Bleacher Report - Articles by Andrew Garda

49ers Aren't Dead Yet: Three Things to Build from and Five Things to Improve

Andrew Garda — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:31:02 -0500

When the season began, the San Francisco 49ers started off hot, compiling an early 3-1 record and starting some early talk not just about the playoffs, but of an NFC West division title.

One four-loss streak later, and many of the 49ers faithful have been pulling their hair out over what might have been.

The season is far from over, however, and the team is not out of it yet. Even failing to win the division title might not end their hopes. Yes, Atlanta is playing well and has a 5-3 record, but Chicago and Green Bay are both struggling at 4-4, and those are teams the 49ers play in the next half of the season.

At 3-5 nothing is certain, but hope has not yet been lost. With that in mind, here are three things the 49ers can build on and five things they either must change or have fall their way over the course of the rest of the season.

THE THREE

1) The Weapons

One thing above all else that the team has going for it is a solid group of players at the key "skill" positions. Frank Gore, Vernon Davis, and now Michael Crabtree are a good core to build around, even for just one season.

It's hard to argue with Gore's ability, even if he's had injury issues this year. He's had a pair of bad games, but for the most part, when healthy, he has produced in grand fashion.

Gore has had three monster games (246 total yards against Seattle, 134 against Indianapolis, and 158 last week against Tennessee). It's worth noting that he's done this with an offensive line that lets him down more often than not (we'll touch on that in a minute).

Gore is on course for another season of over 1,000 yards. If he can stay healthy and if the 49ers can keep him fresh enough to keep it up late into the season, he will continue to move the ball well and open things up for the rest of the offense.

If at the end of 2008, someone had walked up to you and said, "You know what I think? Vernon Davis is going to have a career year in 2009. Book it," you'd have likely pried the Budweiser out of their hands, checked them into a clinic for the Delusional and Hopeful, and walked away chuckling.

Yet here we are. I was very optimistic that Davis would have a big year, so I'm not totally surprised. What I didn't expect was Davis being ranked 14th in targets league-wide with 66. That's not just among tight ends but wide receivers and running backs as well. Only the Colts' Dallas Clark has more.

Of those, he has caught 42 for 477 yards and seven touchdowns (more than any other tight end in the league and tied with Miles Austin, Larry Fitzgerald, and Vincent Jackson overall).

Despite the emergence of rookie wide receiver Michael Crabtree, Davis has continued to see a tremendous number of targets (11, 5, 11 in the last three games). Davis has given the team a tremendous weapon both in and outside of the red zone

I'll admit it—I was dubious of the idea that Crabtree would contribute in 2009. Despite coach Mike Singletary's insistence that the rookie would be used early and often in his first game, I chalked it up to gamesmanship.

I'm pretty sure I was wrong though.

Not to say Crabtree has been perfection; far from it. He makes good plays, but he also makes rookie mistakes. He's fumbled, he's tipped passes into the opposing secondary's hands, he's bobbled, and he's run bad routes.

All that said, he's doing much better than anticipated. While he will have bad games (Tennessee did a great job of smothering and frustrating the rookie out of Texas Tech), he's already gained the attention of defenses, and that will open things up for the other offensive players.

Now if Alex Smith can just stay consistent.

2) Schedule

I wouldn't call it cake, but I WOULD call it winnable.

Three of their remaining eight games are against division opponents. What that means is they hold some of their fate in their own hands.

A second win against the also 3-5 Seahawks isn't out of the question. As far as Arizona goes, yes, they are playing at a high offensive level right now, but the 49ers get them at home and if they can get the defense to step up, the game is very winnable.

Also, they get to face the perpetually struggling St. Louis Rams, and while I don't like guaranteeing a win, it's hard to fathom losing that one.

Speaking of gimmes, Detroit comes to Candlestick on Dec. 27, and that's perfect timing if the division is on the line.

Jacksonville can play tough, but the Niners have the tools to beat them. We are talking about the 23rd-ranked defense in the NFL, 26th versus the pass and 22nd against the run.

Green Bay and Chicago are also struggling. On top of that, they are both teams who are in the 49ers' way for a wild card spot. If the team can take those games, they will possess the necessary tiebreakers to get into the playoffs.

Then it's anybody's game, as the 2008 Cardinals can attest to.

3) Singletary

He's not Vince Lombardi by any means, and he definitely has some rough edges as a coach, but this is the guy who turned Vernon Davis around from screw-up to stud.

Singletary is still very much finding his way, but he is the type of personality that does not quit and will not let his players quit.

While the team has struggled of late, if there was a coach who could stop the skid and fire the team back up, it's Mike Singletary. With him on the sideline, it's never over.

Now, all three of those things are positives which the team can build on. They are good things.

Let's face it though—you don't get to five losses unless there are problems you need to fix as well. So while I like to keep it on the positive tip, here are five things the team either has to overcome or have fall their way in the next two months.

THE FIVE

1) Defense

For a team coached by a Hall of Fame defensive player, who wanted to dominate games and the clock with murderous defense, they rank just 19th in total defense. The pass defense has been less than stiff and stands ranked 24th with just 17 sacks (18th in the league) and only six interceptions (23rd). They are allowing an average of 241 yards a game, the ninth worst in the league.

In the last four games, the team has allowed a total of 1,096 yards. That's a grand total of 274 yards a game.

The upside is that the run defense is very good, ranking fourth so far in the league. Some of that is the bad play of the pass defense—why run when you can pass at will?

Last week in the loss to the struggling Tennessee Titans, they actually played well against the pass, allowing no touchdowns and only 172 yards. It was against Vince Young, who has yet to show he is a passing threat, and the team failed to generate more than one sack, though we're talking about an offensive line which has allowed just seven, tied with the Colts for best in the league.

So while it's imperfect, it is a sign things may turn around. There have been injuries, there have been under-performers, there have been massive lapses in judgment (Dre' Bly against the Falcons anyone?).

These things need to be overcome. With games against gunslingers like Jay Cutler and Kurt Warner and facing wide receivers like Greg Jennings, Calvin Johnson, and Larry Fitzgerald, the secondary has to step up.

Otherwise you risk having to throw the ball 45 times from behind, and we saw what that led to against Tennessee.

Speaking of which—

2) Turnovers

It has to stop. Sure, before Sunday's meltdown Alex Smith was playing well. Still, he threw an interception a game in the two prior to Sunday.

As much as Shaun Hill wasn't the answer, at least he didn't throw five interceptions in three games. Of course, you throw 45 times at guys like Cortland Finnegan, and bad things tend to happen to you.

Overall San Francisco is at a negative-three turnover ratio. That is to say they have given the ball away three more times than they have taken the ball from an opposing offense. For perspective, the Vikings and Broncos are at plus-five, the Saints are at plus-eight, and the Eagles are at plus-11.

A good turnover ratio isn't a lock to success, as the Packers (plus-10), Ravens, and Giants (plus-two) can tell you, but the majority of teams whose numbers are in the positive column are winning and often.

Those that cough the ball up more than they snatch it are more often than not losing.

The 49ers are on the wrong side of this equation. Whether it be bad decisions by Smith or boneheaded decisions by Bly, the team needs to get that ratio in the black.

That means better defensive plays, more pressure on opposing quarterbacks with less on their own, and just flat-out taking care of the ball.

If you need an illustration of that, look no further than last weekend. The Niners turned it over four times. The Titans didn't turn it over at all.

3) Offensive Line

One of the issues with both Smith and the run game has been inconsistent (and at times flat-out bad) play along the offensive line.

Matt Maiocco of the Press Democrat pointed to one example of how the line play leads to turnovers in his discussion here about the four turnovers that killed the 49ers on Sunday.

Here is the salient point (though the whole of it is a good read):

Turnover No. 2: Third quarter fumble. Defensive end Jacob Ford lines up one-on-one against right tackle Adam Snyder. Smith's in the shotgun. Snyder does not stay square to Ford, who beats him with an inside move. Smith tries to slide to his left to create enough too to make the pass. But as Smith takes the ball back to throw, it hits Ford's helmet and pops loose. It's recovered by Keith Bullock at the 49ers' 36. Seven plays later, the Titans score a touchdown to tie the game 17-17 in the third quarter.

Bottom line: Mostly Snyder's fault for using poor technique to allow the pressure, but Smith could've had a better feel on whether he had the room to deliver the pass.

Now, the article points out many times that Smith turned it over when there was good protection as well, so it's not his only issue. However, this illustrates a consistent problem along the line every week.

Offensive guards David Baas and Chilo Rachal have struggled at times this season, though both had good games this week. Joe Staley is out for the next month and a half with a knee injury. Tackle Adam Snyder has had issues in pass defense. Center Eric Heitmann has been good all season long, key to the quality of any offensive line. Tackle Barry Sims has looked good.

Overall, the talent is there I believe. Are they the best in the league? No. Can they be? Debatable. They have the ability to give Smith time to throw and open holes for Gore.

They just don't do it on a consistent basis. The line, on the whole, has lapses, be it in the passing game or the run game.

All too often Gore is met in the backfield by a defensive lineman or a linebacker. Against both Houston in Week Seven and Arizona in Week One, he was shut down in the backfield because the line couldn't give him room to move.

They need to play better if this team is going to make it into the playoffs, much less put together a run once they get in.

4) Offensive Play

Maybe more to the point is to point to the run game first.

Jimmy Raye, offensive coordinator for the 49ers, hemmed and hawed all preseason long that this would not be a team which ran the majority of the time. Then the tune changed, and the team said they would run the ball often.

Yet here we are, nine weeks in, and not only are they not running the ball terribly effectively (ranked 21st in the NFL), but they aren't running it often at all.

The 49ers have run the ball just 183 times, barely 22 times a game. Sure, part of this is because the team has fallen behind big a few times and needed to throw the ball a bunch. However, it's also because they just aren't running the ball much.

Or one might say they aren't running it enough. Look, if your team lacks a solid quarterback, doesn't have a great group of wide receivers, and has the services of a stud running back, then you should be running the ball.

When your defense is supposed to be a strength and you're looking to milk the clock to keep some very explosive offenses (Arizona, Minnesota, Green Bay) off the field, you don't put yourself in a position of rolling three and out by throwing a ton of passes.

This is not to say they team cannot or should not throw the ball. As mentioned in the first section, Davis and now Crabtree give the 49ers some nice weapons for Smith (or if things go south again, Shaun Hill) in the pass attack.

Gore is a guy who can give you every chance to keep the opposing offense on the sidelines. If you are struggling to stop the other team on defense and are turning the ball over fairly regularly with interceptions, you might want to run him a little more often.

Early this season I was concerned he was getting too many carries (and not being spelled by rookie Glen Coffee enough). Now I'm here saying he needs to be run more if the 49ers are to really contend with the tougher teams left on their schedule.

5) Arizona Cardinals

Here is the one thing on this list which is largely out of their control. Sure, they could beat them when the teams meet again at Candlestick Park on Dec. 14. Having two wins over their biggest road bump in the division would be a big deal.

For it to really matter, though, they need to make up two games. In order to do that, they need the Cardinals to lose.

The Cardinals face the Seahawks, the Rams twice, the Lions, and the Titans. Yes, they also have to overcome a very good Vikings squad and face the Packers on the last week of the season, but does the rest of that schedule scare you?

It scares me, though only because there is a very high likelihood that if this team does NOT lose to either the Vikings or Packers, the 49ers may be up against the wall—especially since in terms of common opponents, the 49ers have already lost to the Vikings.

The Cards will also prove tough in their head-to-head rematch. Right now, Kurt Warner has the Arizona pass attack humming, ranked eighth in the league with 262 yards a game. The run game is a lot more lackluster, and the 49er defense matches up well with it.

But as the pass defense is a problem for the 49ers, facing an offense which has 16 touchdowns, 119 first downs, and is completing 65.6 percent of its passes is a dangerous test.

They had better deal with Nos. 1 and 2 on this list if they hope to overcome No. 5.

Trendspotting: Will Maurice Jones-Drew Keep It Up?

Andrew Garda — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:37:30 -0400

The Trendspotting articles have been a series on the thunderingblurb.com website this season where we look at various players and try to decide whether they will keep up their stats and production (or in some cases, get them back on track) or if they are candidates for a down-turn.

After a brief break, they're back with a look at Marucie Jones-Drew, running back for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

I'll be the first to admit that I had a bunch of concerns about Maurice Jones-Drew coming into this season. Most of those concerns—regarding his size, weight and their impact on his durability as well as the fact that he has never carried the ball as many times as the Jaguars want him to—are things which take a whole season to play out.

I felt he was still a top ten back. Six weeks in, he's not only that but a top two back. The top back in some leagues.

However, while his overall numbers are very good his week to week numbers have fallen flat a few times.

A quick look at his overall games (credit to footballguys.com for supplying the stats ) shows a few games where his owners might have struggled.

WK	OPP	RSH	YD	TD	TARG	REC	YD	FPT
1	IND	21	97	1	8	5	26	18.3
2	ARI	13	66	0	7	4	17	8.3
3	HOU	23	119	3	7	4	28	32.7
4	TEN	6	14	1	3	3	26	10.0
5	SEA	12	34	0	5	5	23	5.7
6	STL	33	133	3	7	5	45	35.8
TOT		108	463	8	37	26	165	110.8

Looking at the numbers I was struck by how inconsistent the production has been. His big games are big—very few backs have had games like that this season, much less more than one.

On the other hand, he’s had a few subpar games to alternate with those huge games.

What is going on with Jones-Drew? Is there a cause for concern? What is causing the yo-yoing production?

In this week's Trendspotting, we look at the diminutive back and examine whether his owners need to sell high—or if the rest of us need to buy.

While I was working on the research for this, I did something a little different and threw out a post in the Footballguys forums to take the temperature of his owners and see what people felt might be going on if anything. You can check out response here, but I found very little worry for his prospects and some thoughts on the up and down production which mirrored what I was already thinking.

A few people are selling high(ish) and a few are looking to buy but overall his owners are patient and calm.

Good stuff there though and I encourage you to check it out.

And why shouldn't his owners be patient. The overall picture in fantasy right now is one of struggling first round running backs.

Chris Johnson, Matt Forte, Steven Jackson, Steve Slaton—all are players taken in the first who have had issues in the first six weeks. We could add folks like Tom Brady and Randy Moss (Week Six fireworks notwithstanding) as well.

So it isn't a reach to say that Jones-Drew has more than been worth his pick, along with the other survivor of the first round, Adrian Peterson.

I took a look at the many leagues I am in (mostly PPR leagues, but some not) and Jones-Drew is the top back in many of them. You can't be upset when so many other studs have fallen flat.

What about those down games? Well, first consider that in the above graph from FBG's player page, eight and ten points are not tragic totals (and do not include PPR points). Disappointing? Perhaps.

Looking closer though, Jones-Drew ran into things that may have shut down the production for many of the backs in the same situation.

As Sigmund Bloom points out in the thread, both the Arizona and Seattle games he was hamstrung by an early deficit. Looking at those two games, Jones-Drew got his usual amount of catches as well—between four and five which is right at his average so far. Against Arizona he still compiled a nice 83 yards total.

While the Seattle game didn't even have that going for it, there hasn't been a back this year who didn't put up lackluster points once.

Still, that game highlights one problem with Jones-Drew—or rather his situation. For whatever reason, the line has not been able to create enough room for him to run. It could be starting two rookies on the line, it could be an echo of the adversity the squad faced last season.

Luckily, Jones-Drew has proven himself to be that special breed of back who can overcome weakness around him. In the tradition of LaDainian Tomlinson, Barry Sanders and Steven Jackson, Jones-Drew is a back who transcends situation. Now, that doesn't mean I don't have concerns (which we'll touch on in a minute) but it does say that regardless of his team he will make positive yards most of the time.

One thing owners have to love is the propensity of the Jaguars to give him the rock in the red zone.

A quick look at the numbers show Jones-Drew has gotten more looks than ANYONE else on the team and by a huge margin. In fact, of 71 total red zone looks, Jones-Drew has been 'the man' on 30 of them. The next closest is quarterback David Garrard with 21. After that it is a huge dip to the surprising Mike Sims-Walker who has seven.

Of his eight touchdowns, all but one are short yardage/goal line scores. He can still break a long one on occasion (as evidenced by his 61 yards touchdown against the Texans in Week Three) but you know that the team will nearly always give him the rock in the red.

Mind you, so does the opposition. That's true of many stud backs though, so really you're looking for opportunity and Jones-Drew gets plenty of it.

You also have to like some of his upcoming schedule. The Titans aren't scaring anyone, Kansas City, Buffalo, Texans and Colts can all be run on. The Jets are reeling—we'll see how they are in a few weeks but they aren't an immovable object, especially without NT Kris Jenkins.

They aren't all easy matchups but it's not an awful schedule.

The only concern I have with Jones-Drew is no different than what I was worried about in August: can he hold up to the workload?

As much as he hasn't carried the ball 30 times every game, he has already racked up 108 carries. His first three years the total number of carries were 197 (2008), 167 (2007) and 166 (2006).

He's already more than halfway to the most carries he has ever had in his NFL career. I'm not even adding the catches, which he should easily eclipse as well this season.

Jones-Drew has never carried the ball as often as he will this season (barring injury). So my biggest concern remains, will he be able to keep it up all season.

The team is not forcing either Greg Jones or Rashard Jennings into the mix with great frequency. This is Jones-Drew's team, it is not a running back by committee nor does it show any signs of becoming one.

It is a hard—and honestly very dicey—to try a predict injury. Many people do—I'm not one of them. But we have seen backs fade as a season goes. If Jones-Drew had carried the ball 250+ times at least once in college (as other slight backs have—most notably Barry Sanders who for some reason people love to point out to me was a smaller back who never had injury issues) I'd be less concerned.

He hasn't though and any owner or analyst should at least be a little concerned as the season progresses if he continues on a pace to pass 300 carries (and probably 350 touches total including catches). He's never done it before—that doesn't mean he can't and there is a first time for everything. There aren't many things more season killing though than to have a stud back wear out as you hit the Fantasy Playoffs.

Am I saying sell high? Am I guaranteeing an injury or dip in production?

No, not at all. I wouldn't sell Jones-Drew and if I ran across an owner who was looking to part ways, I would see what I could do to acquire him.

What I am saying is, prepare for the worst and hope for the best. If you own Jones-Drew, make sure you have back-ups you would be comfortable rolling with into the playoffs. It's not ground-breaking advice and further, it applies to just about any stud back.

With his lack of history though, it's more critical than doing so for a guy like Peterson.

Otherwise though, if you're an owner of Maurice Jones-Drew, it may be a slightly bumpy ride but it's also one that could help you towards a championship.

Five Things the San Francisco 49ers Must Correct During Bye Week

Andrew Garda — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:42:41 -0400

With a brutal loss to Atlanta now in the rear-view mirror, the high from the previous wins has come to a crashing halt.

Were we too optimistic? Were the successful 49ers of the past weeks merely an illusion?

The answer to that is both yes and no. No, the 49ers who played so well in the opening quarter of the 2009 season were legitimate. They played well and beat the teams they needed to.

But yes, we were perhaps a bit premature in our enthusiasm for the team based on its success. Arizona has played hungover from their Super Bowl loss, Seattle had injury issues and the Rams are...well, let's just say 'a tragedy' and leave well enough alone.

Those are teams you should beat. The loss to Minnesota contained a promising effort as well, but also showed a few things which Atlanta was later able to exploit to advantage.

