FanHouse AndreJohnson

Texans tight end Owen Daniels signed his restricted free agent tender, worth $2.79 million, with the hopes he could still negotiate a longer-term deal with the team. ProFootballTalk is suggesting that the Texans aren't interested in further contract negotiations, given Daniels' expectations.

Typically, the Texans tend to keep contract negotiations pretty quiet, so judge this information as you will. The Houston Chronicle says that the Texans offered Daniels enough money to make him the second-highest paid tight end in the league. PFT, meanwhile. says the offer would make Daniels the fourth-highest paid at his position, but that Daniels wants to be the top-paid tight end in the league. Really?

Earlier this week, EA Sports released the player ratings for Madden 10. And now, with the NFL Draft in the rearview, and nothing else to do between now and training camps, we'll ponder the important questions. Like: How is [Player who is obviously rated too high] rated above [Player who is obviously rated too low]?

It's fun and original!

Everyone makes mistakes. But when those mistakes are magnified by intense scrutiny of the NFL draft, well, they become much more embarrassing than, say, my typical Friday morning, mustard-stain-on-khakis incident.

Which is why the NFL FanHouse braintrust got together to determine who is the biggest bust for each NFL team. They're not listed in terms of stupidity -- they're all stupid relative to a team's total draft performance. Meaning, of course, some teams "bust" is much different than another organization's; we did it this way to avoid just linking you to DetroitLions.com.

Instead, we're putting it in current draft order, sans trades, and allowing this list to serve as a reminder of each's team's ability to properly execute a fail. The "bust factor" was based primarily on three things: statistical production (or lack thereof), position in the draft and other available options during that year's draft.

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It's been a pleasure watching one of my favorite fantasy players make a national name for himself in these playoffs, as Larry Fitzgerald has gone absolutely bonkers in three games. In fact, his last two regular season weeks were huge as well, so he's on a five-game run during which he's caught 31 passes for 650 yards and 10 touchdowns.

It's worth pointing out that sometimes postseason success can carry over into the next season -- in the form of causing him to get routinely drafted far too high in fantasy football.

I initially just wanted to do a Johnson vs. Johnson debate (you can see the two studs to the right), on the wide receiver front, for a dynasty diaries selection. Then I realized that I'd have to wedge Larry Fitzgerald in there somehow.

Then, I realized you guys deserve some rankings. You deserve them for each position, dammit. So you'll be getting them all on Fantasy FanHouse. For now, though, we're gonna start with wideouts since that's where my head already was.

Yes, as I mentioned, there are three gentlemen head and shoulders above everyone else when it comes to keeper value. Remember, with keeper leagues we are trying to think about someone you could own throughout his prime and enjoy five to eight absolutely elite seasons. This is especially true with wideouts, because you probably won't be keeping many (if any). Finally, do not keep someone slightly unproven like Ted Ginn over an established stud like Terrell Owens. While Ginn might be the better player in three years, he definitely won't be for the next two. You aren't just building for the future. You are trying to win now and in the future.

So here you go, our top 15 keeper-league wideouts ...

As the regular season concluded, the FanHouse football writers all got together in a secret meeting in Will Brinson's mother's basement to discuss the players of the year. Who was the best coach? Which rookie stood out? Who was the most valuable player?

After much deliberation (and tons of meatloaf), here are the FanHouse NFL Award Winners. Only players/coaches who got votes were included in the final results.

Defensive Player of the Year

Justin Tuck, NY Giants -- 10 percent
Shaun Rogers, Cleveland -- 10 percent
Albert Haynesworth, Tennessee -- 15 percent
Jared Allen, Minnesota -- 20 percent
DeMarcus Ware, Dallas -- 45 percent

His last game not withstanding, can you really argue with 20 sacks? The Cowboys' linebacker was also involved in 84 tackles and six forced fumbles in 2008.

The season just ended yesterday, but that's no excuse to stop thinking about fantasy football. Remember, it's never too early (wow, flashback). Obviously you are now thinking about keepers -- don't worry, we'll have bunches of dynasty diaries over the next couple weeks -- and looking ahead towards the elite players.

This season was certainly the year of the passer. In Fleaflicker standard scoring leagues, the top seven overall scorers were quarterbacks, including Matt Cassel. Chad Pennington and David Garrard in the top 15, and Tyler Thigpen was 16th. This is overall, guys. This is also why we warned against picking quarterbacks too early at the beginning of the season. I'll take this opportunity to warn against that again. Do not pick a quarterback in the first round. You only have to play one, and -- as you can see -- there are easily 12 serviceable starting quarterbacks.

Running back, on the other hand, has the moneymakers. I'm stubborn, and I still believe in RB-RB for the first two rounds. Even if you disagree, you at least need to get one within the first two rounds. So you'll notice the top 10 is full of them.

Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around with his finger in the air while the next he's laying on his back, holding his facemask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's Studs and Duds.

Here's Week 17 at a glance, where we point out the horses destined for the Kentucky Derby and jeer those headed to the glue factory.

Studs

Michael Bush, RB Oakland (27 carries, 177 yards, 2 TDs) -- This is the other running back in Oakland, and boy did he have a pretty nice coming out party. In his first game with more than 16 carries, Bush rolled a Tampa Bay defense in search of a playoff spot and carried the Raiders to their second consecutive win. Sure, the team went 5-11, but the last two games were something to build on, and Michael looked like a capable backfield option.

Really, there is not much to say about this game. The Cowboys and Bucs lost, but the Bears spit the bit too. The Texans ended up finishing the season 8-8, same as last year. With the Bears' and Bucs' losses, the Eagles made the playoffs after their destruction of the Cowboys.

Bears started the game with a lot of energy and got an early 10-0 lead. But FanHouse's resident Bears fan, Matt Snyder, pegged the problem for the Bears before the game. (And for emphasis, he said it here too).

He had concerns that the Bears wouldn't be able to handle Texans standout wide receiver, Andre Johnson. Johnson got two touchdowns for the day, and ended the season as the top receiver for receptions and yards (just beaten out for yards per game by Steve Smith).

Texans running back Steve Slaton struggled early with dropping balls and quarterback protection, but ended up finishing the game strong. He ended up getting 1,282 yards for the season to have the most for rookie running backs in a class with some amazing ones.

Before you move any further, make sure to check out Part 1, if you haven't done so. I explain things in the intro. For our purposes on this post, however, there's no need to twiddle the thumbs. Let's dive in:

Wide Receiver

How about that Sunday night game for the Denver receivers? Last time around, they completely schooled the Chargers secondary. Now Eddie Royal has tons more experience under his belt, and Brandon Marshall is still just as talented. Both of them are in line for an obscene stat-line in what should be a shootout.

Only illegal formations by his teammates can stop Megatron. Yes, start Calvin Johnson in all formats. He's just too good to sit.

I'd avoid Reggie Wayne, Marvin Harrison and Anthony Gonzalez, because of the fact that Jim Sorgi should be under center for the majority of the afternoon for the Colts. It's just too much of a gamble to try and predict where the touches go for Indy.

I'm a Bears fan, and I have absolutely no idea how they can do anything to remotely stop Andre Johnson. He's likely to go berserk. Again.