I could easily beat Bill Simmons (just not this year)

ESPN's Page 2's Sports Guy posted his top 50 fantasy players today, dropping the fact that he's got the #1 pick in his West Coast league, meaning he's taking LT2.

Any other year, though, I could take him, based on the rest of his rankings.

Shaun Alexander #3

Comeback year. You can feel it in the air.

Yes, that's right, waste the #3 pick on a RB the wrong side of 30 who needs to 'come back' in order to live up to such a high pick. Plus, this violates one of the rules he set forth years ago. Well, it's not a rule, exactly, but it goes like this: "You never want to take a guy in his 'he lost it' year." This COULD be that year for Shaun.

Joseph Addai #4

One of the fundamental mistakes of fantasy football is that people would value Addai over Alexander because it's more fun to take Addai. After all, he's the up-and-comer, the potential breakout guy, the guy with the higher ceiling. Well, why not go with the guy who's healthy and who has done it before? With your first-round pick, you should approach it like you'd bet your life on the pick. Would you bet your life on Addai doing better than Alexander this season? I sure wouldn't.

And that's why, in a nutshell, Bill Simmons isn't that good at FFB.

Willis McGahee #10

Baltimore's upgrade from Jamal Lewis to McGahee was like going from coach to first class on one of those two-floor jumbo jets like the one they used on "Snakes on a Plane." By Week 6, I see him sitting at 600-plus yards and eight TDs

I'll admit McGahee has more 'upside' than Lewis. But you're putting that two-floor jumbo jet in a rat-infested, ready-to-be-condemned hangar known as the Ravens O. I'll say that 600 yards by Week 6 is possible, if not probable, but NOT 8 TDs.

Cedric Benson #11, Marvin Harrison #12
There's no way Cedric should go this high, ahead of Harrison, to boot.

Marshawn Lynch #14, Travis Henry #15, MOJO Drew #16 (FIVE whole spots behind Reggie Bush) and Carson Palmer #17
Another one of his old precepts bite the dust, apparently: the one that most drafters are afraid of rookies, meaning you can scoop them up much later. Has he even LOOKED at the box scores of Buffalo's pre-season games???

Laurence Maroney #19
HERE'S the guy who thinks Kool-Aid will be in a timeshare with Sammy Morris; I knew there'd be someone.

Edgerrin James #20
Another ranking based on comeback potential. Pfft...

You know what? I can't even make it another 30 spots. I'm jumping right to his sleepers.

Sleeper 2: Vince Young
Ummm.... Bill... you already put him in your Top 50. He can't be both. Sigh...

Sleeper 3 (tie): Matt Schaub, Alex Smith

I'd rather grab these guys in the middle rounds over wasting a fourth-round pick on Bulger or Hasselbeck and hoping they stay healthy.

If he's wasting a fourth round pick on Hasselbeck, he doesn't have a shot in hell of winning anyway. Hasselbeck CAN be had in the 'middle rounds'. I'd rather grab HIM than one guy who's never started before and forced to work behind a bad O-line (Schaub) and a guy no longer in a Norv Turner O (Smith).

Sleeper 12: Selvin Young
Proof that Simmons turned in this column late because he was able to take advantage of Shanny screwing over all those who drafted Mike Bell or Cecil Sapp.

This is funny

This kinda sounds like me 5 years ago when I started playing FFB. This is the first worthwhile article on FoxSports.com in a while.

Also 'funny' (but not "ha ha" funny) is what happened in my 8 team league. Cutler's owner cut him and I was all set to add him and drop Schaub but I saw Jay and Kitna have the same bye week. We only get 20 add/drops in that league so I withdrew the waiver claim. Those add/drops turn into currency later in the season. Managers usually end up striking deals like "both our TEs are on a bye; let's both agree to not grab a backup and instead take zeroes" in order to save add/drops.

Another draft bites the dust

I had another draft Tuesday night, but training for my Vegas trip next week kept me from posting the results till now (learning Deuces Wild Video Poker and Pai Gow Poker on my PC).

This was another Yahoo! league, with very strange scoring. First of all, you start QB, WR, WR, WR, RB, RB, TE, W/R, K, DEF, so WRs are like currency. Second of all, the scoring format favors running/receiving TDs over yardage (although there is a .5 PPR and 3 bonus points for 300 yds/passing, 100 yds/rush and 100 yds/rec). So I altered my strategy a bit; I was helped out by getting a good slot: third!