As the team heads into its Bye Week, there are definitely things Coach Mike Singletary and his staff will be working on, and they don't only involve getting later-arriving rookie wide receiver Michael Crabtree up to speed.

The 49ers are a solid team in many areas, but here are five things they need to work on to get better and get into the playoffs.

IMPROVE OFFENSIVE LINE PLAY

The 49ers want to rely on the run game and that’s all well and good, but the rest of the offense still needs to be vital and effective.

A ranking of 29 out of 32 teams after five weeks in overall offense is neither. The most glaring culprit is the offensive line, which has given up 16 sacks, fifth worst in the league.

Constant pressure is certainly not helping quarterback Shaun Hill or the 30th-ranked passing offense. Just five touchdowns with 804 yards total and a mere 55.9 completion percentage are a sad tale for this offense.

While Hill is far from Tom Brady/Peyton Manning, he can do better. In order for that percentage to come up, he needs the time to throw the ball.

Singletary has said he will probably make some changes coming out of the bye and he has to. Otherwise, this offense will continue to struggle.

This may not an offense built to come from behind. It still needs to move the ball, though, if just to pull the defense of Frank Gore and Glen Coffee.

If the team is going to survive the season, they have to do more than that though. They have to be able to move the ball through the air.

The offensive line has to do more to help them out.

GET IT DONE ON THIRD DOWN

You cannot win games if your third down percentage in 28% like the 49ers. The Niners are 27th in the league in converting their third downs.

Some of the problem certainly comes because of the aforementioned offensive linemen issues. And as they aren’t killing it on first down, it puts the offense in a position of being third and long, which allows opposing defenses to tee off on Hill.

That may not have mattered against the Rams and a banged up Seahawks team, but it hurt the team against the Vikings and the Falcons.

Against better teams, the 49ers very much need to convert those third downs. They have to keep opposing offenses off the field and allow their defenses to catch their breath.

The idea behind a run-centered offense like the one the 49ers want to run is they milk the clock.

You don’t convert a third down and you fail at that very important aspect of your game-plan.

Addendum to the first part: they also need to be effective on the first two downs. If you want to make life easier for your third down unit, you’d better be effective on your first two downs.

BALANCE THE CARRIES

Yes, Frank Gore’s injury wasn’t from wearing down, but it’s still a concern.

Until he was injured, nearly every carry was Gore’s. Good for his value to fantasy football players, but perhaps not for high productivity at the end of the season.

After assuming rookie Glen Coffee would get a healthy though not overwhelming amount of carries coming off of a solid pre-season, he was pretty much a non-factor the first two games.

Once Gore was hurt, Coffee had a large amount of touches and while not the second coming of Barry Sanders, performed well.

Gore is ready to come back after the Bye Week, but Coffee should not be put back on the shelf. The rookie back should get a good amount of carries throughout the season.

This would keep Gore from wearing down, especially as we reach the end of the year. The veteran back has had his share of injury issues and seemed to tire at the end of 2008.

If the 49ers end up in a dogfight for the NFC West or have the opportunity to make a run in the playoffs, they will need Gore.

Spelling him more frequently will give him a rest from the pounding taken when the team is running a large percentage of their plays.

Keep the rookie going, and Gore will have more spring in his step come December.

DEFENSE MUST STEP UP

The defense has played well for the most part, but as with the success of the offense, it was against struggling offensive units.

As time has gone on, this supposed strength has been less than dominating.

At first glance the 11 sacks which the defensive unit has compiled look solid and in fact ties them for 12th overall in total sacks. However, five of the 11 were against the Rams who - while not giving up a more than average amount of sacks, are far from stout.

The team was able to pressure the Vikings a little (a pair of sacks) in Week Three and the Cardinals (three sacks) in Week One but were completely shut out by a very tough Falcons unit.

This unit is not doing enough to stop the best quarterbacks they are facing.

Sure, they were able to stomp on a banged-up Hasselbeck and his sidekick Seneca Wallace (a shaky career backup) as well as perennially underwhelming Kyle Boller.

Kurt Warner (288 yards), Brett Favre (301 yards) and Matt Ryan (329 yards) were all able to move the ball at will.

While Warner had issues getting yards to translate to points, Ryan and Favre had no such issues, with Favre stunning the team on a last-minute touchdown pass and Ryan picking the team apart.

All of these quarterbacks function at a much lower level when they are under pressure but when they aren't...well, the results often aren't pretty.

Totaling 11 sacks is all well and good, but ranking 24th against the pass is flat-out dangerous.

You can argue that the defensive philosophy is 'bend but don't break' but against elite offenses, that's just not good enough.

If the 49ers want to win the NFC West and be a player in the post-season, they have to pressure the quarterback more and have to do it against more than just backups and shoddy defensive lines.

It makes little difference having an eighth-ranked rush defense when teams can merely tear your secondary apart.

Speaking of which, a top-ranked run defense looks good on paper, but it doesn't mean a thing when opposing offenses can pick the secondary apart.

As much as the defensive front must increase the pressure on opposing quarterbacks, the secondary must do a better job of containing opposing wide receivers.

Yes, the unit has six interceptions (tied for fifth in the league) but they've given up 61 first downs (tied for seventh in the NFL). It has also allowed 14 plays of 20 yards or more.

Much of this is the 'bend but don't break' philosophy evident in the offense. You give up a ton of yards and lock down in the red zone. For the most part, this has worked.

In both losses though, the secondary has fallen apart. Against Minnesota, they were knocked back on their heels by Favre as he manufactured a drive beginning at his own 20 and going 77 yards in 1:17 and resulting in a game-winning touchdown.

In the loss to Atlanta, they were just over-matched. Bad tackling, poor coverage and no pressure altogether combined to put them behind early and let Atlanta move the ball not only down the field at will, but seemingly into the end zone whenever they wanted.

Both parts of the defensive unit needs to tighten up and play more focused and more disciplined football.

And since we're talking about focus and discipline...

CUT DOWN ON METAL ERRORS

Singletary put it best after Sunday's blowout: "We did not play very smart today."

That would be an understatement.

It's easy to pick on Dre' Bly, but he's not the only culprit.

Glen Coffee headed off the field, incorrectly thinking Josh Morgan had scored a touchdown. He ran off the field, was late returning to the line of scrimmage and the team had to call a time out.

That lost time out was one they may have used in the second quarter to challenge a ruling of Delanie Walker's fumble on a kickoff return. Walker appeared to be down by contact but that didn't matter since the 49ers were out of timeouts.

Bly's spectacular brain-freeze moment where he showboated just a bit early (if you can call 75 yards 'a bit') and ended up stripped by Atlanta receiver Roddy White appeared larger, but Coffee's was no less damaging.

Mistakes like these are just the ones we see due to the sheer obviousness of them but they show a tremendous lack of focus. If you wanted to, you could excuse Coffee for his inexperience but Bly is an 11-year veteran and should know better.

What's worse was his 'I'm just gonna be me' excuse. Sure, he apologized the next day, but that's because he was told to, as far as I am concerned.

The fact is, instead of a momentum- and game-changing interception, Bly was responsible for more points on the board for the Falcons.

Both events are symptoms of a larger problem which has plagued the team for years and that is lack of discipline. It shows itself as much in the missed blocks, blown routes and holding penalties.

In a game where you are winning, they are easy to overlook. In a game where you lose, they are glaring chinks in the armor.

After the game, Singletary said it was up to everyone on the staff to better prepare the players.

Singletary and his staff were able to turn around Vernon Davis' attitude and work ethic, but it never was just Davis. Losses like the one Sunday were far from uncommon in previous seasons.

A team expecting to make the playoffs has to avoid mental lapses. Against Atlanta, it cost the 49ers big. They have to make sure that to regain their focus if they are to become a contender in the NFC.

To be sure, there are more problems to consider. The receiver corps isn't playing as well as we had expected. Hill is clearly not a long term answer for the quarterback position. There is next to no depth at running back.

Still the above five problems are the biggest and most glaring.

If the 49ers want to be considered more than this year's potential flash in the pan team, they have to take the next two weeks and focus on improving these area. They can all be fixed in short order and without tremendous pain.

If ignored though, these problems will continue to emerge at the worst times possible and quite likely prevent the team from making any noise in the post-season assuming they don't scuttle that altogether.

Braylon Edwards To The New York Jets: Fantasy Impact

Andrew Garda — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:47:30 -0400

49ers-and-crabtree-kiss-and-make-up-rookie-wr-reportedly-signs">Next to the news that Michael Crabtree is set to be a 49er, the Jets acquiring Braylon 'AH THE BALL SCARES ME' Edwards for Wide Receiver Chansi Stuckey, Linebacker Jason Trusnik and two picks (thought to be a 3rd and 5th-round pick) was the most surprising news of the morning.

Rumor has it the 3rd can become a 2nd if Edwards hits certain escalators. Rumor also has it those escalators are ridiculously high.

Frankly, this is something GM Mike Tannenbaum and owner Woody Johnson have wanted for a long time. To me, this wasn't necessary. Sure, the Jets could use a WR to pair with Jerricho Cotchery.

Right now though, the Jets have offensive line issues not wide receiver issues. Maybe Edwards will pull defenses off the offensive line. He wasn't doing it in Cleveland, but maybe it will be different in the Big Apple.

While this is a 'Win Now' move for the Jets, I honestly think it was one that was far from critical. Add to it the fact that theoretically the Jets could lose him in 2010 and now you're renting a cement-handed wide receiver with attitude.

How is that an improvement?

More than likely 2010 will be an uncapped year and the Jets will keep him for a relative song. You can expect Edwards to chirp all off season if that's the case.

They can't give Edwards any more money before they deal with Leon Washington's requests. Washington has done everything they wanted—and quietly—without a new contract.

Edwards won't care, but Jet management should.

Suffice to say, I am leery of this trade. The Jets may not have given up much but there is a lot more at stake than two players and a pair of draft picks.

What about the players themselves? What is the impact on them? Let's take a look.

Braylon Edwards

Well aside from having to be more careful in NYC picking fights than he was in Cleveland, Edwards has a chance at turning his faltering career around.

Edwards had one fantastic season in 2007, but has been unable to recapture his numbers (80 catches, 1,289 yards, 16 TDs). That's partly on the offense but Edwards shares a huge chunk of that blame.

Sure Edwards has ability—but he's dropped so many passes at this point, how much do you trust him?

Add to it that he is going to an offense that is supposed to run the ball early and often, despite struggling to do so of late. This is not a 'bring it and fling it' offense where he will log a ton of targets, especially not with Cotchery and tight end Dustin Keller there.

Edwards has a chance at redemption but limit your expectations. He has to learn a new offense, one that is not receiver focused and overcome his dropped pass issue.

I think Edwards remains a WR3 on a fantasy team, with the hope he can crawl up to WR2 status.

Jerricho Cotchery

The upside is, Cotchery has someone across from him who will attract some attention from defenses in a way nobody—save perhaps Keller—does right now. This could help free him up for some better opportunities down the line.

However, we are still talking about an offense which right now is throwing only 50 percent of the time (110 pass attempts vs 112 rushing attempts), a stat I expect will change to favor the run more as the season progresses.

Fact is, when the Jets get the run going, they will ride it. We just saw what happens when Sanchez needs to throw too often.

So Cotchery, while he may be open more, will be sharing targets with one more legitimate receiver.

I think the quality of his catches may go up (more yards after catch, better percentage of targets caught) but the quantity may suffer.

He should remain a solid WR2—even as Edwards learns the offense Cotchery will remain a reliable choice for Sanchez.

Leon Washington and Thomas Jones

Add Shonn Greene in here if you'd like, but however you look at it the run game is a shambles.

Now the offensive line has struggled mightily, as I talked about in my Trendspotting Article last week, and part of that is just bad play on their part.

However with a rookie quarterback at the helm, they have been facing many stacked fronts. A defense will sell out to stop the run and make the rookie beat them through the air.

Sanchez has looked very good at times, but he isn't scaring defenses. So opposing defenses continue to stack the line.

And wouldn't you know it, the run game struggles.

Both Jones and Washington (who is sent up the gut like he's Jones way too often) are being met in the backfield or at the line of scrimmage often.

If Edwards can become a credible threat while helping Cotchery get open, then defenses will have to ease up on he stacked fronts.

Jones and Washington could find their running lanes a little less cluttered which will help them be more productive.

Cleveland

It's hard to really have much of an effect on something that is already not worth most fantasy owners notice.

But there is some value here and taking Edwards away will affect it both negatively and positively.

Rookie wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi has emerged as a legitimate No. 1 in Cleveland. The big question here is, will he find himself open as much with Edwards gone?

Certainly his targets will go up. If you had him as a WR4, he will probably stay there though since the overall offense is lackluster at best and he has nobody to pull coverage off him.

Jerome Harrison played very well subbing for Jamal Lewis and will probably keep the majority of the carries. Without Edwards there, he may see some more stacked fronts but really, can it get worse?

No team is waltzing out to meet Cleveland, shuddering in fear of the awesomeness of their wide receivers anyway.

Harrison probably won't suffer too much for Edwards' absence though again, you're talking about a player whose offense is not very good. Harrison is a great bye week filler in the right matchup and an OK RB3 at times.

That won't change.

Something to watch might be what happens behind Mohamed Massaquoi. Someone may emerge to fill the void left by Edwards.

Will it be Josh Cribbs? Rookie Brian Robiskie? Journeyman Mike Furrey?

Looking at the overall stats, Furrey has been more—and more consistently—than any other Cleveland wide receiver.

Massaquoi may be the defacto WR1, but don't be surprised if Furrey emerges as the WR2 in that offense.

It may not be worth more than a bench spot on your Fantasy Roster, but it's something to track.

Even from the worst situations, sometimes value will emerge.

Michael Crabtree and San Francisco Kiss and Make Up, Relationship to Grow Slowly

Andrew Garda — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:28:45 -0400

According to reports from Adam Schefter of ESPN, Jay Glazer of Fox Sports, and both 49er beat writers Matt Maiocco (of the Press-Democrat) and Matt Barrows (of the Sacramento Bee), the San Francisco 49ers and their wayward rookie wide receiver Micahel Crabtree have reached an agreement.

Crabtree will finally be a 49er.

Now, while there is plenty to talk about. Negotiations started yesterday afternoon and involved Jed York, Crabtree's agent Eugene Parker and—I swear on a stack of Bibles—MC Hammer.

If they had left the bargaining table without a deal I was planning on using "Please Hammer, Just Hurt Them" as the article title today.

Alas.

The details as of the writing of this article are sketchy but it is known to be a six-year deal that can be voided to five. Glazer says that in order to void that last year, Crabtree has to have a "great two years in the first four of his career."

If not, the 49ers get him in the sixth year for just $4 million.

That's very cheap if he becomes what many of us expected from the beginning.

As this has just broken, there is plenty to talk about and plenty of questions. Here are my thoughts on a few of them.

Why Now?

Well from the standpoint of Crabtree's camp, it must have been very simple.

With the 49ers winning, every week he was losing leverage. The simple fact is, he wasn't sitting out the whole year. That was a ridiculous threat.

Despite what Deion Sanders' mouth is saying when his brain isn't paying attention, there wasn't a team out there who was going to pay him what he wanted next year. At best, he was a late first round pick.

Late first round picks don't get top 10 money, much less his desired top three.

With the 49ers winning without him, they were in a position to play hard-ball right back.

So Crabtree had to come back to the table, lest he lose a ton more money.

The 49ers, on the other hand, were gaining leverage. Every win without Crabtree was a win the team could point to and say "see, we really don't need you."

Here's a secret: They kind of do.

The 49ers haven't had a 100-yard receiver yet this season—one of 11 teams without one. They've had pass plays of more than 30 yards just twice this year, one of the fewest in the league.

With Gore out, they had to be thinking it would be nice to have Crabtree in the house and working towards being a factor later in the year.

They had the leverage and were getting more every week but they had needs, too.

What Did Crabtree Get By Signing?

Aside from some nice bonus money, he can get on with the business of playing football which whether you want to believe it or not, is something very important to him.

He can get involved in the team, try to repair things with fans and not have to worry about what could happen in the 2010 NFL Draft.

Crabtree also gets to do all of the above on a winning team, something I am sure factored into his decision to come back to the bargaining table.

A winning team means less pressure—and he's already going to be under a tremendous amount because of all the contract shenanigans.

While he is stuck for a sixth year—something an agent like Parker must have fought tooth and nail to avoid—he can void it if he plays to his potential.

As far as a guy like Crabtree is concerned, he'll easily void it and be on his way or sign for bigger bucks in San Francisco.

What Did The 49ers Get by Signing Crabtree?

Notice I did not use the word "buckling." In this staring contest, even if they coughed a little bit of "fluff money"—incentive laden cash that looks better on paper than it really is—the 49ers held their ground and won.

How do I know this? Aside from getting the guy in the fold the team got a sixth year. Getting an extra year from any agent - much less a guy like Eugene Parker—is something like a Christmas Miracle. It's rare, hard fought for and worthy of celebration.

Voidable or not, it was quite a coup.

Also as I mentioned above, the 49ers lack a 100-yard receiver this year.

Now, Crabtree is not that guy the moment he steps on the field. He could be though, and if he develops as expected he could be a factor late in the season when the team is either fighting for a playoff spot or preparing for a playoff run.

At worst, they now have him for a year where they can develop him gradually and work him into the lineup. If they continue to win—and right now it looks like they have every chance of doing so—there is little pressure to involve him too much before he is ready.

On top of that, several players at the wide receiver position may not be back next year. Isaac Bruce isn't under contract past this year and had to be dragged back to play for the 2009 season.

Aside from Josh Morgan, who hasn't torn the league up this season yet, there isn't much at the position for 2010. Long term, they needed this signing.

Finally, the team held the line and got what they wanted. There have been many who have questioned what ownership and management was doing from the beginning. The longer the stand-off went, the more the questions piled up.

Fairly or not, this justifies the team's hard-line stance. It will send a message to free agents and incoming rookies that the franchise will not be manipulated and will hold their ground.

Funny, that sounds a lot like a Mike Singletary attribute.

What Will Crabtree Do This Year?

Honestly, the rookie wideout's impact will probably be limited for most of the year. So Fantasy Football Owners take note: You shouldn't be dropping players for him in your redraft leagues.

Frankly, wide receivers have a very big learning curve when entering into the NFL and that's when they've had all of OTA's, Mini-Camps, Preseason and Training Camp to come to grips with the myriad of differences between the college game and the Pro.

Crabtree has a lot to learn. On top of that, he's missed four weeks—almost five by now—of practice with 49ers quarterback Shaun Hill.

So you have a rookie who hasn't played in months, getting thrown to by a quarterback who has no practice timing with him, running a set of plays which are probably far more complex than any he has dealt with before.

We haven't even gotten into blocking assignments and running new routes.

Like I said before, he'll be brought along slowly.

However, he is a big, talented target. I expect Singletary and offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye to find ways to use him and his size as the year goes on. They have some good weapons in tight end Vernon Davis, fellow rookie Glen Coffee, wide receivers Josh Morgan and Isaac Bruce.

Crabtree will give them an added dimension and another weapon in the arsenal.

Still, it will be weeks before he really does much. Expect him to see anywhere from four to six snaps a game at first. Maybe he'll see a target or two a game.

