When one prepares to draft a fantasy football team, myriad criterion should be considered in evaluating who to target, and, likewise, who to avoid. One word bouncing around just as frequently as anything else during said evaluation? Injury. Maybe a guy was injured for several games last season, maybe he suffered a season-ending injury or maybe he's just an injury-prone guy. This affects the value of players on draft day.
Let's check out the value of 10 guys with injury concerns, and judge whether or not they are up to the task for 2009.
On Second Thought is Matt Snyder's look back at the initial FanHouse staff rankings, which were compiled nearly a month ago. As we all know, fantasy players' value changes frequently, even when no games are being played.
Formerly a relatively unpredictable position with just a small handful of reliable WR1-types, wide receiver now sports a solid upper-echelon. With the overemphasis on the pass game in the NFL, you must have one elite wideout to compete in fantasy football.
There is also good depth. It seems to me most of the shaky players here in terms of good value are in the teens. Meaning after the elite wideout, you should let everyone fill out their WR2 while waiting to stockpile good value guys in the seven and eight round range.
Last week, the Denver Broncos' Brandon Marshall requested a trade. Just like former teammate quarterback Jay Cutler a few months before. Cutler got his wish (he's now in Chicago), but head coach Josh McDaniels says he has no plans to grant Marshall his wish.
Of course, that's what McDaniels said about Cutler right up till he was traded, so who knows how this works out. In the meantime, the 33-year-old, first-year head coach, like the rest of us, will have to wait and see on Marshall, who left Denver yesterday to resume his holdout.
Last Brandon Marshall post for a bit, I promise (unless he's traded, then there will be approximately 14 more plus a graphic novel).
But when there are trade rumors floating out there, it's best to go right to the source. And so we turn here to Brandon Marshall's personal Web site. As everyone blabbered on Tuesday about whether or not the Broncos would relent to Marshall's wishes and trade him, Marshall himself filed a post that sounded a lot like a goodbye to the fans of Denver.
"Yes there was a meeting between Brandon, and Mr. Bowlen. There was a request for a trade. Mr. Bowlen has said that ownership will do everything in it's power to accommodate his wishes," said Marshall's agent Kennard McGuire to Fox31 Sports' Josina Anderson Tuesday morning.
Later in the day, McGuire told FanHouse's Calvin Watkins that the two sides will progress with trade talks, despite Broncos coach Josh McDaniels' claim that he expects Marshall to attend the team's training camp.
The word from the front office in Denver (outside of McDaniels) wasn't much, as they merely offered a "no comment." Teaming the report with the information we have in front of us -- in addition to the way the Jay Cutler fiasco went down -- it would appear Marshall will be wearing a different uniform come Week 1 of the season.
The Baltimore Ravens are not necessarily scrambling to send Denver a trade offer for Brandon Marshall, but they are at least exploring the possibility of pursuing a deal, according to a report from the Baltimore Sun.
The Ravens are often the subject of rumors involving potentially available wide receivers, and it's not hard to see why. Their leading pass-catcher in 2008, Derrick Mason, is still struggling after offseason shoulder surgery -- and he was the only player on the team to catch more than 41 balls last year (80 for 1,037 yards). Their third most-productive WR, Demetrius Williams, missed nine games, and three of Baltimore's top seven receivers were running backs.
Heck, the team's eighth-leading "receiver" was quarterback Joe Flacco, who caught one ball for 43 yards.
So the need is there. But, based on comments made by Baltimore coach John Harburgh on Tuesday, Marshall might not be a great fit.
Denver wide receiver Brandon Marshall wants a new contract, but isn't sure if he wants it with the Broncos or another team
A source told FanHouse that Marshall spoke with Broncos owner Pat Bowlen on Friday about his future. Bowlen impressed upon Marshall that he wants to keep him in Denver, especially after the team supported the wideout during some off-field troubles.
But Marshall is concerned about the direction of the club in light of the team dealing quarterback Jay Cutler to the Bears.
It was only a matter of time. Jay Cutler is now the quarterback of the Chicago Bears. The Bears lack a proven No. 1 receiver. Brandon Marshall was Cutler's favorite target last season for the Denver Broncos. Marshall is unhappy about his current contract situation in Denver. Add those four sentences together and what comes out? A "rumor" about Marshall being traded to the Bears -- who do have the cap space to take on Marshall and give him a raise.
Now, let us take this all with a grain of salt at this point. The Broncos still insist Marshall is not going to be traded, and the linked discussion of Marshall-to-the-Bears was kick-started by a fan email. Still, the idea makes too much sense from the Bears' perspective to completely ignore.
Kyle Orton doesn't have Jay Cutler's franchise quarterback pedigree. He was taken in the fourth round of the 2005 draft, two years after the Bears had invested a first-round pick in Rex Grossman. And, from the beginning, his role was clear: a raw, strong-armed talent, who would spend the first few seasons on the bench learning the nuances of what it means to be an NFL quarterback.
That lasted up till the moment Grossman broke his ankle in a 2005 preseason game. At the time, head coach Lovie Smithtold the AP that "I don't know exactly who there is out there but we like the guys we have right now ... Chad Hutchinson is a good player, we feel comfortable starting him, and Kyle Orton continues to shine as far as we're concerned."
It's been 10 days 
Last week, the Denver Broncos' 
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Denver wide receiver 
It was only a matter of time. 
Kyle Orton
