NASTINESS: WR Anquan Boldin has broken his silence and has done so in an extremely vocal and seemingly resentful way. Bouldin says the Cards aren’t dealing in good faith and he may have a strong argument. According to Boldin, his contract dealings have been going on for two years now, not one as the Cards say. It is true that he has two years left on his current deal but Boldin says the Cards said they would deal faithfully to get him a new deal before the 2008 season. Boldin and Coach Whisenhunt are not communicating directly with each other at this point. Boldin has now asked for a trade. We’ll keep you posted.
Stats Slant: Stats has said repeatedly that players should honor their contract. That being said, if the Cards said “go out and play hard in ‘07 and we will take care of you prior to the start of ‘08″, then Boldin has a serious beef. Only time will tell how this will all shake out.
DOWN: The Giants running backs. In fact, we don’t want anything to do with any of them and you should feel the same. Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw have both looked mediocre at best in training camp and now in X games. Jacobs lost two fumbles and Bradshaw had the most reps in week two. That means Jacobs confidence could be shaken, if not stirred, but Bradshaw isn’t an every down back. The two of them are going to form the ultimate example of RB by committee.
DON’T BE FOOLED BY: The 3 TD effort by KR/WR Domenik Dixon. He was electric after struggling in his opener but that will just secure his place on special teams. He has some work to do before he gets any regular time on the offense. Remember, that 3 TD effort came against the Browns and during the second week of X games. Like we said very early in July, this Browns D is not going to be good anytime soon.
Stats Slant: Just stay away from this situation. Period! As we said in our preview of the Giants, stay away from all of them all together if you can. Stats is sticking to his guns when he says the G-Men will NOT make the playoffs. Draft G-Men and you won’t either.
UP: WR Sam Hurd. How high up he should be moved is still a question mark. Any one who is getting quality starts in an offense as potent as the Cowboys is deserves some of your attention. Hurd did average 16.5 YPC on 19 catches in ‘07.
INJURY UPDATE: Just as soon as we talked about the sleeper value of 3rd year KR/WR Miles Austin he went out and sprained his right MCL in the Cowboys second X game. He will be lost until at least week three of the regular season. Depending on what they see in the next two X games he could moved to the PUP list which would make him unavailable until week six.
Stats Slant: While most look at this as hurting Dallas more on special teams than anything else, it is a blow to the Cowboys offense. Austin has the size, speed and hands to compliment and enhance Romo, T.O. Crayton, Witten and Co. Too bad for the undrafted 2006 rookie and unlucky for the sleeper list. Wait and see how Hurd performs in the last two X games. He is likely to go undrafted in all drafts but could be worth a very late selection if you have room to stash him on your bench.
UP: RB Chris Perry looks to be the Bengals starter in what will be another in a long list of RB by committee situations. Perry is a power rusher and has looked good in camp.
DOWN: RB Rudi Johnson is still nursing a hamstring injury and will open the season as the Bengals back up.
INJURY UPDATE: Starting WR Chad Johnson and WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh are still nursing injuries but both have said they will be ready for Week One.
Stats Slant: It’s going to be bombs away, all the time, in Cinci. The RB situation should be avoided but take the wideouts if they fall to you.
HOLDING PATTERN: RB Willie Parker appears to be holding off rookie RB Rashard Mendenhall for the starting job. He looks fully recovered from the broken fibula and every bit as quick. The Steelers have said they will give Parker more goal line carries this season but that remains to be seen. WR Nate Washington also appears to be holding off rookie WR Limas Sweed and should win the #3 spot at least to start the season.
Stats Slant: We actually feel sorry for Fast Willie in that he has had to battle so hard to keep his starting role but what doesn’t kill you, can only make you stronger. In the end though, there will be a RB by committee situation in Steel Town. Washington should give way to Sweed at some point in the season and neither are draft worthy as anything more than late round fliers.
INJURY UPDATE: TE Antonio Gates has been moved off the PUP list and he is participating in full contact drills. This is great news for the Fantasy Stud. Not so good news is the injury to OLB Shawne Merriman. His left knee is still bothering him and there is even talk that further surgery is required and he could be lost for the season.
Stats Slant: TE Gates, when healthy, is a beast at TE. Watch and see if he gets any preseason reps over the last two weeks of X Games to determine his exact health.The Chargers didn’t skip a beat when Merriman was lost to a drug suspension. Don’t let this bother you and select the Chargers DF/ST with confidence as the #1 overall DF/ST.
INJURY UPDATE: QB Derek Anderson suffered a minor concussion in the Browns Week 2 X game against the Giants. Concussions are something the NFL takes very serious these days. After you have a concussion your chances of having another, worse one, increase greatly. RB Jamal Lewis won’t see any preseason action as he nurses a tweaked hamstring. This appears to be a precautionary move by the Browns and Lewis will be ready to go on opening day.
Stats Slant: Anderson faltered down the stretch last season and we are not as high on him as most are. That faltering came against the likes of ARZ, NYJ, BUF, CIN and SF. He is going to go off the board along with guys like Brees, Palmer and Big Ben but we suggest leaving him to someone else. Lewis is still a low-end #1 RB in all formats.
StatsGuru
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