FanHouse DJHackett

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We here are at Fantasy FanHouse are deeply committed to helping the desperate. And you may be among them. If that's the case, we have some lovely last-minute gambles for you to try out in fantasy this week. Fourth and 26 isn't an "ideal" situation, but sometimes it works out.

Quarterback
Chad Pennington, MIA -- This is actually a really, really logical start. Pennington has the Jets playbook inside his head (I'm actually convinced the Fins will win), and he's out for revenge against the team that spurned him. He has a dangerous deep threat in Ted Ginn, and the running back tandem of Ricky Williams and (maybe) Ronnie Brown should give him some room to dink and dunk his way to nice low-end QB1 numbers. A nice waiver-wire scramble.

Trent Edwards, BUF -- Whaaa? Against the Seattle defense? Really? Yes. Really. As pointed out in this wonderful, wonderful book, the Seahawks defensive backs are short; neither Marcus Trufant nor Kelly Jennings are over six feet tall. Bills rookie James Hardy is 6-foot-5. Lee Evans is only 5-foot-10, but he's fast as all get-out. And the Bills have Marshawn Lynch to open up the passing game. Edwards won't win the week for you, but he won't be as bad as Eli Manning or Jason Campbell.

Remember a few months ago when we were joking about how deep the Carolina Panthers were at receiver? It seemed silly, didn't it? After all, this team's wideout corps has been Steve Smith and the Droptastics for the last three years. Where are all these receivers going to come from?

Apparently, from nowhere. Reports out of camp are that Jason Carter, a former Texas A&M QB-turned-receiver who was on the Panthers' practice squad last season, is making big noise in camp, catching everything thrown his way -- including passes that third-string QB Brett Basanez is intentionally throwing several feet over Carter's head. As Basanez told the Charlotte Observer: "I make him look good. We work on that all the time."

Does Carter's emergence create a dilemma for the Panthers at receiver? We can assume Smith, Muhsin Muhammad and D.J. Hackett will make the cut, but what about the guys behind them? Dwayne Jarrett is reportedly much improved this year, and Ryne Robinson is still the designated kick returner, so replacing him with Carter seems highly unlikely. John Fox isn't the kind of team to carry six receivers on the active roster. If Carter continues to impress, would Carolina cut or trade someone else to make room for him? Or does the inevitable D.J. Hackett injury leave Carter plenty of room?

It's only May, so we're months away from seeing the proof here, but it seems the big story about The Train Wreck That Is The Carolina Panthers -- you can thank the FanHouse commenters for that moniker -- is that they have (*gasp*) actual depth at receiver.

First, there's D.J. Hackett, who reportedly made "several fine catches" during the weekend workouts and had nothing but good things to say about Jake Delhomme. In turn, the Panthers QB had nothing but good things to say about Muhsin Muhammad's return.

"I'll be honest with you -- the day we got Moose back, that was huge. And not for what he's done in the past. Just the way he works, the way he blocks. He brings a presence."

Another report has Jason Carter, the third-year man from Texas A&M who spent last season on the Panthers' practice squad, making the most spectacular catch of the weekend and looking generally impressive. That same report says, "Dwayne Jarrett has great hands. That's all." (Translation: He runs routes like Keary Colbert.)

Of course, it's way too early to tell whether any of these guys will take the double- and triple-teams off Steve Smith during actual games, but it sure sounds like there's a light at the end of the tunn-- Agh! It's an oncoming train! Run!

You know, this off-season is enough to drive the Redskins back to their free-wheelin', spend-like-you're-Client 9, baby! ways. Maybe one of the most surprising developments during free agency has been Washington's inactivity.

In years past, The Danny would have Redskin One ferrying players into Ashburn long enough to sign jaw-droppingly insane contracts, the media would predictably write that Washington was suddenly the team to beat (in the NFC East, anyway), and, like clockwork, the Redskins would implode sometime around Thanksgiving the following season. It was all very comfortable.

Anyway, the new approach to roster building has a few glitches. For starters, the team had D.J. Hackett in for a visit last week -- after Hackett sat on his couch the first two weeks of free agency waiting for the phone to ring -- and offered him a contract on the spot. Smart move by the 'Skins; they need a third wide receiver and know enough not to just throw $10 million at the first stiff they see.

Well, Hackett decided to visit other teams and eventually signed with the Panthers. Washington still needs a wideout, and they have another offer on the table. And they're still waiting to hear back ... from Reche Freaking Caldwell. No, really.

Good Lord, has it come to that? Whatever Caldwell decides -- and let's be honest, he's not going to make or break Washington's offense -- the team will be looking for wideouts in the draft. And unlike year's past, they actually have all their draft picks. Novel idea, that.

Heading into the draft, the Cowboys' offense is in pretty good shape. They have their franchise quarterback, the offensive line is solid, and Terrell Owens and Jason Witten aren't bad guys to have running pass patterns.

But when talking about the wide receivers, there is the little issue of age. T.O. is 34 and Terry Glenn is 33 and coming off an injury that kept him out of all but one regular-season game last season. Which is why the team could target wide receiver with one of their two first-round picks, or, as has been rumored just about every day of the off-season, make a deal for one of the wideouts currently in the league.

There was some speculation that D.J. Hackett could be that guy, but he signed with the Panthers earlier today. And even though the free agent pond has dried up, there's still a big fish out there. From Hashmarks' Matt Mosley:

...[I]t wouldn't surprise me if [agent Drew] Rosenhaus instructs [Anquan] Boldin to hold out at some point. Boldin's not a selfish person, but he's not going to give the Cardinals a free ride.

