Category: Fantasy Football (Page 297 of 324)

Everyone knows they should stay away from the Denver running game and its annual uncertainty, and if it weren’t for that terrific offensive line, it wouldn’t be that hard. In a sense, fantasy owners are like prospectors, and they know some Bronco is going to run for 1000+ yards and 7+ TDs, they just don’t know which one. Right now, Skeletor is fuzzy on who he’s going to start Week 1…Laurence Maroney was supposed to miss the first game, but he was practicing with a knee brace this week, which indicates that he could play. Don’t expect the Patriots to clear this up anytime soon…Darrell Jackson passed a physical and returned to practice on Monday. This is a great sign for him, but everyone will feel better once we see him play…The Redskins said that Clinton Portis is “day to day” with his shoulder injury and that he has to practice before the team’s game on Monday in order to play…Ronald Curry is playing with the first team opposite Randy Moss. He’s an injury risk, but he’s talented, so he’s worth a late round pick once your team is pretty much set…There is some debate over when Ben Roethlisberger will return to the field. Hines Ward thinks it will be Week 2, but some of the press in Pittsburgh are saying Week 3.

Forget about the motorcycle accident, Ben Roethlisberger is going to miss Week 1 after undergoing an emergency appendectomy. Charlie Batch will get the start, but Big Ben is a marginal fantasy starter, so most fantasy owners should already have another good QB on the roster…Hines Ward, who had missed the last few weeks of practice with a bad hamstring, returned to the field and should play in Week 1…Thomas Jones has been named the starter for the first game. Cedric Benson was supposed to be the starter this year, but injuries and a weird relationship with the rest of the team have hindered his progress…According to ESPN, Laurence Maroney is going to miss Week 1. Let’s hope this doesn’t drag out like a lot of New England injuries seem to. The team is very tight-lipped about the status of their players.

ESPN.com’s John Clayton is reporting that Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will most likely miss the season opener against Miami Thursday night. Roethlisberger underwent an emergency appendectomy Sunday, which went well, but his status for the first couple of weeks of the season is now in question.

Steelers coach Bill Cowher already ruled him out for Thursday’s season opener against the Dolphins and named Charlie Batch as the starter. Cowher said Roethlisberger will be evaluated each week, and he is not certain how long the quarterback will be out.

This certainly isn’t the way the defending Super Bowl champions would like to start their season, especially against an up-and-coming Dolphins team, who many believe will make a strong playoff right this season.

I guess my defense of Batch a couple of weeks ago in my ranking of the top quarterback units will get played out this Thursday night huh?

Well, Domanick Davis is officially out for the season. This certainly isn’t shocking news at this point, but it’s a shame that such a good player (and an especially good fantasy player) has been knocked out for the season. Here’s hoping that Davis can make a comeback next season. Meanwhile, it looks like Wali Lundy will start for the Texans, but Vernand Morency is right there on his tail. This is shaping up to be a RBBC, which is not surprising considered HC Gary Kubiak served under Mike Shanahan all those years. (Supposedly they met in the ’80s during Skeletor’s ongoing battles with He-Man)…The Pats traded for Doug Gabriel. I certainly didn’t think that Gabriel would be the first WR out of Oakland. Jerry Porter seemed to have that honor all but locked up. Gabriel is a good talent, so this is a bit of a downgrade for Aaron Brooks and a bit of an upgrade for Tom Brady. The move muddles the situation in New England, especially considering the extended holdout of Deion Branch. Gabriel’s arrival will hurt the stock of Reche Caldwell, which really wasn’t all that high in the first place…The Lions have parted ways with Charles Rogers. Does this mean that the team is confident in Corey Bradford? He’s always been more of a fly-pattern guy, but maybe Bradford will have a better season now that he’s in a Mike Martz offense. He did catch seven passes in the preseason…For a while there, it looked like Najeh Davenport was the heir apparent to Ahman Green, but a couple of injuries later, and he’s released by the Packers. Sam Gado will be the primary backup to Green. There is trouble on the Packers’ line, but they have an easy schedule so Green should be a decent #3 RB, especially in PPR leagues, now that Tony Fisher is gone.

Sports radio AM1130WDFN in Detroit confirmed today that the Detroit Lions cut first round bust Charles Rogers today.

The news doesn’t come as that big of a surprise for anybody around Motown, but Rogers was formerly a No. 2 overall pick in the 2003 NFL draft and will certainly be picked up by any teams needing a wide receiver.

Rogers broke into the NFL with a bang. He scored two touchdowns in his first regular season game against Arizona and everybody in the Lions organization thought they struck gold with the former Michigan State Spartan.

Rogers went on to break his collarbone his rookie season and again in Detroit’s first game in ’04. Coupled with a four-game drug suspension last season and Rogers barely saw the field last season.

Phased out of the offensive game plan last year by Steve Mariucci, new head coach Rod Marinelli followed suit this offseason and barely played Rogers in any of the four Lions preseason games.

Among his injury woes and drug suspension, Rogers has also been criticized for his lack of work ethic and overall desire to better himself in the offseason.

Fearless prediction: Rogers ends up in New England with Tom Brady and the Patriots.