Fantasy Football Three Hot, Three Not for Week 1 (Mendenhall, Boldin and More)

It’s been a busy week in the NFL, but let’s take a look at three players’ whose value improved, as well as three who saw their value diminish:

Three Hot:

1. Mark Clayton - Wide Receiver - St. Louis Rams
   He was going to be an afterthought in Baltimore, especially with the team bringing in T.J. Houshmandzadeh.  Now with the Rams, he actually has the opportunity to work his way into being fantasy viable once again.  Considering he has not had enough time to work with Sam Bradford yet, it’d not likely to come in Week 1.  However, with Donnie Avery out for the season and Laurent Robinson under whelming in the preseason, Clayton could be just what the doctor ordered.  They need steady receivers, and that’s what Clayton could provide.
2. Rashard Mendenhall - Running Back - Pittsburgh Steelers
   With the Steelers turning the starting quarterback spot over to Dennis Dixon while they await Ben Roethlisberger’s suspension to end, chances are they are going to be a grind it out team.  That means extra carries for Mendenhall, as they will not want to put too much pressure on their young quarterback.  He could be in line for a tremendous start to his season, to say the least.  Of course, Isaac Redman being named the short-yardage back hurts Mendenhall slightly, but not enough to downgrade him much.
3. Justin Forsett - Running Back - Seattle Seahawks
   There was thought that Leon Washington could win the number one back spot, having started the third preseason game, but Pete Carroll has instead decided to give Forsett the nod.  Obviously this is subject to change, but at this time Forsett is usable as a low-end RB2 or a high-end RB3.

Three Not:

1. Anquan Boldin - Wide Receiver - Baltimore Ravens
   With Darrelle Revis resigning with the Jets, Boldin’s debut with the Ravens just got a whole lot more difficult.  While you would anticipate Joe Flacco managing to get some numbers, dinking and dunking and finding other options, Boldin may be shadowed by one of, if not the, best corner backs in the league.  Revis shut down the best of the best last season, including Andre Johnson, Marques Colston and Randy Moss.  Even with Revis missing training camp, it’s hard to imagine Boldin having a monster game.
2. Matt Leinart - Quarterback - Houston Texans
   He went from a chance to start for the Arizona Cardinals to clearly being an understudy in Houston.  While Schaub has had injuries in the past (he played in 11 games in 2007 & 2008), he played in all 16 games last season and emerged as one of the better quarterbacks in the league.  The combination of Schaub-to-Andre Johnson may be the best in football today.  If Leinart somehow finds himself in the lineup he could have value thanks to Johnson’s presence, but at this point he should be on the waiver wire.
3. Darren McFadden - Running Back - Oakland Raiders
   Initially it seemed like he would get a real shot to win the top running back spot, but that was when it looked like Michael Bush was going to miss 4-to-6 weeks of action.  Now, with Bush already back at practice, the opportunity for McFadden to seize the job is that much more limited.  There appears to be an outside shot of Bush even suiting up in Week 1, so unless McFadden lights it up, it looks like he’s going to be sharing carries once again.

What are your thoughts on these stories?  Who has been affected the most?  How about the least?

Make sure to check out our Week 1 Rankings:

• Top 25 Quarterbacks
• Top 40 Running Backs
• Top 60 Wide Receivers
• Top 20 Tight Ends
• Top 15 Kickers
• Top 15 Defenses

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