According to sources close to Hashmarks, the Cowboys spent some time talking about Boldin last week at Valley Ranch. It wouldn't surprise me if they reached out to the Cardinals at some point. Dallas needs someone other than Patrick Crayton to play opposite of Terrell Owens, and Boldin would certainly be worth a No. 1 pick. I'm not saying this is going to happen, but it's something you should keep an eye on.

Now that Larry Fitzgerald has his shiny new deal in place -- $30 million guaranteed over the next three years -- the talk has turned to his teammate, wide receiver Anquan Boldin. Specifically, how he'll handle being grossly underpaid next to Fitzgerald.

Assuming Boldin's grumpy about the latest developments could be good news for the Redskins, a team that has historically enjoyed grossly overpaying for players. The Washington Post's Jason La Canfora writes:

[Boldin's] another No. 1 WR who fits the mold of what the Skins prize, and they have certainly created enough cap space in the last few months to pull off one major deal. I'm not sure the Cards would even do a deal any time soon, but if they did shop Boldin I would expect the Skins to fish around on that.

Vinny Cerrato has talked a lot about holding onto draft picks, but, like Chad Johnson, Boldin is the kind of unique talent who can cause you to consider making a move...

It's no secret owner Dan Snyder covets a big-play wide receiver and Boldin certainly fits the mold. He's not as charismatic as Ocho Cinco, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. As La Canfora points out, there's no indication the Cardinals are even interested in trading Boldin, but the Redskins have a way of throwing enough dough at a problem to get what they want.

To their credit, though, they've been very conservative this off-season. And for what it will cost to bring Boldin to D.C., it makes a lot more sense to go after D.J. Hackett.

YouTubes via the Dallas Cowboys Blog

Show of hands -- who believes it's a coincidence that free agent receiver D.J. Hackett scheduled a visit with the Carolina Panthers just one day after Dwayne Jarrett was arrested on DWI charges? Anyone? No?

Clearly, the Panthers have decided that Jarrett's bad judgment is one reason to pursue Hackett, but it's not the only one. Hackett is also visiting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this week, and the Panthers may have decided that having Jake Delhomme throw to Hackett would be far more ideal than having Ken Lucas or Richard Marshall guard him.

When he wasn't sidelined by ankle injuries last season, Hackett put up solid numbers, and he shined in Seattle's playoff win over Washington last January -- which could be the reason why the Redskins are courting him, too. With all this sudden interest in Hackett, though, it's possible that a bidding war could erupt, and the Bucs have far more salary cap space than the Panthers or Redskins.

Regardless, the Panthers' interest in Hackett should send a clear message to Jarrett -- shape up, kid, because we can replace you very easily.

We're a third of the way through March and the Redskins, perennial off-season Super Bowl Champs, have yet to sign one free agent that wasn't with the team last year. Vegas had March 1 as the over/under on when the front office would go back on their promise to sit out free agency and give Asante Samuel the league's first billion dollar contract. Didn't happen. The house made a killing.

Earlier in the off-season, there were rumors that Chad Johnson could be on his way to Landover, but Bengals coach Marvin Lewis (in between bobs and weaves) said Ocho Cinco ain't leaving Cincy. Still, the Redskins need a wide receiver, although that was the case before they cut ties with chronic underachiever/lyrical assassin Brandon Lloyd. Which explains why Washington will have former Seahawks wideout D.J. Hackett in for a visit this week.

Limited to six games last season because of a high ankle sprain, Hackett had 32 receptions for 384 yards (a 12-yard average) and three touchdowns in the regular season. He played a key role in the Seahawks' 35-14 victory over the Redskins in the first round of the NFC playoffs, catching six passes for 101 yards (a 16.8-yard average) and one touchdown.

The year before, Hackett caught 45 passes for 610 yards and four touchdowns. By comparison, during Lloyd's two-year stint in Washington, he had 25 catches for 379 yards and no touchdowns. And he certainly didn't help the Redskins during the playoffs since, you know, he didn't dress.

Hackett could actually be a good signing because he'll come relatively cheap and he has some upside, two things Washington has generally frowned upon when targeting free agents. Maybe this Vinny Cerrato fellow knows what he's doing.

I'm sure Seahawks fans are sufficiently psyched about the Charlie Frye trade, but there is some bad news out of Seattle (in addition to the Charlie Frye trade): wide receiver D.J. Hackett suffered the dreaded high-ankle sprain in Sunday's game against the Buccaneers and is out indefinitely.

"He's going to be down for a while. I can't tell you how long," [head coach Mike] Holmgren said. "Those things are very unpredictable."

Depending on the severity, Hackett could be out anywhere from a few weeks to the entire season, but as it stands, no one knows anything. Or if they do, they're not saying. According to the Seattle Times, team doctors didn't give Holmgren a prognosis during a Monday meeting, though speculation has Hackett missing a month or so.

In the meantime, Nate Burleson will move into the starting lineup, but that doesn't mean he'll relinquish his return duties. Burleson was a pleasant surprise Seattle's return man in '06 -- something he volunteer for after not seeing much action at wideout. But he understands the inherent danger in special teams:

"Those guys are running down with their heads on fire and they're sticking their helmets in some areas that I don't really like."

Thankfully, Burleson didn't elaborate.