Sheesh, that didn't take long. Joseph Addai goes down on the first play from scrimmage. He wound up walking off the field and looks okay, and Kenton Keith takes his first carry eight yards.

John Madden says Keith is not ready for a game like this, but the coaching staff had faith in him there.

Even if Addai returns quickly, Keith is going to get picked up in every league he's available now.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 08:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Are you ready for some ... Kelly Clarkson? Nothing says football like ... This Kiss,

Ah well, less than fifteen minutes to go.

Robert Meachem is inactive for the Saints. One gets the feeling he wouldn't have even made the team if he wasn't a first-round pick.

Fourth running back Pierre Thomas is also inactive, with Aaron Stecker playing. Football Prospectus had a great stat that Stecker lined up as a wideout more than any running back except Reggie Bush, Brian Westbrook, and LaDainian Tomlinson. Just shows how Sean Payton views the running back position.

Update:I'm afraid of Robert Irsay.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 08:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Devery's coming out party?

Let's try something new with a matchup preview for tonight's game.

Colts vs. Saints

QB: Peyton Manning - Must Start - Manning may not have a better matchup this year. Young safeties for New Orleans and a trio of stopgap veterans behind Mike McKenzie at cornerback (Jason Craft, Jason David, Fred Thomas).

RB1: Joseph Addai - Must Start - The Saints should sell out to stop Manning, which will leave Addai a ton of room.
RB2: Kenton Keith - Must Sit - Will be fun to scout him. Could play in short-yardage situations.

WR1: Marvin Harrison - Must Start - He's basically their goal-line receiver. Needs to put the stink of last postseason behind him.
WR2: Reggie Wayne - Must Start - Maybe Colts/Saints was a bad choice for the first matchup preview. Everyone is a must start.
WR3: Anthony Gonzalez - Must Sit - You should have better options than a rookie third receiver.

TE1: Dallas Clark - Borderline start- Four games over 50 yards in two years, but facing the Saints at home is as good as it gets.

Continue reading "Saints vs. Colts Matchups" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 04:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

The Week 1 rankings are up, so that should handle most of your start/sit questions. I do plan to tackle some matchup previews here that weren't discussed in Goal Line Stand or the Fantasy Fix.

With the Colts hours away from kicking off the season, it's time to look at the Scout.com article from Wednesday that helped explain why DeDe Dorsey was surprisingly cut by the Colts.

Continue reading "Dorsey Redux" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 02:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Just a reminder that I'm liveblogging the game tonight. We'll get the festivities going around 8PM.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 01:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'll admit I'm a novice when it comes to games like the 100K challenge. The strategy decisions are endless.

I didn't play in our PEG game last year mostly because I can't win, but was convinced by our ceaseless promoting to play this year for the love of the game. Here's my Week 1 roster.

Continue reading "My 100K Picks" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Part of the reason I've been driving the Brandon Jacobs train this offseason is my total disregard for Reuben Droughns at this stage of his career. He never ranked as a top-45 back this summer, even when writers mistakenly thought the Giants would split carries between him and Droughns.

When Droughns beefed up in the preseason to take snaps at fullback, it was clear the end was near for him as a fantasy asset. The Giants' latest depth chart seals the deal. Drop him.

Continue reading "Drop Droughns" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I'm busy working on Goal Line Stand rankings and comments, but I just got my hands on the first NFL injury report.

Here were the headlines.

* Drew Bennett (thigh) didn't practice again, but Torry Holt did. He's not even on the injury report. You can all breathe a big sigh of relief.

* Greg Olsen sat out practice. I'm guessing he's less than 50-50 to play this week.

* Terry Glenn is back fully practicing. It looks like he'll play, although perhaps not with a full complement of snaps.

* Clinton Portis is fully practicing again, although he is listed on the report. Keep reading reports on him, but all signs are good thus far.

* Kevin Jones finally returned to practice, although not as a full participant. Still, it's a big step. We'll keep reading for the details.

That's about it. Week 1 is always quiet. I'll be back in the morning with rankings, some 100K picks, and the vindication of DeDe Dorsey.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 07:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

As I've mentioned a few times during the offseason, the NFL has changed their injury report policies this year. For a peak at how things will look on Wednesdays, check out New England's Wednesday report.

Continue reading "New Injury Reports" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 04:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Very interesting article Wednesday on MLive.com about the Lions running game. Tom Kowalski believes that T.J. Duckett will be a bigger part of the Detroit offense than originally believed.

Duckett has no versatility going to the outside, but the Lions don't trust Tatum Bell in short-yardage situations. Bell had a reputation for running soft in Denver, and it is cropping up again. It would be a shock if he was on the field inside the five-yard line.

Continue reading "Duckett emerging in Detroit?" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 02:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (303)