Fantasy Football News and Notes: Montario Hardesty, Patrick Crayton and More

Eric StashinSep 4, 2010

With rosters getting trimmed, there certainly is a lot of news from around the league. Here are a few tidbits that fantasy owners should care about:

Montario Hardesty’s rookie season has ended before it began as he suffered a torn ACL in Thursday’s preseason game, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer (click here for the article). This certainly has an impact on our running back rankings (click here to view). Jerome Harrison, who was expected to share time with Hardesty, will likely now see the bulk of the carries, which bumps him up a few spots (right around No. 30). Peyton Hillis is someone to keep a close eye on, as he could start stealing some carries.
The Dallas Cowboys traded WR Patrick Crayton to the San Diego Chargers for a seventh-round draft pick, according to nfl.com (click herefor the article). The Chargers aren’t deep at WR, especially with Vincent Jackson not looking likely to play for the team, but it’s not likely that Crayton emerges as anything more then a low-end option. Only once has he exceeded 40 catches and he should be the fourth option behind Malcolm Floyd, Legedu Naanee, and Antonio Gates.
LenDale White tore his Achilles tendon, ending his season. Do any fantasy owners actually care?
According to espn.com (click here for the article), Byron Leftwich has a “second-degree sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his left knee.” He would’ve replaced Ben Roethlisberger for the first four games (his suspension was reduced to four), but now it will be either Charlie Batch or Dennis Dixon. Either way, you might as well avoid the Steelers QB for the first quarter of the season, unless you play in the deepest of two quarterback formats.
The Tennessean has a quote from Titans coach Jeff Fisher regarding Kenny Britt: “If I suspect there’s issues he is not part of the (45-man roster on game days). If his mind is clear and he is focused and is ready to play, he is potentially a really good player. But if I suspect there would be a problem, we have other receivers I’ll play instead of Kenny.” Keep that in mind before depending on him early in the season.
Rumor is that T.J. Houshmanzadeh’s days with Seattle are numbered, whether he be traded or released. We’ll have to wait and see where he lands to ultimately determine the fantasy repercussions.
The Giants acquired Sage Rosenfels to be Eli Manning's backup. The problem is, Manning never misses a start. That means Rosenfels is unlikely to hold fantasy value in 2010.