• Joseph Addai


• Marvin Harrison


• Antonio Gates


• Deuce McAllister


• Marion Barber III


• Deion Branch


• Bernard Berrian


• LaMont Jordan


• Matt Hasselbeck


• Jerry Porter


• Fred Taylor


• Devery Henderson


• Brett Favre


• Matt Stover


• Denver


• Wes Welker

I really agonized over taking Gates with the 3rd pick in the 3rd round; it was between him and T.O.. MAYBE had I done that, I still could've ended up with Winslow or Heap later and I could've taken a better RB than Deuce, but remember, TDs are more valuable here and Deuce will get his share. Also, a LOT of good RBs went between my pick at #3 and my second. I don't have the info anymore, but I think the best available at that point was Thomas Jones, whom I am now worried about. So WR/WR was how I decided to play it, but opted instead for a TE who scores like a WR. I'm totally happy with Branch as my #2 and ecstatic with Berrian as my #3.

Fred Taylor was a "holy crap, he's still available?!" pick. And I can't believe Devery lasted as long as he did.

2 down, 2 to go

I had two drafts today. Both were Yahoo! leagues, but each was different.

The first was a 10 team league where you start QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, WR, TE, K, DEF, no PPR and passing TDs only worth 4. I had the 7th slot and came away with:

• Laurence Maroney


• Willie Parker


• Reggie Wayne


• Plaxico Burress


• Deion Branch


• Kellen Winslow


• Matt Hasselbeck


• Deuce McAllister


• Brandon Jackson


• Adrian Peterson


• Jerry Porter


• LaMont Jordan


• Seattle


• Matt Stover


• Ben Roethlisberger

I was pleased with myself for flip-flopping Plax and Deion; even though I ranked Branch higher, I had a hunch if I waited till the next round, he'd still be there. I was also happy to start the run on tight ends with my Winslow pick (Gates had gone at 3.08). I'm hoping to use a couple of the RBs as trading chips down the road.

The 2nd draft didn't go as well. It's an 8 team league and I had the 8th pick. Also, the starting lineup is QB, QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, RB/WR, TE, K, DEF, plus PPR PLUS 6 points for passing TDs. I found about my slot about 20 minutes before the draft and initially settled on taking a stud QB with my 2nd pick, but... well... take a look at what happened:

• Laurence Maroney


• Larry Johnson


• Steve Smith


• Antonio Gates


• Cedric Benson


• Jon Kitna


• Matt Leinart


• Deion Branch


• Carnell Williams


• Brandon Jackson


• Darrell Jackson


• Matt Schaub


• Joey Galloway


• DeAngelo Williams


• Matt Stover


• Jacksonville

Yup, I took LJ instead. I gambled that I'd still be able to get my #6 QB, McNabb, in round 3, but it wasn't to be. So I did the next best thing and took Gates! As you can see, I missed out on the run for backup QBs as well and had to settle for Schaub. Well, the good thing about this league is that a lot of decent players are still available and I can add/drop if absolutely necessary.

By the way, Maroney had himself a heck of a game Friday night, no? Good thing I had no plans on drafting Travis Henry instead! I have a hunch, though, that some 'experts' out there will make mention of Sammy Morris getting some carries and use that as an excuse to dump on Laurence. We'll see if I'm right this week!

Oh... great... THESE guys...

To be fair, they've been posting semi-regularly over at fantasy.sportsline.com. I just haven't been paying attention because a) I know they suck and 2) my one league that uses sportsline didn't really 'get going' until the other day.

Who are these guys? Call them any derogatory name you want, just don't call the big one late for dinner. In short, these are the guys you DON'T want to listen to. If you used The Princeton Review for SAT prep (like I did... 15 years ago), you may remember "Joe Blogs". Joe Blogs is the average guy who gets an average SAT score b/c he gets the easy stuff right, bats .500 against the slightly harder stuff and always guesses wrong on the hard questions.

Let's look at what they had to say lately, after letting their backwards caps cut off the flow of blood to their brains (can't link to their articles b/c they're 'exclusive' to Sportsline fantasy players):

On whether to trade Maroney for Travis Henry

I would absolutely make the trade for Henry. We have seen what Mike Shanahan has done with a bunch of no-name running backs (Olandis Gary, Mike Anderson, Reuben Droughns), but now he inherits a back with a ton of talent. Maroney is an up-and-coming talent, but if you look at his track record, he has done his best work in a tandem situation going all the way back to his days in college at Minnesota.

