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One of the biggest question marks heading into the season is Bengals QB Carson Palmer. If healthy, Palmer probably deserves to be the second QB off the board (behind Peyton Manning, of course), but at the very least his talent makes him a top-three guy, depending on how you view Tom Brady. But Palmer’s postseason knee injury makes his draft prospects a bit tough to gauge. Questions remain about just how healthy he’ll be this season following extensive reconstructive surgery to repair two torn knee ligaments and a dislocated kneecap, and even more doubts surround his ability to take the field week 1 against the Chiefs.

Well, the news that the Bengals have ramped up Palmer’s practice workload is certainly promising for his fantasy owners as well as Bengals fans the world over (yes, we believe there are some outside of Cincinnati):

The move came after Palmer publicly lobbied for more snaps, and privately implored coach Marvin Lewis to give him more work. It also came after a weekend in which Cincinnati coaches and executives huddled with doctors and trainers to review the status of Palmer’s rehabilitation.

The result: Palmer, who took only about 40 percent of the repetitions with the first-unit offense during the opening week of camp, logged roughly 70-80 percent of the Monday practice snaps. That level of activity is expected to continue through this week, unless Palmer has a setback, which is not anticipated.

“He feels like the more snaps he gets, the better he feels,” Lewis said. “We told him to wait until the second week and see how he felt and got through the first week. Now we can begin to ratchet up the snaps. He can get them when he’s on the field. When he’s not out there, [backups Anthony Wright and Doug Johnson)]can go back and kind of split it.”

Of course, this news still doesn’t guarantee that he’ll be ready for the Chiefs September 10, but the chances appear to be improving by the week.

So what does this all mean for Palmer’s fantasy stock? Well, not much, I’d say. He’s still a risky bet as the second or third QB, but it’s a bet that could certainly pay off for whoever decides to roll the dice on him. Personally, I’m not touching Palmer this season unless he really slips, but that has more to do with my own draft strategy than it does with Palmer’s recovery. With so many quality starters available in the middle rounds, nabbing Palmer in the third or fourth isn’t all that appealing to me. But I’m not taking Brady there either, nor would I draft Peyton in the first round.

All of that said, if you’re intent on taking a quarterback early, the odds of Palmer being an elite fantasy QB this season are better today than they were yesterday.

The Cowboys say no, but apparently ESPNews reported earlier today that a lingering hamstring problem would keep Terrell Owens out of action for the entire preseason. The fact that ESPN.com hasn’t run the story makes it quite possible that they’ve since backed off their statement, but with news that Owens definitely will miss the Cowboys’ preseason opener Saturday with his sore hammy, this pseudo-news certainly bears watching.

Warning bells should be sounding for fantasy owners (and, of course, Dallas fans) right now, considering T.O. is 32, so any signs of his body breaking down are alarming to say the least. Aside from that, though, if T.O. doesn’t get his reps with Drew Bledsoe in this summer, the two could be out of synch once the season begins. Not a good start to T.O.’s comeback season.

The moment we’ve all been waiting for since last winter is nearly here: fantasy football season is right around the corner.

Get geared up with Bullz-Eye.com’s Fantasy Football Preview, complete with tiered positional rankings, a printable tiered cheat sheet, sleepers, bargains and busts, spotlight players and an offseason movement chart.

Meanwhile, have questions that need to be answered as you head into your draft? Wondering who the man will be in Indy now that Edge is in Arizona, or whether Eli Manning’s ready to become an elite fantasy QB? What’s going on with questionable backs like Cedric Benson, Chris Brown and Ahman Green? Got a keeper crunch? Post your questions here and we’ll give our thoughts.

We’ll be running weekly fantasy football Q&As through the start of the season, and we’ll continue to post fantasy threads through the season.

Here are some of the recent headlines from the NFL:

Denver Broncos

Mike Shannon has named Bell as his starting running back entering the Broncos first preseason game against the Detroit Lions on Friday.

Although a Bell was figured to be named starter, not many people thought it would be Mike Bell, an undrafted rookie free agent from Arizona. The young man has surpassed Tatum Bell (no relation) and Ron Dayne on Denver’s depth chart with his work ethic and physical style of running.

Mike Bell, however, has turned heads with his toughness. Bell rushed for 3,163 yards and 17 touchdowns at Arizona, but as recently as last week said he was just hoping to land a job.

Rookie quarterback Jay Cutler from Vanderbilt is moving up the depth chart in Denver. Cutler is now the No. 2 ranked quarterback on the Broncos’ depth chart.

Buffalo Bills

Also making headlines early this week is that the Buffalo Bills released three-year starter Jeff Posey on Monday.

Posey became expendable after losing his starting position to Angelo Crowell in team minicamps early this offseason. Crowell played so effectively in place of the injured Takeo Spikes last season that the Bills kept him in the starters roll following the ’05 season.

Posey will catch on somewhere, however, as his veteran leadership will be wanted in some NFL city. He recorded his best season in 2003 while registering 64 tackles, 5 ½ sacks and four forced fumbles for Buffalo.

Pittsburgh Steelers

In the stupidity section of NFL headlines comes Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive lineman Barrett Brooks, who allegedly fled from police on his motorcycle over the weekend.

The 34-year-old backup lineman for the Super Bowl champions was charged with fleeing and eluding, reckless driving, driving at an unsafe speed and other traffic violations Sunday. He was taken to Allegheny County Jail, according to Pittsburgh police Sgt. Dennis Washington.

Police said Brooks drove recklessly around a police car and didn’t stop, causing officers to chase him for about five minutes. Brooks also drove through a red traffic light and a stop sign, Washington said.
Brooks wasn’t intoxicated, but wasn’t wearing a helmet while on his motorcycle, police said.

Let me get this straight, Brooks wasn’t wearing a helmet? In the aftermath of the Ben Roethlisberger situation just a few short months ago, how can you be so utterly dumb? And to say that you weren’t fleeing is just as stupid. What were you doing than Brooks, pretending to be the invisible man for a new comic book movie?

Dallas Cowboys

On the injury front, the Dallas Cowboys have been without their two marquee names at wide receiver. Terrell Owens has been sidelined since last Wednesday when he tweaked his hamstring.

Terry Glenn also sat out practice Monday with blisters affecting his toes and feet. The Cowboys also announced today that they are working out former Eagles’ wide receiver Freddy Mitchell in camp this week.

Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota lost starting strong safety Tank Williams for the season. The free agent from the Titans fractured his knee while performing a back pedaling drill Vikings camp during last Saturday’s practice.

It marks the second time that Williams, 26, has sustained a serious injury to his left knee. In 2004, he tore the anterior cruciate ligament after starting the first nine contests and missed the balance of the season. He returned in 2005, started all 16 games, and registered career highs in solo tackles (65) and total tackles (83).

Dwight Smith, just signed after New Orleans’ released him just recently, will be the starter alongside of Pro Bowl free safety Darren Sharper.