FanHouse Corey Dillon

Young players announcing impossible goals are as much a part of preseason as two-a-days, roster cuts and injuries. Eleven years ago, then-second-year running back Corey Dillon announced that he would rush for 2,500 yards during the 1998 season. He came up 1,370 yards short.

In 2007, Frank Gore set his sights on Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards. He ended up with 1,102 yards, barely halfway there.

Michael Vick is free to sign with any NFL team that will have him, he can participate in training camp, and if all goes well, he could be back in the league by Week 6.

Via her NFL sources, FanHouse's Nancy Gay wrote about potential Vick landing spots: the Dolphins, Patriots, Raiders, and 49ers. All, to varying degrees, make sense (even if fans might disagree with the idea of Vick being allowed to earn a nice living playing a game and wearing a funny outfit).

But the News of the Weird gets weirder. Bloomberg Sports (I'll be honest, I had no idea Bloomberg covered sports) also mentions, via "one online betting site," that in addition to the Patriots, the "odds favor the Steelers signing Vick."

In the three drafts prior to Scott Pioli's arrival in Kansas City a few months ago, the Chiefs selected in the first round defensive end Tamba Hali, wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, and defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey.

For varying reasons, all three players could be elsewhere a year from now. Pioli, who came to Kansas City from New England, hired Todd Haley to replace Herm Edwards, and Clancy Pendergast to rebuild a defense that lost its way in recent seasons under Gunther Cunningham. This includes a switch to the 3-4 defense, a scheme Pendergast had some success with during the Cardinals' 2008 late-season surge.

After being released by the Jacksonville Jaguars this past week, Fred Taylor is already finding some teams willing to see how much tread is remaining on his tires.

Shalise Manza Young of the Providence Journal reported on Saturday that the Patriots and Bills are likely landing spots for the 33-year-old running back, while Mike Reiss of the Boston Globe says he could be visiting New England as early as this week.

As much as we all pretend we build our fantasy teams are based solely on data, trends, matchups and depth charts, there is an undeniable emotional element involved. If you have ever played in a league with the same crew for multiple years, you know exactly what I am talking about. For instance, I know my colleague here at FanHouse, Sean Lalley, will always want Larry Fitzgerald, probably draft Chad Johnson, and will sniper any young running back that looks poised to slip into a starting role. On the other hand, if Curtis Martin, Tiki Barber, and Torry Holt played until age 75, they would probably all end up my team.

We grow attached to guys who have helped us win... and vice versa. On the contrary, we grow to despise the players who sink our teams as if they pushed our grandma to the ground in an effort to steal the last seat on a busy subway car. They are evil and we do not forget this. Thus, the following comprises a sampling of some of the guys who have burned fantasy teams beyond repair over the years. In other words, this is our fantasy hit list.

Corey Dillon - We'll date ourselves here a little, but back in 2003 fantasy team-killin' Corey Dillon came off a 1,300-plus yard and seven-touchdown rushing season with all the hype of a new Vampire Weekend album. Much like the band, Dillon proved to be totally overrated, providing owners a whopping 541 yards and two teeders.

When the Patriots signed John Lynch a few weeks ago, it wouldn't have been crazy to think that the Patriots found themselves a useful role player that could contribute something positive for ten-or-so snaps a game.

After all, it wouldn't have been the first time the Patriots picked up a once-great player off the scrap heap and found something they could use, much as they did with Corey Dillon, Rodney Harrison, and Junior Seau. Only natural to assume they would hit on another one with Lynch.

Turns out, that's not happening. At least not right now. The Patriots today released the former pro-bowler, according to the Patriots blog at the Boston Herald. However, Head Coach Bill Belichick isn't ruling out Lynch returning to the team at a later date.

Here's what Belichick offered on Lynch: "It goes without saying but John is an all-time great safety, one of the league's classiest professionals and his elite play speaks for itself. As has been the case in other situations, I would not rule anything out down the road.

The Bengals had made it clear that they were looking to trade Rudi Johnson in exchange for a wide receiver. Well, it's trim-the-roster day across the league and with nobody interested in making a deal, Cincinnati has instead opted to release Johnson. The running back pegged to replace Corey Dillon following an impressive 2003 season will now be out of a job, at least for the time being. Johnson had battled injuries in recent seasons, and it kept him out practice for most of this preseason.

