Saturday Night Thrive

The NFL preseason really gets cooking on Saturday night with seven games on the schedule. Dynasty league owners across the country are anticipating a night full of excitement and intrigue.

Many of the coveted rookies will be seeing their first live game action. Some of our favorite sleepers will be in uniform as well.

Here’s a rundown of players who dynasty league owners will be paying very close attention to.

Tampa Bay vs. Miami

Mike Williams, WR, TB
The hype machine is in fifth gear with Williams. After all the glowing reports from training camp, it’s time to see what he can produce on the field.

Kareem Huggins, RB, TB
Mike Williams hasn’t been the only story out of Bucs camp so far. Huggins is attempting to not only make the team, but carve out a role for himself as well.

His improbable journey continues on Saturday night.

Brandon Marshall, WR, MIA
He’ll take a break from the NBA talk to suit up for his new team. It would be great to see him build some quick rapport with Chad Henne.

Detroit vs. Pittsburgh

Jahvid Best, RB, DET
It seems Kevin Smith’s recovery is going better than expected. Best could make that a moot point with a huge preseason.

DeAndre Levy, LB, DET
Levy steps into the full-time middle linebacker role with a lot of IDP promise.

He looked hesitant at times last year, so it will be interesting to see how comfortable he looks now.

Dennis Dixon, QB, PIT
It seems Byron Leftwich has a significant advantage over Dixon in their quest to keep Ben Roethlisberger’s seat warm.

Dixon could make the Steeler brass start to think twice.

Mike Wallace, WR, PIT
If the hype machine is in fifth gear regarding Mike Williams, it’s in hyperspace over Wallace.

Anything less than 500 yards and 7 touchdowns on Saturday night would seemingly be a disappointment.

Cleveland vs. Green Bay

Colt McCoy, QB, CLE
The reps have been tough to come by for McCoy as of late. It’s going to be fun to see if he passes his first test.

Quinn Porter, RB, GB
You may have never heard of him, but you likely will soon. Porter has been a serious surprise at Packer camp and the cheeseheads are anxious to see him in game action.

Minnesota vs. St. Louis

Sam Bradford, QB, STL
The fate of an entire franchise is in your hands. Good luck!

Rams fans should just be happy to see him get hit and get back up since he’s missed significant time the last two times he’s been tackled.

You can imagine Bradford is just itching to get that first hit out of the way and start to develop some chemistry with his new team.

Toby Gerhart, RB, MIN
With Chester Taylor out of the way, it’s up to Toby Gerhart and Albert Young to fight it out for the right to back up Adrian Peterson.

Gerhart is better than many may think.

Houston vs. Arizona

Ben Tate, Steve Slaton, and Arian Foster, RBs, HOU
The most anticipated position battle in all of fantasy starts tomorrow night. You can bet every one of these guys is just chomping at the bit.

Matt Leinart, QB, ARI
He’s been inconsistent at camp so far. The leash won’t be that long, so Leinart could use a good series or two to build some confidence.

Stephen Williams, WR, ARI
If you were to make a list of camp surprises, Williams would be near the top.

This undrafted rookie from Toledo has a lot of good players to pass in order to make the team, but he seems to be climbing that ladder pretty quickly.

Chicago vs. San Diego

Ryan Mathews, RB, SD
The consensus No. 1 pick in rookie drafts finally hits the field on Saturday night. Replacing a legend won’t be easy, but Mathews has serious talent.

Johnny Knox, WR, CHI
Word is he’s beating out Devin Aromashodu and Devin Hester for the top spot on the depth chart.

Let’s see what Mike Martz may have in store for the speedster.

Tennessee vs. Seattle

Justin Forsett, RB, SEA
This game could have set up as the LenDale White preseason revenge game, but that didn’t quite work out.

Forsett will have his first opportunity to show Pete Carroll he can handle the responsibility of being the No. 1 running back.

Mike Williams, WR, SEA
Yep, it’s that Mike Williams. He’s making his mark in camp and is turning doubters into believers. He needs a big preseason to guarantee himself a spot on the roster.

LeGarrette Blount, RB, TEN
Javon Ringer has a leg up on the No. 2 spot on the depth chart behind some guy named Chris Johnson. Don’t forget about Blount, though.

He’s looked great so far and is said to be making a push to not only make the team, but put some subsequent pressure on Ringer as well.

Jared Cook, TE, TEN
It’s about time we saw that potential flash again with Cook. Dynasty league owners are growing impatient.

With so many games on Saturday night, it’s going to be very busy night of player evaluation in dynasty circles.