All in the Family, Season Preview: Chasin’ the Dix

Back in February, I talked about my hatred of fantasy football, but my love of “The Dix.”  The Dix is an idea by frequent BSB correspondent, Andy Waters, to start a fantasy football team consisting entirely of players with the surname “Johnson.”  They were okay at the start, but the team blosssomed and it came to a point where his players were so in demand that it was impossible to even field the team because so many Johnsons were going in the first round.  Though right now might be a little past the hay-day, there is still some talent there, and now they have legit challengers.  Doogan and I, along with another frequent BSB correspondent, J, have challenged Waters’ beloved Dix to a season this year.  Bry will be managing the Jack-O’s (all Jacksons), Doogan will be managing Jonesin’ (all Jones), and J will be at helm of the Blacksmiths (all Smiths).  It is a small four-team league, but it is going to be a WAR.  And, each battle of this war will be recapped on BSB throughout the season.  For now, let’s preview the upcoming season, using NFL.com’s Top 200 list.  Interestingly, no team in the league has a Top 30 tight end.

The Dix
This is clearly the team to beat, but hey, that’s why we founded this league, right?  This team actually has 44 players from which to choose (roster limit is 40)–and is the only team that can actually “choose.”  There are holes, on this team, though, so it’s going to be interesting all year, but in the end there is just a ton of top-level talent on this team.  They have the #1 RB and #1 WR in the entire league in Chris and Andre, with Chris being the #1 overall player in the whole league.  They also have Calvin, who is the #5 WR and #23 overall.  But, they only have one other player on this list and that is Larry at #150 (#49 RB).  There was a major scare in the offseason when “Titans RB Johnson” was placed on IR, but it was Stafon Johnson, not Chris.  Any loss of a Johnson is major, but as long as Chris is still a healthy Johnson, then The Dix are strong.  We are also doing defense in this league, where you get points for sacks and INTs and tackles, etc.  As good as the Dix are on offense, they are even better on defense.  They clearly have the best defense in the league.  At D-line, they have superstar Jarret from Baltimore, along with Tank in Cincy, Antonio in Indy, and the other Charles in Carolina.  They also have a lineman Michael in Cincy and a safety Michael in New York.  The other prominent DB’s are Oakland’s Chris and Minnesota’s Tyrell.  At linebacker, they have Brandon from Cincy, Derrick from KC, and a rookie Jerome in Carolina.  This defense is stacked.

Jack-O’s
This team took a beating in the offseason and have the fewest players in the league with only 26.  They had a shot at having a quarterback of a Top 5 offense, but then Brett Favre came back, sending Tavaris to the bench.  They looked real good at WR coming into the offseason, but with their two big-time players both holding out and missing practice (DeSean and Vincent), they were set back there too–plus Vincent is still unsigned and regardless of his contract is suspended for four games to start the season.  Also, Fred got hurt in the preseason and lost his starting spot to T.J. Spiller in Buffalo.  Still, they have 6 players on the NFL.com list.  QB Tavaris is the #37 QB (though he didn’t crack the Top 200 overall).  At RB, they have #9 Steven (#13 overall), #40 Fred (#88 overall), and the dark horse, #67 Brandon (didn’t make the Top 200 overall).  And, at WR, which was supposed to be their strength, they have DeSean at #8 (#26 overall) and Vincent who is still at #35 (#99 overall), despite a rocky offseason.  This defense also took a beating with injuries in the offseason, as Marlin, who was supposed to start for the Eagles in the secondary was placed on IR with a torn achilles.  They do have a star safety in Tampa Bay in Tenard.  They also have promising young D-linemen in Tyson in KC and Lawrence in Detroit to go with the grizzled vet, Grady (not currently on an NFL roster).  They are very thin at LB, as Cleveland’s D’Qwell (tied for the best name in the league with Le Kevin Smith) is the only one on the team.

Jonesin’
This team will win and lose on the backs of its running game because there is not much else there–with only 26 rostered players.  But, this corps of running backs is deep and solid, led by #3 Maurice Jones-Drew (#3 overall), who was given the go-ahead to play exclusively for Jonesin’, despite his split loyalties with Team Drew.  They also have Felix at #28 (#63 overall), Thomas at #41 (#90 overall), and Julius at #63 (#195 overall).  They also have a pair of serviceable wide receivers in Jacoby at #62 (#170 overall) and James at #75 (#198 overall).  If there receivers produce, this could be a solid team.  This is, however, the only team in the league that doesn’t even have a QB on its roster, as at least The Dix (Josh) and the Jack-O’s (Tavaris) have backup QBs on the roster that could play if the starters go down.  As for the defense here, they have three Bengals (Dhani, Pacman, and David), who all could produce.  They also have Sean in Tampa, Nate in Denver, and Jason in Oakland, who are all defensive starters for their teams, so the defense might provide some decent points.

The Blacksmiths
This team actually has a full roster of exactly 40 players, but beyond that it might be the most complete team in the league simply because they actually have a starting QB.  Alex is the #19 QB and is #129 overall.  But, this is huge because he will provide points at the highest-scoring position, which cannot be matched by any of the other teams.  However, he will need to supply a lot of points because the rest of the roster is a bit thin.  They do have two really solid WRs in Steve (#13 WR, #38 overall) and Steve (#14 WR, #43 overall).  They also have a serviceable RB in Kevin (#54 RB, #163 overall), but there is no one else on the NFL.com list.  The strength of this team might actually be on defense, as they have an absolutely stacked D-line, led by stars Will (NO) and Justin (SF), but bolstered by Aaron (Pit), Antonio (Hou), Robaire (Cle), and Le Kevin (Den).  Daryl (Jac) leads a thin linebacking corps, but the secondary is pretty solid, with Anthony (Jac) and Eric (NYJ).

All in all, it’s going to be a fantastic inaugural season, as we’re all chasing The Dix.  The Black Smiths probably have the best shot with an actual starting quarterback, but watch out for the Jack-O’s if Favre gets hurt or Jonesin’ if any of those running backs goes off.  We’ll be back with weekly updates on the league, so you’ll get your fix of All in the Family.