Month: September 2009 (Page 34 of 66)

Fantasy Quick-Hitters: Steelers’ RBBC, LT2, Marshall and more

Steelers to use rotation at RB. Willie Parker will get two series and Rashard Mendenhall one until one player gets a hot hand. Mewelde Moore will be in on third downs and in no huddle situations. It was a little more than a week ago that HC Mike Tomlin said that Willie Parker was his running back. A lot can change in a week.

Vikings intent on involving Bernard Berrian more. Berrian should be a nice play this week against the Lions, but he and Brett Favre haven’t had a lot of time to work together and it showed in Week 1 against the Browns.

Knowshon Moreno says he feels 100 percent. He also says that he ran tentatively against the Broncos, but should be ready to go against the Browns, who gave up a ton of yards to Adrian Peterson last week.

Matt Cassel is feeling much better. The Chiefs haven’t committed to announcing him as the starter, but most of the signs point to that being the case. The Raiders are actually pretty tough against the pass, so if you can hold off on starting Cassel, do so.

LaDainian Tomlinson sits out again.
Given the horrible matchup against the Ravens, it would be wise to avoid using LT2 this week. If he doesn’t play and you have Darren Sproles, he could be used as a flex or as a RB2 if you’re in a PPR league.

Brandon Marshall refuses to answer the media’s questions. This could be a sign that Marshall’s attitude isn’t as good as it has seemed over the past couple of weeks and that he’s headed for a meltdown. It could also be a sign that he blames the media for all the problems he’s having in Denver and he’s going to punish them for it. Marshall has too much talent to ignore.

T.O. wants his QB to go deep.
“…Trent has to better assess what he’s seeing out there and take some shots down the field. We’re going to do that, and by no means was that the reason that we lost the game.” That’s not quite the controversial Owens that we saw in Philly and Dallas, but we’ll see if it develops. The Bills should have some opportunities to go deep against the Bucs, who were torched by T.O.’s old team last week.

Randy Shannon, Jacory Harris have made Miami relevant again

The last time the Miami Hurricanes started a season 2-0, they finished 9-3 and thumped Florida in the Peach Bowl.

Thanks to a head coach who has brought swagger back to the program and a playmaker at quarterback, Miami has started 2-0 for the first time since 2004. With their 33-17 win over Georgia Tech on Thursday night, the Hurricanes have started their ’09 season by beating two ranked opponents. (The first was Florida State, whom Miami beat 38-34 on September 7.)

Randy Shannon has made his mark on a Hurricane team that is playing more inspired and focused than in years past. And it’s clear that with Jacory Harris under center, Miami finally has a quarterback that can make plays in the passing game and keep the chains moving.

In the victory over Tech last night, Harris completed 20 of his 25 pass attempts for 270 yards and three touchdowns. He’s just a sophomore, but he shows a calm, cool demeanor in the pocket and doesn’t appear to get rattled when a play breaks down. As long as he continues to mature as a passer, he’s going to be a Heisman candidate in the near future.

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Junior Seau chats with The Scores Report

What more can you say about Junior Seau that you can’t by listing his accomplishments? In his 19-year career, Seau was a seven-time first-team All-Pro, a 12-time Pro Bowler, the 1992 NEA NFL Defensive Player of the Year, and the 1992 UPI AFC Defensive Player of the Year. He’s amassed 1,826 tackles, 56.5 sacks and 18 interceptions over his career. He was also part of two Super Bowls, including the 16-0 New England Patriots squad.

Recently, Junior teamed up with Combos to help them roll out their “Tackle Life” contest, which encourages people to finish projects that they’ve put on the backburner throughout the years. Head to www.COMBOS.com and in 10-100 words, describe a project you have always wanted to do and how $5,000 will help you do it. The contest is running from September 14 to October 31 and the grand prize is the $5,000 to help you cross that project off your to-do list.

We were fortunate to have the opportunity to sit down with Junior to talk about the contest, how he got involved and what project he’s currently had on the backburner. We also couldn’t let him get off the phone without answering some football related questions, which he was more than happy to do. He filled us in on which running back was the toughest to tackle, what current player he would pay the price of admission to watch play every week and what its like to play in Bill Belichick’s defensive scheme.

Junior Seau: Anthony!

The Scores Report: Hey Junior, how are you, man?

JS: What’s happening, brother?

TSR: We really appreciate your sitting down and talking with us today – it’s an honor.

JS: No worries, no worries – let’s do it.

TSR: Talk to me about this Combos “Tackle Life” contest that you’re partaking in.

JS: Yeah, we’re pairing up with Combos’ “Tackle Life” contest and what we’re doing is trying to encourage everyone to get all of those daily duties out of the way. Pick one, visit Combos.com and submit 10 to 100 words on this dream project, which could be anything. It could be building a deck, or painting your house, or building a shed. Whatever it may be that you’ve been putting on the backburner, we’re asking you to write about it and you have a chance to win $5,000 through this program “Tackle Life.”

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Love ‘Em & Leave ‘Em: Week 2

Every week, I will highlight a few players to start and a few players to sit at each position. I’m a firm believer in starting your studs, so I won’t tell you about how Drew Brees or Adrian Peterson has a tough matchup – just go ahead and keep them in your lineup. Instead, I’ll focus on the borderline guys – players you’ll only start under the right circumstances. It’s important to note that depending on your roster and situation, you may not be able to follow these recommendations. For example, if I suggest you bench a solid starter like Tony Romo, only do so if you have a clearly better option on your bench.

The “love ‘em” players are listed in the order that I’d start them this week.

love-em

Brett Favre‘s debut with the Vikings was less than stellar, but he had to shake off the rust and the Browns defense is a little better than people think. He has an outstanding matchup with a Lions defense that got torched by Drew Brees last week…Granted, Matt Schaub and the entire Houston offense looked pathetic last week, but a matchup with the Titans isn’t as bad as it might look on paper. Tennessee gave up 363 yards to Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers last week so Schaub should have some success…Trent Edwards should have a nice game against the Bucs, who were torched by Tony Romo last week, but Edwards needs to throw the ball deep to Terrell Owens and Lee Evans…For the desperate, Jason Campbell, Matt Sanchez, Byron Leftwich and JaMarcus Russell all have good matchups this week.

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Ohio State loses starting left tackle for 3-4 weeks

Ohio State will be without their most experienced offensive linemen for the next three to four weeks as starting left tackle Jim Cordle nurses an ankle injury.

From SI.com:

Coach Jim Tressel disclosed the injury on Thursday. He said Cordle, a fifth-year senior who has started the last three seasons, had complained of pain in his ankle and it got steadily worse. Tests on Wednesday showed the severity of the injury. Tressel was unsure if Cordle was injured in the Buckeyes’ 18-15 loss to No. 3 Southern California on Saturday night.

In his place in Saturday’s game against Toledo, the Buckeyes would most likely play J.B. Shugarts or Mike Adams, or could move others around on the front wall.

Considering Cordle was in a walking boot on Sunday, this news isn’t surprising. Sophomore J.B. Shugarts has gotten most of the reps this week, although Mike Adams could see some time at left tackle too.

Over the span that Cordle is expected to be out, the Buckeyes will face Toledo, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. Outside of maybe the Illini, none of those four teams have a solid pass rush, but it’ll still be interesting to see whether or not OSU’s running game will struggle without Cordle.

At least the Buckeyes can build some experienced depth behind Cordle while he’s out.

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