by John Miller

Clinton Portis did his weekly appearance on ESPN 980’s “The John Thompson Show” and things got ugly when Portis complained of all the “hatin’ going on.”  Ex-Redskins RB Brian Mitchell totally called Portis out: “I see you after one 9-yard run, running to the sideline, breathing heavy. I’m not going to be one of those people kissin’ your butt.”    

This is good stuff, click here for more:

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Here are the Standings after Week 2 in the Draft Sharks Invitational Leagues:

 (Overall Total Points champion gets a free entry in the 2009 WCOFF)

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by Jared Smola

Get your remotes ready! You’ll want to be channel-hopping on Sunday to catch these marquee individual matchups:

1. Vikings RB Adrian Peterson vs. Colts S Bob Sanders- Talk about an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. Peterson runs like an angry LB, looking to run through defenders instead of around them. Sanders plays like a missile speeding at 1,000 mph towards his target. There will be a few bone-jarring hits, but it’ll be interesting to see whether it is Peterson or Sanders dishing them out.

2. Rams LT Orlando Pace vs. Giants DE Justin Tuck- The Rams will want Pace lining up against Tuck, but look for the G-men to keep St. Louis guessing by moving their elite pass-rusher to both end positions. Still, Tuck will be squaring off against Pace from time to time and it’ll be fun to watch. This is a great test for Pace to see if he is completely recovered from his off-season shoulder surgery. He’ll need to keep Tuck off QB Marc Bulger’s back if the Rams are to have any success in the passing game.

3. Broncos WR Brandon Marshall vs. Chargers CB Antonio Cromartie- Two of the most physically-gifted players in the NFL will go one-on-one in this divisional battle. Marshall is making his 2008 debut after being suspended for a game, while Cromartie (questionable) is dealing with a hip injury. I’m hoping for at least one 50-50 jump-ball between these two. Marshall tallied 13 catches for 147 in 2 games against San Diego last year but failed to find the end zone.

4. Patriots HC Bill Belichick vs. Jets HC Eric Mangini- It figures that Belichick’s first game without QB Tom Brady comes against his arch-nemesis Eric Mangini (side note: someone should make a comic book titled “The Hoody vs. The Mangenius”). These two guys always have something up their sleeves for one another, but the best part of their two annual meetings is the awkward post-game man-hug. Priceless.

5. WR Terrell Owens vs. CB Asante Samuel- Owens will go up against his former team under the bright lights of Monday Night Football, but he’ll also be going one-on-one with the Eagles’ prized free-agent acquisition. Philadelphia shelled out $57 million to Samuel for games just like this. Shutting down the Cowboys offense starts with containing T.O. Samuel did an excellent job on WR Torry Holt last week, but Owens is a different animal.

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by John U. Miller IV

Browns WR Donte’ Stallworth has a strained quad and is out again this week. He injured it in Week 1 pregame warmups. Word has it he just walked over to Romeo Crennel and pointed to his leg and said, “I can’t go.” No one saw it happen.  Wow. Counting the $10 million guaranteed he got to sign with Cleveland, Stallworth has made well about $23 million dollars in the NFL. He has 279 career catches.  That’s about $82,000 per catch! Stallworth’s talent and fear-inducing speed is well-documented. It makes him attractive to NFL teams (he’s on his 4^th different one now). But once he shows his work ethic and obviously less-than-ideal conditioning, he gets released. We’re no different.  We rank him too high every year and then end up slashing his ranking before October arrives. He’s a loser.

That said, I want to see Browns rookie WR Syndric Steptoe get out there and take Stallworth’s job. Right now they are considering Steptoe, Steve Sanders, and KR Josh Cribbs in the #2 spot. Steptoe has the best NFL name since Shyrone Stith. I saw this preseason catch and fell in love with the 5’9/200-lb juggernaut. I could see Steptoe being a Shaun McDonald-type, picking up crumbs off Braylon and Kellen’s table all season long.

Now that Tom Brady is gone, it’s shame we aren’t reading Boston headlines like: “All-Pro RB Laurence Maroney Picks Up the Slack.” Instead it’s, “Pats Running Game to Step Up.”  They speak of the Pats’ RBs as a “game” because it’s a big, fat committee. No singular mention of Maroney, a former 21^st overall draft pick. He and Sammy Morris each had 10 carries last week – and that was without Kevin Faulk or LaMont Jordan getting involved. Now Faulk is back from suspension and Jordan’s had another week to get acclimated to the system. They will all play, and Maroney is towing the company line: “We have me, Kev, LaMont, Sammy, it’s definitely going to be a nice rotation going on.”