Yeah, good advice. Then when Shanny decides to give serious reps to Mike Bell or even Cecil Sapp for whatever reason, you'll feel like a chump. You may also want to keep the RB with the established QB, but hey, I just do this for free (and also, I wear my cap forward).

On Vince Young

2007 projections: 262-of-443 passing, 2,932 yards, 19 touchdowns, 16 interceptions in 15 games
Outlook: Young also is projected to rush for 524 yards and six touchdowns this season, and it's his rushing numbers along with his passing totals that make him a No. 1 Fantasy QB. There is a concern with the lack of experienced weapons in the passing game, but expect Young to make up for that by making those younger players better.

He'll make them better, all right, or else he'll bop them in their helmetted heads with his throwing hand! And, I'm sorry, but his main weapons are all tight ends. He's not sniffing 3000 yards in the air; no way.
Editor's note: upon further review, I realized that a QB needs to average LESS THAN 200 YARDS A GAME to finish the year at 3000 yards, so maybe Vince can sniff that many.

On Jay Cutler

2007 projections: 313-of-491 passing, 3,702 yards, 23 touchdowns, 14 interceptions in 16 games
Outlook: Cutler started the final five games of the season last year and showed why he is a No. 1 Fantasy QB going into this season. He has plenty of talent around him ... Cutler may have early growing pains since his playing time was limited last year, but he should improve in his second season.

So he'll have growing pains, but he'll be a #1 QB and get kinda close to 4000 yards? Does the guy who wrote this realize that Shanny likes to RUN the ball?

On Matt Leinart

2007 projections: 317-of-516 passing, 3,549 yards, 21 touchdowns, 14 interceptions in 15 games
Outlook: Leinart has the chance to significantly improve this season because of the new coaching staff and the players around him. With stud WRs Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald and the expected upgrade in the running game with Edgerrin James, Leinart should thrive. He'll start the season on the cusp of a starting Fantasy option, but don't be surprised if he's your starting QB by the end of the year.

Okay, I'll be honest: this one I kind of agree with. It may be a little high, but the numbers sound about right. I don't understand how he can be 'on the cusp' of being a #1 Fantasy QB, while Cutler already is, but then again, I've got 100% bloodflow to my brain.

On Tavaris Jackson

2007 projections: 236-of-391 passing, 2,657 yards, 16 touchdowns, 13 interceptions in 14 games
Outlook: Jackson has the most work to do going from his rookie year to this season. He had limited playing time last year, and the Vikings have no wide receivers to speak of coming into the season. The Vikings are counting on Jackson to improve, but he should be considered a No. 2 Fantasy option. He might end up surprising you, but don't worry about wasting a draft pick on him.

If you waste a draft pick on Jackson, you've got bigger things to worry about because you probably F'ed up elsewhere in your draft as well.

And this, in a nutshell, is my main problem with these guys: they LOVE EVERYBODY! Studs are super-studs. Middle-tier guys are studs. Sleepers are 'almost studs that you should still draft'. It's almost as if they're afraid of offending an NFL player or something.

NO at KC: Data mining

Purely looking at the GameCenter page from CBS Sportsline, I can only offer the following:

• NO played it safe, especially with Reggie Bush (who had ZERO catches, while Deuce had 4!). Still, Reggie was able to get 51 yards on just 6 rushes. Also MIA was Marques Colston and Devery Henderson.


• Brodie Croyle STINKS. Larry Johnson will face 9 men in the box ALL YEAR if the QB situation in KC doesn't improve.

JAX at GB: What have we learned, Charlie Brown?

Not much I'm afraid. "Learning" implies new information and I either saw confirmation of existing knowledge or a muddying of the waters.

• Brandon Jackson is good, but JAX's D is better (11 rushes for 20 yards and a TD). He did chip in 4 catches for 23 yards, too.


• Greg Jennings caught a couple of balls could be back in the WR mix, even though James Jones went off (6 for 80).


• The above item is moot if Donald Driver misses considerable time because then both of those guys are worth drafting.


• The WRs NOT worth drafting all had jaguar heads on their helmets. I *think* Wilford and Northcutt started. Leftwich overthrew Northcutt twice. Reggie Williams, who somehow was their 'leading receiver' in 06, had some looks. Matt Jones had a drop or two, but had a nice catch-n-run once Garrard took over. If Del Rio can't make a decision, how can YOU make one?


