For about half a season in 2004, Dan Morgan was one of the top-five linebackers alive. He was finally living up to all the insane potential he had in his curiously fragile frame. Then, as always, his problems with concussions erupted.

He wound up missing a month, then returning for Carolina's playoff run. His 25-tackle performance in the Super Bowl was one of the all-time "Was that a misprint?" box score lines.

As Pat Yasinskas wrote as ESPN, this retirement was for the best. No one wanted to see Morgan's life changed forever after another blow to the head. Morgan's career didn't pan out as hoped, but it provided some brilliant moments. Good luck and health to Morgan moving forward.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 03:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This week's Fix looks at guys with the opportunity to bounce back this season. I'm not necessarily saying that they will, just that they are set up with excellent chances.

I know the one minute video is tough to bear (especially in these dark non-Tiffany summer days), so my list from the video is after the jump

Continue reading "Four Guys with the chance to bounce back" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 02:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)

By the middle of training camp, I suspect Brandon Marshall's forearm surgery and television accident will be nothing more than a punchline. Marshall is already running routes at Denver practice, and the team expects him to begin catching passes in a month. That's a full month ahead of schedule, and it means the injury should mostly be in the rear-view mirror well before training camp.

Continue reading "Brandon Marshall easing fears" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Some people, including new signee Brandon Lloyd, have doubted whether Rex Grossman will truly have to compete for the Chicago starting job with Kyle Orton. Those doubts should have been put to rest Monday, when Kyle Orton opened up OTAs taking the majority of first-team reps. We suspect Grossman will get the nod today, but it's clear Orton will be given a real chance.

No offensive depth chart is more up for grabs than Chicago's. Lovie Smith created a stir last week calling Cedric Benson the starter, but what else is he going to say? Brad Briggs of the Chicago Sun-Times puts it well:

Continue reading "Competition in Chicago" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

I didn't think Andre Johnson's knee was a huge factor when I ranked him quite high in my initial receiver rankings, coming to a newsstand near you in three weeks. He missed seven games last year, but only missed three in his four year career before that. Furthermore, he had never required surgery before to our knowledge. Until now.

Perhaps I'm a bit biased as an AJ believer, but I don't see this as a major concern if the Texans are telling the truth. During the season, players return from this surgery in two weeks. In the offseason, Johnson will sit out a month. It's possible the Texans are fudging the severity of the surgery, but I doubt it considering they gave out a timeline for his return and he was at practice Monday.

Continue reading "Is Andre Johnson an injury risk?" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 03:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

This is way off topic. But if one of the musical heroes of my life name-checks Rotoworld and our awesome NBA writer Steve Alexander in print, well, I sorta have to link to it.

If I were Steve, I would feel slightly closer to being able to retire now. My big dream over the winter has been getting the Fantasy Fix on the taxicab TVs in New York. I thought we were close, but it hasn't happened. Getting mentioned by Steve Malkmus would have trumped it anyway.

So kudos to Steve, who started up his NBA blog last week. Stop on by.

Alternate Titles for this post: Elevate Me Later, Fame Throwa, Type Slowly

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 01:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The best available remaining free agents.

Wideouts

1. Cedrick Wilson - Could still help a team as a reserve.

2. Eddie Kennison - Quiet end to an ornery, but steady career.

Continue reading "Looking for Work (Part Two)" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 08:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

By May, any NFL veteran without a job is either hurt or their career is on the fringe. Here's a quick look at some of the notable names without a job. Some of these players are bound to end up on our end of summer fantasy football tombstone series: Who's Done?

Quarterbacks

1. Byron Leftwich- A former top-ten pick with 52 touchdowns and 38 interceptions, I thought Leftwich would be a popular target this offseason. There hasn't been a single peep from interested teams.

2. Daunte Culpepper - Could this really be it for 2004 NFL MVP runner-up? I think he can still be a decent backup.

3. Kelly Holcomb

Continue reading "Looking for Work (Part One)" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 08:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Okay, we've got the results from the last two player matchups. In a surprise (to me), Heath Miller edged out Jeremy Shockey, with Vernon Davis finishing a relatively close third. Wes Welker also trashed Roy Williams in their head-to-head matchup.

Today's battle will go back to tight ends one more time. I'm going to take Antonio Gates out of the discussion because of his foot surgery. If he's ready to play Week 1, he's number one in my rankings. We'll see how that plays out.

Continue reading "Winslow vs. Witten" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 01:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (25)

That's what Mike Heimerdinger calls his receiver group. 'Dinger will throw out last year's numbers when coming up with his depth chart. Here's Jim Wyatt's take on their receiver ranks.

Continue reading "One Giant Wad" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 02:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)