Outlook: With Josh McDaniels at the controls and Sam Bradford coming off an impressive rookie season, there were high hopes for the Rams offense entering 2011. Unfortunately, the offense fell flat as Bradford struggled through an injury marred campaign and McDaniels stubbornly refused to alter his offensive approach despite having an array of offensive players ill-suited to carry out his marching orders. Bradford missed six games with a high ankle sprain but struggled mightily in his ten starts, throwing for just 2,164 yards and six touchdowns. McDaniels was fired after the season and replaced by former Jets offensive coordinator Brian Scottenheimer. Scottenheimer will employ a version of the west coast offense and that bodes well for Bradford, who excelled as a rookie in Pat Shurmur’s WCO. While Bradford is expected to take a leap forward in 2012, it is doubtful he will be a useful fantasy option. The Rams scored 16 touchdowns last season and lost their top wide receiver (Brandon Lloyd) and the offensive line has significant issues once again. How many touchdowns are in order for the Rams in 2012? Can’t be too many more than 16. That makes it pretty hard to predict a breakout season for Bradford in 2012. He remains a solid option in dynasty formats but he is a low end QB2 in redraft formats. ~ Dave Stringer

Comment: Bradford's ankle injury from last October has lingered into late May. The QB is in no danger of missing Week 1 due to this issue but it's something to keep an eye on as camp progresses. ~ Mike Krueger

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Outlook: At 34 years of age, Brady put together another stellar campaign, throwing for 5,239 yards with 39 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. The yardage total would have been a league record if not for Drew Brees throwing for even more yards with New Orleans. There doesn’t appear to be any slippage in Brady’s game as he enters his 13th season in the league and there is nothing to suggest that he isn’t capable of another MVP-caliber season in 2012. In fact, you could easily make the argument that he has the chance to improve on his 2011 production. Starting running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis left in free agency and his most likely replacements consist of a pair of largely unproven second-year players. At wide receiver, the team added a deep threat in Brandon Lloyd as well as a steady veteran producer in Jabar Gaffney. And at tight end, the Patriots feature the most lethal combination of pass receivers in league history in Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. About the only negatives you can find are that Pro Bowl left tackle Matt Light has retired and left guard Logan Mankins is recovering from a torn ACL. Brady’s a top-three fantasy quarterback for 2012. ~ Dave Stringer

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Outlook: With his record-setting passing performance in 2011, Brees finished the season as the top ranked fantasy quarterback, averaging 29.5 FPts/G. He eclipsed Dan Marino’s single-season passing yardage record with 5,476 yards while throwing for a career-high 46 touchdowns. Better yet, he cut down on his interceptions, going from a career-high 22 in 2010 to just 14 last season. Things couldn’t be looking rosier, right? Well, Bountygate has put a cloud over the Saints and Brees’ outlook for the 2012 season with head coach Sean Payton suspended for the entire year. Payton’s absence has to have a negative impact on the team’s offensive production and let’s face it; it is folly to chase last year’s fantasy production so predicting 5,500 passing yards and 45 touchdowns for Brees is foolhardy. Brees will remain a fantasy stud in 2012 but 5,000 yards and 35-40 touchdown passes seems far more realistic. After Aaron Rodgers, Brees deserves consideration as being the number two quarterback on your draft board along with Tom Brady, Matt Stafford and Cam Newton. ~ Dave Stringer

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Outlook: With no starting jobs on the offer, Campbell decided to join the Bears as Jay Cutler’s backup. Given Campbell’s lack of success as a starter in Washington and Oakland, that wasn’t exactly a surprise. He rates as one of the better backups in the league but the Bears conservative offense attack isn’t going to help Campbell’s fantasy production in the event he joins the Bears starting lineup. While Cutler is less of an injury risk with Mike Martz no longer in Chicago, the Bears offensive line remains one of the weaker units in the league, increasing the odds Campbell will spend some time under center for the Bears in 2012. ~ Dave Stringer

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Outlook: The Chiefs offensive production went south when Cassel was lost for the season in Week 10 due to a broken hand but Kansas City was hardly an offensive powerhouse with Cassel in the lineup. Even with the team’s most dynamic offensive player Jamaal Charles lost for the season in Week 2, former head coach Todd Haley still leaned heavily on the run game with Cassel failing to top 200 passing yards in five of his nine starts and also failing to top 300 passing yards once. With Haley gone and new offensive coordinator Brian Daboll running the show, the team’s production in the passing game isn’t likely to see a huge increase. Daboll’s preference is to run the ball heavily and utilize plenty of short passes. While that may play to Cassel’s strengths (although that is half-hearted praise given his completion percentage of 57.2% as a Chief), it isn’t going to turn him into a useful option as your fantasy quarterback. Cassel rates as a lower tier QB2 in 12-team leagues. ~ Dave Stringer

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Outlook: Is this the year Cutler emerges as a solid fantasy starting quarterback with the Bears? While Cutler has been a solid performer for two consecutive years after struggling in his first year with the team in 2009, he hasn’t emerged as a solid fantasy producer and the explanation has been two-fold. One, the team has lacked playmakers at the wide receiver position. Two, he has been saddled playing behind one of the worst offensive lines in the league. In 2012, the Bears addressed the wide receiver position with the acquisition of Brandon Marshall and by drafting Alshon Jeffery in the second round. Unfortunately, they did little to improve the leaky offensive line. The reality of it is Cutler is unlikely to see a big improvement in his production this season. The team doesn’t really know what it has in Jeffery, Devin Hester and Earl Bennett and they lack a receiving threat at tight end. Even with Marshall in the fold, Cutler is unlikely to top the 3,666 passing yards he had in his first season in Chicago. He is a mid to lower-tier fantasy backup. ~ Dave Stringer

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Outlook: In real football terms, Dalton delivered far more than was expected of him as a rookie signal caller in 2011, leading the Bengals to a 9-7 record and earning a wildcard playoff spot. Along the way, he threw for 3,398 yards with 20 touchdowns and 13 interceptions and even chipped in 152 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Considering he didn’t have the benefit of a full offseason, those accomplishments were impressive but it’s safe to say more is expected in 2012. The knock on Dalton is that he lacks elite arm strength which hurts his ability to make big plays but that is somewhat offset by having the opportunity to play with wide receiver A.J. Green, who has the ability to adjust in midflight on deep passes. For Dalton to improve on his 15th fantasy quarterback ranking from a year ago, he will need both Green and tight end Jermaine Gresham to make improvements and for another player to step up opposite Green at wide receiver. Dalton hit the rookie wall in Week 13, tossing four touchdowns and averaging just 178 passing yards per game over his final five games, which included four games with less than 200 yards passing. On the plus side, he averaged 27 rushing yards over his final three games, including the team’s wildcard playoff loss. Heading into 2012, Dalton ranks as a middle tier QB2 with upside if he gets some unexpected production opposite Green. ~ Dave Stringer

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