This column will take a look at the matchups of three “bubble” players each week – not guys you’ll automatically keep in the lineup week in and week out, but guys who are borderline starters depending on whom they’re facing that week.

The Chiefs had a horrendous run defense last year, giving up 134 yards a game on the ground at a clip of 4.5 yards per carry.  To make things worse, the Chiefs lost their top tackler from a year ago with the departure of LB Donnie Edwards.  First-round draft pick Ryan Sims was brought in to partially offset that loss, but he held out through all of training camp and will not contribute very much early on.

As bad as the Chiefs' defense against the run was last year, the Browns' rushing offense was even worse.  The Browns were last in the league in both total rushing yards (1351) and yards per carry (3.24).  However, the Browns' young offensive line started to play better toward the end of last year, and were actually pretty average through the final third of the season.  Well, “average” may be just a bit too kind, but they weren’t far off.

The Browns got their top draft pick into camp earlier than the Chiefs did, however, and William Green will get the week 1 start.  Green gives the Browns what they lacked last year: a big, powerful runner with deceptive quickness and natural run skills.  The Browns are hoping Green will do for them what LaDainian Tomlinson did for the Chargers last year: give their rushing attack some instant credibility despite the absence of a top-tier offensive line.  Green will get his chance in week 1 with QB Couch at less than full strength and an opponent that's vulnerable against the run.  Green will get 20+ carries this week, and anybody who gets 20 carries against the Chiefs will end up with decent numbers.  Don’t be afraid to start him.

Projection: 21 carries for 88 yards and 1.7 TDs. (Insignificant receiving yards).

[Note: I obviously don’t expect Green to rush for exactly 1.7 TDs, just like I don’t expect any particular family to have exactly 2.4 children.]

If you have another decent option at QB, you should think about taking a "wait and see" approach with Brian Griese early in the season.  Maybe he'll be fine, but there's an awful lot to be nervous about going into week 1.

For one thing, Griese was absolutely miserable over the final third of the 2001 season.  In his final six games, Griese averaged 132 yards passing on 4.7 yards per attempt.  (Yards per attempt is a pretty good indicator of efficiency; the league average is 6.35.)  Over that span, he had a dismal QB Rating of 62.  Griese does have Shannon Sharpe and Ed McCaffrey back this year, but this will be McCaffrey's first game back since that ugly broken leg he suffered in last season's opener, and he's struggled with a strained quadriceps muscle throughout training camp.  Is he the same receiver he was two years ago?  We don't know.

Will Griese's chronic shoulder problems (on his throwing arm) -- which caused him to miss 9 starts in the past three seasons -- bother him?  We don't know.

Will Shanny give Griese a quick hook and put Steve Beuerlein in the game if Griese falters?  We don't know.

There's just too much uncertainty surrounding Griese right now for my tastes.  The Broncos-Rams game could be a 42-38 shootout with plenty of fantasy points to go around for everyone; or, if the Broncos play the way they did at the end of 2001, it could be a disaster.

After all, it's not like the Rams don't have a good pass defense.  DEs Grant Wistrom and Leonard Little are both skilled pass-rushers who could hound Griese all day.  The secondary features two of the top players at their respective positions in CB Aeneas Williams and SS Adam Archuleta.  In the last third of the 2001 season, the Rams held their opponents to just 5.4 yards per pass attempt -- fifth best in the league.

Griese has the potential to throw for 300+ yards and 3 TDs in any game, but the odds don’t favor it this week.  Sit him if you can.

Projection: 17 of 35 for 172 yards and 1 TD.  (15 yards rushing.)

The Bears won't need to put the ball in the air a whole lot this weekend.  Anthony Thomas is going to have a huge day against the Vikings' porous run defense, meaning that Jim Miller will only have to throw the ball about 25 times.  The Bears may end up scoring a lot of points, so a touchdown or two for Booker isn't out of the question; but I wouldn't be surprised if there were only 150 receiving yards to go around, and it's unclear what percentage of those will go to Booker.  For a run-oriented team, the Bears have a lot of capable receivers.  Dez White, who led the team in receiving during the preseason, has shown fantastic improvement over last year.  (He could always run; now he can catch, too!)  Marcus Robinson is a great player when he's healthy, and he's apparently healthy now.  David Terrell was a top 10 pick in last year's draft, so you know he has talent.  In fact, it's possible that Marty Booker is the fourth best receiver on this team.

In any event, even if Booker ends up with 100 catches again this season, he probably won't get more than four of them this weekend.  The Bears will be having too much success on the ground to open up any kind of high-flying aerial attack.

Projection: 4 catches for 42 yards and 0.3 TDs.