FanHouse Asante Samuel

Did the injury bug hit your fantasy football team like it was a car windshield moving at 100 MPH? If so, it may be time to do some Damage Control.

Quarterback

• Michael Vick, Eagles - Vick took a hard hit to the ribs and had X-rays. The results came back negative.

• Peyton Manning, Colts - Manning has a sore knee after Sunday's win. The injury isn't serious, which is good news. Better news comes as the Colts now enter a bye week.

• Kyle Boller, Rams - Boller was knocked out of Sunday's game with a concussion. He'll have tests done on Tuesday to see when he can return to action.

• Carson Palmer, Bengals - Palmer injured his left (non-throwing hand) thumb on Sunday. the Bengals don't seem too worried about the injury.

Training camps have wrapped up, the NFL season is right around the corner, and it's still hot as sin outside. But instead of cooling you off with a warm island song, FanHouse break out ye old heat check for our 2009 NFL Season Previews. " We'll rate each club in 5 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

A rather mundane offseason in Philadelphia took a dramatic turn on the night of Aug. 13. That was when news broke that the team had signed free-agent quarterback Michael Vick. All of a sudden, the Eagles were the center of the football world -- this attention will continue throughout the season, as the media will keep a very close eye on how Vick fits in. Meanwhile, coach Andy Reid has a veteran starter in Donovan McNabb to keep happy, and he's pretty good, by the way.

Putting together a successful NFL team is as much about finding quality starters as it is about filling out the roster with competent backups. The Patriots, Steelers, Giants and Colts have won Super Bowls because they had second- and third-teamers step into the starting lineup with no discernible drop-off in productivity.

Roster spots 23-53 are almost more important than the 22 guys who are listed first on the depth chart. And it's also what separates the perennial playoff teams from those struggling to win more than they lose.

The Texans have made progress since hiring Gary Kubiak in 2006, going from two wins the year before he arrived to back-to-back eight-win seasons in '07 and '08. Not surprisingly, lack of depth -- particularly on defense -- has been one of this team's biggest weaknesses.

Ben Roethlisberger is 27 years old, has two Super Bowl rings, and is the starting quarterback for the league's most popular team. There are worse ways to go through life. Of course, with fame comes the hassles of dealing with crackpots.

There used to be a time when stalkers had to do some legwork, literally. John Hinckley Jr. and Margaret Mary Ray come to mind. Now, thanks to the series of tubes that has made it easier for all of us -- save Ted Stevens, perhaps -- to communicate, those people with nothing better to do than harass the rich and famous, can do so from home.

Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.

No team enjoys wheeling and dealing on draft weekend quite like the New England Patriots. The 2009 draft was no exception, as they made a series of moves resulting in 12 picks, and the stockpiling of even more selections in 2010.

As a result, the moves left the Patriots with no first-round selection for the first time since 2000, which is also the same year they selected some guy named Tom Brady.

Along with the 256 college players drafted last weekend, cornerback Ellis Hobbs also got a new home: the Patriots sent him to the Eagles for a pair of fifth-rounders. It was a surprising move, even for the trade-for-picks-happy Pats. Not only because cornerback was a liability last season in New England, but also because Hobbs is one of the best kick returners in the league.

The Patriots signed Shawn Springs and Leigh Bodden this spring, and '08 second-rounder Terrence Wheatley will compete for playing time with his '09 counterpart, Darius Butler. Which made it easier to jettison Hobbs, despite the fact that he started every game the last two seasons.

With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.

In 2008, the New England Patriots became the first team in over 20 years to win 11 regular season games and fail to qualify for the postseason. Considering they lost their franchise player -- Tom Brady -- just about five minutes into the season, forcing them to turn to a quarterback who hadn't started a game in eight years -- Matt Cassel -- an 11-5 campaign isn't all that disappointing.

With Brady back under center in 2009, the Patriots look to be a strong bet to return to the playoffs, especially if they address the one or two holes that remain on the roster.

Although the Titans and the Bengals cleaned up more than anyone else when the NFL announced their compensatory picks for next month's draft, the Patriots are the team that appear set to dominate the draft.

New England already had nine picks, including two extra second-round picks picked up in trades. They added an extra third rounder, an extra fifth and an extra sixth after losing Asante Samuel, Donte Stallworth and Randall Gay. While they can't trade the compensatory picks, New England has the trade ammunition now to move up or down to target whatever players they want.

The Titans and Bengals were the only two teams to land four compensatory picks. Tennessee picked up a fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh while Cincinnati received a third, sixth and two sevenths.

The NFL has never released the formula that it uses to determine compensatory picks, but it hs something to do with the player's new salary, how much he plays and his productivity. In the case of Pro Bowlers like Samuel that makes a lot of sense, but it doesn't explain how solid but unspectacular Justin Smith (who the Bengals lost) also was worth a third-round pick.

Missing the playoffs for the first time in five years seems to have sparked a burning desire in the New England front office to bring in every available player this offseason. After already signing Fred Taylor, Joey Galloway, Shawn Springs, Greg Lewis and Leigh Bodden, NFL.com's Vic Carucci passes along the information that the Patriots may be ready to take a run at Carolina Panthers franchise player Julius Peppers.

That sound you're hearing is the opposing AFC East quarterbacks gently sobbing into their pillows.

After watching Deltha O'Neal struggle to replace Asante Samuel in 2008, the New England Patriots have signed 12-year veteran Shawn Springs to a three-year contract in an effort to strengthen their secondary.

It was reported over the weekend that a deal was close, and it's now official as ESPN's John Clayton reports Springs will make $10 million over the next three seasons.

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