Dwayne Bowe suspended for four games. Apparently, he violated the league’s substance abuse policy. Believe it or not, this makes Chris Chambers a viable fantasy option as the Chiefs don’t have much else going for them at WR. Lance Long may see more targets as well.

HC Mora admits that Julius Jones is “unlikely” to play in Week 11. This isn’t surprising considering that Jones was hospitalized on Sunday. Justin Forsett will get the start in a bad matchup with the Vikings. But from Week 12 on, Seattle’s schedule is pretty nice, so Forsett could potentially be a nice second-half pickup if Jones misses extended time. I wonder if the Seahawks are regretting letting Edgerrin James go.

Tim Hightower is still the Cardinals’ starter. This is going to be an interesting situation to watch down the stretch. The Cardinals have series of great rushing matchups, so will Hightower be as involved as Arizona tries to milk the clock? He seems to shine when Arizona is in catch up mode.

Cedric Benson may be a game-time decision against Oakland. The Raiders are terrible against the run, so whoever starts (Benson or Bernard Scott) should be a great start in Week 11. The team has already stated that the Larry Johnson signing has nothing to do with Benson’s injury, but the timing makes this hard to believe.

Ricky Williams will be the Dolphins’ every-down back with Ronnie Brown out. Brown apparently has two injuries — one to his ankle and one to his foot — and beat writer Omar Kelly says there’s a possibility that Brown will see a specialist. Williams’s value was already pretty high, but now it’s through the roof. Start him with confidence.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

According to Rich Cimini of the New York Daily News, the Jets are exploring a trade for a receiver and Brandon Marshall is the biggest name on their radar.

If the Jets do add a veteran, it probably won’t be a free agent such as Marvin Harrison.

Another name to watch is the Chiefs’ Dwayne Bowe, a former first-round pick. He caught 86 balls for 1,022 yards on an awful team last season, but he’s had a difficult transition under new coach Todd Haley. He may have played his way out of the doghouse with five catches in the preseason opener, but the Chiefs are rebuilding and will move a player if he doesn’t fit their long-term plans.

The Giants are another team that bears watching. They have a glut of receivers, and the Jets are wondering if one, perhaps Sinorice Moss, will become available.

The Jets are awfully inexperienced at receiver so it makes sense that they would be interested in trading for one. But they could have a hard time finding a trade partner, especially as the regular season draws closer.

The Broncos have already stated that Marshall isn’t available, but if he continues to make a stink about his contract they could wind up dealing him and picking up yet another first round pick for 2010. (They already acquired a first round pick for next year in the Jay Cutler trade.)

Even though Bowe may be in Haley’s doghouse, he’s a key piece to an improving young offense in Kansas City. So it’s highly doubtful that Scott Pioli would make him available. Still, the Jets’ receiver situation will be intriguing to follow over the next week or so.

Here are six quick-hit thoughts on some of Week 1’s preseason NFL action.

1. Stafford was impressive.
While it was only the first preseason game of his young career, Matthew Stafford was awfully impressive Saturday against the Falcons. In his debut, Stafford completed 7 of 14 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown. And if Keary Colbert didn’t have hands made of concrete, Stafford’s numbers would have been more impressive. Granted, he was playing against Atlanta’s backups, Detroit kept their starting offensive line largely intact and he did throw an interception that was returned 41 yards for a touchdown. But the key was that Stafford looked comfortable in the pocket, showed confidence in his throws and for a rookie, displayed great footwork and overall mechanics. He still has much to prove, but if he continues to play this well throughout the preseason, it might be hard for the Lions to keep the rookie off the field in his first year.

2. The Bears secondary looked shaky.
If Saturday’s preseason loss to the Bills was any indication of how Chicago’s secondary will play in the regular season, then the Bears are in trouble. Lee Evans abused cornerback Nathan Vasher repeatedly, while Trent Edwards and Ryan Fitzpatrick completed over 88 percent of their passes. Granted, it was only one preseason game and rookie sixth round pick Al Afalava was impressive against the run. But the Bears look awfully thin in the secondary and if the starters perform as poorly as they did last night for the remainder of the preseason, then trouble could be on the horizon.

Read the rest of this entry »

Carolina Panthers:
Receiver Steve Smith is expected to miss at least two weeks with a strained shoulder after suffering the injury in practice on Monday. Dwayne Jarrett is expected to fill in for Smith while he’s out, which is kind of like going from a corvette to a station wagon. (Charlotte Observer)

Indianapolis Colts:
Safety Bob Sanders is expected to meet with orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews soon. Sanders had another clean up procedure done on his knee this offseason and the Colts don’t know when he’ll be healthy again. He hasn’t practiced or played in game since Week 16 of last year. (Indianapolis Star)

Kansas City Chiefs:
Receiver Dwayne Bowe isn’t currently practicing with the Chiefs’ starters and apparently is in new head coach Todd Haley’s doghouse. Haley appears to be making an example of Bowe, who hasn’t responded well to KC’s new disciplined training habits. (Kansas City Star)

New England Patriots:
Tom Brady has yet to miss one practice since returning to action following ACL and MCL surgery. Brady continues to work out with a brace on his knee, although he’ll likely have to play with the brace the rest of his career. (Boston Globe)

