FanHouse DanOrlovsky

Who says the fourth preseason game means nothing? Backup quarterback Dan Orlovsky (with large multi-year contract) looked inconsistent with poor touch in limited minutes against Tampa Bay. Third string quarterback, Rex Grossman (vet minimum, one year contract) threw two touchdown passes, and more importantly showed much more poise. On Tuesday, coach Gary Kubiak named Rex Grossman the number 2 quarterback for the Texans, for now.

Usually the backup quarterback competition isn't much of a big deal, but it is when their are concerns about the health of the starter. Matt Schaub injured his ankle in the game against the Vikings and is described as "progressing toward getting ready to go" and as being "day-to-day." He took half the snaps in practice.

Texans QB Matt Schaub injured his ankle in the Monday Night Football game against the Vikings. It didn't happen from a hit, but rather when he ran out of bounds on a play. Untouched.

Schaub says he's fine and is confident he will be ready for the home opener against the Jets. He wasn't going to be playing in the fourth game of the preseason against the Buccaneers anyway. Even so, the number one question about Schaub has never focused on ability but rather durability. (The number two question would be his red zone decision making, but that's a different story).

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 ...
Quiet Contenders. With an explosive offense -- last season's third most prolific to be precise -- Houston is a hot topic this season in fantasy terms. Last season, starter Matt Schaub and backup Sage Rosenfels combined for a franchise record in passing offense. Furthermore, rookie running back Steve Slaton proved to be the sleeper of the season.

This year, with an improved defense and a healthy Schaub, the Texans look like real deal contenders. The defense remains the big question mark, but the offense should keep them in contention, and more importantly continue to provide fantasy owners with big-time points.

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Nate Davis has had a rough few months. After an impressive junior season at Ball State -- one in which some folks had him pegged as a possible first-round pick -- the MAC quarterback has experienced a series of setbacks that will cost him millions of dollars, and perhaps the opportunity to play professional football.

ESPN.com's Jeffri Chadiha wrote earlier this month that Davis "... seemed destined to follow Ben Roethlisberger, Chad Pennington and Byron Leftwich as the next great Mid-American Conference quarterback to enter the NFL," although now he's more likely to be lumped in with Bruce Gradkowski, Charlie Frye -- or worse -- Omar Jacobs.

Maybe he will go on to NFL greatness, but for now, Dan Orlovsky is best known as "that dude who ran out of the end zone for no apparent reason." The Lions' 2005 fifth-round pick, Orlovsky started started seven games at quarterback last season, but has decided to test the free-agent market instead of returning to Detroit.

It has less to do with the Lions' 0-16 putridity and more to do with the organization telling Orlovsky, in so many words, that there was a better chance he'd lead the league in rushing yards than win the starting quarterback job.

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

I'm going to do my best to avoid use of the phrase "Well, things can't get any worse," or anything like that. Really, I am. But it's worth pointing out that this is a true statement. Things are looking up for the Detroit Lions because they absolutely can't get any worse.

With two first-round picks and a ton of available cap space, a well-managed organization could make a significant dent in one year.

When quarterback Jon Kitna landed on injured reserve six weeks into the 2008 season, many people figured his Lions career was over. It wasn't an especially earth-shattering notion at the time; the team would use the opportunity to see if Dan Orlovsky was a long-term option, or, worst case, get Drew Stanton some work in the hopes that he might emerge as something more than an embarrassment in 2009.

But these are the Lions we're talking about. Orlovsky was injured a month after taking over for Kitna and Daunte Culpepper was summoned off his couch to take over. Predictably, things didn't go so well.

During the fourth quarter of Saturday's Ravens-Titans game, Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco dropped back to pass in his own end zone and nearly stepped on the end line:



It was very, very close to a safety, and stunningly, the CBS producers didn't bother to show a replay, while the CBS announcers didn't say a word about it. Only much later, after the game, were viewers able to see another replay angle (the second one shown above) that appears to show green grass between Flacco's foot and the end line.

The now 0-14 Lions have many believing that a winless season is not only possible, but probable. This is 0for08, FanHouse's eye on the Detroit Lions and their quest for a winless season.

Some fans and pundits have looked at the Lions schedule over the last four or five games of the season and thought that their best chance to get in the win column would come today against the Saints. On ESPN's Sunday Countdown this morning, Tom Jackson -- normally a rational NFL mind -- stood firmly against the rest of the crew in picking the Lions today.

The Lions aren't going to win today.

At halftime, the score is 28-7, and Detroit can't stop a single thing New Orleans is doing on offense. The Saints have scored four rushing touchdowns by four different players (Robert Meachem, Deuce McAllister, Pierre Thomas, and Mike Bell). Meanwhile, Dan Orlovsky has a quarterback rating of 19.6, though that number is damaged by a prayer at the end of the first half which was picked off by Usama Young, and a long touchdown pass to Calvin Johnson that was called back on an illegal formation penalty by Gosder "The Human Penalty" Cherilus.

Still, the game is as lopsided as the score indicates.

UPDATE: It gets worse. After returning the opening kickoff of the second half, the Lions get called for 12 men on the field. Those are your halftime adjustments at work.

It's playoff time! In what should be championship week, FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled in order to provide answers to your possible lineup dilemmas. If you need further assistance, please feel free to shoot us an email question.

I often write about the topsy-turvy fantasy football world. It's a love/hate relationship. You love it when it works out for you, and hate it when it doesn't.

This week's twist of fate? A New England quarterback is going to lead teams to their fantasy championship, and it's Matt Cassel. There have been ups and downs, but Cassel has shown himself plenty able to exploit poor defenses and turn that into monstrous fantasy points. The Arizona Cardinals are a terrible defense on the road, and they just allowed four touchdown passes to Tarvaris Jackson at home.

That post-Week 1 waiver priority move is going to pay big dividends if you are still playing this week and own Cassel.

More notes after the rankings.

1. Drew Brees, at DET
2. Peyton Manning, at JAX
3. Matt Cassel, vs. ARI
4. Jay Cutler, vs. BUF
5. Donovan McNabb, at WAS