RB Jonathan Stewart DOWN

The Panthers offense is a mess right now. The Panthers are going to start Cam Newton week 1 as a rookie even though he has a mere 14 career college starts and missed most of the offseason thanks to the lockout. Newton’s rushing ability will be good for Stewart’s and Williams’ YPC. Vince Young had positive effects on Chris Johnson’s YPC. Michael Vick had a positive effect on LeSean McCoy’s YPC. Vince Young even had a positive effect on Travis Henry’s YPC in Young’s rookie year. However, Newton is still extremely raw as a passer which means there won’t be a lot of touchdowns scored in Carolina, which means Stewart and Williams won’t score much.

RB DeAngelo Williams DOWN

The Panthers offense is a mess right now. The Panthers are going to start Cam Newton week 1 as a rookie even though he has a mere 14 career college starts and missed most of the offseason thanks to the lockout. Newton’s rushing ability will be good for Stewart’s and Williams’ YPC. Vince Young had positive effects on Chris Johnson’s YPC. Michael Vick had a positive effect on LeSean McCoy’s YPC. Vince Young even had a positive effect on Travis Henry’s YPC in Young’s rookie year. However, Newton is still extremely raw as a passer which means there won’t be a lot of touchdowns scored in Carolina, which means Stewart and Williams won’t score much.

RB Peyton Hillis DOWN

Peyton Hills and Montario Hardesty each got a series with the first team in Cleveland’s 3^rd preseason game. Hardesty seems to be back and able to play after injuries in his first season and earlier this preseason. The Browns coaching staff wants to keep Hillis fresh after he wore down late last season so Hardesty should see a large minority of the carries on 1^st and 2^nd downs, possibly even alternating every series with Hillis. The good news for Hillis is that Brandon Jackson, who was signed as a 3^rd down back this offseason, is hurt with turf toe, a lingering injury. That means Peyton Hillis would be the 3^rd down back. New Head Coach Pat Shurmur says he sees Hillis as a big part of this passing offense next season. Hillis will also remain the goal line back, for obvious reasons.

RB Montario Hardesty UP

Hardesty appears healthy and should see his fair share of carries on 1^st and 2^nd downs in Cleveland. He doesn’t catch a lot of passes and won’t stay in on 3^rd down and he won’t get the goal line carries, but he should get a significant enough amount of yards to be worth a spot on your fantasy team, especially since he’s a Peyton Hillis injury away from being the lead back.

 

RB Tim Hightower UP

Roy Helu didn’t see a single first half carry for the Redskins in their 3^rd preseason game. Mike Shanahan is obviously not impressed with the rookie 4^th round pick. Ryan Torain could still steal some carries from Hightower once he’s healthy, but Mike Shanahan seems to consider Tim Hightower a lead back. He’s done this thing before with random running backs with a lot of success. He won’t score a lot in Washington’s miserable offense, but he’s running well and should get a lot of all purpose yards and give you plenty of catches in PPR.

QB Michael Vick DOWN

The Eagles offense looks out of sync right now. I don’t know if it’s Maclin being out or defensive coordinators having a whole offseason to figure out how to stop Vick, but this is not good for Vick’s fantasy value. Maclin should be back week 1, but he won’t be 100%. Normally I don’t like to overreact to the preseason, but Vick is being drafted as high as the top 5 as a quarterback. This has to be worrisome.

WR DeSean Jackson DOWN

The Eagles offense looks out of sync right now. I don’t know if it’s Maclin being out or defensive coordinators having a whole offseason to figure out how to stop Vick, but this is not good for Jackson’s fantasy value. Maclin should be back week 1, but he won’t be 100%. 

RB Ray Rice UP

Ray Rice got all of the goal line looks in Baltimore first preseason game. It seems that Ricky Williams will be nothing but a backup. The Ravens have rushed for 33 touchdowns in the last 2 seasons. If they rush for 16 or 17 this year, it’s very conceivable that Rice could get 12, plus an addition 2 through the air since he’s such a great pass catcher.