, still has Green to throw to which saves Dalton as far as fantasy goes.
16. Sam Bradford : With the loss of Jackson, I think they will have a tougher time throwing the ball this year. But they did get two WRs in this draft that has played together for a while.
17. Josh Freeman : Still has some weapons to throw to, defense was helped a lot in this year’s draft, plus the addition of Revis. So I think Freeman will get more opportunities this year, I am just not sure what he is going to do with them.
18. Matt Schaub : Added Hopkins in the draft which I think will complement Johnson in the passing game, still a strong RB coming out of the backfield.
19. Michael Vick : Brought in a good TE in the draft. They have a new head coach, could have a great year this year. Might move up in later rankings.
20. Jay Cutler : Not the most consistent QB in the bunch, but he does have a plethora of talent around him. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut occasionally.

Tune in next week as I look over the top 20 RBs. I don’t think anyone in Carolina will make that cut… Thanks for reading.

First, the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Atlanta Falcons in the Georgia Dome last night, 24-19. I watched most of that game and the Bengals look to be for real indeed.

As the starters battled in the first half, it became more and more apparent that the Bengals are picking up where they left off last season. While both teams were tackling extremely well for the early preseason, that’s to be expected of a veteran defense like the Falcons. The fact that the Bengals looked every bit as good should be encouraging for fans starved of a winner up until last year. Oh sure, they’d have a season here, a season there that they would do okay, but they appear to finally be putting some good pieces on the table.

Aug 16, 2012; Atlanta, GA, USA; Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green (18) scores a touchdown while being dragged to the ground by Atlanta Falcons cornerback Asante Samuel (22) during the second quarter at the Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Josh D. Weiss-US PRESSWIRE

Second-year pro A.J. Green looked like the top-ten WR that I believe he is. His ability to separate almost at will was on display, and his incredible hands, strength, and body control were all shown off on a 50-yard TD strike down the right sideline from supposedly candy-armed QB Andy Dalton as Green pushed, twisted and turned his way across the goal line before falling out of bounds on the good side of the pylon.

The play also showed that Andy Dalton has plenty of arm to get things done in the NFL, if he hadn’t proven it last year. Rookie WR Mohamed Sanu added a 12 yard touchdown reception from Bruce Gradkowski in the second half.

Injuries have already bitten the Bengals, which makes their strong showing even more promising. Former Panther and starting Bengals’ left guard Travelle Wharton was lost for the season in last week’s game against the New York Jets, while rookie Kevin Zeitler is starting at the right guard spot. TE Jermaine Gresham had a nice catch and run, but apparently got his foot caught in the turf on the tackle and awkwardly fell to the ground. He did not return, but the injury doesn’t appear to be serious.

Defensive lineman Carlos Dunlap will miss the entire preseason with a sprained knee and his status for the game one opener is questionable. First-round pick Dre Kirkpatrick, a CB from Alabama, is in a similar situation.

The good news is that everyone but Wharton should be ready by either the opener or week two, depending on how things go.

As for the Falcons, Matt Ryan hit on 18 of 21 attempts for 174 yards and a TD. He spread the ball around and Julio Jones reminded us that A.J. Green wasn’t the only promising young WR on the field with several nice catches of his own.

The Browns’ victory over the Packers shouldn’t concern Green Bay fans as the Packers have their offense in order and are protecting AR-12 (QB Aaron Rodgers) as much as possible during the preseason. For the Packers, the 2012 preseason is about settling their starters on defense and generating a pass rush.

Cleveland Browns rookie QB Brandon Weeden has been named the starter for a few weeks now and went 12 of 20 for 118 yards, but had a would-be interception dropped by Packer LB A.J. Hawk and another dropped by Casey Hayward. Weeden was lucky last night and clearly has work to do. Colt McCoy, now the second-string QB, went 4 of 6 for 58 yards on a long touchdown drive and actually looked better than Weeden. Interesting.

This is more a case of Green Bay’s backup QB, Graham Harrell, playing poorly than anything else. He completed only 12 of 24 passes for a measly 100 yards and 2 interceptions. That’s 4 yards per ATTEMPT and throwing short passes shouldn’t generate interceptions like that. He wasn’t so “lucky” as Weeden and also had an intentional grounding penalty.

The Packers appear to be in trouble if Aaron Rodgers were to ever get injured. No Matt Flynn this year; he’s wearing a different shade of green.

Jan 1, 2012; Green Bay, WI, USA; Green Bay Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson (87) catches a touchdown pass behind Detroit Lions cornerback Alphonso Smith (27) during the second quarter at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-US PRESSWIRE

Now that the mini-camps have begun, rookies and reserves get a new chance to show what they can do for their teams. Unfortunately for them, the Packers’ offensive rotation is going to be the league’s toughest to crack into.

What’s not to like about this offense? Well, there are a couple of concerns. First, their draft:

1 28 Nick Perry LB USC
2 51 Jerel Worthy DE Michigan State
2 62 Casey Hayward CB Vanderbilt
4 132 Mike Daniels DE Iowa
4 133 Jerron McMillianSS Maine
5 163 Terrell Manning LB North Carolina State
7 241 Andrew Datko T Florida State
7 243 B.J. Coleman QB Tennessee-Chattanooga

Obviously, they wanted to help their NFL-worst-in-history pass defense. More on that later.

