FanHouse ClintonPortis

In news sure to cause knee-jerk reactions from many, Jason Reid of the Washington Post has confirmed that Clinton Portis and Mike Sellers got into a "heated verbal exchange" Monday at Redskins Park. Apparently, Sellers heard Portis requested Sellers be removed from Sunday's game due to his missing a few blocks on Portis runs. The two got into an argument and had to be restrained by other players and coaches. It has been emphasized there were no punches thrown.

Yawn. There is absolutely nothing wrong with two football teammates getting into a disagreement on a Monday -- especially considering how poorly the Redskins have fared offensively thus far. They play a testosterone-packed powder keg of a sport, and sometimes things don't go their way. Thus, they blow off steam. In fact, this could be construed as a good thing for the Redskins.

No one would really blame any player on the Washington Redskins for being less than chipper at this point in the still-young 2009 NFL season. After all, thus far they've gotten worked by a division-rival, squeaked out a 2-point home win against one of the worst teams in the NFL and most recently became the first team to lose to the Detroit Lions since 2007. Anyone from the outside could understand any negative feelings emanating from the locker room.

Running back Clinton Portis, arguably the team's biggest star, isn't hearing it. Tuesday afternoon, Portis was on a DC-area radio show and said all the right things -- even with a touch of delusion.

A message to Marion Barber: don't mess this up for Felix Jones.

It's going to be Monday Night Football. The Cowboys are taking on the Carolina Panthers, who haven't yet shown a good run defense. Felix is a home run hitter, as evidenced by his 56-yard run last week, his 98-yard kick return touchdown last season and his career 8.9 yards-per-carry average on 43 carries. Give him 15 carries a week, and the sky is the limit. When news of Barber missing 1-2 weeks popped, it appeared the stars were aligning for Felix's breakout party. Now, it's looking like Barber might suit up and play. If he does, it would be like refusing to leave your friend alone with a girl at a bar. There's a hyphenated word for that, Marion, and the second part is "block." Don't be that guy. Back off and allow your buddy to get his.

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Before John Riggins became a radio personality he was an NFL running back. He spent most of his career with the Redskins, earning Super Bowl XVII MVP honors. In addition to being a workhorse, he was also something of an eccentric. Which makes his public feud with current Redskins' running back Clinton Portis sort of peculiar.

When the Washington Redskins got the ball back with 1:32 left in the game, they were just three kneel-downs away from their first win of 2009. They were playing at home, yet there was an audible smattering of boos. On a victory? What gives?

Allow me to take a wild guess -- the Redskins ended the game with 362 total yards, gained 21 first downs and failed to score a touchdown against a Rams team that lost 28-0 last week to the Seahawks. Of course, the booing wasn't overwhelming; probably because most fans realized how fortunate their favorite team was to escape with a victory.

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It's time for a little CP26. Last week, we knew Clinton Portis had a rough week ahead of him, facing an incredibly stout Giants run defense. This week? He gets to play at home against the St. Louis Rams. The same Rams who let Julius Jones get loose for a 62-yard touchdown and 136 total yards from scrimmage.

You don't need us to tell you Portis is a much better back than Jones. That's common knowledge. Expect Portis to outperform nearly every other running back this week. You'll find him ranked only below the obvious number one.

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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.

Offense -- They stormed out of the gate last season, on the shoulders of Clinton Portis. In the second half of the season, though, the offensive line began to wear down and Jason Campbell wasn't productive enough downfield to take attention away from CP26. This season, there are reasons for optimism. The offensive line has been retooled. The growth of second-year wideouts Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly will give Campbell more reliable options in the passing attack in addition to the solid Chris Cooley and Santana Moss.

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.

Keep a close eye on this Saturday's preseason game as Arizona head coach Ken Whisenhunt expects rookie running back Chris "Beanie" Wells to get some reps against San Diego, but his time to shine appears to be dwindling fast. The Arizona Repbulic reported that Beanie Wells twisted his already sore ankle on Wednesday night at practice. With Tim Hightower moving well ahead Wells as the favorite for the starting job, this could be one of Wells' last chances to make a bid for the starting spot.

The rookie out of Ohio State seemed like a perfect fit to take the reigns in the backfield and raised a lot of fantasy eyebrows as a favorite choice for a 2009 sleeper. Now his ADP is slipping fast and his value as a fantasy threat for the early part of the season appear to be slim to none. Never say never, but this is looking like an uphill battle for Wells.

Let's take a look around the rest of the league to see what other fantasy relevant news is breaking.

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As the season nears, FanHouse's fantasy football team decided to put our heads together for another set of updated positional rankings. In this installment, we'll hit up the thoroughbreds.

The thing that sticks out to me, when viewing the running backs for this season, is what a muddled mess the group is. I stared at a group of about 15 players -- those ranked from six to 20 -- for probably 45 minutes while tinkering with how to rank them. Some will pan out, and some will end up being viewed as busts. May the force be with you. (Last Updated: 8/27/09)

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For those who may use a different term or are new to fantasy football, "handcuff" is the term used when you own insurance for one of your players in the form of owning his real-life backup. It's usually a running back, but you could conceivably handcuff a quarterback. The theory is that some or all of the production is automatically replaced should you lose a high draft pick to injury, meaning you need to insure a high draft pick by grabbing his backup.

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