9/9/08
- You have to love fantasy football, don't you? Your 1st round
pick or a large part of your auction dollars go to securing
Patriots quarterback Tom
Brady and all you have to show for it is half a game, with
the news that Brady will be placed on season-ending injured
reserve. It's not all bad for Brady, however, as my wife reminded
me that he gets to go home to Gisele's pampering.
- A few other consensus 1st round picks and a quick comment
on their fantasy football performance: Colts running back Joseph
Addai - injured and ineffective; Rams running back Steven
Jackson - ineffective; Redskins running back Clinton
Portis - ineffective; Cowboys running back Marion
Barber - injured; Patriots wide receiver Randy
Moss - effective but for how long?
- So Daunte
Culpepper is retired and now the Patriots have an opening
at quarterback and they could use a guy that has some experience
winging it down the field to Moss. Stranger things have happened.
And remember that the Patriots were willing to take a chance
on Moss whose reputation was no better than Culpepper's before
he joined the team.
Leinart has thrown more INTs than TDs
in the last two years.
Sunday's 49ers-Cardinals tilt provided another example of
why teams are foolish to waste high 1st round picks on the quarterback
position. With J.T.
O'Sullivan and Kurt
Warner in the starting line-up, the 49ers were going with
a player taken in the 6th round of the draft in 2002 while the
Cardinals were going with a former undrafted free agent at the
position rather than players recently taken high in the 1st
round of the draft. The 49ers figure to jettison Alex
Smith, the first player taken in the 2005 draft, after the
season due to his $10-million salary in 2009 unless he miraculously
proves that he is worth that amount during the current season.
Of course, that's hard to do from the bench. Matt
Leinart was thought to be the most NFL-ready quarterback
of the 2006 draft, which propelled him to be the 10th player
taken by the Cardinals. Over the past two years, Leinart has
thrown for more interceptions than touchdowns (16 to 13) while
completing 56% of his passes. Over the same period, Warner has
thrown 33 touchdowns and 22 interceptions while completing 63
percent of his passes.
- The NFC West was thought to be the league's worst division
heading into the season and after week one that certainly seems
like an accurate prediction. The Seahawks and Rams both had
more punts than points.
- Don't expect things to get better for the Seahawks until
they start getting their wide receivers back from injury. With
Deion
Branch and Bobby
Engram not available and Nate
Burleson going down with a knee injury (and now out for
the season), the team was forced to use Courtney
Taylor, Jordan
Kent and Logan
Payne at wide receiver. The trio combined for four receptions
for 44 yards. Once Burleson went down, the Bills mostly played
with nine men in the box when the Seahawks were in two wide
receiver sets. Look for future opponents to follow suit until
the Seahawks get healthy (or bring in new players) at the wide
receiver position. Throw in the fact they are starting a rookie
(John
Carlson) at tight end and it is clear that teams aren't
going to be afraid of the Seahawks passing attack.
- Michael
Turner owners, don't get too excited. The Falcons only play
the Lions once this year and the Lions certainly didn't benefit
from losing two starting linebackers (Ernie
Sims and Paris
Lenon) to injury.
- Apparently Tommy John surgery has come a long way since Tommy
John had his surgery. Panthers quarterback Jake
Delhomme's bullet to Dante
Rosario whistled past not one but two Charger defenders
for the game winning score on the last play of the game.
- Eagles quarterback Donovan
McNabb had a nice start to the season, showing a little
something for all the Eagles fans that spent the off-season
clamoring for their team to trade him and install Kevin
Kolb at quarterback. McNabb shredded the Rams porous defense
with three Eagles wide receivers (rookie 2nd round pick DeSean
Jackson, Hank
Baskett and Greg
Lewis) topping 100 yards receiving in a game for the first
since 1960.
- Keeping with McNabb, so much for the talk about McNabb's
fantasy prospects suffering due to the loss of wide receiver
Kevin
Curtis, a 1,000-yard performer last season. Lost in the
reasoning was that tight end L.J.
