2009 NFL Preseason Week Three | Fantasy Football Rankings

The third week of the preseason is the most important week to evaluate what we might come to expect in the real season. While it is just the preseason and you can only take so much from it, there are always interesting nuggets we can come away with.

Probably the most disappointing part of this week for me was that LaDainian Tomlinson did not play against the Falcons. I was hoping to see LT show he still had the burst of speed to hit the hole.

Unfortunately, we did see that explosion, as he was clogged up at the line of scrimmage, or he stumbled when he did have a chance for a nice play. Norv Turner said he did not hold Tomlinson out because of an injury, but he did note he was concerned about LT playing on the turf.

Watching how LT ran the ball in the first two games of the preseason, and the fact that he was held out this week, makes me believe his turf toe from a season ago is still a problem. This is not a surprise, as players with this injury can have lingering problems for years.

Just look at Deon Sanders with the Cowboys. He had the injury and it took him a few years to get right.

Below I have some interesting observations from the third week of preseason and how I see those points of interest playing out from a fantasy perspective.

Note: We will be doing write ups for every preseason game for all four weeks of the preseason. Below I have a link to every game and article for the third week of the preseason.

First Two Weeks of the Preseason

Preseason: Week 1

Preseason: Week 2

2009 NFL Preseason Week 3

Jaguars vs Eagles

Rams vs Bengals

Dolphins vs Buccaneers

Patriots vs Redskins

Packers vs Cardinals

Colts vs Lions

Saints vs Raiders

Bills vs Steelers

Titans vs Browns

Chargers vs Falcons

Ravens vs Panthers

Jets vs Giants

49ers vs Cowboys

Seahawks vs Chiefs

Bears vs Broncos

Texans vs Vikings


Fantasy Football Week Three Preseason Notes:

Cutler Struggles Early

The boos were loud and the cameras were shaky as Broncos fans let Jay Cutler know how they felt about his trade demand. Early in the game you could tell the crowd noise had an effect on the Bears' offense, as they stalled on the first couple drives.

As the Bears' offense settled down, Jay lead the team down for 17 first-half points capped off by a touchdown pass to Matt Forte.

In the end, Cutler did a good job and the Bears look like a good team as we get set for the regular season in a couple of weeks.

Ray Rice has Eight Catches

Last week starting running back Ray Rice scored a touchdown at the goal line and fantasy writers went crazy, as it looked like Rice might be the goal line man in Baltimore. For my money, I was happy to see that Rice did receive an opportunity to score and did convert on the play but I never believed he would be the only runner to get touches in that area.

This week Rice flashed off his receiving skills, as he had eight catches for 67 yards. This will probably make PPR fantasy players giddy about what this guy can do in their scoring structure.

In the end, I believe Rice will run some and catch some and will even get opportunities to score during the season. The question really is, can Rice put the total package together and be a every week producer this season.

At this point, I still think Rice isn't worth a starting spot even in PPR leagues because there are still to many hands in the pot.

Willis McGahee had another touchdown today, and you can't forget about Le'Ron McClain and his role in this offense either.

Right now Rice is a good early backup player for your team, but not a starter to begin the season.

Rivers is Coming Into His Own

This may seem like another preseason game, but it's really a game in which we saw a preview of what the Chargers would be like if they should lose LT for any stretch of time. In this preview, what fantasy owners and football fans can come away with is that this is Rivers' team and he has a lot of weapons to choose from.

The model of this passing game is very simple and that is to attack down the field with aggressiveness throughout the game and then dump the ball off to your running backs underneath.

Once you make the secondary respect the deep routes, it opens up opportunities like we saw tonight for running back Michael Bennett, who had a 52-yard touchdown catch. The play was just a dump-off on a third and 24, but Bennett made a few shifty moves and took it to the house.

Oh and by the way, Rivers also has this tight end guy named Antonio Gates and he's not all that shabby over the middle and in the red zone for touchdowns as well.

Fantasy Football Information Writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com