Towards the end of the year though—when the Niners are positioning themselves for a playoff run—he will probably see more time.

The 49ers are a team clearly on the rise this year. They play solid defense, can run the ball and have found ways to win games with a hard-nosed attitude.

What they have lacked is a solid passing attack. Crabtree won't instantly give them that. His presence may help shape and mold it though, bringing it into sharper and more dynamic focus.

By no means is he the second coming of Jerry Rice from Day One.

But getting him into the facility gives the 49ers more options, making them look even better in 2009 and beyond.

San Francisco Preps for Frank Gore Injury Aftershocks, Shaun Hill Can't Rattle

Andrew Garda — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 08:33:57 -0400

As of Tuesday the news was good, though it could be better. There were no tears, no rips, and no destroyed ligaments to end Running Back Frank Gore's season.

However, according to Monday's MRI Gore's right foot is a mess. The ankle is strained and the right hind foot is sprained. Estimates have him likely out for the next three weeks.

Certainly, losing Gore creates a significant set of challenges. The question is, what are they and how big are they really?

First, the San Francisco run game hasn't been as dominating as perception may have it.

Ranked 16th overall, the bulk of their rushing yards came on Gore's outstanding 207 yard performance against the Seattle Seahawks. Aside from that, the games against the Arizona Cardinals (38 total yards) and the Minnesota Vikings (58 yards) were far from dominating.

Certainly Gore getting hurt put a damper on the run game against Minnesota, but there wasn't that excuse in Week One.

Before you get irate, consider that this is a good thing. For a team to be winning using means other than the ones they were expected to shows depth and an ability to adjust when things aren't going as planned.

The 49ers have shown a solid, if not spectacular passing game and a good defense. Furthermore these two very important facets of the 49er game are still intact despite Gore's injury.

The plan has always been to lean on the defense running game or not. The team intended to do this in order to keep games close and reduce pressure on quarterback Shaun Hill. That doesn't change now with Gore hurt. The onus remains on the defense to make plays.

The defense is ranked 13th overall in total defense after three weeks with six sacks and four interceptions, and are very solid on the ground. The team has yielded just 200 yards over the first three weeks and ranking fourth against the run. Being able to stifle the run game of an opposing team is a big help in terms of controlling the clock and again, plays into the hands of the overall team plan.

Of course with the exception of the Vikings these were not top-shelf run games. Holding Adrian Peterson to under 100 yards is impressive though and shows the grit this defense has.

Coach Mike Singletary has given this team a hard-nosed personality and it shows on the defensive side of the ball. Gore going down will not send a ripple through this unit.

Note also that despite Gore's absence for almost the entire game, the team was able to keep pace with—and come within a miracle play of beating—Minnesota.

Shaun Hill is not as prolific as Drew Brees. He does not have Tom Brady's ability to will games into wins. He does not have Peyton Manning's poise and ability to read defenses at the line.

Hill does manage the offense well and while he makes the occasional mistake (like an early fumble in the Vikings game) he generally keeps the opposing defenses from stacking eight men in a box.

Frank Gore is a guy who, while he was better with large, gaping holes, didn't need them. Rookie Glen Coffee will and needs the defenses to respect the threat of a pass. While Hill may not be the future of the position in San Francisco, he is able to do enough to keep defenses from stacking the line.

Speaking of Glen Coffee—nobody expects him to drop 200 plus yards on an opposing defense like Gore did in Week Two. Still, the Niners believe in him enough to wait on promoting fellow rookie Kory Sheets from the practice squad. Mike Robinson is still there, but Robinson is far more a Special Teams player than a full-time running back.

So the onus is on Coffee. On the plus side, he had a great preseason and there was talk that he would have a sizable role in the offensive game plan. That didn't happen, at least not in the first three weeks prior to Gore's injury.

On the downside, Coffee looked nowhere near as effective as we'd hoped against Minnesota (a team nowhere near as dominating against the run this year) and admitted later that he wasn't quite ready to step in. In fact, he had to take a seat after taking over in the first when he had the wind knocked out of him.

How Coffee could be anything but ready when Gore had already been fighting an ankle problem the prior week is cause for concern, but it sounds as if he won't make that mistake again. If he doesn't he seems to have the talent to fill in for Gore and keep the offense rolling.

Finally, keep in mind that while Offensive Coordinator Jimmy Raye's schemes are run heavy, they do call for the ball to be thrown. In Raye's offense, a tight end like Vernon Davis can make some real noise, something we saw on Sunday.

Davis had an explosion of production with Gore injured and while the dynamic running back is out, Davis may benefit more than anyone.

The offense will need to move the chains and Davis—who has gone from the doghouse to the penthouse in Singletary's eyes—seems to be in a position to do it. Davis has always had talent and if he is ever to fulfill his potential, now is the time.

While wide receivers Josh Morgan, Isaac Bruce, Jason Hill, and Arnaz Battle will be called upon to keep things going, Davis could be the linchpin to continuing the winning ways the 49ers have experienced in their opening games.

Of course, none of this will be easy. There are plenty of problems that could be exposed while Gore is out.

For example, no defense can play perfectly if they can't get off the field. If the offense stalls too often, the defense will tire out and become less effective.

Shaun Hill's ball security will be tested. His accuracy will be pushed. Teams may believe that they can lie back and wait for Coffee to prove they should focus on him and if that happens, Hill will be facing some serious obstacles in the secondary.

Another issue is the lack of depth behind Coffee. I said weeks ago I felt it was risky for the team to keep just three running backs. With Gore gone, what happens if Coffee goes down, especially during a game. Michael Robinson is a decent back but he's never done anything when given spotlight time before. With Kory Sheets on the practice squad, an injury during the game could be disastrous.

Plus, since Sheets is not on the main team, he's not getting a tremendous amount of reps. If he does get called up, how long will he take to get up to speed?

All these little ripples may amount to very little. Perhaps Gore is back in two or three weeks and things revert back to normal. Maybe some good will come out of it and Raye and Singletary will allow Coffee to spell Gore more often to cut down on his wear and tear. If that happens, the 49ers will have a back with something left in the tank for a possible playoff run.

Still, despite the other strengths which the team has, Gore is still a huge cog in this machine. When you remove a guy like him, there are bound to be affects and it can be a little unnerving to see whether those will be good or bad.

On the surface, it appears like the aftershocks of Gore's injury won't throw this team off.

NFL Rewind: Week 2 (part 2)

Andrew Garda — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:36:17 -0400

Redskins 9 Rams 7

Redskins

Individually, the Redskins put up some decent numbers. Clinton Portis had 88 total yards (79 on the ground, a pair of catches for 9), Chris Cooley had 83 yards receiving and Jason Campbell threw for 242 yards. But overall the offense couldn't get anything going, especially in the red zone where they went 0-5. Not much more to say about this game which showed that the Redskins have more problems in their offensive scheme than we suspected.

Rams

The Rams didn't look much better as only Steven Jackson had anything resembling a real productive day with 104 yards on the ground. They also involved him in the passing game this week which added four catches and 15 yards to his total.

The only other moment for this offense was a two yard pass from Marc Bulger to Laurent Robinson in the second quarter. Overall though, this is a team still struggling in all areas of the game and you have to wonder if they are looking to reboot the whole team, perhaps with the exception of Jackson.

Bills 33 Buccaneers 20

Bills

Coming off a terribly disappointing loss to the Patriots in Week 1, the Bills played determined football on both sides of the ball and jumped out to a 17 point lead early, with quarterback Trent Edwards connecting with Lee Evans for a 32 yard touchdown and Safety Donte Whitner nabbing an interception and returning it 76 yards for a touchdown.

Fred Jackson carved out even more of a permanent space in the backfield with a brilliant 163 performance on the ground, his second game in a row where he had more than 140 total yards. Terrell Owens caught his first touchdown as a Bill in the fourth quarter and totalled three catches for 52 yards. The Bills offense seems to have not missed a beat after firing their offensive coordinator just before the season.

Buccaneers

Quarterback Byron Leftwich had a decent game, completing 26 passes for 296 yards and three touchdowns. Unfortunately, he turned the ball over twice, including the Whitner pick six I mentioned in the Bills recap. Kellen Winslow continues to play well, catching seven balls for 90 yards and touchdown. Maurice Stovall filled in for injured Antonio Bryant and caught three balls for 80 yards. Carnell Williams had a nice day in the pass game as well, hauling in seven balls for 56 yards and a touchdown.

Unfortunately he and the rest of the backfield stalled out on the ground. Williams had an awful 9 yards on seven carries, while Derrick Ward only had 32 yards and Ernest Graham totaled 16. Part of this was due to falling behind so far so early, but even when the Bucs closed in, the run game could not move the chains.

49ers 23 Seahawks 10

49ers

The big story here - from an offensive standpoint, virtually the only story - was Frank Gore's 246 total yards and two touchdowns. Gore showed both toughness when running between the tackles and big play ability with his long touchdown runs, the first for 79 yards and the second for 80. The rest of the offense was relatively lackluster, but when you have Frank Gore you ride him and that's what the game-plan is and will continue to be for San Francisco.

Seahawks

Seattle had a rough day. First the defense gets absolutely embarrassed by Frank Gore. Then they lose. And in the process, QB Matt Hasselbeck went down with a rib injury. Seneca Wallace stepped in and did very little more than fill a spot, throwing a touchdown to Julius Jones and an interception to 49er Safety Dashon Goldson.

The interesting 'watch this guy' moment of the game was running back/fullback Justin Forsett who played pretty well both on the ground (five carries for 35 yards) and in the receiving game (six catches for 57 yards). We know Edgerrin James and Julius Jones aren't long term answers. Could Forsett emerge as the main back at some point? Keep him on your radar. Hasselbeck's x-rays were negative and the ribs are bruised, not cracked. Watch him this week as he could very well miss the next game.

Bears 17 Steelers 14

Bears

For the most part Chicago looked far more together against the Steelers than they did Week 1 against the Packers. QB Jay Cutler looked much more confident and settled, throwing 27 completions for 236 yards and two touchdowns, one to emerging threat Johnny Knox and one to tight end Kellen Davis. The tight end we thought would get those touchdowns - Greg Olsen - only had three catches on the day.

Back to Cutler though - he looked much more poised and made far better decisions than in his game against the Packers in Week 1. Cutler worked underneath a lot and took what the Steelers gave him, rather than forcing the ball long. It worked very well. Matt Forte continues too look bad in the run game, gaining only 29 yards on 13 carries for a pretty weak 2.23 yards per carry. On the plus side he caught five balls for 33 yards, but he's not gaining anything on the ground. Whether this is merely too many defenders in the backfield or Forte having a huge case of sophomore slump is hard to say this early. But he's not playing well and that's a huge concern for the Bears.

Steelers

Last week the Steelers made up for a lackluster run game with an outstanding passing attack. That didn't happen on Sunday as Ben Roethlisberger didn't find the same success. Big Ben only totalled 221 yards and a touchdown, while also throwing one interception. He did also run for another touchdown, but he was the only one who could find room to do that.

Willie Parker, Rashard Mendenhall and Mewelde Moore combined for just 99 yards though Mendenhall's 39 came on just three carries. Wide receivers Santonio Holmes (5-83) and Hines Ward (6-57) both came back down to Earth though they had solid overall games. The Steelers were able to stay in the game though, but in the end, the offensive stalled on two successive drives which were capped by a pair of Jeff Reed misses and ate up too much of the clock to come up empty-handed.

Broncos 27 Browns 6

Broncos

Kyle Orton may be no Jay Cutler, but he's also no JaMarcus Russell - he can actually find his wide receivers. And while nobody broke out in a huge way, he moves the chains well enough. Two things of note in this game: first Corell Buckhalter looks good and continues to excel. His 76 yards and a touchdown on nine carries was a great performance and while rookie Knowshon Moreno nearly equaled it (75 yards), CBuck is still playing more effectively. Peyton Hillis was almost nonexistent but did get a touchdown.

The second thing to take away from in this game is the continued poor showing of Eddie Royal. It's not as if Royal isn't getting targets - he was thrown to nine times in this game - but he isn't doing enough to haul those balls in. He only got three catches for 20 yards. Why is he struggling so? It's hard to say right now, but he needs to get back on the same page as Orton if he is to be effective this season.

Brandon Stokely (5-70) and Jabar Gaffney (3-82) stepped up in his stead but Brandon Marshall continues to do very little, catching only three balls for 34 yards.

Browns

Well at least you can say Braylon Edwards had a good game. Edwards' six catches for 92 yards was about the only bright spot for this team which was stifled on both sides of the ball by an overpowering Broncos team. Even Joshua Cribbs - he of the big play ability - had a miscue, fumbling the ball. Overall nobody looks very good on this team and it doesn't look like it will get better any time soon.

Ravens 31 Chargers 26

Ravens

The Chargers were without Defensive Lineman Jamall Williams and the Ravens took advantage of that with a very solid rush attack. Willis McGahee continues to be impressive (and healthy!) gaining 79 yards and scoring twice. McGahee is shaking his injury prone label thus far and seems to be flourishing. Ray Rice and Le'Ron McClain were relegated to bystander status, but that didn't matter for the Ravens especially as Rice added 46 receiving yards. While the pass game wasn't very impressive, the backs did the job and the Ravens came away with a win.

Chargers

I bet many fantasy owners thought they had better match-ups than this one and sat Rivers like me. If that's the case then, like me, you missed a huge game as Rivers threw for 436 yards and a pair of touchdowns. It was so good in fact that the two interceptions were barely a blip. Rivers had his team set to win, until Ray Lewis smushed diminutive Darren Sproles on a 4th and 2 to end the game.

Sproles was outstanding filling in for LaDainian Tomlinson, though his damage was caused in the passing attack. Sproles (7-124-1) was one of two Chargers who topped 100 yards, Vincent Jackson and his 141 yards being the other top performance. Both players accounted for a touchdown as well. Sproles is certainly a serviceable replacement for LT. Still, you have to wonder if a healthy Tomlinson might have been strong and big enough to shove past Lewis for the critical first down.

Giants 33 Cowboys 31

Giants

Eli Manning had an outstanding day, throwing for 330 yards and two touchdowns. He was able to find his receivers often and deliver solid throws to them and the receivers stepped up. Steve Smith has played pretty well since entering the league and he had a great day, catching 10 balls for 134 yards while Mario Manningham caught another 10 for 150 yards.

Smith and Manningham were the recipients of Manning's touchdown throws not to mention nearly all his throws (20 of Manning's 25 completion went to one of those two receivers).

With the passing game clicking, the ground game fell by the wayside and both Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw had sub-par days.

Cowboys

Fresh off a victory they thought answered all the questions about them, the Cowboys opened their new home by letting their secondary get blown up by the Giants. As good as Tony Romo looked in Week 1, he looked equally bad Sunday night. His 127 yard, one touchdown to three interception performance was pretty brutal, the only bright spot being Jason Witten's touchdown.

On the ground it was a different story, as Marion Barber totalled 124 yards and a touchdown and his partner in crime Felix Jones had his own touchdown to go with his 96 yards on just nine carries. Overall the Cowboys stayed close, but like the Redskins in Week 1, they couldn't seal the deal.

Find this article and many like it at ThunderingBlurb.com.

NFL Rewind: Week 2 (part 1)

Andrew Garda — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:18:28 -0400

Falcons 28 Panthers 20

Falcons

Matt Ryan continues to play very well in his second season with the Falcons, as he totaled three touchdowns in their victory over the woeful Carolina Panthers. As during Week 1, Ryan found tight end Tony Gonzalez for seven catches, totaling 71 yards and a touchdown. He didn’t ignore last years main target Roddy White, who caught six passes for 53 yards and his own touchdown.

Michael Turner made his own noise, carrying the ball for 105 yards and a touchdown, though it took him a huge amount of carries (28) to do so and he also lost a fumble. The defense played well, forcing two fumbles, sacking Delhomme once and grabbing a key interception in the end zone to seal the game.

Panthers

For 99% of the game, Jake Delhomme did everything he needed to in order to make Panther fans forget his awful Week 1 performance. Unfortunately it still wasn’t enough and his interception in the end zone just reminded everyone of Week 1 Jake. Still, a massive improvement for Delhomme even though the team couldn’t get the job done. He looked to veteran Steve Smith (8 catches for 131 yards) often, and spread the ball around quite a bit to keep the Falcons from keying on any one player.

On the ground, the Panther continue to move the ball well, if not quite as good as they did in 2008. DeAngelo Williams (79 yards and 1 TD) got most of the work while second year man Jonathan Stewart (65 yards) looked just as good in his spot duty. Unfortunately both running backs coughed the ball up, although only Williams was lost. In the end, though the offense played much better than last year, it wasn’t enough to overcome the Falcons.

Vikings 27 Lions 13

Vikings

For a half it looked like the wheels had come off the Vikings bandwagon already and you had to worry for the safety of the tons of fans preparing to leap off of it. But the ship righted itself and again—largely on Adrian Peterson’s back and with some great defensive plays, the Vikes came out on top. While Brett Favre did find both rookie Percy Harvin and Visanthe Shiancoe for touchdowns, he still has timing issues and his botched hand-off to Adrian Peterson was largely his own fault.

Still, he found Bernard Berrian six times for 46 yards and Sidney Rice three times for 29 yards and even Peterson four times for 24 yards, adding to his 92 on the ground. The Vikings still go as Peterson goes, but slowly and surely Favre is becoming more of the weapon Minnesota was hoping for.

Lions

What can you say about the Lions that hasn’t been repeated many times? Rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford is still getting hit and hurried way too often. Stafford was sacked twice and picked off twice (by the same player no less) and still looks very much a rookie. But there are moments where he looks better – his accuracy to Calvin Johnson (5 catches for 51 yards and 1 TD) was much improved and though he threw less passes towards Johnson this week (7 down from 13) he made more out of them. He has also started using fellow rookie Brandon Pettigrew, hitting the tight end four times for 40 yards.

Running back Kevin Smith also struggled with the offensive line woes but gained 83 yards on 24 carries. In the end though, the Lions still had no defensive answer for Peterson or the rest of the Vikings offense, and the offense could not keep up.

Bengals 31 Packers 24

Bengals

The Bengals should have won last week against the Broncos, but couldn’t get their offense going and couldn’t make the big play defensively when they needed to. Today they did both, with big games by Carson Palmer (three touchdowns), Cedric Benson (141 yards) and Chad Ochocinco (91 yards and 1 TD).

Palmer is still struggling overall and really this was all about the defense being able to disrupt Packer QB Aaron Rodgers to the tune of five sacks and numerous hits. Defensive End Antwan Odom owned the Packer offensive line and notched all five sacks himself. Rookie Rey Maualuga continues to make a nice impact as well, getting a pair of forced fumbles in the game.

Packers

If you looked at the stats and not the score, you might think the Packers had won. QB Aaron Rodgers completed 21 passes for 261 yards and a touchdown, running back Ryan Grant had 46 yards and a touchdown and Donald Driver caught half a dozen balls for 99 yards and his own score. But looking closer, several things stood out. Greg Jennings had zero catches, disappeared for much of the game and dropped a ball.

Left tackle Chad Clifton was carted off the field and you could tell the line suffered a bit for it. Overall, it was a disappointing game for the Packers who seemed to take a step back on both sides of the ball after a reasonably nice debut against the Bears.