Smith was returning from a largely lost 2007 campaign, rookie
wideout Jackson looking like a potential game-breaker and McNabb's
improved health with an extra year of recovery.
- Jaguars wideout Matt
Jones was questionable to make the team's roster heading
into training camp due to his poor performance on the field
and his questionable decision-making and destructive behavior
off the field. However, with the team's new acquisitions at
wide receiver (Jerry
Porter and Troy
Williamson) not being healthy enough to fully absorb the
playbook, Jones made the team and may have secured a spot in
the starting line-up with his six-reception, 80-yard performance
this week.
- Keeping with the Jaguars, look for the team to experience
some difficulty in their running offense in the early part of
the season. Center Brad Meester suffered a torn biceps during
training camp and won't return until week four at the earliest
and during week one the team's starting right guard Bobbie Williams,
who also serves as the team's top backup at tackle after the
shooting of Richard Collier, went down with the same injury,
starting left guard Vince Manuwai sprained his right knee and
Uche Nwaneri, the team's top backup at guard, also suffered
a knee injury. Williams will miss up to eight weeks provided
the team does not need his roster spot for injury issues and
Manuwai will be placed on injured reserve. The injury situation
contributed to the team surrendering seven sacks and gaining
only 33 yards on 17 attempts on the ground against a stout Titans
defense.
- The Redskins received a lot of praise for their draft when
they traded out of the 1st round and then proceeded to take
wide receivers Devin
Thomas and Malcolm
Kelly as well as tight end Fred
Davis in the 2nd round. However, the team has an aging offensive
line (Stephen Heyor is the only starter under 31 and he struggled
in the opening week replacing the demoted Jon Jansen) and lack
playmakers at defensive tackle where only Cornelius Griffin,
entering his ninth season, is known as a difference maker.
- Speaking of bad drafts, St. Louis fans were likely more than
a little surprised to see 2007 2nd round pick Brian
Leonard listed as a gameday inactive during opening week.
Not athletic enough to playing running back or big enough to
be effective at fullback, Leonard was clearly a reach in the
2nd round and was benched in favor of Pittsburgh castoff Dan
Kreider, a far more effective blocker. To add insult to
injury, the Rams released current Giants fullback Madison
Hedgecock last season to make room for Leonard. Hedgecock
went on to become a key cog for the Super Bowl champion Giants,
signing a lucrative contract extension before last season was
over.
- Not to mention the Rams passed on selecting DeSean Jackson
with the second pick in the 2nd round of this year's draft,
instead selecting Donnie
Avery. Jackson returned the favor by torching the Rams in
week one for 202 total yards during the Eagles crushing win
over the hapless Rams.
- Keeping with the Rams, new offensive coordinator Al Saunders
had a curious game plan in facing the Eagles this week. The
offensive line couldn't pick up any of Eagles defensive coordinator
Jim Johnson's exotic blitzes, Saunders failed to keep in extra
protection until the second half and Torry
Holt was only targeted twice in the passing game, finishing
with one catch for nine yards, his lowest output since 2004.
Throw in the fact the Rams failed to convert any of their 11
third down attempts and managed only three points in concluding
that it was an underwhelming performance for the much-publicized
Rams hire.
- So much for the talk about the Seahawks new and improved
running game. The team managed 85 yards on 21 carries against
the Bills but a closer look reveals that most of that yardage
came in the fourth quarter whereas their first half performance
resulted in 11 yards on ten carries. The team's plan was to
use a backfield by committee approach with former backup Maurice
Morris and newly acquired Julius
Jones but that plan may be scuttled in light of Morris'
knee injury during the third quarter of their loss to the Bills.
Although the Bills defense certainly deserves credit for its
performance in no small part due to the addition of Marcus
Stroud at defensive tackle, this has to be a disappointing
rushing performance for Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren.
- The Redskins Jim Zorn may be a rookie head coach in the NFL
(or any league for that matter given that he has never been
a head coach) and it's too early to pass judgment on his abilities
but not going to the no huddle or hurry up offense when your
team is down two scores and struggling on offense is inexplicable.
