The year 2008 was kind of a down year for the Indianapolis Colts. For the 6th time in his career Peyton Manning was one and done in the playoffs losing 23-17 to the San Diego Chargers in the Wildcard round. Moreover, last year was somewhat of an off year for Manning statistically despite winning his 3rd league MVP award and I witnessed firsthand what it is like to have a QB that is trying to shake the rust off after having off season knee injury. Manning heated up later in the year but unfortunately many owners did not have the supporting cast that I had to hold the fort down and thus missed out on the post season party.
In fact my Manning experience of last year has soured me on Tom Brady this year. You just cannot afford to play without a QB for the first 4 or 5 games of the season and that is what I endured last year. Furthermore, Brady’s injury is said to be far more serious than Manning’s was a year ago. The Colts will once again be good but will they make the playoffs? I am not so sure as Tennessee is already solid and both Jacksonville and Houston are primed to be far better this upcoming season. But again this is fantasy so I will focus my energy on the Colts position players and what they offer up in terms of fantasy potential in 2009.
As mentioned Manning did not have one of his best statistical outings of his แทงบอลชุด ufabet career but he did enough to secure his 3rd league MVP award. I lived and died with Manning for the first 6-7 weeks before he finally started to heat up down the stretch. The Colts are heading into a major transformation this year as Head Coach Tony Dungy has retired and has been replaced by Jim Caldwell and 2 other prominent members of their staff as offensive coordinator Tom Moore and offensive line coach Howard Mudd are expected to retire due to changes in the NFL’s pension policies. Moore would be a huge loss for Manning as he represents the only offensive coordinator that he has worked with in the NFL. Nonetheless, despite all of the turmoil in the coaching staff and the departure of Marvin Harrison look for Manning to continue his assault on the NFL’s passing records.
Why? For starters, Manning is just that good and he still has most of his weapons at his disposal including Reggie Wayne, Anthony Gonzalez, and Dallas Clark. Furthermore, another major variable in Manning’s favor this year is that center Jeff Saturday will be healthy. Ahhh I know what you are saying. “What could a center possibly have to with fantasy performance”? TONS!!!!! I watched most of the Colts games last year and it was painfully obvious that the whole offensive line was completely out of sink without Saturday’s presence and this lead to a lack of continuity and rhythm from the whole offense. The Colts will not have it easy this year.