Cardinals 31, Jaguars 17

Cardinals

After dropping a game to division rival San Francisco in Week 1, the Cards bounced back hard and landed on top of the Jacksonville Jaguars. The offensive line gave QB Kurt Warner decades to set up and pass—and pass he did, setting a record for single-game completion percentage of 92.3%. He even got an early hook after a very good 243 yard, two touchdown performance.

Running back Tim Hightower continued to contribute, this time on the ground with 15 carries for 72 yards and a touchdown. Rookie Chris Wells looked good as well, shredding the Jags defense for 44 yards on just seven carries. Steve Breaston led the way through the air with five catches for 83 yards, with Anquan Boldin right behind him with more catches (8) but less yards (69). Larry Fitzgerald came away with the aerial touchdown for the trio. When this offense is firing on all cylinders, they are deadly and today the Jags couldn’t touch Warner and found that out first hand.

Jaguars

Jacksonville did too little too late, coming back in the second half while the Cardinals were already focusing on post-game activities. QB David Garrard had a good stat-line with 282 yards and a pair of touchdowns, hitting Mike Sims-Walker for six catches, 106 yards and a TD. It’s deceptive though when it comes against a defense just trying to keep the clock running in prevent.

Maurice Jones-Drew was relegated to spectator for part of the game and his 13 carries for 66 yards was a disappointment even with 17 yards added from the passing game.

Raiders 13 Chiefs 10

Raiders

Oakland almost lost a second close one but managed to lose less than the terrible Chiefs and come away with their first win. QB JaMarcus Russell continues to look generally mediocre though he lead the offense on a nine-play, 69-yard drive in 1:31 which led to a Darren McFadden touchdown which won the game.

McFadden was mostly quiet otherwise with 35 yards on 12 carries as was his partner in the backfield, Michael Bush who only had 35 yards as well. Overall it was a win, but it wasn’t won the Raiders should crow too loudly about.

Chiefs

Matt Cassel survived his debut with the Chiefs but was roughed up both physically (a pair of sacks and numerous hits) and mentally (two interceptions). He was able to find his top receiver, Dwayne Bowe, for a touchdown and 56 yards, but the score came while all world cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha was out of the game. He also hit Bobby Wade six times for 72 yards and scrambled for 34 yards as well.

Larry Johnson was able to put together a nice total of 78 yards. Overall, though this offense continues to struggle and are due for many hardships against better overall defenses than the Raiders bring to bear.

Jets 16 Patriots 9

Jets

Rookie QB Mark Sanchez may not be tearing up statistical records, but he’s getting the job done. He looks confident and poised in the pocket, even in the face of blitzing linebackers and even when he got knocked down or almost intercepted, the ex-USC Trojan bounced back with a good play.

He had ample help on the ground from both Leon Washington (58 yards) and Thomas Jones (54 yards) and from his wide receiver corps of Jerricho Cotchery (4 catches for 87 yards) and Chansi Stuckey (4 catches for 37 yards) including some key first downs. Dustin Keller also continues to get a ton of love from his rookie passer, including the lone touchdown of the game. The offense isn’t perfect but does what it needs to and is rolling very nicely after two solid games.

Patriots

After the last minute heroics of last week, it was hard to believe the guy with Brady on his jersey was the same one who played on Monday night. But Jets coach Rex Ryan and his defense took a page from the Giants Super Bowl win playbook and blitzed on every down they could get away with it. Brady hates pressure and Ryan brought the thunder, occasionally with seven players. With that and a great job by Darrelle Revis on Randy Moss, the Pats failed to score an offensive touchdown for the first time since December 10th, 2006 against the Miami Dolphins.

Saints 48 Eagles 22

Saints

Drew Brees threw for another 300+ yards and three touchdowns, hitting Marques Colston for two scores in a game that at times seemed closer than it really was. After not having one catch in Week 1, Colston totaled eight catches and 98 yards to go with his pair of touchdowns. Both Reggie Bush (33 yards rushing, 42 yards receiving) and Mike Bell (86 yards rushing, 9 receiving) had very good days as well, though Bell left the game late with a knee injury which has since been categorized as a slight sprain.

Eagles

Amazingly, Drew Bress didn’t throw for the most yards in this game - Kevin Kolb did. But Kolb’s 391 yards and two touchdowns were marred by a trio of interceptions. DeSean Jackson had an outstanding game, reeling four balls for 101 yads and a touchdown while tight end Brent Celek 104 yards.

Unfortunately as the Eagles fell behind early,the run game wasn't very effective. Brian Westbrook only had 66 total yards and left the game late in the fourth with an ankle sprain which Coach Andy Reid termed not very serious. Westbrook's status should be watched all week, as should that of Donovan McNabb who still looks like he will miss the Eagles' Week 3 game. Jackson also suffered a groin strain although he had a similar issue last week and still played.

Texans 34 Titans 31

Texans

After the disappointing loss to the Jets in Week 1 where QB Matt Schaub was hit early and often by the Jets, the Texans had a much better game offensively. That may be an understatement of tremendous proportions with Schaub throwing for 357 yards and four touchdowns, two of which found Andre Johnson. Johnson caught ten balls for a total of 149 yards, exploding in production after being stymied by the Jets secondary in Week 1.

Jacoby Jones and tight end Owen Daniels both contributed a touchdown as well with Daniels catching six balls for 72 yards as well. The rushing attack is still lacking punch though, with Steve Slaton running a pedestrian 34 yards on 17 carries. Still, this was an offense which showed us it can be as dynamic as any other when Schaub gets protection and time to throw.

Titans

If I merely told you Chris Johnson had 197 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, I imagine you'd be suitably impressed. It's an outstanding day, no doubt,. But what if I told you he added nine catches for 87 yards and another touchdown to the total? That's right, Chris Johnson dropped three touchdowns and 284 total yards on the Texan defense and the Titans are still 0-2.

The problem is, the game became a shootout and nobody but Johnson stepped up. Nate Washington had a touchdown but only 36 yards. Justin Gage and Kenny Britt fell back to earth after big games in Week 1. LenDale White didn't do anything of note. So while Johnson had a great individual game, the Titans ended up losing. Defensively this team is out of sorts and while they put some pressure on Schaub, they never sacked him and their secondary was summarily picked apart.

Find this article and many others like it at ThunderingBlurb.com!

Where in the World Was Glen Coffee for San Fracisco 49ers?

Andrew Garda — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 12:38:46 -0400

Count me amongst the many fans, analysts, and fantasy football people who thought 49ers rookie running back Glen Coffee would spell veteran Frank Gore often when they met the Arizona Cardinals last Sunday.

While you're at it, count me amongst the folks who were definitely shocked Coffee got a grand total of ONE carry.

With multiple analysts spending the week leading up to the Arizona game asking not "if" but "how many" carries Gore would lose to Coffee, it makes you wonder what was going on.

It's not as if Gore was a monster moving the chains. Twenty-two carries for just 30 yards doesn't leave you with much more than a cringe when you look at the statline. The two touchdowns were very good but in terms of moving the ball, Gore just couldn't.

It certainly wasn't Gore's fault. The offensive line played badly and I counted easily half a dozen or more times where he was met—and hit by—Cardinal defensive players in the backfield.

In fact, his touchdown on the ground highlighted what he can do when he gets some blocks, in this case a nice hit by David Baas.

Yet overall, Gore spent most of his effort trying to get inches not yards. As that's the case, wouldn't you expect a little more rest time by utilizing Coffee?

Here are a few things to consider in respect to that question.

1) Rookies struggle with blocking: Quarterback Shaun Hill felt pressure early and often from the Arizona defensive linemen and linebackers. He was at times rushed, he was sacked four times and overall didn't find as much protection as he needed.

Rookie running backs often struggle with blocking. Well, ROOKIES struggle with blocking but for a wide receiver it isn't as critical.

While Coffee had a very nice preseason carrying the ball, he's still improving his blocking. Gore has more experience with it and is better.

If your quarterback is getting hammered, you're going to keep your more reliable players in to try and stem the tide. That's Gore.

He's also a good pass catcher and having Gore in there means you are telegraphing your plays. With Gore in the backfield, he could be a threat to run the ball, or he can slip out to the fault for a nice catch.

It payed off wonderfully in the fourth quarter when Gore did exactly that for a nifty three-yard touchdown which ended up being the difference in the game.

It's a nice added dimension and on a third down, having a player who can block and catch is almost a necessity for a team.

Can Coffee catch? Sure. But Gore can catch, block and run—so why take him out when you know he's someone you can count on for all three.

With fewer snaps, Coffee was just involved less overall. It doesn't explain just one carry, but it was no doubt a factor.

2) Gore is the engine in this offense: When it comes down to it, Frank Gore is the thing that makes this offense effective. We already know Offensive Coordinator Jimmy Raye wants to run a ratio of about 60 percent run-to-pass plays.

If you plan on doing that, you go with your best back. That's Gore, no matter how good Coffee looked in the preseason.

If your offense is struggling, you keep hammering with your main guy looking for some momentum. If something is going to spark the offense, it's going to be that guy.

Despite poor offensive line play, Gore looked good running. He kept his legs moving and fought for every millimeter of ground he could get. When he broke free for that touchdown run, he still had to run an Arizona player over.

You want Gore in there because you know he CAN run that player over.

3) It's early: Frank Gore is healthy and will never feel better this season than he did in week one. As the season goes on he—like every other player—will start to feel the accumulated effects of many weeks of having his body battered.

In fact, the fear that Gore will wear down towards the end of the season is what drove many to predict Coffee would carry the ball early and often.

It is very common, though, for rookies to hit what is termed the "rookie wall." Particularly running backs who get hit every time they touch the ball, often even on the runs where they don't get tackled.

For those unfamiliar with the term, the "rookie wall" is usually a point late in the season where a young player just hits a point of exhaustion he cannot overcome.

The NFL season is longer than most college seasons and is much, much harder on the body.

Sure, we're worried about Gore wearing down. The team may be worried about Coffee wearing down as well.

If Gore can carry the lion's share of the early load, there is a better chance Coffee can shoulder a bigger burden near the end of the season, when every game could make a difference in a birth for the playoffs.

If the team does make the playoffs, Coffee may still have something in the tank to be a factor in those games.

Meanwhile, if Gore carries the ball a little less in December, he will be more rested for the playoffs.

This may seem like thinking a little further ahead than necessary, but be sure Coach Mike Singletary will be thinking that far ahead on some level.

Keep Coffee fresh early, gradually give him more carries as we get deeper into the season, rest Gore more often towards the end and perhaps have two running backs who are not exhausted for the playoffs.

I haven't even touched on the idea that Coffee may still need some time to adjust to the speed of the NFL. Preseason doesn't fully prepare a guy for the difference between college and the NFL.

So Coffee may get eased in, in part because they don't want to overload him.

None of the three reasons I stated fully explain the paltry three carries for a rookie we all expected to burst out of the gate.

However, I feel they all factor into that low total to some extent.

I believe we will see more of Coffee this Sunday in the game with the Seattle Seahawks.

However, I also believe we will still see a lot more Gore than we originally expected to when we finished the preseason.

And I think, in the end, that will be a good thing for the 49ers and their fans.

You may also find this article and many like it at ThunderingBlurb.com!

NFL Week One Recap: Part Two

Andrew Garda — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 09:22:18 -0400

BRONCOS 12, BENGALS 7

BRONCOS

If it wasn’t for a lucky—but still skillful—play by Brandon Stokely this game would be viewed as a disappointment. Instead, Kyle Orton’s ok-but-not-fantastic 243 yards and a touchdown looks much brighter and the Broncos might feel better about a game where they could not get their rhythm going.

Correll Buckhalter was the most effective back, but Coach McDaniels seemed determined to get rookie Knowshon Moreno a bunch of work. Both got eight carries but Moreno could only accumulate 19 yards to Buckhalter’s 46. Orton moved the ball around a lot, but no receiver stood out.

Brando Marshall only saw four catches, Eddie Royal had just two and overall there were many drops from Orton’s targets. The Broncos may have run, but their offense looks shaky at best.

BENGALS

Carson Palmer had a good yardage total (247) but his two interceptions showed some of the rust he accumulated from so much time on the I/R. Chad Ochocinco was back to normal form with five catches for 89 yards but Chris Henry—who Palmer had gushed over all Summer—was almost nonexistent with his expected targets going to second year wide receiver Andre Caldwell who had six catches for 54 yards.

Veteran Laveranues Coles had several drops and was a non-factor. Cedric Benson continues to play well for the Bengals (76 and one TD) and might have some nice fantasy value this season. Overall though, not the start anyone hoped for with Palmer and Ochocinco finally healthy.

JETS 24, TEXANS 7

JETS

Mark Sanchez looked calm and cool in the pocket as he threw far more than many expected and totaled 272 yards and a touchdown in his Jets debut. His one interception proved he has a ways to go—he made a bad decision and threw right into the arms of Safety John Busing.

Still, a nice performance. Dustin Keller had a very nice game with four catches for 94 yards and Jerricho Cotchery caught six balls for 90.

Chansi Stuckey was the recipient of Sanchez’s first touchdown and also had 64 yards on the day. Despite the 107 yards and two touchdowns, Thomas Jones looked horrible for most of the game. He looked bad in preseason and until he broke loose for a pair of long runs (one for a touchdown) his yards per carry was weak.

True to Rex Ryan’s word, Leon Washington got a lot of carries—15 in total—gaining 60 yards on the ground to go with his 24 through the air.

TEXANS

The Jets defense spent most of the day in the Texans’ backfield and that made things difficult for quarterback Matt Schaub. If Schaub can’t get some protection, he’s going to get hurt again. He was only sacked once, but spent a lot of time picking himself up off the turf.

The entire offense was out of sync, as the Jets defense threw multiple looks at them and they had no answers. Andre Johnson had a quiet game—just four catches for 35 yards—and was shadowed effectively most of the day by Jets corner back Darrelle Revis.

Running back Steve Slaton found no room to run on the ground and got just 17 yards, salvaging the day a little with three catches for 35 yards.

VIKINGS 34, BROWNS 20

VIKINGS

Are you convinced Adrian Peterson is a stud now? That he’s the engine for this offense and should have been the No. 1 pick in every fantasy draft? Sure, the 198 total yards and three touchdowns came against a pretty bad Cleveland team. It doesn’t lesson the fact that he’s a man amongst boys.

Watch him as he dismisses Browns defenders when he rips off a 64 yards touchdown run (the 57 second mark is the best spot).

It’s his team and will continue to be so. Newly un-retired quarterback Brett Favre looked like a man who had skipped Training Camp, missing Sidney Rice in the end zone and generally not on the same page with his receivers. This happened with the Jets last season and will last another three to five weeks.

Rookie wide receiver Percy Harvin was the only real story in the receiving corps, as he had a nice touchdown from Favre and carried the ball twice for 22 yards to add to his 36 receiving yards. Bernard Berrian was there but might as well been invisible and Rice only got 17 yards on a pair of catches.

BROWNS

Brady Quinn looked serviceable in his performance, throwing for 205 yards, one touchdown and one pick. Tight End Robert Royal was his favorite target, gaining 60 yards and a touchdown on four catches.

Jamal Lewis held the starting job for another week and totaled 57 yards on the ground, though surprisingly added 47 yards on a trio of receptions. Will this keep up? If Quinn keeps having to check down, it might, and Lewis may have some value yet.

49ers 20, CARDINALS 16

49ers

Shaun Hill wasn’t very pretty but got the job done with a 18/31, 209 and one touchdown effort. As he did often in the preseason, he found Vernon Davis often, helping the newly minted team captain to a five catch, 40 yard day. Veteran Isaac Bruce had a huge 50-yard catch on his way to a four catch, 74-yard day.

Josh Morgan started out hot but ended up with just three catches for 38 yards. All three got more targets than catches, but at times Hill just wasn’t quite on point with his throws. Still, that will come with time, and the day was encouraging.

Frank Gore couldn’t get much going on the ground, which is a huge concern for a team which purports to run the ball 60 percent of the time. Gore supplemented his 30 yards on 22 carries with another 18 on three receptions. Gore did score twice, once on the ground and once through the air.

CARDINALS

While Kurt Warner was able to throw for 288 yards, he struggled often and threw a pair of picks as well as a touchdown. The 49ers defensive line did an outstanding job of disguising their defensive schemes and Warner seemed to have a hard time adjusting.

Larry Fitzgerald contributed to the cause with 71 yards and a touchdown, while Anquan Boldin only had two catches for 19 yards.

With Steve Breaston out, Jerheme Urban caught five balls for 74 yards. Warner did have a 100 yard receiver but it wasn’t any of the usual suspects—instead it was running back Tim Hightower who caught 12 passes for 121 yards. Hightower and rookie Chris Wells both struggled on the ground and neither ran the ball more than eight times, with Wells gaining 29 to Hightower’s 15.

GIANTS 23, REDSKINS 17

GIANTS

Eli Manning and the Giants offense allowed the Redskins to hang around far too long and were unable to finish them off until Steve Smith recovered an on-side kick with 1:30 left to play.

Manning played well, totaling 256 yards and a touchdown with his favorite and most reliable target being the aforementioned Smith, who hauled in six catches for 80 yards.

Brandon Jacobs was never really get any traction on the ground, gaining just 46 yards over the course of 16 carries. No. 2 back Ahmad Bradshaw had a little more luck, totalling 60 yards on 12 carries. Bradshaw added 11 receiving yards and Jacobs compiled 17 himself through the air.

Unfortunately, the two biggest stories for the Giants were injuries. Third stringer Danny Ware was injured on the opening kick-off, sustaining a dislocated elbow while rookie wide receiver Hakeem Nicks left in the fourth quarter with what turned out to be a sprained ankle.

They dodged a bullet with Nicks, as the initial injury looked far worse than the two to three weeks he should be out. The extent of Ware's absence is currently unknown and as of Monday morning he is out indefinitely.

REDSKINS

The Redskins were in the game a long time, but were unable to do much until the end of the game. Quarterback Jason Campbell was inconsistent, connecting with tight end Chris Cooley for a touchdown at one point and finding Giants corner back Corey Webster for an interception another. The run game was also average at best.

Clinton Portis earned every yard of his 62 yards, finding it extremely tough to gather any momentum against a tough Giants run defense.

Antwaan Randel El had the best game of the Washington wide receivers, catching seven balls for 98 yards. As mentioned, Cooley got the touchdown and added 68 yards to that. No other wide receiver had more than a pair of catches as the offense never got going on a consistent basis.

SEAHAWKS 28, RAMS 0

SEAHAWKS

Seattle came out firing against the hapless Rams but were far from perfect. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck's 279 yards and trio of touchdowns were solid, but he also turned the ball over twice. Nate Burleson had seven catches for 75 yards and a touchdown, but also fumbled the ball twice, losing it once.

Still, the bright spots were dazzling. Second year tight end John Carlson had six catches for 95 yards and two touchdowns while running back Julius Jones carried the ball 19 times for 117 yards and his own touchdown.

Newly acquired receiver TJ Houshmandzadeh had a solid day, gaining 48 yards on six catches and should be a bigger part of the offense as the season progresses.

RAMS

There isn't much good to take away from the Rams efforts. Wide receiver Laurent Robinson had the most yards with 87 yards on five catches. Donnie Avery seemed healthy and ran for eight yards on top of his 46 yards on six receptions.

But Steven Jackson was limited when the Rams fell behind and while his yards per carry was an impressive 4.19, his totals topped out at just 67 yards.

