10/21/08
- Back in 2004, the Cowboys were in the market for a running
back and there was speculation they had targeted Oregon State's
Steven Jackson in the 1st round. However, rather than take Jackson,
they traded their 1st round pick for additional selections and
eventually took Julius Jones in the 2nd round. Jackson never
forgot about the slight and in his first game against the Cowboys
pounded them for 160 yards on the ground and three touchdowns
from eight, one and 56 yards. Early on this season, Jackson
was shaping up as a potential 1st round fantasy disappointment
but has come on over his last three games with 475 total yards
and four touchdowns. Clearly the effects of his holdout negatively
impacted Jackson over his first few games and the lesson here
is that big, physical backs like Jackson need plenty of time
to get in game shape.
- Keeping with the Rams, the team had failed to score 20 points
in a game all season prior to this week's 34-14 demolition of
the Cowboys. They had 21 in the first quarter against the generous
Cowboys defense which has now given up 112 points over their
past four games.
- Moving on to the Cowboys, it will be interesting to see how
wide receiver Terrell
Owens responds to the news of Roy Williams' contract extension.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones handed out a 5 year, $45-million deal
to Williams that includes $27-million in guarantees. Prior to
this season, Owens signed a three-year contract extension that
has a maximum value of $34-million over the next four yers with
only $13-million of guarantees. There is some rationale in that
Williams is a younger player than Owens but Owens is clearly
a far superior player to Williams, who has only one 1,000-yard
season over his first four years in the league. In case you're
wondering, Williams went without a catch this week marking only
the second time in his career that he failed to show up on the
box score. The only game was in 2005 when he tried to play hurt
but was only involved in a couple of plays.
- Cowboys quarterback Brad
Johnson had a horrible first game subbing in for the injured
Tony Romo, going 17 of 34 for 234 yards with three interceptions
and a fumble. However, 56 of those yards came on the team's
opening drives and the numbers weren't great considering the
Rams were playing with Ron
Bartell, recently re-signed Fakhir
Brown and mid-season pickup Jason Craft at cornerback. Marion
Barber, Terrell Owens and Jason Witten are must starts every
week but the rest of the Cowboys offensive players should be
on your bench until Romo returns.
- Terrell Owens numbers over the past two weeks - six receptions
for 67 yards and no touchdowns. Over the past five games, he
has only 17 receptions for 222 yards and two touchdowns. Maybe
he's not a must start every week, after all.
- With the Chiefs Larry Johnson suspended by the team for one
game for violating team rules, the league apparently investigating
him under the NFL's personal conduct policy and another late-night
incident coming to light (his second in 2008), there is an opportunity
for Johnson's backups to produce during the balance of the season.
Johnson has now been involved in four altercations with females
and the accusations have ranged from displaying a firearm during
an argument to assault with alcohol involved. Look for Johnson's
suspension to be for more than one game and with the team clearly
disenchanted with his attitude and performance, there is an
opportunity for either Kolby Smith or Jamaal Charles to produce
in the Chiefs backfield. Smith had a number of solid games last
season including a 150-yard, two touchdown rushing performance.
However, the team likes Charles' speed and this week the team
chose to split the playing time between the two with the early
read being that Smith will get more opportunities on the ground
with Charles filling more of a receiving role.
- Saints running back Reggie Bush will miss three to four weeks
due to the torn meniscus in his left knee. Bush's loss is a
big blow to the team's offense as he leads the Saints in rushing
yards and receptions and is second in receiving yards behind
Devery Henderson. With Bush out and tight end Jeremy Shockey
potentially also out with a groin or hernia injury, look for
quarterback Drew Brees to have a difficulty time maintaining
his early season performance. Wide receiver Marques Colston
struggled this week going without a catch for the first time
since the team's final game of his rookie season when he was
being rested for the playoffs so there is some doubt as to his
ability to produce until he is back in game shape. It says here
that head coach Sean Payton will reduce the team's reliance
on the passing game and increase Deuce McAllister's role in
the team's rushing attack.
- Steelers running back Mewelde
Moore was a fine one game pickup this week courtesy of a
soft Bengals defense and Willie Parker aggravating his injured
left knee. After going off for 134 yards and three touchdowns
against the Bengals, Moore's two game stint as the team's starter
has yielded 250 total yards and three touchdowns. With the Giants
and Redskins up next for the Steelers, Moore might not be a
great play over the next two weeks but it's worth remembering
that the team drafted Rashard Mendenhall in the 1st round of
this year's draft to reduce Parker's workload. Look for Moore
to continue to put up decent numbers until Parker returns and
possibly be a decent flex play once Parker is back in the fold.
- Keeping with the Bengals-Steelers match-up this week, Bengals
running back Cedric Benson got his first start with the team
and managed to eke out 52 yards on 14 carries against the Steelers.
Benson's performance wasn't spectacular but it was the second
best rushing performance of the season against the tough Steelers
run defense behind only Le'Ron McClain's 63 yards on 16 carries
during week four. Perhaps there's hope for Benson to help resurrect
his career and a floundering Bengals rushing offense.
- Bears running back Matt Forte had another 22 touches this
week bringing his season total to 176 for the season (25 per
game). Forte managed only 56 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown
against the Vikings stout run defense. However, it marked the
sixth straight game Forte has failed to top the century mark
and the Bears rookie rusher has only one 20-yard gain since
the opening game of the season. Rookie running backs are notorious
for hitting the wall part of the way through their first season
in the league and Forte's numbers and workload make him a prime
candidate to suffer a similar fate.
- Over the team's first six games, Seahawks receivers have
combined for 508 yards and 321 of those yards belong to players
either released or on injured reserve (Billy
McMullen, Nate
Burleson, Courtney
Taylor, Michael
Bumpus and Logan
Payne).
