FanHouse Donovan McNabb

Retired NFL quarterback Trent Green is the first-ever guest columnist of MMQB, filling in while Peter King is on vacation. Green provided an interesting read on subjects relating to the league's personal conduct policy, concussions and the expanded season. And of course it wouldn't be a MMQB without a healthy dose of Favre thrown in for good measure.

What jumps out of Green's article is his prediction that 10 quarterbacks will have over 4,000 yards passing this season. He says six are a lock to do it (Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Kurt Warner, Phillip Rivers and Aaron Rodgers), and seven have the potential to do it (Jay Cutler, Matt Cassel, Carson Palmer, Matt Schaub, Donovan McNabb, Tony Romo, Matt Hasselbeck).

Let's put this prediction in context:

Not gonna lie: I'm a sucker for anything Michael Jackson related, pedophilia and creepy, stardust-covered jungle gyms aside. Music-wise, though, he really is tough to beat. It's why I loved Donovan McNabb's "Thriller" touchdown dance, and it's also why I watched the following video -- which, as PSAMP notes with the find, is allegedly Rashard Mendenhall -- like eight times. And frankly, whether it's him or not, I think Mendenhall should come out and claim that he's got moves like that anyway.

FanHouse's crack squad of savvy fantasy football personnel put our five heads together and amassed consensus rankings for non-keeper, standard scoring leagues. We'll update as the season gets closer, but this is our "incredibly early yet still fun" version.

Was last season the year of the quarterback or what? You still had the old reliables like Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Kurt Warner and Donovan McNabb doing their thing, but a whole new crop of passers have elevated themselves. Aaron Rodgers, Philip Rivers and Jay Cutler led the way for the youth movement. You could have even waited toward the end of your draft and landed stud QBs in Matt Ryan and Tyler Thigpen (who would have been waiver-wire fodder). Team all that with Tom Brady's Week 1 injury, and we had a really interesting season. Let's see how they fall out presently for 2009.

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Earlier this week, EA Sports released the player ratings for Madden 10. And now, with the NFL Draft in the rearview, and nothing else to do between now and training camps, we'll ponder the important questions. Like: How is [Player who is obviously rated too high] rated above [Player who is obviously rated too low]?

It's fun and original!

The Eagles have a long history of whiffing on wide receivers drafted in the first (or second or third) round. Quarterback Donovan McNabb arrived in Philly in 1999, and since then the front office has welcomed Todd Pinkston, Freddie Mitchell, Billy McMullen, Reggie Brown, DeSean Jackson, and last month, Jeremy Maclin.

If nothing else, the organization has gotten better at finding talent at the position, although it would take some effort to do worse than FredEx. Brown (a 2005 second-rounder) and Jackson (taken in Round 2 last year) have shown the most promise, but neither is a No. 1 wide receiver. And neither have to be; the flexibility of the West Coast Offense is accommodating like that.

Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.

Earlier this offseason Donovan McNabb said he wanted to see how the Eagles upgraded the roster before he would talk about a contract extension. After last fall, when things got so bad that Andy Reid benched McNabb for Kevin Kolb, it looked as if neither head coach nor starting quarterback would be in Philly another year, much less long term.

The first day of minicamps are over for the day and we recap some highlights.

Vikings coach Brad Childress could have taken the easy way out Friday when asked about retired quarterback Brett Favre.

Instead he said, "We haven't (talked about Favre); it doesn't mean we won't ... We talk about everything, from what's going on in the United States today. We talk about everything, so yeah, I'm sure we'll talk about that."

Earlier in the day, Bus Cook, Favre's agent said his client was done playing. Also, top draft choice Percy Harvin missed the first day of rookie camp but he seems OK.

When the Eagles selected Missouri's Jeremy Maclin in the first round of the NFL Draft, surely a smile was brought to the face of Donovan McNabb. In addition to the versatile DeSean Jackson -- whom they drafted last season -- McNabb now has one of the most talented wideouts in football. Maclin only needed 28 games to score 32 career touchdowns in college. It's possible the explosive wideout doesn't yet realize his full potential during 2009, but, as with all first round draft picks, his impact will be felt across the entire roster.

We'll fantasy spin the fallout after the jump.

Everyone makes mistakes. But when those mistakes are magnified by intense scrutiny of the NFL draft, well, they become much more embarrassing than, say, my typical Friday morning, mustard-stain-on-khakis incident.

Which is why the NFL FanHouse braintrust got together to determine who is the biggest bust for each NFL team. They're not listed in terms of stupidity -- they're all stupid relative to a team's total draft performance. Meaning, of course, some teams "bust" is much different than another organization's; we did it this way to avoid just linking you to DetroitLions.com.

Instead, we're putting it in current draft order, sans trades, and allowing this list to serve as a reminder of each's team's ability to properly execute a fail. The "bust factor" was based primarily on three things: statistical production (or lack thereof), position in the draft and other available options during that year's draft.

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With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.

The Eagles' perfect draft dream scenario actually played out last week: after opting not to re-sign 34-year-old Tra Thomas, the organization swung a deal for Jason Peters, one of the league's best young left tackles (or, if you're Andy Reid and into hyperbole, the best left tackle.) It cost Philadelphia the 28th pick, but given Peters' track record (even after an uneven 2008 season) -- as well as the uncertainty that comes with drafting a player to step into a starting role -- it was worth it.