• Speaking of "Lord" Byron, the only time he looked good was when Labrandon Toefield came in the game. If you could guarantee that Byron will ONLY ever throw to Toefield this season, I'll happily bump him up my rankings. If you can't guarantee me that, I'll assume we're in for another year of sacks, a slow throwing motion, overthrows, dropped passes and the inevitable mid-season injury.


• I really wanted to see who lined up in the backfield when JAX got down near the goal line, but by the time that happened, Taylor and Jones-Drew were out of the game. So I can't give any credence to this Pancake Blocks entry regarding Greg Jones, back from injury, becoming a TD vulture.


• I think I came away most impressed with the Packers D. They handled the 1-2 punch of the Jags' RBs and weren't lured to sleep by Leftwich's windup. Considering the offenses in the rest of the NFC North, GB MAY be worth drafting if you somehow get caught with your pants down at the end of your draft.

Rotoworld goes from 'decent' to 'blow'

Gregg Rosenthal is doing a draft right now is posting a new blog entry every single time a thought enters his head. If you're reading this a couple of days later, you'll have to go back to his entries from 8/22.

Some guy named Matt Pitzer has a new column there. His first offering is so chock full of common sense he should return his paycheck.

Snap back to reality (a mea culpa)

I can't believe I'm actually now indebted to guys like Sean Salisbury, but based on this, I am. It's an analysis of the ESPN Fantasy Draft Special from last night that I didn't watch b/c it was 1.5 hours long and I barely have time to watch a 15 minute show like Robot Chicken these days. Sean took Laurence Maroney at #5 (I had him ranked at 4) and the guys at Winning the Turnover Battle really let him have it.

If you go by the premise that "good ideas seem like bad ideas to losers" and vice versa, I REALLY messed up with my RB rankings. The whole point of this blog was to make sure you didn't follow advice that would later make you look like an idiot and I failed in that respect. I fell in love with guys like Thomas Jones, but devalued a guy like Frank Gore who works out by dragging tires around and just so happens to have a broken hand (and a new O-coordinator, but I'll let this slide).

I also dropped Calvin Johnson down considerably. I'm thinking of dropping Deion Branch as well, but I'm torn. On the one hand I KNOW he'll produce, but on the other, someone could probably take one of the WRs that came after him in round X and still be able to get Branch in round X+1. So I'm not sure if I should rank based on performance or on 'value'. Let me hear your thoughts in the comments, all 1 of you :).

Maybe I can coach for the Fins...

Item 5 confirms what I said the other day about Ronnie Brown's performance.

Some good info in that article about Brandon Jackson, Lamont Jordan and Laurence Maroney, too.

Stop Eli Manning. Stop him before it's too late.

In the game against the Ravens last night, the play-by-play will tell you that, early in the first, Eli fumbled. It will later tell you that the Giants got the ball back and Eli led the team on a touchdown drive, hitting up-and-coming receivers like Michael Jennings and Steve Smith in the process. Maybe this morning you read about how both those receivers were hurt on the drive. Maybe you also read that two other injuries occurred within roughly the same 2 minute timespan (Sam Madison pulled his right hammy and Will Demps dislocated his elbow).

What you probably haven't read is how all this is Eli's fault. Jennings had to ssssssttttttrrrreeeeeetttttttccccchhhhhhh to get the last ball he caught and that's what caused his ACL to detach and zip up his leg like a window shade (NOT like a 'lamp shade', which is what Madden said). Smith caught an Ed Reed forearm shiver to the head catching the TD that Eli zipped to him in between Ed and another Baltimore defender.

And I don't have proof, but I bet Eli said to Demps at one point something like "launching yourself in the air and hitting another guy with your helmet always seemed like a good idea to me; I mean it's not like you're gonna dislocate your elbow or anything".

Sam Madison, meanwhile, pulled his hammy while thinking "Oh crap, I can't let Baltimore score because we don't have a good enough QB to lead us back. Gotta run, gotta run, gotta..... OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!".

I think when the book closes on Eli's career, that book will be entitled "Who Wanted It Less?" and it will have been co-written by Drew Bledsoe.

(note: this ultimately means I've dropped Plax a few notches, due to the fact that Eli will probably get him killed at some point).

Doug Tucker must've been watching a different game

Doug Tucker, an AP sports writer, wrote the game recap for Miami vs. KC at Yahoo!. This line, in particular, vexes me:

Miami's retooled offensive line, a big worry all during training camp, opened hole after hole in the first quarter for Ronnie Brown, who had gains of 12 and 10 yards to get Green's long drive started.