Still, Maroney is the most talented back they have. Though Morris is probably the toughest player on the roster, there’s a reason he’s bounced all over the AFC East. Let’s see if Maroney can outwork the other guys in practice and command more touches going forward. It’s there for him, he’s just gotta take it. No coach wants a 4-man RB rotation – I don’t care what they say about “fresh legs” and all that crap.

JUMbo: Just Once

1. Just once, give DeAngelo Williams 25-30 touches. I actually think he could handle it. Jonathan Stewart can still have his 15 touches. Williams averaged 24 touches at Memphis and was one of the best college backs ever.  

2. Just once, target Roscoe Parrish 10 times. I think there’s a 170-yard game in him. And it would give the Bills offense one more dimension to make them lethal. He’s impossible to grab in the open field and his teammates go crazy when would-be tacklers drop their laundry.

3. Just once, I want Jon Gruden to draft a young QB and groom him. Quit jawing with these old vets like Jeff Garcia (and Rich Gannon). They’re Gruden’s age and they have egos like he does. In 2005 Gruden passed on Aaron Rodgers for Cadillac Williams.  Heck, in 2002 Gruden took WR Marquise Walker in the 3^rd round… 20 picks later the Jaguars got David Garrard.

I just saw this scroll across the NFL Network bottom ticker: “Saints CB Randall Gay (flu/hamstring) did not practice Friday.” Wow, he’s their starting LCB because Mike McKenzie (ACL rehab) was already out.  If you’re on the fence about starting Santana Moss or Antwaan Randle-El this week you might want to push him in.

My favorite stat is Yards After Catch. Over the course of the year the guys with the most YAC always reads like a Pro Bowl roster. Here’s the top-20 YAC’ers after 1 week:

Why do I get the feeling Denver’s defense is going to let them down vs. San Diego?  I don’t know – maybe they’re too confident after picking on the hapless Raiders, or maybe because they’re on a short week.  I just can’t see San Diego going 0-2 with or without Shawne Merriman.

Now we all get to see Steve Slaton under the lights on Monday night. Let’s see if he can shake-n-bake like he did at West Virginia.  We still like Chris Taylor and it will be interesting to see how many touches he gets. Ahman Green (foot) is out. Don’t be shocked if they just buy out his contract and kick him to the curb soon.  Darius Walker was re-signed to the practice squad and might be on the 53 for this game.

So much for “Sneaky Starter” Ricky Williams last week . On 7 of the 14 total times he touched the ball he gained 2 yards or less. He lost 2 fumbles. Not coincidentally, Ronnie Brown got more 1^st-team reps than Williams this week.  Ricky better get it in gear. I bet he will vs. Arizona.

It’s funny to watch other FF sites starting to chirp and sing about Chris Johnson.  We were slipping you juicy Johnson quotes from our Titans insider back in July. We revved up the bandwagon even before his 66-yard exhibition TD. Monster.

On that note, some FF sites are just now dropping Deuce McAllister down their rankings and talking about Pierre Thomas. One site had Deuce at #28 as of Sept 3^rd, undoubtedly causing many of their customers to take him as their RB3. Ouch. Deuce never touched our top-60 this summer and we talked up Pierre a long, long time ago.

Here are the Standings after Week 1 in the Draft Sharks Invitational Leagues:

 (Overall Total Points champion gets a free entry in the 2009 WCOFF)

If Buffalo’s defense manhandles the Jaguars on the road then we’ll know they’re going to be really, really special.

Word earlier this week was that Ted Ginn would be benched for Derek Hagan. From today’s Sun-Sentinel: “Derek Hagan, who was unseated by three-year veteran Greg Camarillo for his starting flanker role last week, worked with the starters in Ginn’s place during Wednesday’s practice. But Sparano insinuated the coaches are merely experimenting. ‘Every day we go out there on the practice field, every game that we play it’s a tryout,’ Sparano said.”  Ginn is still a starter but he’s on a short leash. Last week he fumbled and had an offensive pass interference call.