Jackson was also virtually ignored in the passing game after the Rams had said he would be a bigger part of it. They're going to have to get him more involved if they have any hope of overcoming offensive line problems.

PACKERS 21, BEARS 15

PACKERS

Neither of the quarterbacks in this game were pretty, but Aaron Rodgers limited his mistakes and got the job done. His 184 yards and a touchdown didn't have visions of highlight reels dancing in your head but he won and that's all that counts on the field. Fantasy-wise, he'll do better and owners should worry.

Wide receiver Greg Jennings got his year off to a booming start with six catches for 106 yards and a touchdown and he continues to make his mark with every game. Donald Driver had a little less success—just 39 yards on four catches—but he is a steady presence and someone Rodgers can look to when it gets dicey.

Ryan Grant got nearly every carry and put in a workman-like performance with 61 yards on 16 carries. He also found the end zone once for six points.

BEARS

Just a guess, Jay Cutler might have been hoping for a better start to his regular season Bears career. The Packers' new 3-4 scheme continues to impress and kept Cutler on his heels all night long and forced Cutler into four interceptions. Those picks made his 277 yard, one touchdown stat-line almost irrelevant and while he settled down after the first three, his final interception (to Al Harris) with a minute left just capped off a bad night.

Devin Hester had a great night, totalling 90 yards and a touchdown on just four catches. Rookie Johnny Knox made the most of his two catches with a yards total of 82. Earl Bennett built up the Vandy-connection discussion a little more as his college teammate found him seven times for 66 yards.

But there were times when the wide receivers looked over-matched and a few of the interceptions might have been due to some confusion over routes and timing.

Matt Forte started his second year off with a 'oof' as it took him a total of 25 carries to get just 55 yards. He was also just about forgotten in the passing game, a concern many had due to Cutler rarely checking down to his running backs last season in Denver.

Forte was a huge disappointment, perhaps worse than Cutler and Bears fans and fantasy owners have to hope this was just a blip on the radar and not a sign of things to come. It's too early to panic, but it is a situation that bears watching (pun really NOT intended), especially since life doesn't get easier against the Steelers next week.

NFL Week One Recap: Part One

Andrew Garda — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 07:59:13 -0400

FALCONS 19, DOLPHINS 7

FALCONS

While they started out a bit slow, Matt Ryan and the Falcons eventually got their offense in gear and had little trouble moving the ball against Miami. Ryan’s 22/36 got 229 yard performance wasn’t the stuff of legend but he made few mistakes and found his receivers twice for touchdowns.

One was by new Falcon Tony Gonzalez, whose touchdown capped a five catch, 73 yard performance. No other receiver had what you might term a big game, as Ryan spread the ball around quite liberally.

Michael Turner also had a very quiet game with just 65 yards on 22 carries. That’s only 2.95 yards a carry which is unusual for him. Owners shouldn’t worry yet, but given the enormous amount of carries in 2008, it’s something to watch.

DOLPHINS

When 2008 started we knew Miami wasn’t as bad as they had looked in 2007. We also knew going into this year they weren’t as good as they looked in 2008 either. They likely lie somewhere between though tonight they struggled in every aspect of the game.

Chad Pennington had a decidedly pedestrian night, totaling 176 yards and one touchdown, while also tossing an interception as well. He also fumbled away the ball once as did tight end Anthony Fasano.

Many people expected big things from running back Ronnie Brown but he was only able to get 43 yards on 10 carries, adding 10 yards on three catches. Even the vaunted Wildcat looked more mild than wild and Pat White, named No. 2 presumably to run the Wildcat, didn’t do much.

No receiver stepped up, the best being Davone, with seven catches for just 57 yards.

COLTS 14, JAGUARS 12

COLTS

The Colts totaled some impressive numbers but in the end, still only just beat the rival Jaguars as the defense stood up at the end and forced the Jaguars to turn the ball over on downs. Peyton Manning looked to be in midseason for, totaling 301 yards with one touchdown, though he also threw a pick.

His biggest weapon ended up being Reggie Wayne, who not a week ago was saying he expected good but not great numbers this season. How’s 10 catches for 162 yards and a touchdown for good, not great?

Another guy for whom expectations might have been low was running back Joseph Addai, who responded with 77 total yards and a touchdown. The guy nipping at his heels, Donald Brown, did pretty well with 11 carries for 33 yards and another 16 added with two catches.

JAGUARS

The bright spot for the Jags was running back Maurice Jones-Drew who wasn’t much slowed by the bruise he sustained in the preseason and had 123 total yards and a touchdown. He looked every bit the top back many thought he would be coming into the season and he got all the carries. But that in and of itself is a concern.

We have long contended that a constant string of 20-25 carry games will wear him down. Whether he will continue to get that workload or not is unclear—after all, Jack Del Rio said he wouldn’t get that many carries during the preseason.

If the rest of the offense can’t get going, it may get harder and harder to move the chains. And the question remains—who will carry the ball when Jones-Drew doesn’t?

RAVENS 38 CHIEFS 24

RAVENS

Baltimore started off hot, then cooled off for a while before finishing the Chiefs off late. Quarterback Joe Flacco looked good aired the ball out often, ending up with 26/43, 307 yards and a trio of touchdowns. His one interception didn’t kill him either. He looks confident and cool in his second year.

We’ll see what happens when he hits a better defense before getting too excited though.

A guy who does get us excited though is running back Ray Rice. Rice had an outstanding day gaining 108 yards on 19 carries. He added a pair of receptions for a dozen yards. Willis McGahee added a pair of touchdowns and 75 yards while the third head of the monster—Le’Ron McLain—managed a touchdown of his own.

Mark Clayton had five catches for 77 yards and a touchdown, showing no ill effects from his preseason injury.

CHIEFS

The fact that the Chiefs managed to claw back into the game speaks volumes for their grit, especially since newly minted starter Matt Cassel was slotted to be out due to injury. Yet backup Brodie Croyle stepped in and while he didn’t blow anyone away, his 177 yards and two touchdowns were a credible effort. More importantly, he didn’t turn the ball over.

Wide receiver Dwayne Bowe was stifled for the most part with 40 yards and a touchdown and while Mark Bradley had 73 yards, he couldn’t get into the end zone. Larry Johnson had exactly what he predicted happen – he saw a lot of bodies determined to stop him and they did – LJ had a paltry 20 yards.

EAGLES 38, PANTHERS 10

EAGLES

The good news here is the Eagles put a lot of points on the board. Brian Westbrook looked OK when in the game with 64 yards on the ground, just 8 through the air and a touchdown. Things got crazy early so Westy got more rest than he might have otherwise. LeSean McCoy looked good in his stead with 46 yards on 9 carries.

DeSean Jackson had an 85 yard punt return touchdown. New tight end Brent Celek had a great day with six catches for 37 yards and a touchdown. Donovan McNabb had three touchdowns—two in the air, one on the ground but the last one was very costly as McNabb ended up with a broken rib on the play.

The current thought is he is ‘doubtful’ for week two (the team officially haven’t ruled him out) and it’s likely he will miss the game against the Saints. But rib injuries can linger and it may affect him throughout the year.

PANTHERS

When you miss, you miss and boy did we seem to miss on Jake Delhomme. He usually has a bad game now and then, but to look as awful as he did was a surprise. Just 73 yards with four interceptions was a terrible stat-line and you have to wonder if the team will look to acquire a free agent like recently freed—I mean dropped—ex-Raider Jeff Garcia or trade for a backup like displaced Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson.

With Delhomme playing badly, Steve Smith was nonexistent and was clearly frustrated by the game. DeAngelo Williams had to give up running for a while, but still put together a nice night with 42 yards through the air to match his 37 on the ground.

Williams also had a touchdown. Jonathan Stewart looked OK in his carries as well with 35 on 11 carries and also caught a pair of balls for 32 yards. Overall though it’s a game the Panthers have to put behind them and quick.

SAINTS 45, LIONS 27

SAINTS

The score makes it look closer than it was, and that’s saying a lot. I said Saints QB Drew Brees was set for a great game, but who knew he’d drop 358 yards and six touchdowns on the hapless Lions defense. His target of choice was not Marques Colston, Lance Moore, or Robert Meachem, but Devery Henderson totaled an unconscious 103 yards and a touchdown.

Reggie Bush caught five himself for 55 yards, but had no luck on the ground with just 14 yards. The man toting the rock was Mike Bell, who made some hay with 143 yards—a career total. Jeremy Shockey got his first touchdown as a Saint, followed soon by his second. Brees spread the ball around a lot, hitting eight different receivers for 26 completions.

LIONS

Rookie quarterback Matt Stafford had a relatively rough outing, throwing three picks in his debut as Lions starter. Running back Kevin Smith did most of his work in the pass game after the Lions had to basically abandon the run. Smith got 72 yards total and a touchdown which saves his day from a fantasy standpoint but wasn’t enough to help turn it around for the Lions.

Neither did Calvin Johnson’s 90 yards but as happened so often in 2008, Johnson only got three catches. The Lions defense was terribly over-matched as the Saints spread the field and used constant multiple receiver sets to rip the secondary apart.

COWBOYS 34, BUCCANEERS 31

COWBOYS

Maybe you can get addition by subtraction—or at least Dallas quarterback Tony Romo can. After the team ejected Terrell Owens, Romo had a career day, totaling 353 yards and three touchdowns without any turnovers.

Patrick Crayton had an outstanding day with 135 yards and a touchdown on just four receptions. Roy Williams (86yds, 1 TD) and Jay Witten (71yds) performed well also. Marion Barber had 79 yards and a touchdown while his sidekick Felix Jones didn’t look as sharp as he did last year, with just 22 yards on six carries.

BUCCANEERS

Byron Leftwich looked OK in his Buccaneers debut, with 276 yards and a touchdown, hitting ten different receivers for 25 completions. Antonio Bryant was sharp and showed no signs of lingering issues from his knee, catching a pair of balls for 29 yards.

The real story here was the return of Cadillac Williams to the lineup. Williams was very good, carrying Cowboy defenders at times as he totaled 97 yards and a touchdown in a great performance.

The No. 2, Derrick Ward, had a good game as well, with 62 and a touchdown as well. Earnest Graham will be the odd man out here if this keeps up—he got no work and really shouldn’t have the way the other two were going.

Michael Crabtree: Did the San Francisco 49ers Make the Right Choice?

Andrew Garda — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:30:44 -0400

Given the lack of progress in the contract talks between the San Francisco 49ers and their wayward first round draft pick, Michael Crabtree, it's easy for some fans and media analysts to say the pick itself was a bad choice.

After all, just a short time before the draft the Cleveland Browns came out with the news that they would be passing on Crabtree in the draft and the rumors were out there that Crabtree was a diva and his attitude (rather than his lingering foot injury) were what had turned the team off.

So if hindsight is 20/20, this should have warned the Niners off like it may have the nine teams which preceded them right?

Well, not so fast. As bad as the holdout is, here are three reasons why Michael Crabtree was and remains the right pick for the 49ers at the 10th spot in the draft.

NEED

The 49ers haven't had a dominant wide receiver since Terrell Owens and Jerry Rice left town. They've had good players. Hard workers. But game changing wideouts? No, not in some time.

He made big plays in big moments when the game was on the line and it really counted. Crabtree is a tough, physical wide receiver who is equally willing to throw a block as he is to fight off a defensive back for a ball.

When it comes down to it, the 49ers needed a player at the receiver position who could make things happen. Crabtree's leaping ability and hands made him an asset to the offense immediately.

Vernon Davis is always on the cusp on greatness but can't quite reach it. Josh Morgan is a project they hope will shine this season, but isn't a sure thing. Isaac Bruce was ready to call it quits this offseason and had to be talked back into playing.

Arnaz Battle, Jason Hill, Brandon Jones—all receivers who have played well at times but always came back to the pack due to injury or just reality.

How many times has this team searched for a new top wide receiver with a free agent like Bryant Johnson, Darrell Jackson, or Ashlie Lelie hoping they could ignite a player's career? It hasn't worked out so well, has it?

They need a difference-maker at wide receiver. They need to stop picking over other team's cast-offs hoping for a diamond in the rough.

When Crabtree fell to the 49ers at 10, what could they do? They need what he brings.

TALENT

Crabtree was about as dominant a wide receiver as you can ask for coming out of Texas Tech. The unanimous All-Big 12 Conference first-team pick earned his second straight Biletnikoff Award (given to Nation's best wide receiver) in a row and was ranked sixth in the nation and second in the league with a 7.46 receptions per game average.

This is what he brings to the table and this is why he fills that first point—need—for the 49ers. The team cannot just send Frank Gore (and now Glenn Coffee) in carry after carry in the red zone.

They need a player who can step up and make a defense take notice. A player who will back the opposing defense off the line. Crabtree has that ability.

I don't mean to knock guys like Morgan (who I am very high on) or Battle. But when it comes down to it, they don't attract the attention Crabtree does.

When Crabtree steps on the field, a team has to notice it and make adjustments in a way they don't with the aforementioned players. Even Bruce, who is far past his prime now but still effective, does not gain the attention of he defense like that.

Here's some of what Crabtree did for Texas Tech while on the field in 2008: He had 44 catches of at least 10 yards, including 11 catches of 20 yards or more. He had a total of 60 first-down catches, 16 in the red zone. He converted 11-of-20 third down catches for firsts and three of four fourth down targets were caught for firsts.

Crabtree has the talent and ability to make a difference. Again—and this goes back to need—what he can do isn't something the receivers on the team currently can do and those who can (like Bruce) won't be in the Bay Area much longer.

TIMING

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. When arguably the top wide receiver in the draft for whatever reason drops into your lap and you need him, you take him.

With the exception of the foot injury, what really was the drawback? So Mangini was put off by his attitude. So Cleveland had written him off.

Are the Browns suddenly paragons of Drafting perfection? We're not talking Bill Belichick here. Mangini has proven he can miss on players. Vernon Gholston anyone?

Teams miss, even the mighty Patriots. Just because one team (or even more than one) pass on a player does not necessarily diminish his value.

Looking at the way things had fallen in the Draft, it really was an obvious pick.

As I mentioned before, the team knows Bruce wouldn't be around much longer. The current crop of wideouts were serviceable, though unspectacular. There was and is a ton of hope for some of these guys, but this is a team who is trying to build something and 'hope' doesn't get a first down on third and long.

There were no quarterbacks worth the 10th pick after Stafford and Sanchez had gone at numbers one and five respectively. Perhaps Aaron or Brian Orakpo might have been good fits and maybe if BJ Raji had dropped they would have grabbed him.

But remember that Coach Mike Singletary is often a fixture at College Prospect events like the Senior Bowl, often working with the defense. If he didn't jump on these guys, there is an even chance he had seen something he wasn't in love with.

Meanwhile, Crabtree was reportedly high on the San Francisco draft board.

Is he a diva? Looks that way. But how many top wide receivers in this day and age aren't?

Also if you follow the beat reporters covering the 49ers, Crabtree isn't out partying and eating loads of junk food while playing Madden. By all reports, Crabtree is hard at work—in the Bay Area no less—and planning on being physically ready to go when he signs.

While the contract issue is easy to point to as a sign of a problematic athlete, the fact that he's out grabbing former Pro Quarterbacks like Trent Dilfer is a sign he's willing to work and work hard. Ego or not, he's a worker and that dedication will make a huge difference when he does sign.

He'll still have a long way to go to catch up with the team in terms of plays, X's and O's but he'll be physically ready to go. That says a lot.

When a player of Crabtree's calibre drops to you in the draft, sometimes you stop looking for reasons why he did and just take him. You have to trust your Scouts.

Given the last few contentious, stalemated months, it's easy to play Devil's Advocate and say 'Boy was Crabtree the wrong guy for US'. But putting aside the issues signing him, many of the facts do not support that. Crabtree is an enormously talented player (albeit, clearly with an enormous ego as well).

He's a piece the 49ers needed and it was good luck for him to fall where he did.

Maybe this will end with him trying his luck in the 2010 Draft. Maybe he'll get the money he wants from the 49ers due to an injury or maybe he buckles when the games go this weekend and he's not on the field.

Even if he does go back into the Draft, the team will receive compensation in the form of Draft picks. So while it would be disappointing, it would be far from a disaster.

It won't have cost them money either.

It's one thing if they sign him and he implodes like Charles Rogers, Ryan Leaf or Todd Marinovich. It's another if he never signs and never plays for the team. They didn't lose millions of dollars in guaranteed money like the aforementioned players. All they lost was opportunity.

Regardless of the outcome, choosing Micheal Crabtree with the tenth pick of the 2009 NFL Draft was the right move in April. In my opinion it remains so, despite the contract impasse and Crabtree's absence.

Just because it has dissolved into a bad situation does not mean it was a bad pick.

Thursday Night Football: Titans Vs Steelers

Andrew Garda — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:34:01 -0400

Thursday Week 1 - TITANS VS STEELERS

For an audio discussion of this game check out the second half of Wednesday's edition of the Thundering Blurb Football Show.

STEELERS

Ben Roethlisberger: Roethlisberger isn't a gunslinger by any means. In fact, if you just look at past history, you have to think he won't throw much - after all 'the Steelers are a run first team' right? Well, it's hard to know for sure that it's a true statement anymore. The reality may be that this team is NOT a run-first powerhouse as it once was.

Frankly, the offensive line is better protecting Big Ben than it is blocking for the running backs. The Offensive line has had problems for a couple of years now on the ground but have improved enough to give Roethlisberger a chance against a defense that is trying to make do without Albert Haynesworth.

However while Roethlisberger is a safe start, I wouldn't want to start him. Unless you are in a spot where Matt Cassel is your quarterback or have some real question marks Roethlisberger will give you serviceable points, but not the sort of fantasy value you want to roll out your first week.

Willie Parker: It's been a tumultuous pre-season for 'Fast' Willie Parker. Parker set out to capture the goal line duties and as of this week he did - though probably more due to the underwhelming play of Rashard Mendenhall as much as anything else. Parker faces a once stout run defense which is now a question mark - will the absence of Albert Haynseworth affect the Titans run defense? I say to some extent, yes. But overall this unit is more than just the sum of one part and while I think Parker will get the lion's share of carries, he still faces a tough unit. For what it's worth, in the preseason, the Titans allowed an average of just 3.5 yards a carry but a middle of the road 467 total yards in four games. You can't read into it too much - the starting unit only plays a handful of snaps. Parker is an ok start, but as he's likely to be your RB3, you probably have a better match-up on your roster. He'll put up some points but probably won't blow your opponent out of the water.

Santonio Holmes: Since I expect Big Ben to throw a bunch you can assume that I think Holmes should be a good start. I wouldn't be surprised if he pulled between five and seven catches and somewhere around 70 yards. He's going to be a pretty decent WR2 this year and I think this will be a good game for him. The Titans struggled against the pass in preseason (again, take that for what it's worth) and he should find room to work in the secondary. It won't be huge night, but he's a fine start at WR2 to kick off your season.

Hines Ward: Is there anything ever to say against starting Ward? He won't blow up often but he also doesn't get too many donuts. Roethlisberger likes and trusts him and goes to him often enough to make him more valuable in PPR than non-PPR leagues. As Holmes emerges as more of the prototypical WR1 threat, it will be interesting to see how Ward's role might change. But even with slightly better play of late from second-year WR Limas Sweed, Ward won't miss out much. Start him as a WR3 and he'll likely reward you with a serviceable game against the Titans. His upside might be a little limited, but so is his downside.