I actually took the time out of my busy schedule to rewatch Ronnie's runs, since I still had the game on my DVR. I would say, that of his 13 rushes, a mere 2 or 3 of the good ones were because of open holes. Oh, sure, it's easy to say a hole was open by virtue of the fact that there was a space for him to run through. But if you look closer, you'll see a lot of fancy footwork, a couple of cutbacks and some poor tackling by KC.

If you want to see what open holes look like, check out what Minnesota's O-line was able to open up for Adrian Peterson against the Jets.

Friday night action

Some quick thoughts before I go to bed:

• Carolina running backs looked pretty good tonight; maybe it wasn't just a false positive from facing the Giants last week. Delhomme, however, continued to struggle. I may need to adjust his ranking as well as that of Steve Smith


• McNabb was, in a word, awesome. He seemed pretty locked in with Kevin Curtis, whom I also may have been wrong about. Maybe he won't be this year's Nate Burleson after all.


• MIN's Adrian Peterson continued to shine, but NYJ's Pennington may have taken a step backwards.


• Another stinker from Marshawn Lynch. Still, I think I've got him ranked just about right.

Goodnight you princes (and princesses) of fantasy football!

Dolphins at Chiefs

This definitely isn't an attempt to 'live blog' as I've officially stopped watching the game. I have no desire to partake in "Cleo and Brody's Excellent Adventure".

Even when Trent Green and Damon Huard were in there, though, there wasn't much to write home about.

Ronnie Brown looked good, but I think that was in spite of the Miami O. Trent Green again looked pretty bad, although Jaws tried to pump him up, saying that there were some drops that were not his fault. Again, you have to look at the O-line. Too many times, it looked like a jailbreak on defense. Brown only got his yards due to some nifty moves, some overpursuit by KC and some plain ol' dumb luck. Nifty moves will only work so many times and not all defenses overpursue.

It's clear that Ronnie Brown is Cam Cameron's Tomlinson, just like David Martin is 'supposed' to be Cameron's new Antonio Gates. Martin was targeted a bunch of times, but did have one or two drops. Don't go bumping Martin up your draft board, though. I'm not (I'll add him at the bottom, though).

Stop the presses: Chris Chambers caught a ball!

I don't have much to say about KC because Larry Johnson still hasn't signed, but I WILL say that I know Michael Bennett is a capable RB and if he couldn't get anything going, chances are LJ won't fare too much better. KC's O-line seemed content to play their own little game of 'anything you can do we can do worse' with Miami's O-line.

If I only got paid for this...

this is the kind of article I'd write. But alas, I have a full time job and a 6 month old at home (who's on my lap right now), so you get what you've gotten the past couple of days. I will try to provide more info going forward. Not sure how I missed Rex Grossman's nearly perfect performance, but I did and now I'm kicking myself for it.

Also, this is the kind of blog I'd have, if only I got paid for this. While the preseason is nice, I really won't be able to fulfill my 'mission statement' of debunking the 'experts' out there until the regular season gets going. Until then, I'm just another shlub with a 'notebook' on as many pre-season games as possible.

Willis McGahee is almost a top 10 back?

Take away his 16 yard run and he had 3 rushes for 4 yards.

Brian Westbrook also went 3 for 4 (not the good kind) but at least chipped in a reception for 23 yards.

Something I forgot I know (or something I know I forgot!)

Upon further review, I had already included Byron Leftwich in the 'move up' poll (why haven't you voted yet?), but I never said anything about Leftwich or his backup (or replacement?), David Garrard. Both played good games, but I'm very skeptical, having been burnt by both last year.

Some things I know I know

With all apologies to Peter King, who merely just thinks:

• Don't buy heavily into Deshaun Foster's 5 for 62 against the Giants. The Giants have a new defensive coordinator and they're also converting Mathias Kiwanuka from DE to LB. And say what you want about Michael Strahan. Sure, he may get himself into bad marriages, which result in a bad divorce and Michael begging Subway's Jarrod for 'more meat', but he was good against the run. Besides, Foster's a threat to injure himself any day now. Doesn't look like DeAngelo Williams got any reps, though; anyone know what's up?


• Brandon Jackson went 16 for 57 yds against PIT? Can anyone tell me what string of PIT's D he did this against? I'm not being snide; I really want to know!