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By John Culligan

Hey Folks! I’m not a core member of the DS Staff. I’m a contributing writer & researcher that is grateful for the opportunity to be allowed to write about one of my passions in life – fantasy football. When I approached them about writing MMMM, they kindly said I could hit this blog. I don’t tow the company line because DS doesn’t have one. They encourage “outside the box” thinking and I can be really “outside.” So if you’re looking for some thoughts that are really my own and an alternative to some already great analysis that is on this site, then you’ve found your guy.

This first week of the NFL caused quite a stir with its under/over performing players and the dreaded plethora of injuries. So here are a few of my crazy ideas: The season’s not over for the New England Patriots, at least not in my opinion. I remember when an injured Drew Bledsoe was replaced by the unknown 2nd year QB, Tom Brady, in ‘01 and everyone was in a panic. It seems to me that the young Brady had a somewhat respectable season that year throwing for 18 TDs and 2,843 yards and that was with just one season in the Patriots system. Now I’m not saying that Matt Cassell is another Brady, but you’ve got to give this guy a chance and not just give up on your FF season. He’s had 3 years in the Pats’ system and he’s learned at the foot of the master. He’s got better targets than Brady had and he didn’t look so bad in relief against the Chiefs. That being said, you want to temper that glimmer of hope I just held out there with watching to see how he does when he goes through the weekly practices and game planning knowing that he’s the “main” man on Sunday. If you had Brady, you’ve got to try to get this guy on your bench and start your # 2 QB for this week while eyeing how Cassell does in his match up against the Jets.

So for the non-Brady owners who have Randy Moss and Wes Welker (taken with high picks) on your fantasy roster. You’re probably thinking with a fearful mind and are not quite so openly despondent as your aforementioned compatriots. Moss has been known to sulk and under-perform when a sub-par QB is unable to get him the ball or completely misses him when he believes he’s wide open. It could happen but I think that Coach Belichick will call on him to step up and be a leader and not a whiner. He’ll be reminded that the team comes first. He may even hang around and get in some extra practice with the “new” guy to cement some rapport for the game. Still, there will probably be some down tick in Moss’ overall FF stats – be prepared.

As for Welker, he was a stud-in-hiding when he was a Dolphin and I can recall watching him put up some pretty decent numbers with very poor QB play in Miami. This is a better system, Moss is a better counterpart and Cassel is probably a better QB than anyone that was throwing the ball for the ’06 Dolphins. I think his stats will take only a small hit.

I’ve never been a big fan of Vince Young. I always thought he had great physical talent and leadership ability in college. Unfortunately, you need more in the pro game and NFL coaches, as a rule, are not known for tutoring or refining fundamentals and technique with young QBs. To be certain, there are a few, but most expect the signal caller to be ready or close to it while they get used to the speed of the game. Vince hasn’t had that tutelage and it’s showing in his frustration. Does he have the emotional stability to play the game? Put him with a Norv Turner, Mike Holmgren or Mike McCarthy and see what might become of him.

Speaking of Holmgren, is he up against it or what? First, of all he’s a lame-duck coach, by his own choice. Second, his QB, Matt Hasselbeck is hurting, both physically and without a lot of key members of the offense. Finally, this could be the year that Arizona steps it up and puts pressure on them in the NFC West. “Mike, if you can hear me brother, it’s going to be a tough year.“

Yeah, that’s right the Cardinals, who don’t always play well on the road looked pretty impressive on the road at Frisco, controlling the clock and actually having more running plays (34 to 30) than passing plays. If that keeps up, the expected stats for Kurt Warner will be little more than average. I’ll be keeping an eye on their home opener against the Dolphins to see if a trend develops. A quick BTW: Tim Hightower was pretty good at taking those short yardage carries away from Edgerrin James. He was successful too, warranting another close eye to see if that continues.

The Colts loss to the QB challenged Bears was a shocker and I feel justified so far in my assessment of Joseph Addai. I’ve been telling everyone, who would listen that I didn’t think him worthy of a top fantasy pick. The cheat sheets I shared had him as a high 2nd round pick based on his stats declining in the second half of ‘06. My reasoning was that a return to health of Marvin Harrison, a growing trust of Anthony Gonzalez by Peyton Manning and the return of Dominic Rhodes would cut deeply into Addai’s opportunities. Really, one game doesn’t prove my point, but it definitely puts one on notice to watch and see.