Limas Sweed: Sweed played a little better as the preseason wore on, but not enough to be a consistent fantasy threat. As the season progresses we may see more of the youngster from Texas, but right now he won't produce much fantasy-wise and isn't worth a start.

Heath Miller: Once you get outside the top five tight ends, it's almost every man for himself. But some - Dustin Keller, Zach Miller, John Carlson - are held in higher esteem than others - like Heath Miller. Miller was a hot prospect a few seasons ago, but topped out last year and now, according to Steeler beat writer Ed Bouchette, Miller is destined to remain at his 45 catch ceiling. With some of the blocking issues on the line, it's not a surprise and while Miller is a fine pass-catching tight end, he isn't worth starts unless a match-up really cries out for it, which this one doesn't.

TITANS

Kerry Collins: This is just not a good match-up for Collins. The epitome of a serviceable Fantasy QB, Collins usually won't lose a game for you. Often he won't win one for you either. The Pittsburgh Defensive unit is a terrible match-up and I can't see a reason to stick Collins into your lineup in Week 1, on a Thursday. Too shaky, too early, to risky.

Chris Johnson: There are a bunch of RBs I would take ahead of Johnson this week - unfortunately you probably don't own any of them or if you do, not more than one. Still, as tough as this match-up is, Johnson and the Titans have produced against brutal Run Defenses before. While I'm not sure he tops 100 total yards, I think he gets enough - and in a PPR league, enough catches - to make him a pretty good start this weekend. Maybe not a lock-down RB1 but a solid one, or an outstanding RB2.

LenDale White: White will continue to get the short yardage and red zone work, but I don't know how much red zone work he'll see against this defense. You know White - he could have a big game or he could disappear. Given that he's threatening to stomp Terrible Towels again this weekend, my guess is Pittsburgh's Steel Curtain will take a certain amount of pride in shutting him down - and up. There will be plenty of times to start White - this isn't on of them.

Justin Gage: Despite the match-up, Gage may have himself a nifty little game. Collins won't be able to rely on rookie Kenny Britt that much and even if he plays, will Nate Washington be reliable and healthy enough to have a great impact? Gage may get a bunch of targets and if Collins finds himself behind and throwing, Gage will be the beneficiary. Gage is a solid WR3 start with the upside for outplaying his starting spot on your team.

Kenny Britt: I like Britt's overall prospects but I can't imagine going to him this early in your fantasy season when we have little if any idea how he'll play and against a very tough defense. In a deeper league WR4 isn't out of the question, but it may be a tad early in the week for a Hail Mary even at that spot.

Nate Washington: Washington is looking like he might go Thursday which should be interesting to watch. Will his hamstring hold up? Will they work him a little? A lot? How will he fit in after missing a chunk of the preseason? Is the Washington we were watching dazzle prior to the injury the real deal? Will he regain that now? Too many questions for me - if I can do it, I avoid him this week. I'd rather risk missing out on a good game by playing another WR who can contribute as much with less risk, versus starting Washington and getting little to nothing to show for it.

San Francisco 49ers Cut Down Roster

Andrew Garda — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 00:01:33 -0400

Saturday was cut day and like every other team, the 49ers trimmed their roster down, including a few cuts which surprised analysts as well as myself.

The overall list was Offensive Tackles Jacob Bender, Alex Boone and Joe Toledo, Center Matt Spanos, Guard Kyle Howard, Wide Receivers Dobson Collins, Maurice Price and Dominique Zeigler, Tight Ends Joe Jon Finley and Bear Pascoe, Fullbacks Brit Miller and William Rentmeester, Running Back Kory Sheets, Cornerbacks Eric Green and Terrail Lambert, Defensive End Pannel Egboh, Defensive Tackle Khalif Mitchell, Linebackers Jay Moore, Justin Roland and Mark Washington.

A few cuts stood out to me.

First, Kory Sheets was a big surprise especially with the injury to Thomas Clayton and the fact that Michael Robinson working mostly on Special Teams.

Sheets compiled some very nice stats in four games - 177 yards on 39 carries with three touchdowns as well as four catches for 18 yards.

Despite this, Sheets was let go and San Francisco will be rolling along with just two main backs and Michael Robinson. I expect Sheets to be on the practice squad assuming he doesn't get grabbed by someone out.

Clearly he was lacking on some level as Singletary put it bluntly, "He did some nice things, but we wanted to have 53 guys who gave us best opportunity to win."

Ouch.

Bear Pascoe isn't as surprising though I had a lot of hope for him. Pascoe had struggled overall, and what he did was duplicated by others on the roster. Pascoe might also make the P.S.

Coach Mike Singletary told the press that Pascoe had some issues adjusting to the size and speed of his opponents but that he was a 'quality young man'. I think being on the practice squad might be a good thing for him and allow him the time to make those adjustments.

What might be more surprising about Pascoe's departure is that the team didn't keep Finley either. This leaves just Vernon Davis and Delanie Walker as the only Tight Ends on the roster a bit of a surprise.

A guy who survived cuts is Wide Receiver Jason Hill. Hill has made it very clear he felt underutilized this preseason and felt he could do much more. Whether he will or not remains to be seen, but he'll get his shot.

NFL Preseason Week Three Review: Part Two

Andrew Garda — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 08:36:53 -0400

Ravens 17, Panthers 13

Joe Flacco showed a little of the game he had last year with a 247 yard, one touchdown performance, but it was Ray Rice’s eight catches for 67 yards that stood out. Unfortunately, so did his 10 carries for 32 yards which weren’t all that scintillating. Willis McGahee keeps hanging around and had a touchdown to go with his six carries for 16 yards. Jalen Parmele looked outstanding with his four carries for 68 yards but it’s hard to know where he’ll fit in here.

The two players who stood out to me for the Panthers were rookie running back Mike Goodson and Muhsin Muhammad. Goodson has had an outstanding preseason and if second year running back Jonathan Stewert can’t stay healthy, Goodson will get a shot and produce. Muhammad is a guy who is often overlooked because of his age, but there’s nobody else worth looking at in this wide receiver corps not named Steve Smith. Muhammad plays well and looks good for his age, continuing to defy his critics.

Jets 27, Giants 25

Rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez looked much more comfortable against a solid Giants defense than he did against the Ravens. It’s not a shock—this is how he developed at USC last season. The play everyone has been talking about took place when Sanchez saw the Giants blitzing, scrambled out of the pocket and connected with Chansi Stuckey on a 31 yard pass—all while three defenders were breathing down his neck. Stuckey turned it into a TD and Sanchez took a step forward in his development.

Meanwhile, Thomas Jones is looking rough out there, especially next to Leon Washington. I thought Jones had another season left in him. That may not be the case and Shonn Greene—when he returns and is healthy—might steal his job by the end of 2009.

On the other side of the field, the Giants really could use some wide receiver help, with just about every player thrown to dropping at least one pass. Steve Smith dropped an easy touchdown. Mario Manningham dropped several. On the plus side, David Carr found rookie Hakeem Nicks for a pair of touchdowns and you can’t imagine seeing Nicks with the second stringers again this preseason. Eli Manning could use the help, after all.

49ers 20, Cowboys 13

The story of the weekend was injured wide receiver Roy Williams, who sat out with a shoulder injury which I believe happened when he leapt to catch a ball and ran into the low-hanging video board. Regardless, quarterback Tony Romo played well overall but struggled a bit, adding an interception to his 11/17, 125-yard effort. He could use more reps to get his timing down with his top wide receiver, so the Cowboys could use Williams back sooner than later. The only other note was Tashard Choice stood out with the backups, compiling 55 yards on eight carries.

The 49ers continue to improve overall, though Shaun Hill has a ways to go before he’s really solid at the quarterback spot. Rookie Nate Davis is someone I still say could be the future of the franchise and he looked very good, completing 10/15 for 132 yards. Davis also has some way to go before being ready for prime time, but could be an interesting developing player.

We’ve been talking about Glen Coffee at running back, but don’t forget fellow rookie Kory Sheets. Sheets looked solid with 11 carries for 42 yards a pair of touchdowns. The Niners will run a ton with Gore and likely Coffee. If Sheets continues to play hard, he’ll find a way to get a few carries in there and I think produce. If someone gets hurt, Sheets will get those carries.

Falcons 27, Chargers 24

Both teams looked ready for the season and the Chargers especially look like the far-and-away favorites to win the AFC West. Quarterback Philip Rivers threw for a nice 185 yards and led scoring drives on two of his three possessions. Rookie Gartrell Johnson put together a nice 77 total yards and journeyman Michael Bennett—of all people—had over 100 total yards, including three catches for 84 yards and a touchdown.

LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates watched from the sidelines but that didn’t hurt this offense one bit.

On the other side of the field, second year quarterback Matt Ryan is still looking like he just picked up from where he left off last season. His 14/20, 140-yard effort included a 12-yard touchdown toss to Brian Finneran.

Running back Michael Turner also looked rock solid with 47 yards on 12 carries. The only downside was running back Jerious Norwood’s knee injury, though that is believed to be day-to-day and not serious, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Seahawks 14, Chiefs 10

It just goes from bad to even more bad with the Chiefs. Sure, they lost the game, but the bigger loss might be quarterback Matt Cassel. Cassel was lost almost right away, dragged down by Defensive Tackle Brandon Mebane from behind.

Profootballtalk.com and Yahoo Sports both report Cassel has a MCL injury and might miss Week One. Of course, the Chiefs aren’t forthcoming with the injury information but that's not shocking—it’s another 'New England satellite franchise' so what do we expect? They’re like Starbucks—they are everywhere.

Matt Hasselbeck looked good for the Seahawks, completing 19/25 for 216 yards and two touchdowns, one to second year tight end John Carlson (5-68-1) and one to new addition TJ Houshmandzadeh (5-60-1).

With Edgerrin James not yet playing, Julius Jones took the lion’s share of the carries and carried the rock fifteen times for 57 yards. The Seahawks say they will keep using him as the primary back, Edge or not, so until I see different, James’ impact is still an unknown quantity.

Bears 27 Broncos 17

In the Battle of Egos, former Bronco and current Bears quarterback Jay Cutler seems to have one over on his old team. Cutler put together a nice little 15/21, 144-yard performance with a touchdown to Matt Forte to cap it off. Cutler pumped his fist in celebration after that touchdown so, call me crazy, I think he wanted this one bad. Matt Forte looked good in limited action. While his yards per carry was low (2.33 after nine carries for 21 yards), he scored twice, once on the ground and once in the air. He totaled four catches for 11 yards so it could be that Cutler will utilize him more in the pass game than anticipated.

If that’s the case, his fantasy stock might actually manage to rise past Maurice Jones-Drew and challenge Adrian Peterson. Hard to imagine he’ll have 60 catches again, but 40? Not far-fetched.

Kyle Orton (12/16, 96 yards) didn’t look bad—he just didn’t look like Cutler. But he found Eddie Royal (5/44) often enough. Peyton Hillis continues to look good on the ground, where he carried the ball seven times for 27 yards and a touchdown as well as in the pass game, where he caught a pair of balls for 21 yards.

Rookie Kenny McKinley (3/76) also looked good but his biggest problem (as I talked about with Frank Schwab of the Colorado Springs Gazette last on Wednesday’s Thundering Blurb show) is inconsistency. McKinley still has some work to do, but could emerge in a year or so as a real player, especially if Brandon Marshall stays petulant and ends up leaving Denver.

NFL Preseason Week 3 Review: Part 1

Andrew Garda — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 08:20:32 -0400

Patriots 27 Redskin 24

Brady and Moss continue to look as good as they ever did. For sure the Pats have to be a little worried about Brady’s shoulder but they aren’t letting on as is usually the case. On the other hand, they released Kevin O’Connell so I guess they aren’t THAT worried. Two picks will get you a pink slip, though and that was O’Connell’s contribution to the game. Moss (6-90-2) was the highlight for the Patriots but Joey Galloway (4-30) and Laurence Maroney (7-16 AND 3-30) are intriguing as well.

Jason Campbell had a good day, 13/22 209 though the Skins still have nothing new going on in the wide reciever corps – Cooley (2-87) and Santana Moss (5-56) are still the mainstays although Devin Thomas looked good in his 3 catches for 36 yards. Either he or Malcolm Kelly need to step up but so far neither has really made an appreciable impact and probably won’t any time soon.

Packers 44 Cardinals 37

Here’s a few things I took away from this game – 1) if Beanie Wells is healthy he’s every bit the stud running back the Cards hoped.7 carries 46 yards and 2 TDS? Are you joking? The first-round draft pick out of Ohio State showed good patience in allowing his teammates to set up blocks and excellent lateral movement as he slashed his way to the end zone for his first score -- a 20-yard run in the second quarter.

2) Matt Leinart isn’t done yet it seems. Leinart's 24/38 360, 3 TDs and 1 INT was a very solid outing and with Brian St. Pierre injured, Leinart is trying to remind folks in Arizona there is more to him than internet photos of underaged drinking.

Both players did it against a solid Green Bay 3-4 scheme which totaled two interceptions and two fumbles against the Cardinals.

Green Bay's first team defense now has 12 turnovers over the first three weeks of the preseason. The transition to the new scheme has really been nearly seemless and in the game forced seven fumbles (three from cornerback Charles Woodson - don’t sleep on him in IDP) and four sacks.

Also this just in – Aaron Rodgers is pretty good and so is Jermicheal Finley. Rodgers had a very impressive 3 touchdown, 258 yard day in just two quarters of work and even showed some footwork with a 34-yard scramble in the first quarter. Finely had four catches for 28 yards and 2 touchdowns. He seems to be passing Donald Lee in production if not status in the tight end pecking order.

Lions 18 Colts 17

Yes, the Lions are 2-1 in preseason games but remember that they were undefeated last year and we all know how that worked out. Still, Lions fans should be happy as both Daunte Culpepper (7/12 – 67yds 1 TD) and Matthew Stafford (13/19 – 160, 1 INT) looked pretty good. CPepp had the TD to Bryant Johnson, Stafford had the yards, but also a pick. The line did give up a pair of sacks but is overall looking better than I expected. Meanwhile Kevin Smith continues to put in stud-performances, tonight compiling 50 yards on 8 carries as well as 3 catches for 33 yards receiving. Brandon Pettigrew (2-24) and Calvin Johnson (4-67) both had solid games as well.

The Colts’ main man Peyton Manning looked in mid-season form (12/15, 123, 1 TD) as did Dallas Clark (6-63-1). Joseph Addai still battles it out with UCONN Rookie Donald Brown. Addai (7-22) wasn’t terribly impressive but neither was Brown (5-16) save Brown had a touchdown. In Addais' 'plus' column, he did have a nice 21 yard catch. I still say Brown will take that job by mid-season and Addai hasn’t shown me enough to change that yet.

Saints 45, Raiders 7

The Saints are who we thought they were. Brees looked great (14/17–179-2), Shockey looked healthy (4-48) and we continue to see solid running from backs not named Bush or Thomas. This time rookie PJ Hill showed us something with a 83 yard and 2 TD performance. The Saints look ready to roll and defensively they looked solid as well although let's be honest - it WAS the Raiders offense they played against.

What can you say about the Raiders? That they look bad? That they totaled just 9 first downs to the Saints 31? Zach Miller (5-74) had a solid night and rookie wide receiver Louis Murphy stepped up with a nice 2 catches for 84 yards. Unfortunately, JaMarcus Russell continues to look adequate at best and Jeff Garcia is nipping at his heels. There still isn't a ton to be excited about here beyond Miller and Darren McFadden.

Steelers 17, Bills 0

The Bills worry me, they just do. Their offensive line worked better this week but defensively they looked pretty shaky. Buffalo's starters allowed 12 first downs, 209 total yards of offense and over 21 minutes in time of possession. Trent Edwards (6/13 31-1INT) continues to struggle, Terrell Owens is still out, and the run game has looked better. Can Owens and company turn it around? In Week 1 they have to play New England, so they‘d better.

Ben Roethlisberger looked solid in the game, though he didn’t throw any touchdowns. The biggest Steeler story is probably second year back Rashard Mendenhall, who compiled 48 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries. Mendenhall looked solid hitting the holes and could be a real threat to Willie Parker’s redzone carries. The Steelers receivers were led by Hines Ward (5-74) and Limas Sweed (4-34) who has looked more comfortable as the season has moved on.

Browns 23, Titans 17

The Browns still have to figure out who will be the quarterback here. Both Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson played pretty well in inclement weather, showing accuracy and strength in at times rainy and windy conditions. We can probably nip those Brett Ratliffe rumors in the bud, huh?

The real story (aside from Braylon Edwards actually catching the 3 balls thrown his way for a total of 51 yards and touchdown) continues to be rookie running back James Davis. Davis had 5 carries for 28 yards but added another 27 yards on 4 catches. Sure. it's not his 116 yards against Detroit, but he’s doing all the right things and looks good. Jamal Lewis only got 23 yards on twice as many carries. You do the math there.

Lewis will still get his work, but Davis will start to bite in more and more if he keeps this up and if the Browns have a rough season, assume you will see more of him sooner than later.

For the Titans, Vince Young continues to show flashes of both bad (a pick six to Browns Linebacker Andre Hall) and good (a nice scramble for 23 yards through the Browns defense). The Titans can’t trust this guy – neither should fantasy owners. Kerry Collins is serviceable, but at some point this team needs a future answer at quarterback.

Shaun Hill Wins 49ers QB Gig

Andrew Garda — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 23:41:49 -0400

Finally the San Francisco 49ers have named their starting quarterback, and as expected, at least by me, Shaun Hill will get the nod.

It's unfortunate they waited so long as Hill now has just a few weeks before the season to work on his final timing and plays with the "A" team, but hopefully that will be enough.

Hill's leadership and overall poise were pointed to as reasons for his ascendancy to the top spot. Alex Smith's currently injured thumb probably pushed the decision forward as well, but again this was a move the staff was rumored to have liked a long, long time ago.

Hill played well in 2008 once he emerged from the chaos of the last days of the Mike Nolan regime, with solid if not spectacular football.

Hill lacks the arm that Alex Smith has, however he isn't quite as squirrely in the pocket under pressure and is accurate in the short game.

He certainly looked at tight end Vernon Davis often in the first preseason games and I expect Davis to continue to be a beneficiary of Hill's largess. As I have said before, this could be a big year for Vernon Davis.

Josh Morgan might not see the amount of deep balls he would have had Smith won the job, but the Niners need to stretch the field and Morgan is all they have. He has to show last season wasn't a fluke, and I expect him to do a lot with his opportunities.

Isaac Bruce will probably see a good amount of targets—Hill looked to him often once he was in the drivers seat. While I think Morgan will see a ton of work now that he's healthy (unlike last year), Bruce's presence and reliability cannot be denied.

Overall, this was a move I—and many others—expected to happen at some point. Alex Smith has not been able to gain enough momentum at any point in his career to warrant much optimism, and that held true again this year.

In my opinion, neither quarterback will be the future of this franchise—perhaps Nate Davis has a chance at that. But Hill is a good enough QB to shepherd the 49ers through the NFC West this season

Fantasy Football Twitter Roundtable, Vol 1: Training Camp Battles

Andrew Garda — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:17:01 -0400

Once upon a time, a group of people with a passion for football, a knack for fantasy sports and a major addiction to social networking came together and decided ‘If we’re going to waste so much time talking football, we might as well put this in a format people can actually follow!’

