A few trades and moves have been made and with the season fast approaching I think it's time to unleash the Official preseason power rankings. 2010 record in paranthesis.
1. Gators (12-2) - The best starting line up easily featuring three top ten runningbacks two top five receivers and a top 3 QB. Pretty good depth at runningback with Rashad Jennings and a few handcuffs that might be good for points; need Owens, Roy Williams or the recently retired Moss to step up as a back up receiver for Megatron and Andre3000's bye weeks. 2011 could finally be the year the Gators get back on top.
2. Rayz (5-9) - 2010 was a rough year as the Rayz suffered a GFFL Bowl hang over and never quite got going but 2011 looks to be a different story. Unbelievable Wide Receiver depth with Roddy VJax Jennings and Wallace all arguably top ten guys. After Rice the runningback position gets a little shady with Hillis (madden curse Bjackson brought in for 3rd downs) and Ryan Mathews who is still struggling and looks to be losing more of his role to Mike Tolbert. Quarterback Matt Stafford has a lot of upside and while he's not proven he could be a pretty good leader for this Rayz team. This is clearly one of the top few teams in the league and should definitely be punching a playoff ticket in 2011.
3. Classics (3-11) - Brady, CJ, and Foster. This team is definitely in position to make a run but they fall behind the Rayz as they exhibit absolutely no depth. Behind CJ and Foster there is only one runningback rostered and that is the completely useless Thomas Jones. The same thing is going on with their receiving corp outside of DJAX and M.Williams they have very little talent as Crabtree is hurting and AJ Green is a rookie and is going to be held back by a rookie QB. This team will have a tough time with bye weeks and if they encounter an injury or a bust they may completely falter. However this team has the talent to win a GFFL BOWL and if they can get to the playoffs injury free they'll have one of the best chances at it.
4. Kings (9-5) - Finally captured a title after six seasons but the question is, is this team good enough to repeat? Honestly I think it is a clear number 4 and definitely has a chance. I believe this will be your two seed in the playoffs due to the talented team and the fact the Western Division can be confused for a pop warner league. The C.Falcons blew up their team, the Copperheads are still a year away, and the Weiner Dogz look like their playoff run is coming to an end. While the receiving corp of Bowe and New England Ocho is a little weak the runningback corp and Gates make up for it. The Kings should be able to make the playoffs on cruise control but it'll be a hard fought battle to come away with the GFFL BOWL VII title.
5. Panthers (11-3) - Something is wrong with this picture, 3 of the top 5 teams in the GFFL all reside in the Eastern Division. This is a team that in any other division last year would have had a first round bye and may very well have come home with the championship. This year their team returns strong with Peyton Manning and supremely talented receivers running the show. Bradshaw is not a terrible runningback 1 and Starks is a break out candidate Fred Jackson is a good not exciting runningback 2 as is Mike Tolbert. This team will definitely be in the playoffs and are capable of finishing 1st in the East.
Those are your 5 strong elite teams and I think these are all almost playoff locks in a very top heavy league.
6. Ducks (8-6) - Michael Vick.. The one man team only scored less than 20 points once last season. If he plays at all like he did last year this team could easily win the Central Division. Larry Fitzgerald will be back to a strong wide receiver one. The rest of this team is a little weak but I don't think it'll matter this is my dark horse to walk away with the GFFL Bowl VII title. Get ready for the Michael Vick experience, no team should feel safe playing against the Ducks with Vick in the line up. Even if he misses 2-4 games he's still good enough to get the Ducks into the playoffs.
These next few teams have a little bit of talent but they'll need some luck and some of the former teams to bomb to get into the post season.
7. Purple Cobras (7-7) - Not a bad team at all love the Welker trade and with a little luck and some injuries to the Classics and Ducks they could come away with the Central title. Schaub is a good QB MJD if he's healthy could pay off huge for the Cobras. The receiving corp is all low end WR1's or high end WR2s if they could add another back I'd feel better about them but still if one of the former teams falter I think the Cobras will punch their ticket.
8. Demon Deacons (1st year) - A similar team to the Purple Cobras just a less exciting receiving corp. I'll state the same thing as before this team could find a way to the post season but I think the receivers are too weak to expect anything huge.
9. Weiner Dogz (8-6) - Philip Rivers is a strong QB and if D-Will would've left town and thrust Stewart into the runningback 1 role I would like this team a lot more. It would take a lot of luck for this team to continue their post season run I don't see it happening.
10. Carolina Falcons (8-6) - They've made some pretty decimating trades to get to this spot maybe they have a plan but I don't see it. The Carolina Falcons will be down close to the bottom of the league this year barring a miracle.
11. Copperheads (4-10) - This team is gonna be deadly in 2012 but for now I think they have to deal with one more year of struggling. MSW and Collie aren't a great receiving core and Cassel is a terrible QB1.
12. Pirates (3-11) - They play in the league's toughest division and their 2nd best receiver is being held out of camp with a mystery illness. Another year at the bottom looks to be in store for the Pirates. They do have a nice core to build around in Romo, Moreno, and Dez.
