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      Love ‘Em & Leave ‘Em: Week 2

      September 18, 2009 /

      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.

      Continue reading »

      Fantasy Football

      Ohio State loses starting left tackle for 3-4 weeks

      September 17, 2009 /

      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.

      College Football

      Rhodes wants to embarrass the Patriots

      September 17, 2009 /

      Jets’ safety Kerry Rhodes is taking a page from his head coach in calling out the Patriots, saying that he wants to “embarrass” New England this Sunday when the two teams clash in New York on Sunday.

      From ESPN.com:

      “You go out from the first quarter on, from the first play on, and try to embarrass them,” Rhodes said, according to the New York Daily News. “Not just go out there and try to win, try to embarrass them. Try to make them feel bad when they leave here. We don’t want to just beat them. We want to send a message to them, ‘We’re not backing down from you and we expect to win this game, and it’s not going to be luck, it’s not going to be a mistake.’ ”

      Brady, returning from a knee injury that cost him almost the entire 2008 season, was hit only six times by the Buffalo Bills in Week 1’s comeback victory. Rhodes said Brady will be hit far more often by the Jets’ defense, which hit Texans quarterback Matt Schaub eight times in Week 1.

      “We will hit him more than six times. I promise you that,” Rhodes said, according to the Daily News.

      Rhodes insisted the Jets “won’t play dirty” but that Brady will be vulnerable.

      “I’m sure if somebody is around his leg, or he feels pressure below, he’s not going to step into his throw,” Rhodes said, according to the Daily News.

      As a writer, I love this kind of smack talk. But I don’t think it’s wise for Rhodes (or anyone else for that matter) to give the Patriots any extra motivation on game day. That said, New England is coming off a short week and its defense didn’t play well without Jerod Mayo on Monday against Buffalo. Mayo won’t play this week, so maybe the Pats are primed for the taking.

      The Jets backed up Rex Ryan’s offseason talk last week in Houston, so maybe they’ll do the same for Rhodes this Sunday against New England.

      NFL

      Gilbert Arenas wants protection…from himself

      September 17, 2009 /

      Gilbert Arenas said he’s doing great with his knee rehab, but criticized the Wizards for — get this — letting him play when he said that he could play.

      “If you have a kid that loves basketball, that eats, sleeps, drinks and thinks basketball and all he knows is basketball and he gets hurt and he’s your franchise player, you need to hold him back from himself,” Arenas told the newspaper. “If I’m saying I feel good and you know it’s supposed to take six months, instead of letting me at four months run … they should have held me back. Rather than saying, ‘Let’s let this guy do what he wants and use him to sell tickets’ — sometimes you have to protect players from themselves. I don’t feel like I got that type of protection. But, I don’t judge them for that. Some things just happen. I told them I felt OK because I wanted to play, and they did what they did.”

      Man, that takes balls, doesn’t it? Sometimes you have to protect players from themselves. Give me a break.

      Athletes come back early from injuries all the time. Sometimes it backfires and sometimes it doesn’t. If Arenas told the team he was ready to go, it’s not the Wizards’ fault that he wasn’t. It’s his fault.

      Had the team pressured Arenas to get back on the court, then this criticism would be justified. But for Arenas to blame the Wizards for his mistake is pure projection.

      NBA, News, Rumors & Gossip

      Marvez: Starcaps case a blow to NFL drug policy

      September 17, 2009 /

      Now that Charles Grant, Will Smith, Kevin Williams and Pat Williams all escaped suspensions, Alex Marvez of FOX Sports.com writes that the Starcaps case is a blow to the integrity of the NFL drug policy.

      Not even the thousands of NFL steroid tests administered each year are enough to catch all the cheaters. For all we know, some players are taking “exotic” boosters either undetectable or unknown through testing. The steroid nicknamed “The Clear” was one of those once-untraceable designer drugs that surfaced earlier this decade in baseball and football.

      Human growth hormone use is an even bigger problem. The only reliable testing method involves the drawing of blood, which the NFLPA will not allow. A player hell-bent on using HGH for a physical edge despite potential long-term health effects can get away with it. You’d be naïve to think that isn’t happening.

      That’s the ultimate goal the NFL and NFLPA should share — catching the cheaters who threaten to undermine the game’s credibility like Barry Bonds and Co. did in Major League Baseball. Protecting athletes who want a level playing field is even more important. The NFLPA agreed to drug testing in the late 1980s after late union chief Gene Upshaw was approached by players who didn’t want to take the health risks inherent with steroid use to compete against their peers.

      Here’s hoping the NFL and NFLPA can compromise and work through their differences to achieve those ends. That would be the only positive result to come out of the Starcaps spectacle that has taken some of the shine off a once-respected NFL drug testing program.

      As the article suggests, if the NFL and NFLPA can’t work together, then the league will never be able to have a full chokehold on its drug testing policy. The NFLPA’s sole purpose is to protect the interest of the players. But in doing that, it sometimes impedes the progress the league is trying to make in keep performance-enhancing drugs out of the game.

      As the NFL heads for an un-capped 2010 season, it’s clear that the league and the NFLPA can’t get on the same page in regards to big issues like contracts and drugs. It’s too bad, because it’s the fans who suffer the most – not the players, owners or coaches.

      NFL

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