And shame on the television commentators for suggesting that
it's because they hadn't installed their two-minute offense.
It's ridiculous to have not have used the hurry up or it's ridiculous
that it wasn't installed during the pre-season so there are
no excuses for Zorn.
- Keeping with the Redskins, could somebody please let quarterback
Jason
Campbell in on the fact that his career is going to be in
the tank unless he starts getting the ball to tight end Chris
Cooley. Cooley was an afterthought in the game, catching his
first and only pass with four minutes left in the game, which
was the only time Campbell went to him other than on a play
that was called back due to a penalty. Campbell may have had
numerous offensive coordinators over his college and pro career
but the bottom line is that he hasn't proven himself to be a
playmaker in the NFL or shown enough consistency to prove he
is the team's future at the position. With Campbell not showing
an ability to get rid of the ball quickly, a requirement for
all successful west coast offenses, it won't be a surprise if
backup Todd
Collins is given an opportunity sometime in 2008.
- Apparently the Bills can get by without Pro Bowl left tackle
Jason
Peters, whose negotiating leverage certainly sank after
the strong performance of the Bills offensive line against a
strong Seahawk front seven. Perhaps that's why he has now decided
to report to the team.
- Wide receiver Donte
Stallworth has proven himself to be a tantalizing player
at times during his career but it was ridiculous for the Browns
to have signed him for $35-million over seven years. Stallworth
proved the naysayers correct when he injured himself BEFORE
the team's game against the Cowboys this Sunday, apparently
suffering a groin injury. Basically, the Browns paid for an
inconsistent, injury prone player and they compounded the situation
by dumping Travis
Wilson, their third best wideout during the preseason, because
he wasn't a strong special teams player, general manager Phil
Savage rationalizing that the team only got eight receptions
out of their third wideout (Tim
Carter) in 2007. Presumably Savage isn't aware that injuries
happen in professional football.
- The drought continues for Bengals quarterback Carson
Palmer. Palmer was dreadful during the team's week one loss
to the Ravens, completing 10 of 25 passes for 99 yards and an
interception, his passer rating being the lowest of his career.
Palmer has now thrown for only five touchdowns, six interceptions
and 1,153 yards over his last six starts. Simply put, Palmer
looks disinterested and ineffective and frankly put, who can
blame him?
Willie Parker scored more TDs (3) in
Week 1 than he did all of 2007.
- Willie
Parker's fantasy stock plummeted during the off-season,
courtesy of his broken leg suffered during week 13 and his two-touchdown
performance during 2007. With the team using their 1st round
draft pick on running back Rashard
Mendenhall, the thought was he would take over the goal
line duties immediately and take over completely in a year or
two. However, nine of Mendenhall's ten carries came in garbage
time during the Steelers week one rout of the Texans and Fast
Willie showed he is back with 138-yard, three-touchdown performance,
proving once again that the shiny new addition doesn't easily
overtake the veteran warhorse.
- When the Dolphins acquired former Jaguar wide receiver Ernest
Wilford in free agency, the expectation was he would start alongside
2007 1st round pick, Ted
Ginn Jr., and quite likely be the team's number one wideout
in 2008. A poor preseason and numerous dropped catches dropped
Wilford to the second unit in place of Derek Hagan, who was
subsequently supplanted by Greg
Camarillo. Net result - Wilford was inactive in week one.
However, after the team was forced to throw a last minute fade
pattern to diminutive Ted Ginn Jr., look for Wilford to be in
the line-up in the near future, likely week two.
- Rams wide receiver Drew
Bennett is expected to miss at least month after breaking
a metatarsal bone in his foot. With only journeyman Dane
Looker, return specialist Dante Hall and unproven rookies
Donnie Avery and Keenan
Burton in reserve, the team will almost certainly bring
in a veteran to bolster the unit. Former Patriot Reche
Caldwell was among the team's final cuts but a more likely
candidate is former Ram Eddie
Kennison, who is familiar offensive coordinator Al Saunders
playbook from their time together in Kansas City.
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