<<< www.draftsharks.com >>>

by John Miller

Uh oh, did we take down another one?  Choo Choo is banged up.

Clinton Portis missed Wednesday and Thursday with a hip pointer.

Jim Zorn said he probably won’t practice until the Saturday walkthrough.  Where did this hip thing come from?  Portis was a monster last week vs. St. Louis. His last 4 carries in the game went for 43 yards and ended with a TD.

Once the Draft Sharks 1^st Round Bust Curse worms its way in, you’re in trouble. We’ve hit 7 of 9 Bust picks and even when we miss, you’re going down next year anyway. Heck, we even forced a guy to retire and run away to India. 

Priest Holmes went down the next season with a torn MCL. Brian Westbrook?  Yeah, he burned us… but look at him now. I genuinely hope, for all Portis-owners, that he’s OK.  The guy’s been playing out of his mind.

Update: Portis is questionable… and it’s a 4:15 pm game. Maybe we’ll get more info after the Saturday walkthrough.

   <<< www.draftsharks.com >>>

by John U. Miller IV

Some random thoughts flashed through my mind the last few hours… gotta get ‘em down before I forget…

1. Is Santana Moss hurt? Only 5 passes thrown his way in 2 weeks?  That’s not part of any sane coach’s game plan, decoy or not.  Jason La Canfora of Redskins Insider hasn’t said anything about an injury. That’s good.

2. Could Warrick Dunn squeeze out another 1,000-yard season?  He’s right on pace for 1,000 despite the time-share. It would be his 6th 1,000-yard season – with 4 of them after his 29^th birthday!

3. Is Joseph Addai going to be worth a flip the rest of the season? NFL Network reports 2-4 weeks on the hamstring injury. But I can’t help but remember Rudi Johnson’s hammy problems last year. He was worthless.

4. Could Donovan McNabb go on another one of his mad-bomber streaks after the bye?  He’ll surely have his full complement of weapons, including RG Shawn Andrews (back injury). I voted McNabb onto the latest Buy list, and I wish I owned him right now.

   <<< www.draftsharks.com >>>

by John Miller

BUY: QB Drew Stanton, Lions: Dan Orlovsky is slated to start for the near future since Jon Kitna is on IR. Orlovsky might be pleasantly solid with more practice reps – but conventional wisdom says Detroit takes a look at Drew Stanton later this season. After the Roy Williams trade they have some 7 picks in the first 100 slots next spring. They need to know if Stanton has the goods or if they should start scouting Tim Tebow or Chase Daniel. You never know, Stanton could be a fantasy spot-starter by mid-November.

BUY: RB Cedric Benson, Bengals: Like we mentioned in the Fantasy Vision recaps, “Chris Perry might be best suited as a 3rd-down back, like 3 years ago when he hauled in 51 passes and broke tackles like a maniac.” In the last 4 weeks Perry’s longest run has been 25 yards, 12, 10, and 4. And he’s fumbling like crazy. That’s what’s killing Marvin Lewis. Lewis enjoyed ball-control with Rudi Johnson, who fumbled once every 85 carries from 2005-2007. Perry is fumbling every 19 carries this year. What we’re saying is, (gulp) Cedric Benson might take over soon.

SELL: WR Roy Williams, Cowboys:  He’s back home in Texas (he went to Permian High of Friday Night Lights fame) and slated to start alongside Terrell Owens. He’ll have to get the new terminology down, though. Roy’s already signed his 5-year extension (terms still undisclosed) and we’re betting there’s $20m stuffed up front in a suitcase. This is a perfect time to shop the newest Cowboy.  Dallas fans always let their hearts bleed into fantasy drafts (they don’t just pick Romo, they nab Owens or Witten too) so hit up your league’s Dallas dude, see what the market’s like. Roy’s reputation is a little better than his actual performance. In his last 25 games he’s only hit 100 yards 5 times. 

The entire report will be posted at 1:00 pm EST Wednesday.

   <<< www.draftsharks.com >>>

Here are the Standings after Week 6 in the Draft Sharks Invitational Leagues:

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

Announcement: If a Draft Sharks staffer wins this league, we will give our

free seat at the WCOFF to a Draft Sharks customer named Clayton Ward.