Tampa Bay Bucs:
Receiver Antonio Bryant will be out for the next 3-4 weeks with a torn meniscus in his knee. Bryant could miss the entire preseason, but is expected to be healthy by Week 1. Still, the Bucs are thin at receiver and are implementing a new offense so Bryant’s injury is of concern. (Pewter Report)

Earnest Graham is listed ahead of Derrick Ward on Tampa’s depth chart, but considering the Bucs paid Ward like a starter this offseason, it’s wise not to read too much into this. (Buccaneers.com)

Miami Dolphins:
Former Hawaii product Davone Bess has been starting ahead of Greg Camarillo in Miami. Carmarillo appears to be completely recovered from ACL surgery, but Miami likes Bess’ speed and playmaking ability and see him as a starting flanker. (Miami Herald)

After their stunning, last-second collapse against the Chargers at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday, Joe Posnanski of the Kansas City Star writes that Herman Edwards and the rest of the Chiefs’ coaching staff should be fired.

That was pretty much all I could come up with. And really, even if you total up all the positive vibes, it probably does not quite make up for the astounding way that the Chiefs blew an 11-point lead in the final 5 minutes Sunday.

They blew it by punting on fourth and inches, then by allowing the Chargers to drive 89 yards in about 3 1/2 minutes (all without using a timeout), then by Dwayne Bowe dropping the onside kick, then by forgetting to cover a Chargers receiver deep (even though they were in a coverage conveniently designed to have four defensive backs deep), then by forgetting to cover a receiver in the end zone, then by pulling out their Three Stooges playbook for the final offensive drive, then by missing a 50-yard field goal at the buzzer.

The only thing missing was the “Psycho� music and the see-through shower curtain.

And the truth is that, after that sort of mind-shattering collapse, it’s hard to come up with a single good reason why anybody involved with the Chiefs should be back next season. Sure, everyone knew that this year would be trying, that there would be more losses than wins, that young players would make lots of mistakes. But there was no way to see this mess coming.

After a game like Sunday’s, it’s kind of hard not to share Posnanski’s feelings on the subject. But in the coaching staff’s defense, this is a young team severely void of talent. They don’t have an offensive line, the secondary is littered with inexperienced players and quarterback Tyler Thigpen (who has made strides this season) is in his first year as a starter. Look what Edwards is working with. You actually have to hand it to him because for the most part, the Chiefs have been somewhat competitive even though they’ve found every way possible to lose this season.

Then again, sometimes it’s just better to blow up the entire thing and start fresh. Turnarounds in the NFL happen all the time (see the Dolphins, Ravens, Falcons and Jets this year), so regardless of the situation, maybe it is time for the Chiefs to start anew.

In the NO/CAR game, Muhsin Muhammad (3-43) and Lance Moore (3-10) came back to Earth a little bit. It’s tough to count on either of them, especially Moore who failed to produce even though the Saints were trailing most of the game…Bernard Berrian (6-81-1) is turning into a must-start with Gus Frerotte under center. Berran is now averaging 5.0-96-0.6 since Frerotte took over in Week 3…Devin Hester (2-22) left the game with a quad injury and was unable to return…Both Housh (8-58) and Ocho Cinco (8-52-1) were targeted often by Ryan Fitzpatrick, and it looks like Carson Palmer may be out a while…The Chiefs are a mess, but Dwayne Bowe (7-86) still put up good numbers in PPR leagues…Derrick Mason (6-87-1) continues to be Joe Flacco’s favorite target and is a WR2/WR3 in PPR leagues…Terrell Owens (2-31) looks like he’s going to suffer while Tony Romo is out…Jerricho Cotchery’s dismal outing (1-0) throws his must-start status into flux. It might have had more to do with Oakland’s fine CB Nnamdi Asomugha than anything the Jets were doing.

We’re only two weeks into the NFL season and some fantasy owners are already lamenting their teams. Nobody – not a NFL team and certainly not a fantasy team – likes to start 0-2, and while some owners are furiously trying to improve their teams, others are no doubt wondering, what if?

As always, I’m here to help. Below you’ll find the team you could have had. The rules? Pretty simple. To ensure the player is available, we have to draft him a round early. That is, if the player has an Average Draft Position (ADP) of 3.02, we have to take him in the second round. The plan is to start one QB, two RB, two WR and a TE, and I’ll leave the K and DT to your imagination. I’ll mow through the first twelve rounds so that we have a starter and a sub at each position.

Keep in mind, this draft is for a 12-team, Points Per Reception (PPR) league, with the Antsports’ High Performance Scoring System.

Off we go…

Round 1 – Reggie Bush (2.07)
Drafted: RB12
Actual: RB3
Someone actually gave me grief about considering Bush in the second round of my Industry Insiders league, and while there are a lot of (Reggie) Bush haters out there, the simple fact of the matter is that in a PPR league, the guy produces. Through two games, he’s averaging 127 total yards, 7.5 receptions, and 0.5 TD per game. He’s on pace for a 120-catch, 2000-yard season.
Alternate: Tony Romo (2.09)