- The Raiders wide receivers have been horrible this season
but Javon Walker came to life this week, catching five passes
for 75 yards and a touchdown. New head coach Tom Cable threatened
to bench Walker, whose previous best game was two receptions
for 34 yards, and did bench Ronald Curry in favor of rookie
7th round pick Chaz Schilens. The team's wide receivers have
only 479 yards in six games, with 84 of those coming courtesy
of Johnnie Lee Higgin's long touchdown against Buffalo.
- With Brodie Croyle injured, Tony
Gonzalez enjoyed his best game of the season matching his
season high of six receptions and recording 97 receiving yards,
besting his previous high of 55 yards in week one. However,
Damon
Huard injured his throwing hand during the game and may
be replaced by the atrocious Tyler Thigpen. Gonzalez is a solid
starter with Huard behind center but it's a different story
with the erratic Thigpen.
- As for Croyle, his comeback from an opening game separated
right shoulder injury lasted only a few plays before he went
down with a torn medial collateral ligament. If Croyle's suspect
play wasn't enough to ruin his chances of being the team's long-term
option at quarterback, certainly his inability to stay healthy
has. Look for the team to explore for other options both in
the short and long term. Daunte Culpepper has been mentioned
as a potential in-season signing for 2008 and the Chiefs may
try yet again to pry Brady Quinn from the Browns.
- The Bucs have yet to give up a rushing touchdown this season.
The team only ranks 10th in average rushing yards against but
has been stingy at the goal line.
- It's doubtful that Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware is available
in an IDP league but if he is, it's important to know that he
has not recorded sacks in 10 straight games and has 13 over
that stretch.
- Browns safety Sean
Jones was a consensus top five pick in IDP leagues entering
the season but was injured in week one so may be available in
some leagues. He had a nice return to the line-up, posting ten
tackles and a forced fumble this week against Washington. He
displayed some rust at times, taking a poor angle on a long
Clinton Portis run, but figures to provide steady production
over the balance of the season if he remains healthy.
- Steelers cornerback Bryant McFadden was quietly putting together
a strong season, finally moving ahead of Deshea Townsend as
the team's starter opposite Ike Taylor. McFadden took control
of the position after Townsend suffered a knee injury during
the team's season opening win over Houston but may also relinquish
due to injury. He suffered a broken forearm this week against
the Bengals and is expected to miss at least five games.
- Cowboys safety Roy
Williams also suffered a broken forearm this week and will
miss the rest of the season. It was the same forearm he broke
earlier in the season and the team chose to put him on injured
reserve. The move may have been necessitated by the team's other
injury issues but there is a decent chance Williams has played
his last game as a Cowboy. Barring a restructuring, look for
him to be released during the off-season. Williams has never
played up to his salary and is a liability in pass coverage.
- Raiders safety Michael Huff has been a disappointment since
being selected with the 7th pick of the 2007 draft. Basically
Huff has not shown any of the playmaking ability he did in college
and the team expects their safeties to contribute turnovers.
Huff has recorded only one sack, interception and forced fumble
over his career and was benched this week in favor of Hiram
Eugene, an undrafted player who has been on and off the team's
roster since 2005. The move may have been only a wake-up call
to Huff as opposed to a long-term demotion but the bottom line
is that Huff isn't a playmaker and he's not worth having in
IDP leagues.
- Ravens cornerback Chris McAlister found himself in an unusual
spot this week - on the bench. He did not start and played in
some nickel and dime packages. Apparently McAlister's performance
is suffering due to a recurring knee injury. McAlister feels
he is fine to play but head coach John Harbaugh thinks otherwise.
The coach always wins these battles so McAlister should be bench
in IDP leagues until there is definitive word that he is back
starting.
- Chargers wide receiver Malcom
Floyd wasn't impressed last season when the team shipped
a 2nd round pick to the Dolphins for Chris
Chambers. With Chambers becoming a touchdown machine since
joining the Chargers (five in five games this year and nine
in 15 games since joining the team), the trade can't be considered
a bad one but Floyd has given the team's braintrust much to
think about over the past two games filling in for an injured
Chambers.
- The Rams received plenty of scorn (yours truly included)
when they used the 2nd pick of the 2nd round on wide receiver
Donnie
Avery, making him the first wide receiver off the board.
Avery was slowed by injuries during the pre-season and then
again during the season but has come on over the team's past
two games with nine receptions for 138 yards and a touchdown.
He also had a 21-yard touchdown called back due to penalty and
would have had 92-yard touchdown pass were it not for a poor
throw by quarterback Marc
Bulger where Avery had beaten Cowboys rookie cornerback
Mike Jenkins clean on a deep route.
- A receiver who might be headed in the opposite direction
is Jaguars wideout Matt Jones. Jones has been a plenty surprise
this season with 30 receptions for 338 yards and a touchdown,
this after not being expected to make the team out of training
camp. However, there is a strong possibility he could be suspended
for violating the league's substance abuse policy, which could
result in a suspension of up to four games. With the team's
other wideouts struggling (395 combined receiving yards), Jones
would be worth keeping on your FF roster if he's suspended but
there's no guarantee when a suspension would be announced. It
could be during your FF league playoffs so make sure you have
an adequate replacement on board.
- In Detroit, it looked like Shaun MacDonald would reap the
benefit of the Roy Williams trade but, at least this week, that
distinction went to Mike Furrey. With Calvin Johnson regularly
double covered, he had only four passes thrown his way while
Furrey was targeted eight times, catching six balls for 89 yards.
MacDonald was held without a catch.
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