Page 1219 of 2957

      The extraordinary depth of the TE position

      January 4, 2010 /

      By the time the fantasy football season is over, I usually want to crawl into a hole and forget about the topic for a few weeks. But one thing occurred to me as I watched the Week 17 games — there really are a lot of quality TEs out there.

      Take a look at 2009’s scoring breakdown for TE1 through TE12, for a high-performance, PPR league compared to the five previous years:

      In short, nine slots (TE3, and TE5-TE12) set six-year records. There was unprecedented depth at TE in 2009.

      What does this mean for 2010?

      Well, there are no fewer than eleven players that I’d feel very comfortable with heading into next season: Dallas Clark, Antonio Gates, Vernon Davis, Brent Celek, Tony Gonzalez, Jason Witten, Kellen Winslow, Heath Miller, Owen Daniels and Chris Cooley (provided they look strong in training camp), and star-in-the-making Jermichael Finley.

      Moreover, there are a few more guys whose stock could rise (or stay high) if their environment improves (or stays consistent). For example, Zach Miller (6.2-63-0.3 over the last six games) emerged as the Raiders’ most consistent receiver after JaMarcus Russell was benched. Visanthe Shiancoe should have another top 10 year if Brett Favre plays another season. Greg Olsen (TE10, ranked 8th in targets amongst TEs) should have a better year with another offseason to work with Jay Cutler. John Carlson (TE13, 10th in TE targets) played a lot better with Matt Hasselbeck under center than without. Dustin Keller should improve alongside Matt Sanchez. Even Kevin Boss showed starter potential once he finally got healthy.

      That’s 17 players, and I haven’t even yet mentioned grizzled vets Jeremy Shockey or Todd Heap, who each showed flashes of their old selves and different points in the season.

      Throw in the fact that Dallas Clark’s stock may slide due to the return of Anthony Gonzalez, and 2010 is shaping up to be a year when fantasy owners would be wise to wait on the TE position. It will obviously still pay to have a stud TE, but with this many quality players, there’s no telling who those studs will be. Would you be shocked if Brent Celek or Vernon Davis outscored Dallas Clark and/or Antonio Gates next season? Me either.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      Ochocinco to have MRI on his injured knee

      January 4, 2010 /

      Chad Ochocinco couldn’t extend his knee this morning after suffering an injury before the Bengals’ game against the Jets on Sunday night. He’s scheduled to have an MRI today, but is still expected to play against the Jets this Sunday in Cincinnati’s Wild Card game against the Jets.

      Via his Twitter account, Ochocinco blamed Giants Stadium for his injury:

      @Lizz_Lockeroom-its fat, it was a mini ice skiating rink outside the hashes during warm ups-I bust my ass-MRI at noon-can’t extend my knee

      It sounds like Ochocinco will play, but who knows how the injury will respond throughout the week. If for some reason he can’t go, the Bengals would be without their top receiver for their most important game of the year. That said, the Jets have the best secondary in the league and Ochocinco would likely be shutdown by Darrelle Revis anyway.

      Would Cincinnati be better off with Ochocinco in the lineup? Of course, but they’ll have to beat the Jets by establishing the run and playing good defense. Ochocinco won’t/isn’t going to be the X-factor come Sunday.

      NFL

      Report: Tom Cable likely to be fired

      January 4, 2010 /

      According to the San Jose Mercury News, “all signs point to” the Raiders firing Tom Cable this offseason.

      In the Raiders’ case, that means parting ways with coach Tom Cable and hitching their floundering franchise to another coach who has a fresh set of ideas and the patience to put up with quarterback JaMarcus Russell.

      Managing general partner Al Davis has yet to weigh in publicly on the matter.

      However, several people close to Davis say he is inclined to fire Cable and hire a new coach for the sixth time since Jon Gruden was jettisoned after the 2001 season.

      When asked if he is expecting to be the coach next season, Cable said: “I am, because I see, and you all see, too, where this team is going, and what we’ve been able to accomplish in proving some things.

      If Davis fires Cable and keeps Russell, that would be yet another horrendous decision in a long line of horrendous decisions by Al Davis. I’m not necessarily suggesting that Cable should be retained, but what has Russell shown in four years that would make Davis (or any owner, coach or water boy for that matter) want to keep him? Russell is absolutely abysmal and shows zero signs of ever becoming a professional quarterback.

      At the very least, Cable should be credited for benching Russell and having a little success with castaways like Bruce Gradkowski and Charlie Frye. The Raiders were actually competitive with Gradkowski and Frye under center, not so much with the biggest bust in NFL history. Personally, that merits Cable keeping his job for at least another year. He’s not the Raiders’ biggest problem – Davis is, with a little aid from Russell.

      We’ll see if Cable is inevitably gets the boot, although if I were a Raider fan I’d currently have that horrible, Al-Davis-is-about-to-screw-us feeling in the pit of my stomach.

      NFL

      Redskins fire Jim Zorn

      January 4, 2010 /

      Black Monday was kicked off in the NFL with the firing of Jim Zorn, which surprised absolutely no one.

      From the Washington Post:

      “The status quo is not acceptable,” General Manager Bruce Allen said in a statement. “I felt it was necessary to not waste a moment of time to begin building this team into a winner.”

      The Redskins may swiftly announce his replacement, possibly within hours. In December, Washington forced out longtime front office executive Vinny Cerrato and announced the hiring of new general manager Bruce Allen within two hours, putting in motion the overhaul of the franchise’s infrastructure after a 10-year period that featured just two playoff appearances.

      Former Denver and Oakland coach Mike Shanahan, who won two Super Bowls with Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway and the Broncos, has been the presumed hire for weeks. Several NFL sources have said over the past month that they believe Shanahan has long been the choice of Redskins owner Daniel M. Snyder, who now must hire his seventh head coach since he took control of the team in 1999.

      Zorn wasn’t given much of an opportunity to succeed from the very beginning. He was hired by Daniel Snyder to become the Redskins’ offensive coordinator and then thrust into the head coaching position after Snyder couldn’t find a candidate he liked. Zorn was overmatched from the beginning and despite getting the Redskins off to a good start in 2008 his inexperience eventually did him in.

      After losing his offensive playcalling duties earlier this season in Washington, I doubt he’ll land a gig as a coordinator right away but you never know. Even though he was fired, I imagine part of him has to be thrilled that he’s leaving that mess behind.

      We’ll see if the Redskins move quickly on Shanahan. I suspect they will.

      NFL

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