Crumpler close to signing

by | Mar 1, 2008 | 2008 NFL Free Agency, Fantasy Football

Here’s one for the fantasy football crowds to watch. According to the Seattle Post Intelligencer, Alge Crumpler reportedly is close to signing with the Seattle Seahawks in a move that should help not only the team but two individuals immensely.

Crumpler has for seven years put up solid numbers as one of the better rounded tight ends in the game. During the last five he’s ranged from 42 to 65 catches and between three and eight touchdowns, though he’s been hampered throughout his career by playing for a bad team with quarterbacking issues. Michael Vick, though an astounding athlete, threw passes that more closely resembled skipping rocks. And this past year, the trio of Byron Leftwich, Joey Harrington and Chris Redmon was uninspiring at best.

In joining the Seahawks Crumpler will be paired with Matt Hasselbeck, who is heading into his eighth year as the team’s starting quarterback. Hasselbeck has developed into a top 10 player at his position and has occasionally shown glimpses of superstardom. And he’s coming off arguably his best season, having fired for nearly 4,000 yards and 28 touchdowns.

And he did so with a below average running game, a solid-but-not-spectacular group of wide receivers like Nate Burleson, Bobby Engram, D.J. Hackett and Deion Branch and just 41 catches from top tight ends Marcus Pollard and Will Heller.

Barring injury Crumpler will arguably become the Seahawks top pass catcher at any position and most certainly will exceed the 41 catches by himself. He’ll take pressure off the aging Bobby Engram and lessen the impact of the team’s dunderheaded trade for the overrated Deion Branch two seasons ago.

And with another major weapon at his disposal it’s not unlikely that Hasselbeck improves on his career-high TD output as well. Don’t expect a Brady-to-Moss-like jump in numbers, but definitely keep your eye on the Hasselbeck-to-Crumpler duo as a strong likely contributor both at Qwest Field and on fantasy teams everywhere.

Free Agency Opens with Trades

by | Feb 29, 2008 | 2008 NFL Free Agency, 2008 Trades

Once rare, several trades have gone down on the first day of the NFL league calendar.

Green Bay Packers DT Corey Williams, the team’s franchise player, was traded to Cleveland for a second round draft pick. The move takes the Browns at least temporarily out of the first day of the 2008 NFL Draft. Williams has 14 sacks over the last two seasons and had priced himself out of the Packers budget with his play. This is an interesting move for the Browns. Certainly they needed to do something about their 30th ranked defense. And Williams is a quality player, having started 20 games and notched 14 sacks over the last two seasons. I like him better in a 4-3 defense. While he’s 6-4, 313 pounds, I’m not 100 percent sold on him being the space-clogging, double-team eating nose tackle a team needs in the 3-4 defense. But an improving Browns team is doing a nice job of collecting young, talented players and they did snag one of the top defensive linemen available on the market.

Another move that could pay dividends is the New York Jets acquisition of DT Kris Jenkins from Carolina for a couple of mid-round picks. This move makes sense as the Jets switched to a 3-4 defense and Dewayne Robertson isn’t really big enough to play the fat-boy-in-the-middle role. The question is health. If Jenkins stays healthy the Jets will have worked out a steal that should improve their sieve-like run defense.

The biggest deals so far involve teams keeping their own players. Reports put the deal DL Tommy Kelly signed at $50 million over seven years with more than $18 million upfront. While Kelly has been solid he’s also been injury prone. He’s coming off of a torn ACL. And it’s questionable to me why he is worthy of being the highest paid DT in league history.