Ironically, the Bengals will start the year with Chris Perry as their No. 1 back, a 2004 first-round pick who has started a whopping three games in four years. Kenny Watson and DeDe Dorsey fill out the depth chart, although I suspect we'll see plenty of them, what with Perry's injury history and Watson's success in limited playing time.

Meanwhile, Johnson will be anxiously waiting for another chance.

"We want to keep this positive," said Schaffer, who negotiated a five-year deal for Johnson that had two years left. "Obviously we got wind they were moving in a different direction when (ESPN) reported they were trying to trade him. We think Rudi's got plenty of football left and we're going to look for the best situation for him."

I'd agree with that last point. Shaun Alexander and Travis Henry are still looking for work, and I'd like to think Johnson is definitely a better option than either of them. That said, there will be plenty of guys looking for work today, so it'll be a buyer's market. Which could be bad for Johnson, but maybe it'll mean the Bengals can finally find a backup receiver that isn't a disappointment.

You know, I was wondering when the Patriots would get around to finding Corey Dillon's replacement. The answer, it seems, is "today." Via PFT, New England signed recent Raiders cast off LaMont Jordan, which, presumably, must make Laurence Maroney very happy.

Early in Bill Belichick's Patriots career, he'd sign Steelers rejects and they would magically revitalize their careers (relatively speaking, anyway). Mike Vrabel is the most obvious example, but Chad Scott and Hank Poteat also had a little success in New England.

Now, though, the Patriots Revivification Pipeline runs through Oakland. Sure, Doug Gabriel was a bust, but the Randy Moss-for-a-fourth-rounder worked out okay. And now, New England gets Jordan for peanuts (one-year deal, and although I don't have the details, I'll take a leap of faith and assume it was very affordable). Not too shabby for one of the most sought-after free agents just a few years ago.

As for what this means for New England's depth chart, well, I got nothing. The Boston Globe's Mike Reiss notes that currently, the Pats have Maroney, Sammy Morris, Kevin Faulk, Heath Evans, Kyle Eckel and BenJarvus Green-Ellis at running back.

I suspect Jordan will share the load with Maroney and Morris, with Faulk remaining as the third-down/specialty back. But this is New England; it wouldn't shock me if Jordan ends up replacing Matt Cassel as the backup quarterback and also double as the starting cornerback.

Cedric Benson has been unemployed for 48 hours or so, and has certainly had some time to reflect on where it all went wrong. And with none of the other 31 NFL teams immediately showing interest in his services, he could be doing a lot of mulling in the coming weeks and months.

Not to worry, though; Bodog.com is taking bets on whether Benson returns to the league, and not only that, which teams are are most likely to sign him (via Hashmarks):

Will Benson play in the NFL this season?
Yes -300
No +225

What team will Benson play for?
New England 2/1
Arizona 5/1
Denver 4/1
New Orleans 10/1
New York Jets 16/1
Cleveland 12/1
San Diego 18/1

Well, I suppose the Patriots make sense if for no other reason than they routinely take fliers on players who have seemingly lost their way. The most obvious example is Corey Dillon; the difference, of course, is that Dillon was still very good when the Bengals sent him to New England in a trade. I'm not sure Benson will ever be confused for a "very good" running back, at least in the NFL.

Whatever happens, no one can wrest the Biggest Draft Bust, Class of '05 title away from him. So there's that.

Corey Dillon was the Patriots' first reclamation project, arriving in New England in 2004 after the team sent the Bengals a second-round pick. During his sometimes tumultuous seven-yeaer career in Cincinnati, Dillon was labeled a malcontent, a selfish player more interested in personal accolades than wins.

When the Patriots acquired him, conventional wisdom had Dillon destroying the team-first mentality head coach Bill Belichick had spent the previous three years cultivating. Didn't happen; instead, Dillon earned a Super Bowl ring in his first season with the team, totaling 1,635 rushing yards on 345 carries (4.7 average), including 12 touchdowns. And for two more years with the team, he never caused a problem, even with the Patriots used their 2006 first-round pick on running back Laurence Maroney.

Now happily retired, Dillon has a theory about how his success in New England paved the way for another former knucklehead to get a second chance as resurrecting a once-promising career.