I was getting ready to leave the office, and realized I haven't written anything to antogonize Bears fans yet today. So here goes.

The fantasy owners drafting Devin Hester are out of their gourd. I saw Hester taken with a few rounds remaining in one of my industry drafts over the summer and thought the owner was acting alone. But it just happened again, by an industry titan who I greatly respect, so clearly some intelligent football people disagree with me.

Hester is now getting drafted as a flier in 12-team leagues on average, according to MockDraftCentral.com. I don't get it. It's hard enough to make a fantasy impact if you are any second-year receiver. Consider the factors working against Hester.

Continue reading "The Hester Insanity" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 05:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (18)

If this ends up as as bad as it sounds, L.J. Smith may not be draftable in fantasy leagues this year.

* Lamont Jordan and Dominic Rhodes are neck and neck for the Oakland starting job. Rhodes will miss the first four games of the season, but we're almost certainly looking at a committee after that.

* If I've learned one thing in the last month, it's that Keary Colbert will never die. Two Carolina newspapers report today that he's passing Drew Carter. Sure, it's Dwayne Jarrett's job eventually. But Colbert's re-emergence makes the whole trio worth avoiding.

* I usually dismiss strength-of-schedule as boderline irrelevent, but FootballOutsiders has created a highly useful article about it.

* Jason Wood asks a good question: Why is Steve Smith the consensus #1 WR? (I think the top-six are virtually interchangeable and Smith's rise is largely due to our desire for consensus.)

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 02:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Before we get to a few more links, a word from our sponsor: The Rotoworld Draft Guide. If you haven't bought the guide yet, just get it over with. You like football enough to read a blog called Pancake Blocks. Take the next step.

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Some more links coming in a few

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 01:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

The career of Mike Alstott is worth reflection, but I'll leave that to the Tampa sportswriters. Fantasy owners will always remember a player who averaged a sturdy eight touchdowns a year in his first seven seasons.

I'm more interested in how Alstott will affect the 2007 Bucs. With B.J. Askew taking over fullback duties, is it reasonable to expect more goal-line carries for Cadillac Williams?

Absolutely. Since Caddy was drafted, here is the breakdown of carries for Bucs running backs inside the five-yard line ...

Continue reading "Alstott Vultured, Caddy Benefits" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

There are so daily injuries training camp, and most of them only last a few days. We attempt to sift through the noise in our player news by only highlighting major players or major injuries, but the amount of information is still overwhelming. Here's my quick take on what injuries matter thus far during camp, and which ones don't.

LaMont Jordan (back) - Becoming an issue, but not a big one yet. He's about a week away from getting a downgrade.

Clinton Portis (knee) - Just don't know at this point, but it's hard to imagine him starting the year getting 20 carries a game. He hasn't eased any concerns.

Vernand Morency (knee) - A serious problem. Morency is going to struggle to be ready for Week 1, and a committee seems inevitable.

Continue reading "What Injuries Matter" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 10:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)

The top ten of our ridiculously early, meaningless, and subjective power rankings posted on Monday. Here goes 11-20.

11. Dallas Cowboys – Wade Phillips should know what to do with this defensive personnel. In a wide open NFC, they have a shot.

12. Denver Broncos – A few commentors called me out for ranking Denver so low, but I’d like to rank them even lower. I just can’t find many other good teams. Jay Cutler is going to have his growing pains, and there are question marks at every skill position. The defensive line and linebacker spots are hardly settled. A great system, coach, and secondary can take you a long way though.

13. Carolina Panthers – Strange team that better win now before they start declining. The defense has a chance to be very good, so it’s up to Jake Delhomme again.

14. New York Jets – They could go 8-8 and be a better team this year. The schedule is much more difficult.

15. Washington Redskins – I’ve convinced myself that this is the “sleeper” team of the NFC East. Year two of the Al Saunders/Jason Campbell combination should produce improved results. Once again, this team isn’t very deep.

Continue reading "Power Rankings: #11-20" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 05:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

If you live in New York City, check me out tonight at 9PM on Manhattan Neighborhood Network with my buddy Nabate' Isle. The show is called So Much to Talk About. This man loves his football and we talk fantasy draft season for 30 minutes.

For everyone else, you can check out the show live and streaming on the station's website. Thank you all.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 05:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Nothing like going to a strip club with your wife and her dad. And drinking 21 shots on her birthday. With her dad. Adjust Chris Cooley up in your cheat sheets.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Kevin Jones had a good day in his recovery Tuesday, catching passes for the first time since foot surgery and making cuts. He still appears to be a long way from full contact work, but there is some tangible progress. He says his goal is to be ready for Week 1. We have our doubts.

Jones made it clear, though, he's not happy with some recent comments by teammate Tatum Bell.

"When he says, 'It is mine,' that is when I have a problem. If I was 100 percent, it would not be a question. My goal is to come back and it (starting) won't be an issue. I am the better back and I will be the starter... If I weren't injured, he wouldn't even be here."

Jones is probably right on on all counts, but there is no telling when he'll be fully recovered. If this motivates him to speed up the process, all the better.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)

After I wrote about the Jaguars receivers yesterday, both local papers provided updates on Wednesday.

Matt Jones is currently being looked at as a slot receiver, which would diminish his fantasy potential. We may need to downgrade him slightly. I still wouldn't be surprised to see him win back a starting job before the season.

Reggie Williams is most certainly fighting for a roster spot, while Jack Del Rio compares his team to the Saints.

Continue reading "Jaguars WRs follow-up: Jones a slot receiver?" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 09:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)