FanHouse BenWatson

It's been said in his space on numerous occasions that the tight end position holds plenty of depth this season. The argument was to not panic if you missed out on any of the big names during the draft, because you'd find an equally serviceable option in the end. And if anything Week 1 simply enhanced the notion, with at least 11 of the top 20 projected tight ends going over 60 yards and 11 total TDs mixed in. That's pretty solid if you ask me.

And so, this week we're gonna take the leap for Todd Heap. He was mentioned last week by R.J White as a sleeper for Week 1. Well, nobody should be sleeping this time, as he gets to face the Chargers who were simply awful against tight ends last season. And you may also recall that Zach Miller just throttled them on MNF. That said, Heap appears healthy and has a growing rapport with Joe Flacco. As for the rest of the rankings let's take a look.

1. Dallas Clark, IND at MIA
2. Tony Gonzalez, ATL vs. CAR
3. Chris Cooley, WAS vs. STL
4. John Carlson, SEA at SF
5. Jason Witten, DAL vs. NYG

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With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.

Meet The ...
Troops of Tom Brady. Yes, there are plenty of guys on this team who matter -- not sure if you've heard of Randy Moss, for example -- but this season it is all about the health of Tom Brady. He's going to be nearly a year removed from tearing his ACL in 2008 when the season begins. Now that Matt Cassel is gone, the weight of the team is on Brady's shoulders.

Really, the picture here is perfect. There are guys in the background wearing the same uniform, but they are a bit blurry. Brady is front and center, and the focus of the photo.

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No team has been more active in free agency than the Broncos. They've signed 12 players, including wide receiver Jabar Gaffney, who followed Josh McDaniels to Denver from New England.

And while adding Gaffney seems innocuous enough -- he's a role player and that's it -- apparently, the Patriots took umbrage at McDaniels pilfering from his former employer on the way out the door. So much so that, according to Brad Briggs' sources, they decided to send Matt Cassel to Kansas City instead of Denver, and created the whole Jay Cutler melodrama in the process. Good times.

I don't know how many fans will be in the stands on Sunday when the Raiders take on New England, but one person who will be in attendance is NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who earlier this week accepted an invite from the team to take in some Oakland Raiders football.

According to Jerry McDonald of the Oakland Tribune, it's the first time an NFL commissioner has attended a game in Oakland since the team returned to the bay area prior to the 1995 season. I'm guessing they've stayed away because owner Al Davis has tried to sue the league multiple times, and is, generally, crazy. It's a love-hate relationship, mostly hate.

Of course, as McDonald points out, it wasn't Davis who extended the invite, it was actually Amy Trask, who is the Raiders' CEO. So, there you go.

Regardless, Goodell will get to see what has become -- for this week, anyway -- the NFL's second-most dysfunctional franchise in person. I'm sure he's excited.

Oh, and Ben Watson, try not to take part in any playful celebrations this week because the boss is in the house, and he might just come out of his private box to fine you on the field. Everyone, please, be on your best behavior. That includes you, Mr. Davis.

And it continues: the NFL's assault on the scourge that has become end zone celebrations. Earlier this year it was the post-touchdown shimmy that drew the league's ire, and then team mascots and rednecks masquerading as EMTs were targeted.

And now, Commissar Goodell, who, coincidentally, goes by Herod*, has decided that children should not be honored. That's right, little people have been put on notice, which should make Darren Sproles very nervous.

Last Sunday against the Seahawks, Patriots tight end Ben Watson scored a touchdown, and to celebrate the arrival of a soon-to-be-born baby Watson, he stuck the ball under his jersey and pretended to be pregnant. That'll be 10 grand, please.

Yep, as Gretz reasoned at the time, the league fined Watson 10 large, which, incidentally, is what it cost the Giants' Brandon Jacobs two years ago when he pulled the original' "hey, look, I'm preggers!" routine after scoring a touchdown. Upside for Watson: no inflation.

This latest punishment does nothing to dispel the notion that the NFL arbitrarily sanctions its players (or as they're called at league headquarters, "evil doers"), and it also sheds some light on why Steelers safety Ryan Clark, who clearly tried to maimed Wes Welker (little person), wasn't slapped with a hefty fine, or better yet, suspended for life*. A travesty, indeed.

* Not really

During New England's 24-21 come-from-behind win in Seattle this past Sunday, the Patriots were charged with only one penalty the entire game. If nothing else, they made the flag worth it, when tight end Ben Watson shoved the football under his jersey and gave a salute to his pregnant wife.