• Ronnie Brown's 8 rushes for 8 yards is a symptom, not the disease. Trent Green looked awful, too, and I bet it all comes down to MIA's O-line.


• Jamal Lewis had 4 rushes for 20 yards. I may have been wrong; I need to see more before passing 2nd judgment.


• Regarding the Texans, some interesting quotes here. Did anyone actually see the game? I'd like to believe in Schaub, I really do, but I can't just yet. And the quote about Ahman Green (3 for 7 yds) just needing a little more blocking reminds me of baseball people saying that a pitcher 'just needs to harness his stuff'. In other words, the guy's going to annoy the living crap out of you.


• I tried watching Sunday night's game but it didn't hold my interest the way Friday's did. Neither team had any rookies I was curious about going into the game, but I guess I should've been curious about SD rookie WR Craig "Call me Buster" Davis, who looked good with the first team (my guess he was subbing for an injured Eric Parker). Did Vincent Jackson even have a catch? DJ Hackett, not Nate Burleson, got the reps when Hasselbeck was under center. Oh and Deion Branch's 30 yard TD catch merely reinforces the lofty expectations I have for him this year; I can't wait to grab this guy with a 'value pick'!

Thoughts on Bills vs. Saints (and the other games, too)

It's a good thing the Mets have started to suck (I'm looking at YOU, Billy Wagner) because now I don't feel guilty devoting more and more time to the NFL. This game had enough subplots that FFB players should've stuck around for the whole game. It was good to see the Saints' high-powered offense return to their form of last year. I paid special attention to the WR corp. Devery Henderson was given the first crack at the #2 job, taking all the reps with Brees under center and catching a bunch of balls. Colston, however, was mainly a decoy (why risk an injury at this point, right?). Once Brees exitted, it was Terrence Copper's turn, with "Pootsteps" Palko trying to cement his position as the #3 QB. He did little to distinguish himself; his chief 'highlight' was allowing a Bills defender to run a better route and interecept a ball intended for him. Finally, if you were still tuned in towards the end of the 3rd quarter and into the 4th, you saw the potential of #1 draft pick Robert Meachem, as he caught a beautiful fade pass for a 2 yard TD. Eric Johnson was in the mix as well out of the TE spot. Of course, he still has plenty of chances ahead to injure himself (I wouldn't draft him, nope, no way).

On the Bills' side, no one on O really stood out (probably because this was the Saints' 2nd game but only the Bills' first). Neither Anthony Thomas nor Marshawn Lynch did anything of note on the ground (although I think it's too early to downgrade Lynch). JP Losman looked merely okay (he was better running the ball than passing). Roscoe Parrish didn't get reps until Craig Nall took over the QB duties and I don't think Lee Evans caught a single ball. So, the bottom line is it's too early to tell with Buffalo. Now, if I were getting paid, I could probably make up something to justify my salary, but I don't so I won't ;).

Around the rest of the league
After quickly perusing the game recaps over on Yahoo, I have the following thoughts:

• Don't buy into Justin McCareins just yet. He did his damage towards the end of the first half and Atlanta's first team D isn't that good anymore so Lord only knows what their second team D is like. And yes, I got burnt by Justin a couple of years ago when he came to the Jets from TEN and have never forgiven him.


• Thomas Jones, however, was everything I expected him to be tonight.


• Take away Jerious Norwoods 10 yard TD scamper and he only had 7 rushes for 19 yards.


• At least if you take away Rudi Johnsons 20 yard dash, you've still got 4 rushes for 12 yards (3 yds/rush).


• If you draft Steven Jackson, you could do a LOT worse than handcuffing him to his backup, Rutgers' Brian Leonard.

Another poor post, but this time the comments kinda suck too.

FOXSports seems to have cornered the market on bad FFB 'experts'. This article pretty much updates an old Bill Simmons article for 2007. Sadly, the comments aren't nearly as good as before. Seems that FOXSports.com mainly attracts those who got rejected by the Deadspin commenting sheriff.

Minor RB ranking change

I'm desperate for content, so I thought I'd explain why I moved Marion Barber III down a bit and Julius Jones up a bit. I caught the first quarter of tonight's pre-season game against Indy and Jones looked decent and while Barber did get the reps when DAL marched inside the Colts' 20 and the entire 2nd series, he only looked good, no great (and certainly not like a RB who deserves to be a feature back).

Poor article, better comments

If I got paid to do this for a living, I'd write a better article than this. Make sure you scroll down to the comments.