Author: John Paulsen (Page 839 of 937)

Redskins HC Joe Gibbs said that Clinton Portis is “ahead of schedule” in rehabbing his injured shoulder to return for the season opener and that the trade for T.J. Duckett was insurance if Portis had a setback or trouble later on in the year. Gibbs’ comments are good news for Portis, who once again can be picked in the middle to late first round by all but the faint at heart…Willis McGahee injured his shoulder in practice, but had it wrapped and returned to the field…The Steelers said that they are not going to have a goal-line specialist this season like they had in years past in the form of Jerome Bettis. This should help Willie Parker, who only had one goal-line carry last season. The team is also rumored to be putting Duce Staley on the trading block, which is also a vote of confidence for Parker…Stephen Gostkowski will be the kicker for the Patriots. He’s in a good situation and will come at a very cheap price on draft day…Darrell Jackson will be on the treadmill for the rest of the week. He’ll be running (which is good news) and the hope is that he’ll be back for Week 1. This should keep his stock from falling past the late fourth/early fifth round. D-Jax is a Top 10 WR when he’s healthy…Ben Troupe will be the starting TE for the Titans and is shaping up as a nice late round sleeper…Deion Branch said in a television interview that he is “pretty sure everything will work out” with his contract negotiations with the Patriots. Last I heard, his agent turned down a 3-year/$19 M extension and didn’t bother to make a counteroffer. His ADP has fallen all the way to 6.01 over the last week, and he’ll be a bargain there if he ends up playing 16 games, but the holdout could go well into the season…Warrick Dunn stands to gain from the departure of Duckett. He should take some, but not all, of the goal-line carries, making him a safe pick in the third round, especially in points per reception leagues.

Thomas Jones will start this weekend, giving him the inside track to winning the starting job. Cedric Benson doesn’t appear to be very popular with his teammates. A few Bears ratted him out to the press when he left the sideline early during last weekend’s game. Still, if he’s healthy, he’ll vulture some carries from Jones…Terrell Owens had a second MRI on his hamstring, which came back negative. He said that if this were a regular season game, he probably wouldn’t be able to go. This is a little worrisome, but he still has some time to get healthy…Hines Ward is going to miss the rest of the preseason with his bad hammy and it’s not clear if he’ll be able to play in Week 1…In an interview, Steve Smith told the NFL Network that he thinks he’ll be ready for Week 1 if everything stays on track. He also said that he doesn’t think he needs to repeat his monster 2005 season due to the arrival of Keyshawn Johnson. I’m sure his fantasy owners are really happy to hear that…Houston HC Gary Kubiak is hopeful that Domanick Davis could practice by the end of the week. If he’s able to without complications, this would really boost his value, which has taken a big hit over the last couple of weeks…Kevan Barlow compared 49er head coach Mike Nolan to Hitler, saying “Nolan just doesn’t know what he’s doing. He’s a first-time head coach with too much power. He walks around with a chip on his shoulder, like he’s a dictator, like he’s Hitler. People are scared of him.” Later, he sort of apologized.