Bill Belichick, obviously, wasn't exactly thrilled with Watson's celebration because it resulted in a 15-yard penalty assessed on the ensuing kickoff. Of course, there's an entirely different debate in there as to whether or not using a football to make yourself look like your pregnant wife is worthy of a 15-yard penalty (or a fine!), but, we're not really addressing that here. And, for the record, my opinion is, no, this should not be worthy of a penalty or a fine.

Anyway, had Watson not performed his celebration, New England would have played a perfect game on Sunday, at least as far as yellow flags are concerned. And this isn't really something that's new to the Patriots this season.

I'm a big fan of Patriots tight end Ben Watson, mainly for his Don Beebe-like "no play is over until I say it is" type of mentality. A week ago, on what was essentially a meaningless play in the Patriots' 33-10 loss to Pittsburgh, he ran Steelers linebacker Lawrence Timmons down from behind on an interception return and tackled him one yard short of the goal line. It was a play that was remarkably similar to his effort in a playoff game a couple of years ago in Denver, when he ran 100 yards to chase down Champ Bailey and blast him at the goal line.

None of these plays have anything to do with my point here, but it's not everyday that I have a reason to write about Ben Watson, so I just figured he deserved some praise. He can play for my team any day of the week.

Anyway, during the Patriots' come-from-behind win in Seattle yesterday, Watson hauled in two-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Matt Cassel, cutting an 11-point first half deficit to just four. To celebrate this occasion, Watson took the football, placed it under his jersey, and proceeded to rub his stomach -- as if he were expecting a child -- as a salute to his pregnant wife, as reported by Shalise Manza Young of the Providence Journal.

Yeah, the NFL is not going to approve of this.

Value Machine checks out the overall perceived value of fantasy players. If you want to commit a fantasy felony, you'll sell high on the up arrow guys and buy low on the down arrow guys.

Hey, I'm with you. I want to scream today as I hear the name, "Lee Evans." He was in my active lineup on two different teams gathering a nice and plump goose-egg. What's funny about fantasy sports is how we end up hating guys about whom we normally wouldn't bat an eye, and most of the time it's not even their fault. Evans barely even got targeted last night because Trent Edwards was overly quick in checking down through his progressions. He was terrified to throw the ball downfield, which, I guess, is what throwing three picks early in the game will do to you.

Either way, I still don't want to give up on Evans. The Bills face the Chiefs, Niners, Dolphins, Jets, and Broncos for the rest of the fantasy season, and that's hardly a murderer's row of pass defenses. If the offensive line can get any sort of pass protection for Edwards -- and they should, considering the running game from last night should attract attention -- Evans will begin slipping through secondaries again.

Nope, understudy quarterback Matt Cassel wasn't able to carry New England to victory on Thursday night. The Patriots dropped to the Jets last night in a thriller of a football game, mainly because they had to play catch up and couldn't stop the Jets offense when it mattered most.

None of that matters, however, when talking about Matt Cassel. This was his breakout game, and what a performance it was.

All the unknown players have one of these before they become household names. Tony Romo had his game against the Buccaneers in 2006, throwing five touchdowns and no interceptions in just his fifth start as a Cowboy. Tom Brady had his in 2001, a three touchdown performance against his soon-to-be foe Peyton Manning as the Patriots took down the Colts at Indianapolis and set us up for years of Brady-Manning showdowns.

Thursday night was Cassel's birth, a 30 of 51 performance with three touchdowns and 400 total passing yards. The numbers can 't exactly explain that final drive though.

If composure was a verb, it would have been Cassel at the end of regulation. Cassel to Ben Watson for nine yards. Cassel to Watson for 11 yards. Cassel to Wes Welker for 17 yards, every time making sure to get his team to the line and spike the ball a split second after they were set.

Every week when the dinner bell rings on Friday evening, we'll be here to provide you a comprehensive injury report for the NFL weekend to follow. For those injuries that go right down to the wire, drop by our live Fantasy Fanhouse experts live chat from 10 am to 1 pm every Sunday and we'll take care of you on those bloody game-time decisions. As always, please feel free to chime in with opinions, updates, and rumors in the comments.

The Arizona Cardinals

Steve Breaston - Breaston practiced lightly this week with a knee injury, but is expected to play on Sunday.

The Atlanta Falcons

Michael Turner - Turner was seen with his ankle in a bucket of ice (owww)after Sunday's game, but he says it is not serious and will be ready.

The Chicago Bears

Devin Hester - Hester has some torn cartilage in his ribs and has not practiced this week. I doubt if anybody starts Hester, but if so look elsewhere as he probably will not play.