And so the happy band gathered together from across the Twitterverse to provide you, gentle reader, with the most pressing answers to the biggest questions in Fantasy—and, hopefully, an enjoyable way to kill some time.

In each article we will discuss a different topic—sometimes a few of them—and hopefully give you the edge you need as you execute your Fantasy season.

This edition’s panel includes the following fine football minds:

Matt Schauf (@mschauf63) started writing about football for the expansive audience of metropolitan Oneonta, N.Y., back in 2002. After a couple of years of catering to his three readers there, he got picked up by ProFantasySports.com to be an IDP specialist. Soon after, Matt became the lead football writer for PFS and SportsBuff.com.

You can now find his work there or at RapidDraft.com, where he also provides the strategy for the “Hollywood” character in the industry’s first single-player fantasy football game.

His IDP writing can also be found at SportingNews.com and in preview magazines for Sporting News, Rotoworld and Football Diehards.

In addition, Matt runs the industry news site FantasySportsBusiness.com, which was named best new site of 2008 by the Fantasy Sports Trade Association.

Ginny Loveless (@GBGinny) is a staff writer at Football Diehards and is part of the weekly fantasy football recap crew. She has been a staff & guest writer at numerous other fantasy football websites, including FOXSports.com, over the past five years and her article, "The Magic Touch", which premiered in last year's issue of Fantasy Football Draft Book, was a finalist for the Fantasy Sports Writers Associations Best Fantasy Football Article in Print.

This beer-drinking, brat-eating cheesehead will give you her best tip at being successful in fantasy football: numbers don't lie. Stick with the facts and you'll do alright. However...a little luck never hurts.

Jared Ferree (@WYFShow ) hosts the "What's Your Fantasy" radio show/podcast on Blogtalkradio's Fantasy Sports Channel with Raymond Summerlin. He is also a frequent contributor to www.lindyssports.com with both fantasy player rankings and general fantasy football articles.

Jim Day (@Fantasytaz) is a retired Biotech Engineer who has been playing Fantasy Football since 1992. Seriously addicted, Jim plays in about 30 Fantasy leagues a year, with most of these being large roster IDP Dynasty leagues. He has been writing for FF sites since 2000 when he started with Xpertsports.com.

Jim started Fantasy Football Whiz in 2007 just as a place to have some fun and conversation with fellow league mates and any other fantasy fanatic that wanted to talk FF. It’s a small site, but is growing every year.

Besides The Whiz, he also owns and acts as head engineer for Ultimate Recording, a 96 track, fully digital recording studio (Jim’s other love).

Parag Gheewala (@vote4parag) is an average guy with a day job who loves fantasy football and is also the mastermind behind Mockumentary, which started as his Twitter commentary on the first Twitter Fantasy Football Mock Draft. It quickly lead to Top 10 Fantasy Football Tweeter status.

Parag loves the interactive and instant nature of Twitter, but the blog allows him to provide more in-depth comments when needed. Follow him on Twitter and via Mockumentary.

Andrew Garda (@ThunderingBlurb ) has been writing about football for the last eight years, covering everything from Fantasy to College to the NFL. He’s written for such sites as Draftguys.com and BleacherReport.com, but for the last year and a half has also had his own site at ThunderingBlurb.com.

He’s also been podcasting since before they had a name for it and despite that making him feel quite old, continues his own weekly show The Thundering Blurb Football Show every Wednesday (10pm EST) on BlogTalkRadio.com.

Joshua Torrey (@jmtorrey) is an Electrical/Computer Engineer working out of Austin, TX. A die hard Steelers fan and fan of not just football but football strategy, Joshua enjoys breaking down game tape and team schemes to predict long term fantasy success.

He is also a contributor to FantasyDC.com. He has 5 tattoos, showered yesterday and is eating meatloaf for lunch.

Today’s question resonates pretty hard as teams begin training camps.

There are a bunch of players who could have fantasy value stock, but are currently stuck in limbo as we watch and wait for August training camp battles to be decided.

Of the following, which will have the most impact on owner’s seasons and bear watching most closely?

a) Shaun Hill vs. Alex Smith

b) Jamarcus Russell vs. Jeff Garcia

c) Tim Hightower vs. Chris ‘Beanie’ Wells

d) Michael Crabtree vs. Josh Morgan

e) Mark Sanchez vs. Kellen Clemens

If the one that is most critical isn’t on the list – what is it?

Matt Schauf – RapidDraft.com

Among these five, the highest-impact is easily Hightower vs. Wells. The three QB battles don't occur on teams with high-profile fantasy receivers (Jerricho Cotchery being the most important there) and don't include players that anyone should be looking at for serious starter value in 2009.

Hightower, on the other hand, went for 10 touchdowns last year before showing that he apparently wasn't ready for a starting gig. Did the Cardinals really spend a first-round pick on insurance behind him for year two? I don't believe so. I think Wells should get drafted first, even if he doesn't open the season as the starter. In many leagues, both will be selected before any other player on this list.

I don't think Morgan-Crabtree is really a battle, as both should be talented enough to win starting gigs in San Fran if healthy. Morgan should be the No. 1 for 2009 by virtue of his experience and Crabtree's shortened prep time thanks to the foot surgery.

More significant than the other battles listed here, I think, are those in the Denver, Indy and Baltimore backfields. Each situation will yield multiple value players, but the workload breakdown remains unclear in each case. For the record, I'm drafting Knowshon Moreno first among players in these backfields.

Parag Gheewala - Mockumentary

I agree. The hardest part about making projections is not determining the winner of "battles", but rather reading the minds of each coaching staff to determine playing time allocation. I'm most interested in:

1. Addai vs. Brown
2. Rice vs. McClain vs. McGahee
3. Hixon vs. Smith vs. Nicks
4. McCoy
5. Graham vs. Ward

Ginny Loveless – FootballDiehards.com

The most critical training camp battle out of everything listed here would be Hightower vs. Wells in my opinion, simply because that backfield has the potential to have the most impact on your fantasy roster. I opine the exact sentiments as Schauf here, in regards to the three QB battles.

After that battle, what I am most interested in is what’s going on in Tampa Bay between Earnest Graham and Derrick Ward. Tampa will be forced to rely on its running game this season and between Graham and Ward, someone has got to step up.

Graham was injured last season, had ankle surgery and says that he is now 100 percent. But, to me, he is still an injury concern.

I’m not saying he is fragile, or injury prone…just that he is an injury concern to me. The year in which players return from a season where they had a serious injury are always injury concerns for me; I prefer simply to err on the side of caution.

Graham desperately needed someone to share time with—Warrick Dunn and Cadillac Williams contributed what they could last year but both players are virtually done. After his three 100-yard games in September last year he (Graham) was slow.

Ward is an excellent player to pick up the slack much like he did in NY. From all the reports I have come across, the two will be splitting carries.

I can see Ward easily reaching 1000 yards (like in NY) and catching passes whilst Graham gets more of the goal-line touches and TDs.

Jim Day - FantasyFootballWhiz.com

I can't agree that Hightower-Wells is the biggest battle. It isn't a battle at all. Wells takes the job and the only thing that stops him is injury.

To me one of the biggest camp battles is in Indianapolis for the No. 2 WR position. Most are assuming that 3rd-year WR Anthony Gonzalez will win that spot, but there has been a lot of talk out of OTAs that 2nd-year WR Pierre Garcon was outstanding and might battle Gonzalez for the spot.

This is the battle that I will keep an eye on in training camp because whoever wins this race will be a very viable WR No. 2-3.

Matt Schauf – RapidDraft.com

I like Garcon, but that's not a battle. Gonzalez is the No. 2 wideout in Indy. The battle in Colts camp is Brown-Addai for carries.

Interesting potential battles at linebacker, too, for IDP folks. Keiaho could well be out of the lineup with Clint Session looking like a sleeper and even Philip Wheeler intriguing for deep leagues.

Jared Ferree – What’s Your Fantasy Podcast

I agree with the Wells-Hightower having the most effect on fantasy owners rosters, but agree with Jim that I don't think it is much of a battle at all. I feel that Wells is the superior back and should get the starting gig and that the Cardinals didn't use a first round back as insurance for a guy who averaged less than three yards per carry—I am looking directly at you, Hightower.

I think Hill-Smith is interesting just because of how affective Hill was down the stretch of last season. Smith could put up really nice numbers on a week to week basis and be a very solid backup with upside.

Personally, I could care less what happens in the Tampa Bay backfield because I think that team doesn't produce a solid fantasy option at any position this season—maybe TE, just because 600 yards and 5 TDs is good for a TE and that could be possible for Winslow.

For some reason I just see all the carries in Tampa Bay getting split over a lot of different guys, limiting all of their potential. I kind of feel the same way about the situation in Baltimore—let someone else worry every week about whether McGahee (editor’s note—McGahee is already on the PUP as of 7/28/09) will get the most carries this week or will it be McClain, or will it be Rice, or will it be someone else. I don't want that headache every week.

Andrew Garda – ThunderingBlurb.com

I like two battles here—Shaun Hill/Alex Smith is an intriguing one with Frank Gore, Josh Morgan, Michael Crabtree and several other offensive weapons hindered or helped by the outcome.

You got the sense early that the staff likes Hill who, as Jared mentioned finished solid in 2008. But the overall franchise loves Smith and continues to back him strongly. Smith also looked a tad better towards the end of OTAs.

This battle will be decided prior to the third preseason game and could make a difference for the fantasy value of several players. Of course, that's not even counting which of the two will actually start and be viable for your team.

The Addai/Brown battle is also intriguing. Addai just can't stay healthy and we know Brown will be getting some of his carries even if Addai manages to stay healthy. The question becomes—how many carries will Brown get to start?

My gut feeling is Brown will have the majority by mid-season, but a strong camp by him could start him off with a big enough chunk to obliterate most of Addai's already sinking value.

Josh Torrey – FantasyDC.com

I'm not sure that Crabtree & Morgan are really going directly at each other. But that’s beside the point; I don't think Crabtree contributes much this year either way. So this is not the biggest battle.

I agree with other sentiments that Chris Wells should walk away with the Cardinals RB job easily. The Whiz is now back to HIS playbook and making the calls. He loved the Bus more than Parker (in Pittsburgh) and I think he'll fall in love with Chris Wells.

Similarly, I'm not sure that the Shaun Hill battle is truly a battle either. Hill should also run away with this one as the PR for Alex Smith is in the dirt now. The 49ers are looking to make their move to Santa Clara and Smith is not the face they want going in.

It’s better to struggle while looking like your searching for the answer (new coach, new QB) than struggling will refusing to admit past mistakes (drafting Alex Smith).

Therefore the winner of this question is Mark Sanchez vs Kellen Clemens! I'm leaning towards Sanchez here. The guy has so much experience at this point against NFL caliber D (at USC) & then a brutal camp against NY (Rex Ryan's scheme).

I think the guy could be more battle tested than the average rookie QB. One COULD make the completely illogical argument that a great practice defense made Big Ben & Flacco the early successes that they are today. I won't. But I'm throwing it out there for people to laugh or get uptight about.

So there you have it, the opinions of some of the finest minds the Twitterverse has to offer. We’ll have another installment later this week and be on the lookout for many more all season long. Make sure you never miss another Twitter Roundtable by following @FFroundtable on Twitter.

If you want to hear more of what all these people have to say, definitely check out the websites they work for—each has an incredible amount of very tight information.

Every opinion is another tool to give you an edge over the rest of your league.

Thanks to all those who contributed today—and those who are working hard for more great discussion coming your way soon!

Quarterback Blurb Breakdown: Philip Rivers

Andrew Garda — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:00:37 -0400

For the last set of quarterback rankings, please check this article HERE.

Not everybody likes Philip Rivers. There may be an entire industry built around hating him.

I have never quite understood it—he's not even the most obnoxious player at his position in his team's history (Ryan Leaf anyone)?

He's a trash talker and I love a good fiery trash talker (see last fall's constant Rudy Carpenter analysis), so maybe I'm immune to his tomfoolery.

All I know is, last season he talked—and backed it up.

If you drafted Rivers as part of a quarterback by committee or your back-up, there's a fair chance you started him a ton more than you thought you would. Rivers led the league in passer rating and touchdown passes in 2008 and was in the top five quarterbacks of many fantasy leagues.

It's worth noting he did it with a shaky offensive line, no blocking fullback to count on and a perpetually injured LaDainian Tomlinson. Of course, being down late in many games because the defensive was lackluster didn't hurt his numbers.

The offensive line should be much improved this year, Jacob Hester should have a better grasp on blocking, LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates will be healthy. There is a lot to like about Rivers' team this year.

There are a few things to worry about though. First, the defense looks to be much better this season. Shawne Merriman is back and the overall defense looks stronger. That's supposed to be good, right?

But in so far as Rivers' value, no it may not be.

Part of what made Rivers such a surprise quarterback stud was the incredible collapse of his defense, forcing him to throw from behind in many games.

If a quarterback has to come from behind, there is a strong chance you will see their numbers inflated. Rivers had to throw a ton from behind last year. By all accounts, that is not the case this coming season.

So his opportunity to throw during a game may actually come down a bit.

Still, this is a player who has a ton of upside and while he may not throw as much as he did last year, he may be more effective and score more.

With a better defense, field position will be better and while that may limit his 98 yard drives, he's more likely to finish a shorter drive with a score than a longer one, since he doesn't have a classic "big play/vertical threat."

I'm a big Vincent Jackson fan and think we've really just scratched the surface of his talent the last season or so, but I don't expect him to be a marque wide receiver in the Wayne/Jennings/Johnson sense.

Chris Chambers keeps hanging around and people keep talking him up but he's no great shakes overall. Decent but again, not anything to hang your hat on.

Yet Rivers is able to utilize them to tremendous affect and as he gets a healthy Gates back, I think it only helps him more.

Looking at his division, it's promising as well. Aside from Oakland, Denver still has some issues and Kansas City may be a wreck.

To me, while his attitude rubs some the wrong way I look past it to see a player who is definitely a top 10 fantasy quarterback and a strong possibility to sniff the top five if things fall right.

Let others worry about his personality—grab him as part of your QBBC and know you have someone who has the upside to finish as one of the best in 2009.

This article also posted on ThunderingBlurb.com.

Quarterback Blurb Breakdown: Trent Edwards

Andrew Garda — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 11:32:59 -0400

For the last set of quarterback rankings, please check this article HERE.

Trent Edwards finds himself in a classic "put up or shut up" situation this year.

The Bills went out and made some noise by signing Terrell Owens to a single year contract, giving fellow wide receiver Lee Evans someone who will draw coverage off of him and Edwards a second legitimate target.

Of course, the danger with T.O. is well known—calling him "QB-Killer" wouldn’t be out of line. Still, he’s usually good for at least one season of production before an implosion and the Bills were wise in giving him just a year contract.

Plus, if you look at his history quarterbacks tend to do pretty well with him at least the first year.

So Edwards could be in line for a nice bump in production.

On the downside, Edwards is losing Marshawn Lynch for three games. Fred Jackson looked very good last year and the team brought in Dominic Rhodes, so one hopes the run game won’t stumble too badly to open the season.

Rhodes hasn’t been spectacular the last few seasons and we only have part of a season to go on in terms of gauging Jackson’s production though, so it is a bit of an unknown factor.

More concerning is the offensive line. There is a lot of disagreement as to how good a Left Tackle Jason Peters was, but the fact is, even a decent LT is at a premium and now Buffalo has three new guys filling in across the line.

It will be a worry up until the point we actually see them play and maybe even beyond. The AFC East will test them early and often and the defenses there will not be forgiving if the line shows itself to be weak.

Edwards himself could use the time a good offensive line would grant him. The longer he has, the better the chance he won’t check-down early and might throw the ball further down-field. Some of that is play-calling, but some of that is Edwards and if he’s going to take advantage of his new toys, he has to take a few more chances.

You know darn well T.O. will voice his displeasure if Edwards doesn’t throw to him, and if things start slow that’s going to be a concern.

So far in his career, Edwards hasn’t been a great Fantasy quarterback. He doesn’t throw for a ton of touchdowns (21 in 24 games, three of which were rushing scores) but let’s be honest here—Lee Evans can only do so much with every defensive back hanging onto his shoelaces while James Hardy, Josh Reed, and Roscoe Parrish flounder around the field. T.O. can make a huge difference.

I want to see what happens in Training Camp. How will he click with his new weapon? Can the offensive line gel? Will the run game miss any beat?

If some of these questions are answered in Training Camp, Edwards could go from a decent backup to something much more.

Quarterback Blurb Breakdown: Kyle Orton

Andrew Garda — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 11:29:00 -0400

For the last set of quarterback rankings, please check this article HERE.

At first blush, you have to wonder what Denver was thinking here.

First, the Broncos mishandle trying to trade for Matt Cassel, and then they completely screw up calming Cutler down.

Then they trade a franchise quarterback for a perennial backup.

Or did they?

Sure, Kyle Orton didn’t wow us back in 2005 when he stepped in to cover yet another glorious Rex Grossman setback and played well enough to not lose.

And sure, while he looked incredibly good in the first portion of the 2008 season, he hurt his ankle and then completely fell apart.

But a bad ankle can hurt any quarterback and shouldn't diminish what he did when healthy.

So the question is: Which Orton is the one coming to Denver?

Certainly you have to credit Orton for stepping in during the 2005 season and holding the fort. It’s a lot to ask of any rookie, especially a guy like Orton who was a fourth round draft pick—expected to have to no more than back up duties to incumbent Rex Grossman in his first year.

He wasn’t perfect, throwing just 9 touchdowns to 13 interceptions. But he was serviceable.

It's odd, but the perception is often that Orton is very accurate, and that's not necessarily a fact. On the surface, his TD/INT ratio is almost 50/50 (30/27 actually). Mind you, it’s not much data to go on—he’s only got 33 games to go on.

But he's not a laser-accurate passer by any means.

The other assumption is that Orton lacks the arm strength to take advantage of his wide receiver corps. But in the same breath, many say that Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal automatically spell big numbers for Orton.

Once again, we don’t have a good measure of what Orton can do based on just two seasons, one of which was filled with a lingering injury.

Certainly Marshall, Royal and—to a lesser but no less important extent—Brandon Stokley and Tony Scheffler, all contributed to Jay Cutler’s success.

But I would make the argument that he made them as much as they made him, if not more.

The fact is, I think Orton will benefit from throwing to the group of targets he has in Denver. He’ll also benefit from having to throw more than in Chicago.

Denver hasn’t yet made enough strides for the defense to avoid struggling again this year and it’s possible the team will find themselves behind often enough to where Orton may have to come from behind.

The question is whether Orton has what it takes to come from behind and succeed. According to stats on footballguys.com, trailing the opposition last season, Orton threw for 1,002 yards but had a TD/INT ratio of 6 TDs to 7 INTs.

Again, some of that surely comes down to his wide receivers. Still, some of that is Orton and he’ll need to be able to be more accurate in Denver.

In the end, I’m not totally sure what we can expect from Orton and that’s a great deal of the problem. He’s been hot and cold, produced well and not at all, had few decent wide receivers, and was in an offense which favored the run because they didn’t trust their quarterbacks.

He's done a bunch of different things in different situations but what he hasn’t been is around long.

We have very little to go on which is dependable.