The main concern on offense is their lack of ability to run the ball. Some say James Starks is poised for a breakout year and the Packer offense, while highly prolific, lacked much of a running threat last season. They still went 15-1.

The fact is, while they’d certainly like to improve the ground attack to where opposing defenses at least have to respect it, you can win championships in the NFL without it. It’s just a bit more difficult when you have an underdeveloped ground attack.

The Packers, Patriots, and Colts all have won the Super Bowl in the last decade without having any potency there. They’ve just decided that the rules are easier for passing and developed the passing game, route trees, and styles to the n’th degree. The Giants have shown what a balanced attack can do for you and the league is finally taking notice.

Yeah, you really do need a semblance of running game to put you over the top. Or, at least, it helps.

With that in mind, the Packers feel Grant is ready to be the guy heading into his third professional campaign. They’re the NFL’s most loaded team at the skill positions by FAR – even 2011 rookie sensation WR Randall “Tex” Cobb is 5th on the depth chart and gets most of his action in the return game. Okay, so I labeled him with the nickname of a kickboxer from 30 years ago. Sue me.

Starting will of course be the league’s best QB, AR-12. He’s got a strong arm, is accurate, throws a great deep ball and is mobile. He has no weaknesses.

On the outside are deep threat Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson. James Jones and all-time Packer receiving record holder Donald Driver work the slot and backup the outside guys. The aforementioned Randall Cobb is next, but could move up a little bit on the depth chart with another good preseason. He has that speed that cannot be coached and is a nightmare in the open field.

TE Jermichael Finley is as good a target as there is at the position anywhere, including “Gronk” of the Patriots. The difference is that the Packers have multiple threats everywhere while the Patriots do not. The Patriots find their favorable matchups in other ways like double TE sets but get the job done.

The big problem was the massive yardage they gave up through the air. And I mean BIG. Despite the presence of All-Pro CB-turned-Strong Safety Charles Woodson, the 2011 version of the Green Bay Packers gave up more yardage passing than any team ever has. Similarly, the Patriots had the second all-time worst pass defense the same year and still nearly won the Super Bowl.

I think this demonstrates the evolution of the rules and the league’s transition into a pass-happy league as much as anything. After all, the Packers DO have Clay Matthews but last year proved he needs help.

If you’ll look at the draft, that’s exactly what the organization did. Nick Perry will likely start at OLB opposite Matthews in their 3-4 defense and the hope is he’ll be able to bring some heat down on enemy QBs with Matthews wreaking havoc on his side.

Jerel Worthy is listed as a DE, but played defensive tackle in college. However, the 3-4 defense requires larger, stronger ends to set the edge against the run and occupy blockers, so a transition to end for Worthy is not unusual since they already have massive NT B.J. Raji at the 0-technique. Ryan Pickett will probably start, but Worthy should push him early and see his own snaps in the rotation and provide some depth until he gets his NFL DE legs under him. Jarius Wynn anchors the other side.

A.J. Hawk and Desmond Bishop provide a decent ILB duo against the run, but for practical purposes opposing teams are pressed into passing just to keep up with the Aaron Rodgers machine so stopping the run is really only a big concern in short yardage and goal line sets in the first place.

Tramon Williams should get the starting nod at the right cornerback spot while Sam Shields holds down the left. Both guys are statistically above-average players with Shields having the biggest upside at this point. It’s strange, because the Packers have a decent back-seven but then again it just underscores the passing rules favoring the offense.

It is the New York Giants that have provided us with the blueprint for defeating or at least slowing down vaunted passing attacks with their “NASCAR” package being the exclamation point. Since the Giants are deep in DE/pass rusher types, they decided to use a package with 4 DEs all playing the line. When you’ve got Justin Tuck, Osi and JPP, you have the personnel to do it. Other teams are taking notice and the quickest path to improving pass defense is NOT getting 2 wonderful cover corners as it is putting at LEAST two wonderful pass rushers on the field at the same time.

That’s how Denver improved their defense last season – adding DROY Von Miller to one side and getting Elvis Dumervil off of Injured Reserve from 2010.

The Packers only used one draft pick on a corner, taking Vandy’s Casey Heyward at the end of round 2. He’ll help provide depth initially or possibly be the nickelback in sub-packages. You still need to TRY to cover but in today’s game, you just cannot cover WRs for 4, 5, 6 seconds. About 31 of the 32 NFL franchises have a QB good enough to move the chains if he’s not pressured (sorry, Jacksonville).

Given the improvements within the division like Chicago suddenly having some talent at their non-backfield skill positions, Detroit’s draft adding help for their WRs and depth on the OL, and Minnesota’s consolidation-type draft which poises them to make moves next season, I say the Pack took….

…one step forward. Remember, they were eliminated from the playoffs in their first playoff game in 2011. Given their current talent level and adding almost exclusively to the softer side of their roster (defense) via the draft, they should improve their pass defense enough to make a difference. They still will have a ways to go before their defense is feared again, but they should regain some measure of respectability there.

Next up….the Houston Texans!