July 28, 2007
Here's one reason why Marshawn Lynch is an intriguing player, but not a player you want to draft in the top-30 picks. Dick Jauron insistently says the Bills will run a committee this season. Here's a quote from Friday.
"Regardless of who the number one (back) is we do still intend to run the ball by committee. We think it's better for our team over the long haul," said Jauron. "As we get good enough to win consistently and fight our way hopefully into a playoff spot, you want to be healthy at that point in the year. A guy that gets overburdened carrying the ball constantly at that position will take so many more shots. We'd like to run it by committee and the guy that's the lead (back) will have to earn the right to be the lead."
Jauron has said variations of this quote all offseason, but the media hasn't really listened. I haven't listened, assuming Lynch will rise. Fantasy Nation hasn't listened, taking Lynch as a late second running back.
Lynch still has to prove he can be a productive pro (unlike the last highly drafted Cal runner, J.J. Arrington), and he's fighting an uphill battle on a below-average offense. The one great thing that vaulted him past Adrian Peterson was that he was guaranteed big carries.
Now I understand Jauron is partly engaging in coachspeak. He doesn't want to put pressure on the rookie. Like Tony Dungy with Joseph Addai with the Colts last year, though, I'm beginning to think it's not all coachspeak. Sharing the ball makes sense, especially when you have a first-year runner.
I like Marshawn Lynch's skill set, but he could be a better pro this year than fantasy option. Rookie backs usually get drafted too early. Maybe we should start listening to Dick Jauron.
July 27, 2007
So I had a quandry in my draft last night and asked for help. You guys came through huge.
After initially leaning towards grabbing Caddy and the highest ranked receiver left, I went WR-WR. Just like "J" and an anonymous reader suggested. IF I had decided to take Williams, it would have been with my second-round pick. I see Wayne and Harrison as interchangeable, and would not have anticipated the guy on the turn taking both.
Continue reading "Taking Top Tier Wideouts" »
* The new Fantasy Fix is up, talking about all the news of the week. Mike Florio joins Tiffany and I. (Yes Tiffany is back from vacation)
* The top 17 position battles were posted as a column. I may load them in here over the weekend for posterity.
Back in a few with the update on the draft.
Another reason to avoid Kevin Walter
I originally wrote this Keenan McCardell reaction article on Monday night, before the signing was disputed, reported again, disputed, and now is official. I'm now struck with how similar the situation is to Eric Moulds' signing. An old guy you don't want signed, making the younger options on the team less desireable.
Its not like we needed another reason to avoid drafting Kevin Walter. The nominal Texans starting receiver across from Andre Johnson received a fresh dose of competition Monday with the news that Houston has agreed to terms with Keenan McCardell.
For fantasy leaguers, the receiver spot across from Johnson has long been a sinkhole to be ignored. McCardell’s signing cements that tradition being upheld in fantasy drafts this month. McCardell essentially replaces Eric Moulds on the Houston roster as the heady, slow veteran. The Chargers gave up on McCardell by the end of last season, when he had 36 catches and finally started showing his age. It’s uncertain if he’ll also take Moulds’ spot in the starting lineup, but I don’t think Houston signed him to be inactive on Sundays.
So what about Walter and Jacoby Jones?
Continue reading "Making a bad situation worse" »
Great news for one of our favorite quarterbacks for value: Marc Bulger. He showed up to camp after skipping a mandatory meeting Thursday. We expect a contract extension worked out during camp.
St. Louis also got their first-round pick Adam Carriker to agree to terms Friday morning.
I'm on the clock in what is probably my favorite "industry" league I do all year, FFWebmasters. Lots of good site owners.
The league is standard (non PPR) scoring, but is 14 teams. We start 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 K, 1 DEF, no flex.
The draft plays out one pick at a time, we have a 12-hour clock and can trade picks, but not much of that goes on. We're almost through two rounds in roughly 28 hours.
I was lucky enough to receive the second pick of the draft and took Steven Jackson. Really wrestled with taking Frank Gore. I'm a sucker for the Inconvenient Truth. Convinced he's a Hall of Fame talent if he can stay healthy. Wouldn't be surprised if Gore is the RB1 this year, but Jackson just feels safer this season. I'm trying to hit more doubles with draft picks this season (less risk) rather than always swinging for the fences as is my wont.
Continue reading "Mock Draft: You make the call" »
July 26, 2007
So the votes were tallied, the decision was wrestled over for minutes, and the decision is in ...
This blog will forever be known as Pancake Blocks. A last-minute push for Pancake Blocks! was narrowly avoided. We almost used the word Blogg in some way, like Fantasy Footblogg. Skinny Posts got some positive feedback. We almost called it Fantasy Insider. None of those options were as fun or cheesy. Or had the word Pancake in it. Let's never talk about this again.
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In other miscellaneous news, I wrote up a piece today about Curtis Martin's retirement on NBCSports.com. I have to get out the office, but we'll get more actual football up on the blog tomorrow.
We have our first position battle update. (I know I'm a huge football dork because I was really excited to start reading the first practice reports. The offseason is necessary, but I'm glad its over.)
Anthony Thomas has started training camp taking most of the first-team reps with Marshawn Lynch absent. Its not a huge surprise that he'll start with a head start over rookie Dwayne Wright, but we know where they stand now. Wright will try to impress in the preseason, but he's not worth drafting until he passes the A-Train.
For those interested, we'll post the rest of the final 16 top position battles in a column Thursday.
Update:And by Thursday, I mean Friday.
I don't blame the Titans for signing Eric Moulds. He's a player on the downside of his career, but 138 catches over the last two seasons cannot be ignored. Tennessee's entire roster of wideouts except David Givens (who may not play this year) barely has that many catches over their combined careers.
Moulds' 9.95 yards-per-catch during 2005-2006 also can't be ignored. That's a figure that indicates he couldn't make Jeff Fisher miss in the open field. His dial-up speed is why two wideout-needy teams have dumped him in two years, in addition to his formerly high salary. Moulds isn't guaranteed to make the Titans, but he will give Vince Young a target who will run his routes correctly. The same probably can't be said for Brandon Jones, Roydell Williams, Courtney Roby, and the Tennessee rookies.
Continue reading "Titans add Eric Moulds to Quagmire" »
Busy this morning with draft guide updates, a pair of Fantasy Fix shows, (one of which will feature Mike Florio of profootballtalk.com), and other assorted goodies.
The news page is cranking lately with almost 100 posts in the last 24 hours, so that remains the best spot to stay on top of things. If I could suggest one column for your morning reading, it's Jason Whitlock's take on the Priest Holmes situation.
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