He is stationed in Iraq. Shoot Clayton an email at cward00@yahoo.com to

offer your support, prayers, or just be a pen pal and talk fantasy football!

   <<< www.draftsharks.com >>>

by Jared Smola

Kyle Orton has been the punchline of countless jokes over the past few years. And rightly so. The guy had thrown just 12 TDs vs. 15 INTs with a passer rating under 70 prior to this year. But for some reason (cough…Rex Grossman was their only other option…cough), the Bears’ brass named him their starting QB in mid-August.

Orton has since responded with a, dare I say, brilliant season thus far. Not only has Orton led his Bears to a 3-3 start (that would have been a 4-2 start had Matt Ryan not made a magnificent throw to get Atlanta into FG position to win the game yesterday), but he has also become fantasy-relevant.

Orton ranks 8th in the NFL in both passing yards (1,386) and passing TDs (8). Since his mediocre start to the season– 299 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs in his first 2 games– Orton has been lights out. He has thrown for over 265 yards in 3 of his last 4 games with 2+ TDs in 3 of those contests. Since week 3, only Drew Brees, Tony Romo, and Aaron Rodgers have scored more fantasy points than Orton.

A lot of credit needs to be given here to rookie RB Matt Forte. He’s not only forcing defenses to stack 8 guys in the box, giving Orton’s WRs 1-on-1 coverage, but Forte is also leading the Bears with 27 receptions. Some other guys have stepped up for Orton too though, namely WRs Rashied Davis and Devin Hester.

We’ve received a bunch of emails over the past 2 weeks asking whether or not Orton is starter-worthy. Admittedly, I’ve been replying to these emails with things like “let’s not go overboard on Orton’s hot start,” or “let’s make him prove it to us with a few more good weeks.” Well, Orton has proved all he needs to prove to me… I’m convinced. He’s no Peyton Manning or Drew Brees, but Orton is good enough to use as a part of a QB-by-committee.

www.draftsharks.com

by John Miller

NFL Cheerleader Photos from Week 5  (#21 features an impressive young gal)

NFL Cheerleader Photos from Week 4

NFL Cheerleader Photos from Week 3

NFL Cheerleader Photos from Week 2

NFL Cheerleader Photos from Week 1

   <<< Go back to website: www.draftsharks.com >>>

 

by John U. Miller IV

Some stats don’t get any press so I lifted a few lesser-known ones off STATS Inc.

QB % of 1^st Downs per Pass Attempt

AFC

NFC

RB Yards per Carry in 2^nd Half

AFC

NFC

Yards After Catch

AFC

NFC

   <<< Go back to website: www.Draftsharks.com >>>

by John Miller

There is a report that Lions WR Roy Williams left the practice field Thursday afternoon with a knee injury. We’ve been unable to find anything else about this injury.

Here’s what popped in my head last night – and I’m surprised no one in the media has brought this up.  

Maybe they pulled Roy off the field because a trade deal had just been struck. The trade deadline is looming on Oct. 14 and he’s been on the block since January.  He’s in the final year of his rookie deal and has been complaining non-stop. Detroit obviously isn’t going to pay him after the season, especially now that Lee Evans got a big 4-year, $37 million deal. That means Williams’ asking price will be the same, if not more.

The second you sign a trade you go get that player off the practice field so he doesn’t get hurt. Maybe the media is speculating on a knee injury.  Maybe team officials came out and got Williams yesterday, saying “Go clear out your locker, we’re about to make an announcement.” Note: The Eagles have an extra 1st-round pick in 2009 thanks to a draft-day trade with Carolina.

Update 7:05 pm EST: He’s listed as probable. No word of a trade. Damn, I thought I was onto something.

Whoops. 

   <<< Go back to website: www.draftsharks.com >>> 

by John Miller

Peter King picks Miami over San Diego, Baltimore over Tennessee, Arizona over Buffalo… and Indy over Houston in a 20-16 squeaker.

Talk about out on a limb…

  <<< Go back to website: www.draftsharks.com >>>