In this Denver offense, it’s tempting to just plug Orton in and assume the same numbers Cutler had will emerge. By the same notion—given the not-always-impressive numbers previously put up—it’s easy to dismiss him.

The truth is likely somewhere in the middle. But the doubts I have place him a little further back right now in my rankings.

I can’t get too hot and bothered about Orton, even if he played well half of one season. He’s got the job, so no Training Camp battle. But until camp starts, we won’t see how he clicks with his receivers – the best of which might not even be there.

This gets worse not better if Marshall gets traded or holds out (right now, Marshall says he’ll be in camp and the Broncos say they will not trade him). Again, nothing I can judge now.

So while I reserve the right to move him up later, in mid July, Orton is where he deserves to be on the list.

Quarterback Blurb Breakdown: Jay Cutler

Andrew Garda — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 08:20:26 -0400

On the surface, Chicago sure seemed to get the better of the Orton/Cutler trade. Denver got some nice draft picks, Orton, and a bag of chips, while Chicago got something it hasn’t had in an incredibly long time: a franchise quarterback.

Or did they?

There has been a ton of discussion about Cutler’s off-the-field issues and attitude and how it could affect his play. And from what I hear, there is some truth to the rumors out there.

Put that aside though, the more important question is: Who will he throw to?

The crux of that might come down to whether you think Cutler made Marshall/Royal or they made him?

I think the truth lies in the middle. It’s not the cop-out it may seem, if you look closely.

Cutler throws a lot. It’s the way he rolls and he has the arm to back it up, although sometimes his accuracy is a tad skittish. He'll throw a ton, and it’s one of the worries I have for Matt Forte—the dump offs he got last year won’t be there as Cutler forces the ball downfield.

But back to Cutler: We know the Bears will have him throw the ball. They didn’t trade the house to have him hand it off. And we know he can throw the ball well and far.

He just isn’t throwing to quality wide receivers.

Two things are often mentioned when this comes up:

1) Devin Hester is JUST about to break out this year. I know people said it would happen last year but it WILL happen this year. Listen, I didn’t say it last year and I won’t this year. Hester is fast and deadly with the ball in his hands.

But getting the ball into his hands—well, he hasn’t shown me he can make the tough catches needed to be a top wide receiver. Marshall was able to adjust to some of Cutler’s ‘special’ balls. Hester? We’ll see.

2) Cutler knew Earl Bennett at Vandy—instant chemistry! I wouldn’t be my house on it. Sure, they know each other but they haven’t played together in a long time. Not saying they won’t click—but counting on it is a little risky.

The rest of the receiver corps is a collection of also-rans and rookies.

Now if this is the case, how is he currently 10 on my list?

Simple—he will elevate that group more than they pull him down. While I don’t think Hester is close to elite, he’s more than serviceable and his vertical game matches up well with Cutler’s.

Cutler also has Greg Olsen, a young tight end who can also stretch the field as well as make shorter catches.

Now while the Bears will run the ball, they won’t run it exclusively. I very much expect Cutler to throw more than hand off. In fact, Forte’s ability to run the ball will help open up the secondary for Cutler.

Still and all, you have to assume there will be some issues. So while I think he could put up very good numbers, I’d be leery of depending on him and only him for most of my season.

Cutler brings out some real emotion in many corners, as evidenced by my intense debate with Greg Kellogg on The Thundering Blurb Show recently. Somehow, you're either with Cutler or against him and there is little in between.

If you can put aside your Bronco or Bear colored glasses, I think you'll see a player who is a very good quarterback. Remember—regardless of the whining and less-than-distinguished manner of his departure from Colorado—that this is a Pro Bowl quarterback who can excel.

I believe that as a portion of your quarterback by committee—even the main part—you would be more than happy to have him.

But I also believe if you reach for him expecting top-five numbers, you run the risk of being disappointed and struggling this season at quarterback.

Quarterback Blurb Breakdown: Kurt Warner/Matt Leinart

Andrew Garda — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 08:17:39 -0400

It's easy to just focus on Kurt Warner given the last few years.

While Matt Leinart has floundered with Internet drinking photos, poor displays of prowess in his limited game action, and perceived general lack of discipline, Kurt Warner keeps putting up great numbers.

At least that’s what it all looks like at first blush.

Warner certainly deserves the accolades for his 2008 season.

His 4,582 yards were his second highest total ever (second to his 4,830 in 2001) and his 30 touchdowns marked his third highest total. He also finished the season, something he hasn't done as a starter in—well, let's just say "in some time."

That's your first red flag, though. Call it luck, point to vastly improved offensive line play, say he got cybernetic implants—whatever the reason, he made it through the whole season without missing a game.

Never forget though, in his 11-year-old career, he has played a whole season as a starter just three times.

Sure, discount 1998 when he wasn’t a starter, or 2004 when Eli Manning stole his job. But historically, the man cannot stay healthy, and at 38, isn't getting more durable with age.

There is a fair chance he will get banged up.

Then why, you may ask, do I have him as a top quarterback?

Well, simply put, he's the starter on a dynamic pass-driven team with two of the best wide receivers in the game at his command. And no, I don't expect Boldin to be traded at this point. Even if he was, Steve Breaston could step in very ably as well.

Even when he doesn't play every game—like in 2007—he still put good enough numbers up to be a top 10 quarterback. The weapons at his disposal are just too good and if the blocking keeps up, the sky could be the limit.

Which brings us to Leinart, who has to make some sort of showing in his fifth year in the league.

He hasn't done a whole heck of a lot thus far.

Leinart has athletic ability and I believe he has the general skill-set to succeed in the NFL, though after several years of a whole lot of nothing, I doubt he'll ever reach an elite level.

As much as anything else, his head has gotten in his way. He was reportedly focused more during last season, as well as this offseason, but frankly, I'll believe it pays off when I see it pay off.

Still, since Warner has had issues with injuries in the past and the offensive weapons are outstanding, you have to consider Leinart. Given the value he could have, it’s worth thinking about snagging him as a security blanket for Warner later in your draft.

However, until you see Leinart have even a moderate version, don't grab him early expecting him to easily replicate Warner's numbers if the old man can’t finish.

Quarterback Blurb Breakdown: Peyton Manning

Andrew Garda — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 07:59:43 -0400

For a complete look at my rankings, take a look at this article here. It will be edited to link to these breakdowns as I do them.

Peyton Manning used to be the picture of stability. Never got hurt, always had solid receivers and running backs. Coaching staff was the same guys (for the most part) for his whole career.

What a difference an offseason makes. At least he's still incredibly durable.

Manning lost Head Coach Tony Dungy, a pair of other offensive coaches, and finally Marvin Harrison. While that happened, his main back Joseph Addai came up lame again and the offense as a whole started very slow last season as Manning himself came off injury.

But how much to worry?

Reggie Wayne has played well as the official No. 1 target in the offense. Harrison had been the nominal top cat in the pass attack but really Wayne has been the guy carrying a huge load for many years—Anthony Gonzalez.

Both underperformed last year, but are expected to bounce back. A big reason for the bad year was Manning's own slow start recovering from a knee surgery which caused him to miss large portions of Training Camp.

At running back, rookie Donald Brown is expected to step in and at least spell Addai, if not replace him outright if Addai stays banged up. There is a good chance that the run game will be on track and help to set up the dynamic pass attack which feeds the Colts offensive attack.

As for the head coach, early reports are that Manning is just fine with new Head Coach Jim Caldwell and that the former offensive coaches who "retired" will be back in some capacity.

The disruption should be minimal. All the above concerns are something to keep an eye on but it shouldn't be something which causes you to pass on him if you're looking for a quarterback early, especially if Brees and Brady are gone.

Manning should be a top fantasy quarterback this season again, with less of a roller coaster experience than his owners felt in 2008.

Quarterback Blurb Breakdown: Tom Brady

Andrew Garda — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 07:52:43 -0400

For a complete look at my rankings, take a look at this article here. It will be edited to link to these breakdowns as I do them.

Tom Brady and receiver Randy Moss are talking a good game, that's for sure. Coming off an injury, Brady and his main man are driven to push the edge again, and that spells excellent news for owners of either player.

Recall this is the duo that hit record heights in 2007 when Brady got the single-season passing touchdown record. You really have to like owning a piece of that offense, even if it's unlikely that you'll see its numbers again.

Still, Brady is coming off a significant injury, and that does merit some concern. He hasn't played in quite some time, and while the Pats will utilize the pass often (how can they not with Moss and Wes Welker on the field?), they also acquired some more running backs and could add more ground plays than we expect.

You had to assume they were coming back down to Earth last year even before Brady got hurt. Fifty-touchdown seasons just don't happen often.

Really, it's not a terribly big concern. Brady looked good on the few occasions where he threw and was working with his receivers on the sly when he could as well. But it's just a few small worries that might cause someone to go with a player like Drew Brees, who is healthy and will throw a ton without a doubt.

Brady is clearly a top quarterback, and if he can stay healthy and the offense stays firing on all cylinders, he will be very reliable and likely to end the season among the top three fantasy quarterbacks in most leagues.

Quarterback Blurb Breakdown: Drew Brees

Andrew Garda — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 07:46:44 -0400

For a complete look at my rankings, take a look at this article here. It will be edited to link to these breakdowns as I do them.

It’s hard to imagine Drew Brees matching is output from 2008. 5,069 and 34 touchdowns isn’t a minor total.

The question isn’t can he do it again—it’s dangerous to assume he can, as rare as the yardage total is—but how close can he come?

The answer is: pretty darn close.

If you look at the totals since Brees arrived in New Orleans, the man has consistently put up very good yardage totals (4,418 in ’06 and 4,428 in ’07), with pretty good touchdown totals (26 and 28) to go with them.

The Saints are a team which loves to pass and Brees is a great fit for them. Somehow, New Orleans excels through the air even when they have lost huge chunks of their offense as they did last season when Reggie Bush, Marques Colston and Jeremy Shockey were sidelined for portions of the year.

Yet players like Lance Moore, Pierre Thomas and Billy Miller filled in more than adequately. So far this offseason, everyone seems to be ready—and healthy—for camp.

Despite the ability that New Orleans has to replace cogs in their machine, the offense needs to stay healthy this season. You can’t lose guys like Colston every season and not slip at least a little.

Still, Brees is looking like a great bet to finish in the top three in fantasy at his position again this year.

The team loves to throw the ball, has the weapons to excel at it and the defense continues to put the team in positions where Brees has to throw. Even when they are ahead, though, this is a team that goes for the throat and does it through the air.

Brees has the weapons, the opportunity and the ability to top 4,000 yards with a more than respectable 25 or so touchdowns.

While it is very difficult to repeat numbers like Brees had last season, it’s hard to discount a guy who has been a top fantasy quarterback for several years in a row.

Add to this some concerns over Manning’s changing coaching staff and Brady’s coming back fro man injury and Brees has just enough going for him to edge out the first two for the top ranking.

Fantasy Football 2009: Quarterback Rankings For 7/9/09

Andrew Garda — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 23:16:36 -0400

There will be much deeper discussion about these ranking over the next couple of weeks, but by Training Camp these will change, maybe radically.

Blurb Breakdowns will start posting this weekend. I'll begin with some of the obvious ones - Brees, Manning, Brady - and segue into the middle and long-shot guys as well.

As we go, feel free to request suggestions via my email, twitter, or facebook. When I add a breakdown, I will try to hotlink it to the player's name here.

7 Philip Rivers

8 Carson Palmer

9 Tony Romo

10 Jay Cutler

11 Matt Schaub

12 Matt Ryan

13 Ben Roethlisberger

14 Matt Hasselbeck

15 David Garrard

16 Eli Manning

17 Trent Edwards

18 Jake Delhomme

19 Jason Campbell

20 Kyle Orton

21 Matt Cassel

22 Joe Flacco

23 Chad Pennington

24 Marc Bulger

25 Shaun Hill

26 Kerry Collins

27 Brady Quinn

28 JaMarcus Russell

29 Mark Sanchez

30 Byron Leftwich

31 Brett Favre

32 Tarvaris Jackson

33 Josh Freeman

34 Kellen Clemens

35 Matthew Stafford

36 Sage Rosenfels

37 Daunte Culpepper

38 Derek Anderson

39 Jeff Garcia

40 Chad Henne

41 Vince Young

42 Alex Smith

43 Chris Simms

44 Matt Leinart

45 Jon Kitna

Larry Johnson: Running Back Blurb Breakdown

Andrew Garda — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:16:14 -0400

Once upon a time, Larry Johnson was Fantasy relevant.

He still is, but he perhaps isn't as productive.

It's too bad, because we've seen some great production from him even in the last two, stunted years.

Maybe it was the immense number of carries in 2005 and 2006 (336 and 416, respectively).

Maybe it was the ineffectual regimes in Kansas City. Maybe it was the weight of his substantial ego.

Whatever the cause, he has been in trouble or hurt often after the last few years.

It didn't help his numbers last year that he caught just 12 balls after several seasons of 30+ catches. It looks unlikely that the Chiefs will utilize him to catch out of the backfield much this season. However, with All-World Tight End Tony Gonzalez lost to Atlanta, it's possible LJ could get a few more catches since Brad Cottam is rumored to be staying in to block a lot.

We've seen too much of a dip to think Johnson is ready to bounce back anytime soon, especially with a shaky offensive line, an unproven quarterback (albeit coming off a tremendous year) throwing to a small number of offensive weapons and probably less than desired, as the defense struggles to stop opposing drives.

Johnson still has some upside but is nowhere near the back who once occupied a lounging spot in the preseason top ten rankings.

The best you can do is draft him for depth and hope he can put in a performance for a few games like he did in week three vs Atlanta (121 yds, one TD), week four vs Denver (198 yds, two TDs) or week 16 vs Miami (108 yds, one TD).

But good luck figuring out when to start him. Thanks, but I think I'll pass, regardless of perceived value, even in the fifth or sixth rounds.

Derrick Ward: Bucs Running Back Breakdown

Andrew Garda — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:09:51 -0400

Derrick Ward comes into a muddy Tamp Bay offense.

We're not sure how much work he will share with Ernest Graham. We're not sure who the quarterback will be and aside from Antonio Bryant, and we're not sure who will be catching the ball.

We are sure that Kellen Winslow will help keep the secondary honest and that Ward is going to be a big part of this run game.

The problem is that even though we are sure about all of the above things, we're not totally sure what any of it means, or that it will last past August.

Instead, we can look back at what he did for the Giants over the past few years. While with New York and as part of a trio of running backs, he shined brightly.

Ward cracked 1,000 yards and caught 41 passes for 384 yards. He played behind a better offensive line, with a much surer hand at quarterback even if the wide receiver group was almost as shaky depth-wise as Tampa's.

Graham couldn't secure the job last season, being pushed aside at times for Warrick Dunn and he missed six games. He can catch the ball as well as Ward, but unlike Ward, Graham hasn't hit the 1,000-yard mark yet.

It's very likely Ward will end up getting more carries and doing more with them at that.

His 5.6 yards per carry is very encouraging. And while the confusion at quarterback will hurt a little, it means that there is a good chance that the Bucs will need to lean on a run game heavily.

He was also brought in by new head coach Raheem Morris, who certainly strikes me as the type of guy to fall in love with his own players and give them every chance to succeed. Of course, that leads you to wonder what might happen to the offense if and when rookie quarterback Josh Freeman gets in there.

Also, with Kellen Winslow there, there may be a ton of red zone looks which go elsewhere, assuming Winslow comes to play and prove Cleveland foolish for letting him go.

But Ward has enough potential to make him a safe third running back in fantasy leagues, with some upside for more. If the team were more stable and we knew how the carries were going to be split, he could even creep up a little more.

This is a player who needs to be watched very carefully during camp and could emerge as a real value in your fantasy drafts.

Running Back Blurb Breakdown: Steve Slaton

Andrew Garda — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 06:46:00 -0400

Houston Texans running back Steve Slaton is another back who people are either very high on or very wary of.

Questions about him are many: Is he too small to carry the load (ala Maurice Jones-Drew)? Will he lose carries to a second back (ala Joseph Addai)? Will he have issues if (maybe when) quarterback Matt Schaub or wide receiver Andre Johnson go down?

Let's take a look at these very valid concerns and see if they hold up and, if so (or if not), what that truly means.

First of all, size. While I have been researching an article on Jones-Drew, I've taken a hard look at the sizes and weights of many NFL running backs. Slaton is a tad on the short side, although at 5'9", I still think that's not a huge concern.

What might be a concern is his weight. Slaton rolls in as a trim (maybe slight is a better term) 203 pounds. While he isn't Darren Sproles (5'6", 181 pounds) the thin frame is worrisome.

Even Slaton knew this. That's why he added about nine pounds of muscle to help with the pounding. That pulls him closer to some of the slightly taller backs (in the 5'10"-5'11" range) and helps him with his short yardage work.

Now, as we're concerned with size, it would stand to reason the Texans would be as well. But they didn't bring in a power back to cut into Slaton's carries at all. In fact, the backs behind him consist of a fragile runner, an underperforming back who runs like Slaton, a pair of rookies, and a perennial camp body.

Not really a group striking fear into Slaton's heart. Of them, most likely to succeed in any way is rookie Arian Foster, who impressed in OTAs and at 6'1", 225 pounds can fulfill the power back role. This might harm Slaton's overall touchdown total, as an awful lot of his touchdowns were short yardage. Four were a yard or less and a fifth was just two yards.

Two thoughts. Slaton sure seemed to be OK going short yardage, and not only was he effective on the goal line, he played well getting first downs. Could it be that Houston didn't acquire a full-on short-yardage back because they believe Slaton can do it, with Brown (or now Foster) spelling him?

Alternatively, you have to be concerned that if he does lose his goal-line attempts, his touchdown totals are decimated.

Slaton did have about seven 40-plus runs, though, including one over 71 yards that resulted in a touchdown. He can break away from tacklers and if the offense is more consistent, that could offset any loss in the short yardage game.

Still, most of his 10 touchdowns were short yardage. So, it definitely could be a problem.

Finally, there is the concern that if Johnson or Schaub goes down with an injury, Slaton could face too many defenses selling out to stop him.

Well, with Schaub on the bench injured and Sage Rosenfels striking fear into the hearts of nobody, Slaton performed pretty well for the most part last season.

While the depth behind Schaub is even shakier this year (Dan Orlovsky and Rex Grossman—WOO HOO!), I still expect Slaton to play as well as he did last year and with another year under his belt, he'll have the potential to be even better.

Overall, Slaton ran the ball well throughout the 2008 season. He had some good games against good run defenses (Minnesota), some OK run defenses (Jacksonville), and some bad run defenses (Detroit, Green Bay, and Indianapolis).

He also had some disappointing games against poor run defenses (Cleveland) and some great run defenses (Pittsburgh, Miami, Baltimore). That's to be expected from a rookie. This year he needs a little more consistency before he is considered a true stud.

Overall, I like Slaton quite a bit this year.

I think he will not lose much in the way of carries or targets and has already said he feels like he knows what his coaches want and how to achieve it. I think he has no more or less questions than any back in front or behind him, has no real challengers for carries and I believe the offensive line has continued to improve over time.

His questions are very real, however, and must be considered when drafting him.

If Slaton stays healthy and the offense plays well, he has the opportunity to not only crack the top 10 again, but potentially the top five as well.

The risk is, with just one season to look over, we don't know if last year was the rule or the exception.