Looks like someone working the transaction page at ESPN.com is having some fun.

Never good when your name is mentioned in connection with the phrase "rape stand". Michael Vick could be wearing out his welcome in Atlanta.

FootballOutsiders on why JaMarcus Russell will be a bust.

I'd love to dive into those Larry Johnson rumors, but just don't have the time right now. Even if this rumor by Scout.com is false, I think a deal is very possible before the start of next season. Not 50-50, but if he is making noise about holding for more money than LaDainian Tomlinson - the Chiefs have to consider decent offers.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 04:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

The fiance is on a plane to California for final wedding preparations, which means my time until Tuesday is to be used for magazine work and draft buildup. And figuring out if it's allowable to speak during my own wedding. Seriously with no religion and no meaningful passage ... our ceremony is going to take 5 minutes.

A couple links stood out tonight.

Mike Mayock vs. Mel Kiper, tale of the tape. I have to be a charter member of the Mayock bandwagon, so it's good to see him getting attention. I'll be watching NFLN primarily this weekend.

SI's Don Banks comes out swinging Wednesday with some trade talk about the Falcons going after Calvin Johnson. I'd love to see it unless I drafted Johnson in dynasty leagues. I also forecasted the interest in my column this week, so that's even more reason.

Banks also breaks some news about Adrian Peterson re-injuring his collarbone.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 08:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Some links as we near the finish of the long buildup of the draft...

The East Valley Tribune's Darren Urban is one of the most consistent beat writers around. He's started a a Cardinals blog and it looks like a winner.

In it, we learn that Edgerrin James has shelved his gold teeth this offseason. Makes me feel old.

I thought it was very interesting to hear Adam Shefter's report on the Cardinals pick last night saying the coaching staff preferred Levi Brown to Joe Thomas. The front office disagrees. Who knows if it's true, but that sure makes Brown look like the possible pick at number five if Thomas is off the board.

Some interesting draft stories here from John McClain. He provides an inside look at the last-minute decision change in Houston last year regarding Reggie Bush. They went to the negotiating table expecting to sign him. I think the college rent scandal and contract demands got Mario Williams drafted first.

Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette chatted about the Steelers needs this week. Plenty of good stuff in there. He makes a great point that offensive line has to be a priority for a team that is aging and has most of their starters headed for free agency.

A look at the epic 2004 draft by the Chargers. It really was ridiculous in retrospect. Using their given picks and the ones acquired for Eli Manning, San Diego landed Philip Rivers, Nate Kaeding, Shawne Merriman, Roman Oben, Igor Olshansky, Nick Hardwick, Shaun Phillips, Dave Ball, Michael Turner, Ryan Krause, Shane Olivea, and change.

I taped a Mock Draft for NBCSports.com with wild man Tom Curran and NFL editor Jon Ackerman. Here goes Part one and part two.

I wrote a column about the big questions surrounding the top ten of the draft.

As I've mentioned numerous times, this blog is going to be lighter than I'd want this week because of my wedding next week and our magazine deadline. Rotoworld will of course have complete pick-by-pick coverage all weekend on our news page and I will be checking in here and on video for NBCSports.com as well.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 08:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Sleepers and Busts was a staple of fantasy football magazines when they were still written in stone. We also break it down to "undervalued" and "overvalued," which are probably more accurate tags in this information-saturated sports marketplace.

Well to start coming up with my list of players, I have to see where exactly people are "valued" in the first place. Since we're still in pre-draft mode, this information is sparse and somewhat misleading. It's obviously going to change a lot in a few weeks, but antsports.com has a first look at some draft trends that are worth checking out.

I'm going to be talking ADP for the next four months, so I'm in no hurry. But it's surprising so far how high Randy Moss, Chris Chambers, and Edgerrin James remain. Brandon Jacobs and Chris Cooley are two players that seem oddly low.

We actually partner with MockDraftCentral.com, but I believe you need a password to log in to their site. For now, the data is very sparse and the MDC info is useful, but appears to mostly be based on predraft settings because of the lack of variety in draft results.

We will only use post-draft data in our magazine of course, but these llinks are worth checking out for the fantasy addicts out there.

Update: A reader sent me this very useful ADP link from myfantasyleague.com.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (52)

It's the calm before the storm. I'm not referring to my impending nuptials (gross word) and magazine deadline, which are less than two weeks away and the reason why this blog is going to be quiet until Mid-May.

I'm talking about the NFL Draft, which is so close I can almost taste the ridiculously early draft grade columns. It's close enough that the media is leaking stories of admitted marijuana use. We tackled the issue in this week's Fantasy Fix show, which has a spiffy new start.

