NFL Preseason Watch List: Thursday of Week Two

Ken Kelly Posted On August 16, 2012

After an eventful week one, dynasty owners are salivating as the positional battles are heating up and rosters are starting to come into form. We’re here to provide analysis all preseason long so you don’t miss a thing. We’re posting a regular watch list for the preseason games, full of players we’re watching for each and every game. For premium subscribers, we also have the ultimate preseason index of players to watch, a 6,000 word write-up with a player from every team who we have our eyes on.

If you’re here at DLF, you know we won’t waste your time talking about the obvious players – you guys are just too good for that and we know what to expect from the veterans anyway. Instead, we’ll be focusing our attention on the rookies and some of the deep sleepers we’ve been looking forward to seeing in action.

Let’s take a look at Thursday’s schedule and who we’re looking forward to seeing the most.

Cincinnati vs. Atlanta

For the Bengals, the battle continues to rage on to be the second starting receiver, opposite AJ Green. Right now, Brandon Tate, Armon Binns, Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu seem to all be in the mix. Thursday would be a great night for one of them to step up and take a stranglehold on the job. One player who doesn’t seem to have roster security is Jordan Shipley. If he gets cut, that’s going to be unfortunate because he showed a lot of potential in PPR leagues prior to his injury. It looks like BenJarvus Green-Ellis won’t play, so that should open the door for some of the younger backs to get some action. Dan Herron is going to need to start making some noise or he’s going to find himself on the practice squad.

In Atlanta, let’s see if that offense looks as explosive as it did last week. If it does, Julio Jones is going to be a serious difference maker this year. The offense is pretty much solidified. We know that Matt Ryan, Roddy White, Jones, Harry Douglas and Tony Gonzalez are locked into their respective positions. What we don’t know is exactly how the Falcons are going to distribute the carries among the running backs. Another good showing from Jacquizz Rodgers would start dynasty league owners to question the value of Michael Turner even more.

Cleveland vs. Green Bay

The Browns offense just doesn’t look solid and it will still be missing Trent Richardson. At quarterback, Brandon Weeden played a little better than his stat line indicated last week – let’s see if he can put together a solid quarter or so. If he does, Browns fans would feel a whole lot better. We still haven’t seen much from this receiving corps, either. Let’s just hope Mohamed Massaquoi can make it through the game without getting hurt. His concussions are getting scarier by the day. Somebody has to step up at a skill position or defenses are just going to key on Richardson all year. Josh Gordon, anyone? Greg Little perhaps?

For the Packers, it’s all about the running back position. After adding Cedric Benson over the weekend, there are major questions regarding the health and overall value of James Starks. We should see a lot of Alex Green as he attempts to carve out a third down role in the offense. Ironically, there’s some talk the Packers could be interested in Colt McCoy if Graham Harrell or BJ Coleman fail to impress this preseason. We’ll see all of them playing on Thursday night. One player who continues to make noise in camp is Diondre Borel – let’s see if that can translate to the field.

We’ll continue the game-by-game previews all weekend long.

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Ken Kelly

Co-Founder at DynastyLeagueFootball

Ken is a corporate trainer by day an a tireless editor of dynasty content by night. His passion for the World Champion Seattle Seahawks is second only to his love of fantasy football and the dynasty format.

Ken is on Twitter at DLF_KenK