Top Five Players To Watch In NFL Week One - Brendan Darr's Blog

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Brendan Darr's Blog

Top Five Players To Watch In NFL Week One Stuck

Posted on September 4, 2012 at 04:09 PM.

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Football is here! Football is here! Well, the meaningful games are here -- thankfully.

College Football started up this past weekend, and as a Maryland fan, I�m ready for the NFL to begin and have been waiting for this all summer.

With that in mind, here are the five players I'm keeping my eye on in the first week of the season.

Quarterback Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints

Brees is starting his first game without head coach Sean Payton and will be missing Joe Vitt as well. It will be interesting to see how the Saints offense performs without their coaches. Brees should still be a solid player, and against the Redskins secondary with two below-average Safties, should have a huge game. But will they show any side effects of not having the coaches around that built this offense.

Quarterbacks Robert Griffin III, Washington Redskins and Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts

Of course they are here. They have to be. The top two draft picks of this year will be starring in their first regular-season games of their young careers. How will Andrew Luck handle that Bears front seven? Will Robert Griffin III be intimated by the fans in the Superdome? Luck is farther ahead at this point than Robert Griffin III, but will the two show jitters in their first start? I wouldn�t count on it. I�d expect both to show well in their first start.

Wide Receivers Malcom Floyd and Robert Meachem, San Diego Chargers

Meachem will be counted on to replace the void that Vincent Jackson left when he left for greener pastures in Tampa Bay. Floyd is expected to take a step-up in production as well. The two will have the enigmatic Philip Rivers tossing them the ball. Will both of them be able to step up and help Rivers return to elite status? Oakland's secondary can be torched, and Rivers has the arm to do it. I'm assuming one of these guys steps up and becomes the number one guy, which one -- I'm still not sure yet.

Quarterback Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks

Floyd and Meachem I'm just going to count as one person, so here's a bonus in Wilson. Was his preseason the real deal or was it a fluke? We'll find out Sunday against the Cardinals.

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