FanHouse Brian Robiskie

Cut-N-Go is Fantasy Football FanHouse's daily gathering of links from around the web, covering the goings-on in NFL Training Camp which have an impact on fantasy value.

Brett Favre obviously dominated the news today, and the injury to Chaz Schilens is also fantasy-worthy. I wouldn't touch Favre in any but the deepest of fantasy leagues, and I'd definitely suggest keeping Schilens in the back of our minds for the stretch run. You can read extended fantasy analysis on both moves further down the fantasy page.

What else is happening around the league? Read on.

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It's Saturday in August.

It's time for football. Instead of coeds and keggers though, today's football players will be getting paid. That is as long as they can stay on the roster.

There are six NFL preseason games on the docket for Saturday, and a lot of questions to answer and position battles to watch over.

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Cut-N-Go is Fantasy Football FanHouse's daily gathering of links from around the web, covering the goings-on in NFL Training Camp which have an impact on fantasy value.

At our 12-team mock draft the other night, I took an 11th-round flier on 49ers receiver Josh Morgan, one round after someone rolled with Michael Crabtree. Guess which one likely won't be the top target when San Francisco opens the season on Sept. 13? If you guessed the 10th overall draft pick, I have a rude awakening for you.

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Selecting a rookie in your fantasy football draft is a risky proposition. For every Matt Ryan, who throws for 3,440 yards, or Matt Forte, who rushes for 1,238 yards, there are many rookies like Darren McFadden and Felix Jones who finish far below expectations.

To temper the risk involved in selecting rookie NFL players in your fantasy draft, you should follow one of two strategies on draft day. You can completely forget about these wild card rookies; you never know how they will perform or even if they will climb the depth chart to get onto the field. Or, you can wait on these rookies and draft them lower in your draft. We all know there is considerable upside in these rookies. If you wait and let them fall to you in the draft, you will be sure not to overspend, therefore making sure a bust season or injured rookie doesn't kill your draft and fantasy team.

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One day after showing up in Cleveland anticipating a deal, first-round pick Alex Mack finally has one. The center out of California has been penciled in as the Browns' starter, so he knew that his presence at training camp from the start would be very important.

With the contract done, Mack becomes just the third first-round pick to put pen to paper on a contract, joining top-five quarterbacks Matthew Stafford (Detroit) and Mark Sanchez (N.Y. Jets).

Mack got a five-year deal from the Browns. Pro Football Talk reports the deal includes an increase in guaranteed money of 12.2 percent over what the No. 21 pick (Atlanta offensive lineman Sam Baker) got a year ago.

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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 ...
Team who fooled us all a year ago! So much promise, so much hype and yes so many wasted fantasy picks. The writing was on the wall for doom in Cleveland last season. Many put their faith in Braylon Edwards and Derek Anderson to be the next great QB-WR combination in fantasy football.

This season the Browns remain a little less profile. Jamal Lewis is on the cusp of crashing into the wall, Braylon Edwards is on the trading block and we aren't really 100% sure who the QB will be week in and week out. One thing is pretty certain, you can shelve Donte Stallworth for a very, very, very rainy day.

Braylon Edwards would probably like to get his hands on a time machine and go back 12 months. And as long as we're defying the laws of physics, Derek Anderson would like to hitch a ride, too. A year ago, both players were coming off Pro Bowl seasons.

Today, they're still with the team, but have endured myriad trade rumors, inconsistent play, and for Anderson, a midseason benching.

Yet, training camp is five weeks off and both remain on the roster. New head coach Eric Mangini hasn't named his starting quarterback, although the word on the street is that it's Brady Quinn's job to lose. And Edwards, the club's 2005 first-round pick, is not only off the trading block, but should be an integral part of the Browns' offense.

Perhaps the best way to ease a young NFL quarterback into the starting job is to surround him with playmakers, the support of a suffocating defense, or both. That way, he's seldom in the position of having to win a game, but has the benefit of gaining experience.

The strategy worked for the Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger in 2004, and the Ravens and Joe Flacco and the Falcons and Matt Ryan last season. Pittsburgh was 15-1, Baltimore and Atlanta were 11-5. It helps to have most of the pieces in place before handing over the offense to a young QB, but it's not mandatory; the Ravens won five times the year before Flacco arrived, and the Falcons won four.

In a perfect world, Cleveland would break its first offensive huddle next season, send Braylon Edwards to one side of the field, Donte Stallworth to the other, and both would catch everything thrown in his direction. But, as Browns fans can heartily attest, 'tis not a perfect world.

Bray Bray might get traded because he's got the dropsies, Stallworth is facing DUI manslaughter charges and the Browns' other returning receivers (led by Joshua Cribbs) are role players at best. So new head coach Eric Mangini is doing his best to fill the gaps -- the latest coming with the signing of former Lion Mike Furrey.

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

One year removed from a 10-win season, and on the heels of a four-win effort, owner Randy Lerner decided change was in order. He fired head coach Romeo Crennel and general manager Phil Savage and brought in Eric Mangini and George Kokonis.

If the first draft under the new leadership is any indication, the Browns will use the last weekend in April to restock the roster, and eschew high-priced, quick-fix free agents. The previous regime had a healthy mix of the two: Gary Baxter, Eric Steinbach, LeCharles Bentley and Donte' Stallworth were signed as free agents; Kamerion Wimbley, Joe Thomas and Brady Quinn were all high-round draft picks.