Use pre-season predictions to adjust your player rankings
Every season, coaches and the players make bold predictions about the upcoming NFL season. I wouldn't advise taking all these predictions to the bank, but if you look closely enough you'll find that some of these predictions hit the mark. These projections can be made for total yards for the year, touchdowns for the year, carries, passes, receptions, you name it. Remember, these projections are given by either the player himself or one of the player's coaches.
Example One:
In July of 2003, Carolina head coach John Fox stated early in training camp he planned to hand the rock off to Stephen Davis over 300 times in the upcoming season.
Now if that's not a reason to bump a running back into your top ten, we don't know what is. Final result - 318 carries for the year.?
Example Two:
This one you might remember: Jamal Lewis predicts he'll be the league leader in rushing for 2003. We didn't think he'd really pull it off, but I definitely raised him in our player rankings based off this bold prediction. Final result - he lead the league in rushing with 2,066 yards.
Of course all these projections won't pan out. Mike Tice's prediction that Randy Moss would be 60% of the offense in 2002 comes to mind. But when a player is confident enough in his team and himself to make these projections, you should listen. And if a coach makes predictions about the number of carries a player is going to get, it's time to take a closer look at that player. (Unless that coach is a rookie;-) Back to the player ranking strategy page.