Millen down, two to go

by | Sep 24, 2008 | NFL News

One of the league’s most dysfunctional teams last night took a step toward change. Will two others follow?

Matt Millen was an adequate announcer and a solid football player but in seven seasons and change he never came close to bringing the Detroit Lions to respectability. The long-embattled president and general manager lost his job to either resignation or firing last night after an ugly 0-3 start capped off a 31-84 mark since he took the helm.

Lions fans have been waiting for this for years. All it appears to have taken was for the son of the owner to say after Sunday’s debacle that fans deserve better and he’d have made a change if he had any power. Maybe he does – a mere three days later, Millen was packing boxes.

Now there are two other foundering franchises who need to either cut bait or … well, in both cases it would seem like cutting bait is the answer, at this point.

(more…)

Injuries Pile Up for Contenders in Week 1

by | Sep 10, 2008 | Fantasy Football, NFL News

Injury news that hits ZoneBlitz closer to the wallet came down earlier today, when Jay Glazer reported that Saints WR Marques Colston will miss 4-6 weeks after surgery to repair a ligament in his thumb.  Colston has been a mainstay on ZoneBlitz rosters this year–both auction formats, and one of our free leagues feature him on their roster (the free league also featured Tom Brady as their QB–that’ll be fun).

ZoneBlitz (and I guess the Saints) aren’t the only ones hurting, though–there were several other key injuries in week 1:

(more…)

Injury to Brady blurs playoff run

by | Sep 9, 2008 | NFL News

In the excitement of getting ready for the trip to Las Vegas, Zoneblitz.com didn’t get around to posting predictions for the NFL season. We’ll try to get those finished up here heading into week two.

Given that we already know about the week one injury to Tom Brady we might have an unfair advantage over many experts who posted their predictions weeks in advance of the season.
That said, his injury won’t change one prediction – I still believe the New England Patriots will win the AFC East.

The Pats had one of the league’s easiest schedules heading into 2008. While Matt Cassel is nothing if not unproven it doesn’t change the weaponry around him. Brady’s injury likely makes running backs Laurence Maroney, Sammy Morris, Kevin Faulk and possibly even LaMont Jordan stronger fantasy football plays as the team will probably adjust to the injury by making their offense more conservative.

(more…)

Culpepper not retired after all?

by | Sep 8, 2008 | NFL News

Daunte Culpepper announced his retirement from the NFL last week but has he played his final game?

The New England Patriots reportedly invited Tim Rattay and Chris Simms in for workouts for potential spots on the roster after Tom Brady’s season-ending injury.

But KFAN-AM’s Paul Charchian announced on the Minnesota Vikings pregame show Monday night that the team sent both home without a workout. Instead, at this point, wide receiver Randy Moss is lobbying the team to bring in Culpepper.

Culpepper excelled with weapons like Moss and Cris Carter around him early in his career. Could there be a reunion of former Vikings in New England? Time will tell.

Brady irreplaceable but here’s where you can start

by | Sep 8, 2008 | Fantasy Football, NFL News

Sales of Wild Turkey undoubtedly increased to levels unmatched since Pat Summerall stopped imbibing Sunday afternoon in New England and across the country where fantasy football players who spent a top five draft pick or large percentages of their auction dollars on Tom Brady mourned the all-but-confirmed shredding of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

While Brady’s injury cleary presents a massive blow to the hopes of many owners be glad that it happened in week one rather than in week 10 or 12. You have three months to find a way to replace the league’s first or second best quarterback.

In all likelihood, to fully recoup his value, you’ll need to make a big trade somewhere along the line. But in the short-term there are several options available to you at quarterback. While none of them will leave you whole they can get you by until you can make that bigger move.

One option is taking a look at Matt Cassel. While he hasn’t been a starter since high school he does have a cadre of weapons unmatched by nearly any other team. Randy Moss, Ben Watson, Wes Welker, Jabar Gaffney and four running backs that contribute as skill position players give him a lot of options to utilize as he attempts to fill Brady’s shoes for the next 15 weeks and change.

Don’t forget, it was an injury to Drew Bledsoe that allowed Brady to earn his star status in the first place. Nobody is predicting that kind of success for the least-heralded of the recent USC quarterback alums. But he is a young, hungry quarterback in search of an opportunity to show what he can do.

It’s likely that if you had Brady you didn’t keep a backup quarterback. If you opt for Cassel I’d suggest adding someone else just in case he proves to be nothing more than a low-level backup.
Some guys that might still be sitting on your free agent wires include the following:
(more…)

Flacco may not be ready but he’s starting

by | Sep 1, 2008 | NFL News

Joe Flacco might not be ready to start at quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens when the season starts this Sunday but it looks as though he’s going to be the guy by default.

Troy Smith and Kyle Boller have been fighting injuries leaving Flacco to take the helm. Mike Preston, a veteran columnist for the Baltimore Sun, says the rookie is getting more acclimated to the speed of the game but still isn’t ready to start in a real game.

On the upside, Preston reports that the team’s young offensive line and running back Ray Rice have been improving, looking more and more ready. Still, for a rookie quarterback from Delaware to be ready to start in his first real pro game is a stretch. It brings back memories of guys like Tim Couch and David Carr, who started early, got killed and never became the quarterbacks they were projected to be.

The two saving graces might be overall low expectations for the offense and an opener against the Cincinnati Bengals, who seem to be more in money-saving mode than winning-mode these days.

Best of luck to Flacco. But also, get well soon to Troy Smith.