Matt Forte looks like the real thing. He’s a grinder who can occasionally break loose. Combining him with a healthy Kevin Jones will allow Kyle Orton to play field general, directing the offense with a minimal number of mistakes and let the D/STs put them in position to win. That’s it for now. Just the as the words “meandering mind” in the title suggest, I’ll be doing this little rant as the ideas come to me. I won’t claim to be all encompassing and some weeks I’ll go off once and some weeks more. If you like what you read, keep looking for it. All your feedback will be appreciated.

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by Jared Smola

With week 1 in the books, here are some of my random reflections and rants:

- I don’t think I’ve ever seen a player being more hyped around these parts than Titans RB Chris Johnson. The funny (and amazing) thing is he actually lived up to it this week. We all knew he had unrivaled speed and acceleration, but I saw some serious power in those legs that I didn’t think he had. With a matchup against this defense, Johnson should be active in virtually all leagues next week.

- Speaking of rookie RBs, a bunch of them had impressive debuts this week. Chicago’s Matt Forte might have looked the best. He shredded the Colts defense for 141 total yards, highlighted by a 50-yard TD. He displayed excellent vision, quick feet, and nice speed. Felix Jones didn’t see much action early for the Cowboys, but he scored on his 1st pro carry on a draw play from 11 yards out. Jones picked up yardage in chunks after Marion Barber left with a rib injury and might have won himself 10-12 touches per game from here on out. Kevin Smith, Jonathan Stewart, and Darren McFadden weren’t quite as impressive in their debuts, but all 3 seem to have bright futures ahead. It should be a very interesting race for Rookie of the Year between these guys and WRs like DeSean Jackson and Eddie Royal.

- Torry Holt’s week 1 stat line: 2 targets, 1 reception, 9 yards. Meanwhile, Dane Looker was targeted 5 times. Are you kidding me? No wonder why the Rams only managed 166 yards of total offense. If this team wants to win more than the 3 games they won last year, they need to make Holt a focal point of their offense.
Disclaimer: I drafted Holt in all 3 of my big-money leagues, so I’m a little ticked off about this one.

- No one is a bigger Aaron Rodgers supporter than yours truly. In fact, I had butterflies at the beginning of last night’s game because I had been talking the guy up to everyone and their sister—I don’t want to be made to look like a fool! So you can imagine how happy I was when Rodgers hit Greg Jennings for that 56-yard bomb. That seemed to really calm him down and he was lights out after that. His 81.8 completion percentage was 3rd highest all time for a QB in his 1st start. This guy has superstar potential—just watch.

- Among all the notable performances in week 1, no team impressed me more than the Carolina Panthers. Best player suspended. Check. QB making 1st start since Tommy John Surgery. Check. 2,400-mile cross-country journey. Check. The Panthers overcame it all to defeat a Chargers team that many people (including myself) believe are good enough to win the Super Bowl this year. With a 2-headed ground attack featuring Deangelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, an explosive WR like Steve Smith, and an athletic, play-making defense, the Panthers could make a serious run this year.

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by John Miller

Cowboys FB Deon Anderson, who often speaks for Marion Barber because he doesn’t like being on camera (think about it, did you see MB once on HBO’s Hard Knocks?), just said Barber’s ribs aren’t a problem. “He’s going to be practicing Wednesday,” Anderson said. “He’ll be all right.” Fantasy Nation is jumping all over Barber, citing his “upright running style” as his downfall. I won’t go that far. I hate that term, every RB over 6′0 gets the silly “upright” tag.  Barber does use heavy contact to get himself stoked. He’s just gotta be more selective about when to attack. It’s a long season.

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by John Miller

Here’s the official injury report from NFL.com. Teams don’t declare “Game Status” until Fridays. We’re assuming the “Practice Status” refers to that player’s Friday participation (or lack thereof).

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by Jared Smola

It was quite the disappearing act tonight by Giants RB Ahmad Bradshaw. Bradshaw didn’t get a touch all night. In fact, I didn’t even see him get on the field. RB Derrick Ward, on the other hand, rushed 9 times and added 2 receptions.

While it’s far too early to write-off Bradshaw as a useless fantasy player, it looks like Fantasy Nation was too quick to annoint him as the 2nd best option in the New York backfield. Derrick Ward is much more comfortable in the offense, and HC Tom Coughlin seems much more comfortable giving him the rock.

Don’t drop Bradshaw just yet, but Ward should be owned in all leagues of 12+ teams. Ward is also the clear handcuff to Brandon Jacobs.

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