I'm not sure what to make of Chris Mortensen's report that Holmes could eventually get 15 touches a game, but I'd rather own Holmes than Kolby Smith as a LJ handcuff. Here's the play-by-play of Holmes' first game back.

First Quarter
1-10-KC-30 Huard pass to Holmes for a loss of 6 yards
Third Quarter
1-10-OAK-11 Holmes run for no gain
Fourth Quarter
1-10-KC-31 Holmes runs for three yards
2-7-KC-34 Holmes runs for eight yards
1-10-KC-43 Holmes runs for a loss of 2 yards

Continue reading "Catching up with Priest" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 04:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I've written about Willis McGahee's quietly impressive season a few times. In a year with so many busts at running back, he's outplaying his ADP and is second in the league in rushing, albeit with a cake schedule.

Mike Preston asks a great question about his effort Sunday: Why did McGahee have to leave the game late when he could have being racking up yards?

I own McGahee in one league and thought of selling high before this week. It's nothing I feel like I have to do, but I'm curious what he could be worth. With Pittsburgh, New England, and San Diego left on the schedule, I'd take a deal that netted top-ten value for him.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 02:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

The Monday Morning Afters are up, with most of my thoughts on the Week 7 action.

I touched on Shaun Alexander's struggles briefly, but wanted to mention the conversation he had with Mike Holmgren on the sideline late in the game. It's what used to make Alexander a great fantasy option, but an overrated NFL player.

Alexander was frustrated by his personal struggles (19-41-0) despite the blowout Seattle win. He wanted to get back into the game to pad his stats in garbage time instead of resting. This was about his numbers, not about helping the team to win.

Alexander has 107 rushing yards (2.4 per-carry) over the last three weeks. Mike Holmgren doesn't have a lot of options in the rushing game, but you can bet he'll examine them closely in the bye week. I bet this is Alexander's last year as a primary carrier. What do you think?

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 02:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (29)

The Week 7 rankings were updated Friday evening. The changes usually come from injuries, but also more analysis that goes on throughout the week. Here were some of the changes.

QB: Tony Romo moves up to the top spot, Matt Hasselbeck inched up (putting up numbers despite poor play), Kyle Boller went down because his offensive line is a disaster. Brian Griese moved up, while Jay Cutler moved down some because of Javon Walker's injury. Byron Leftwich, Trent Dilfer, and Kurt Warner were all added to the list. I left Rattay on there too in case he starts.

Continue reading "Rankings Changes" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (19)

Perhaps this will only amuse me, but check out this awkward moment between Jeff Garcia and NFL Network's Rich Eisen a little at the 4:00 mark when Eisen asks about Roy Williams' comments on Garcia.

* For more potentially awkward exchanges, head over to the chat today.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 01:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Profootballtalk.com reports that league sources believe Javon Walker's knee injury is possibly worse than advertised. That makes sense based on a few factors.

1. Mike Shanahan usually spins things very positive. He admitted he didn't know for sure if Walker would return this season.

2. Walker has been hurt for a month. Hindisight is 20-20, but the Broncos did everything possible to avoid this surgery at all costs. Walker initially guaranteed he wouldn't miss any time. They hoped the inflammation in his knee would go down, but it didn't happen during the bye week. It appears he suffered a setback on Wednesday.

Continue reading "Should Javon Walker be dropped?" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 01:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

* Florio and I go through the matchups and fight to see who can sound more longwinded. (I win)

* I talk to former Giants scout Jon Pelifroni on the Fix.

* Tiffany and I talk waiver picks and 100K picks.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Before the season, I wrote that the fates of the impressive 2006 rookie quarterbacks (Vince Young, Matt Leinart, and Jay Cutler) would help define this fantasy season. Quarterbacks usually take their biggest leap in their second season, but all three of these guys have struggled.

* Matt Leinart was ineffective, stuck in a rotation, and then broke his collarbone.

* After being a top-5 fantasy quarterback when he played last year, Vince Young is the QB25 this year and may miss this week's game.

* Jay Cutler has been erratic. And while I believe his numbers are encouraging except for an ugly TD:INT ratio (4:6), he just took a major hit with Javon Walker out indefinitely.

Continue reading "Cutler, Walker, Young continue slide" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Last night, the Associated Press ran a story about the Patriots running game that included the following line:

Maroney, who gained 252 yards on 54 carries in the first three games, ran well in practice Wednesday but took some plays off and won't play Sunday against winless Miami.

We put a story up about it quickly, but a few things didn't seem right.

1. This should have been the lede of the article. It was buried in the sixth paragraph as a throw-away line. We've found this sort of thing often indicates a mistake.

2. All Boston outlets have indicated that Maroney has improved steadily over the last few weeks and has a good chance of playing this week. At the very least, he'll be a game-time decision unless the AP had somehow cracked the Belichick fortress with some super scoop.

Continue reading "Clearing the Air on Maroney" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 04:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

Here are two of my favorite lines of the week.

From Mike Preston's Ravens mailbag:

Mike, there's no doubt Kyle Boller's one of the better backups in the league, but he just doesn't seem to have the confidence or the head to lead the team as a starter. With Steve McNair showing his age, do you think the Ravens will pursue another quarterback in the offseason?

Mike Preston: They better, because all the other teams in the AFC North have proven quarterbacks, or quarterbacks of the future on their rosters. In Baltimore, the Ravens have one quarterback who is physically challenged and one that is mentally challenged. Together, McBoller is a fairly decent quarterback.

Long live McBoller.

Continue reading "Apropos of Nothing" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 03:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)