FanHouse Daniel Graham

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 ...
Kyle Orton Dead Arm Syndrome: a condition characterized by a complete lack of strength in the upper arm. Despite hosting the NFL's second most productive offense in 2008, averaging just shy of 400 yards per game, and the third best passing offense in the league, the introduction of Orton as the starting quarterback puts the kibosh on the productivity. Orton has a weak arm, relies heavily on check-down passes and makes bad decisions. In terms of supporting cast, the receivers are a huge upgrade from his days in Chicago with Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal, but Marshall wants out so be sure to keep a close eye on this situation. Also, new head coach and signal-caller Josh McDaniels runs a spread offense, so he'll need to rely on Orton probably more than anyone would ever want. I don't expect the offense to suffer immensely with a solid new batch of runners, but it definitely takes a dive from last season.

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In the days following the 2001 draft, when a still unproven Bill Belichick drafted defensive tackle Richard Seymour with the sixth overall pick, then-Boston Globe columnist Ron Borges writing for MSNBC.com cemented his place in Boston sports history by writing these words:

I guess we can slow down on all that New York-New York Super Bowl talk, huh? A week after getting manhandled by the Raiders, the Broncos came east and did the same to the Jets, ending the New York side's five-game winning streak and putting a cap into the premature notion of the Big Apple relocating to Tampa come February.

It was a disturbing return to the early part of the season for the Jets. Abysmal play calling by offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer marked those rougher times and returned for an unwanted encore at the Meadowlands today. Thomas Jones carved up the Bronco defense in the first half but Schottenheimer insisted on calling empty backfields, passes on short yardage plays and, disastrously, a pitched reverse to Jerricho Cotchery. That final one led to a fumble and touchdown for the Broncos in the first quarter and set the tone for a frustrating day.

Even more troubling than the return of evil Schottenheimer, though, was the complete no-show by the Jets defense. Peyton Hillis gashed the normally stout Jets for nearly six yards a carry and Jay Cutler continued to expose the Jets secondary as Darrelle Revis and a band of clowns masquerading as NFL defensive backs. Brandon Marshall was held to five catches for 55 yards, but Eddie Royal, Brandon Stokely, Tony Scheffler and Daniel Graham combined for 20 catches, 277 yards and two touchdowns.

With fantasy leagues around the country defining who has a chance to win this thing and who can basically kiss their season goodbye (thanks Tom Brady), it was nice to have a little help from some of the not-so usual suspects.

This week went to the tight ends, who had 13 touchdowns between 10 guys, a staggering number for a position that doesn't always get the glory they may deserve.

Week 10 started out well, with Tony Scheffler of Denver catching four balls for 92 yards and Daniel Graham grabbing a touchdown from Jay Cutler. Then we had Bo Scaife, Todd Heap and Kellen Winslow have career fantasy days, racking up some serious points for people that were smart (or lucky, one of the two) enough to start the guys.

The craziest part of this whole thing is the top tight end in the league, Jason Witten, was on a bye, so a lot of owners had to search for some replacements.

What does this say for the rest of the year? Well, one could argue it was just a coincidence, that a lot of the same position players had some good grabs and that was that.

The more positive (and fantasy) side might say that quarterbacks are starting to find their favorite targets as the year shortens and playoffs are on player's mind. You know the usual suspects, with Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez and Kevin Boss all scoring a touchdown on 66, 113 and 69 yards receiving, but here are a couple that you might not know but could be interested in starting this coming week.

Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around with his finger in the air while the next he's laying on his back, holding his facemask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's Studs and Duds.

Here's Week 10 at a glance, where we point out the horses destined for the Kentucky Derby and jeer those headed to the glue factory.

Studs

Thomas Jones, RB NY Jets (26 carries, 149 yards, 3 TDs) -- Three weeks ago the Jets looked absolutely dreadful, losing their third of four games and having people question just about every decision they'd made (i.e., Brett Favre). Well thanks to Jones, who has scored in three straight, all victories, New York looks like they could sneak in the playoffs and play the role of team you wouldn't enjoy seeing on the opposing sidelines. In the largest victory in Jets history, Jones found holes in a pitiful Rams defense and decided to hang out in the end zone three times. Mr. Jones, how does it feel to be the AFC leading rusher?

As long as you weren't counting on the D/ST units or playing in an IDP league, last night was a fantasy football paradise for most. Both sides had several fantasy relevant players going. The uncertainly of the Broncos seemingly crumbling offense teamed with JD McCoy's debut as a starter made for great theater, and we were not let down. Let's run through the major players and dissect what we saw and what it means moving forward.

Brady Quinn
We didn't see many mistakes, did we? He's got weapons, and he used them quite well last night. He especially loved his tight end, Kellen Winslow. Unfortunately, Winslow took away any hope of a miracle comeback when he let a fourth down pass slip right through his hands on the Browns final offensive play. The Browns have to be pleased with the numbers from their rookie. He connected on 23 of 35 attempts for 239 yards and two touchdowns. Most importantly, he didn't turn the ball over.

You have to curb your enthusiasm a bit, because the Broncos have an absolute pathetic defense which has been decimated via injury and futility. On the other hand, Quinn certainly showed he's capable of a big fantasy game. He's going to improve as time moves further, so when you see him facing the Texans (Week 12), get him active. He's a matchup-based start.

On the heels of yesterday's 34-20 defeat to the lowly Raiders, the Denver Broncos are quite rightly searching for answers to what's gone wrong over the last five quarters. There are plenty of places to assign blame. The defense has reverted to the porous unit of the first half and the offense turns the ball over too much. There are injuries, looming suspensions, questionable referee decisions and all the other reasons familiar to teams that can't seem to find a way to win.

Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post points the finger at Mike Shanahan and calls for the team to bring someone in to help the head coach with personnel matters. He points to the offseason acquisitions of Dre' Bly, Daniel Graham and Travis Henry, leaving out Simeon Rice for some reason, to underscore the need for help making those decisions. He could easily go further back and recall names like Dale Carter to further his argument that Shanahan isn't a shrewd evaluator of free talent.

But any discussion of Shanahan's personnel work must include the draft. That's been a mixed bag, at best, and does a better job of explaining why the Broncos have slipped to the second tier this season.

Former Patriots tight end Daniel Graham is now a Denver Bronco. That's the word from Bill Williamson at the Denver Post. He's reporting that Graham signed a 5-year, $30 million deal that included $15 million in guaranteed money.

My initial reaction was, "Dear God, that contract is ridiculous." But, given the ridiculousness of the numbers, I suppose that makes it fit perfectly in line with all the other contracts being given out this off-season.

Daniel Graham is nice tight end. Good athleticism, good route runner, a nice guy to have around in the redzone. Useful player. But Daniel Graham is also a guy who's never had more than 410 receiving yards in a season, has fought the drops, has just once caught more than 30 balls in a season, hasn't caught more than 21 balls in a season since 2004, and has never, ever, played a full 16-game season.

And he's getting $15 million guaranteed. I'll say it again: if you're an NFL player, and your agent didn't get you to free agency in this particular off-season, you should not only fire him, you should bludgeon him with a ball-peen hammer.

What's happening right now in the NFL is historic. Money's being spent twice as recklessly as it ever has before. This could be the off-season that we look at, 15 years from now, and say, "This is when NFL salaries finally started to catch up with Major League Baseball and the NBA." There's still a long way to go, of course, but ... they're getting there.

And again, this is not meant as a criticism of Graham or even the Broncos. Or anyone, really. Graham's a nice player, and the Broncos aren't doing anything that anyone else isn't doing. It's just the way things are going now. Everyone's getting paid.