The most interesting draft development I read about this morning was Kansas City's interest in high profile running backs. I don't take player visits very seriously, but it's interesting that the agents for four players said that Kansas City is planning to take a running back "early" in this draft.

It makes sense. Larry Johnson was badly overworked and Michael Bennett is an unreliable backup. Johnson also is about to become very unhappy with his contract, so drafting a future replacement would be excellent leverage. At worst, a rookie could take some of the load from Johnson and be a safety net in case LJ is injured. Carl Peterson is not afraid to draft a running back early no matter who is in the backfield already - that's how Johnson was drafted in the first place when Priest Holmes was still at his peak.

I'm editing the magazine this week and one of the most interesting pieces is about the history of overused running backs, done by our friends at Football Outsiders. There are already plenty of reasons to pass on LJ with the second pick of fantasy drafts. The Chiefs taking a first-day rookie would be another.

Continue reading "Another reason to be wary of LJ" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Josh McCown has the lowest talent:headlines ratio in the NFL this offseason. Each day, I read another update in the suspicious McCown rumor saga, wondering one thing. Has anyone actually watched McCown play football?

Let's review. McCown has played under two of the better quarterback tutors in the NFL in Dennis Green and Mike Martz. Neither one of them believed in him. His numbers in Arizona were mediocre and he was benched at various times for Shaun King, John Navarre, and an aging Kurt Warner. In Detroit, McCown didn't just fail to beat out journeyman veteran Jon Kitna for a starting job. He struggled to beat out a fifth-round rookie out of UConn named Dan Orlovsky for the backup job.

Continue reading "Who wants Josh McCown?" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 08:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This report indicates that it's only a matter of time before Trent Green joins the Dolphins and Daunte Culpepper is released.

I expect Miami to draft a quarterback to join Green, killing any chance Cleo Lemon has to start.

I'm more interested in where Daunte Culpepper will land. And really only one place makes sense: Oakland. Al Davis is infatuated with strong armed quarterbacks like Culpepper. A move could allow the Raiders to draft Calvin Johnson and trade Culpepper's old buddy Randy Moss.

Recent reports suggest that that most of the Oakland organization favors Johnson over JaMarcus Russell, but Al Davis wants the quarterback. Perhaps Culpepper would satisfy him.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 09:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (270)

Our never-ending quest for "sleepers" includes some careful parsing of early Spring coachspeak. One name to be aware of this season is second-year wideout Adam Jennings in Atlanta, who Bobby Petrino has singled out on a few occasions. Jennings has Petrino's most prized quality - speed. He could be a factor in their spread offense. At this point, he's just a fourth receiver and another name to watch. Roddy White and Michael Jenkins are hardly unbeatable assets and Joe Horn could struggle to stay healthy.

Along those same lines are second-year Kansas City receivers Jeff Webb and Chris Hannon. The Chiefs didn't dip into the free agent pool at receiver and Herm Edwards wants to get the kids involved. It wouldn't surprise me if one of these guys, especially Webb, challenged Samie Parker for a starting job at some point this season.

Pacman Jones is going back to school. There has to be a movie or reality show idea in here somewhere.

Continue reading "Searching for sleepers" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Mike Williams is probably done in Detroit. We've heard this before, but he's used up all his second chances. It wouldn't surprise me if Williams fell right out of the league like Charles Rogers (Remember him?).

This news kills me because I drafted Williams in a disastrous first-round of my dynasty league a few years back, along with Eric Shelton. Frank Gore was my third pick that year and clearly the best. I'm reminded here that sometimes it's fine to sell low. I've had offers for Williams in the past year from owners hoping to get him at a bargain rate. I figured it was worth finding out if Williams would turn it around. I should have taken what I could get; He's a turd.

Continue reading "Wednesday Links" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 09:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There are a lot of reminders throughout the offseason that the NFL calendar is moving forward. Today is a fun one: Someone is actually practicing football.

The Tampa Bay Bucs started their OTAs today and I'm almost ashamed to admit that I'm excited about reading a practice report.

For the record, Shelton Quarles' career is in jeopardy because of concussion problems. Cato June is the team's new starter on the strong side. And Brian Kelly is skipping the workouts because he wants a new deal. The Bucs can't be happy about their cornerback depth when Philip Buchanon is playing a significant role.

Update:The Falcons are also starting a mini-camp today. Alge Crumpler recently underwent another knee surgery.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 02:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)