Cut-N-Go is Fantasy Football FanHouse's weekday roundup of the NFL news with fantasy football impact.
With the weekend narrowly approaching, Week 4 will provide a handful of backfield conundrums for fantasy owners to ponder, including the Steelers, Lions, Browns, Cowboys and Buccaneers raising the most complicated questions.
Let's start with the Steelers. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that with Willie Parker's injury, the Steelers may return to Rashard Mendenhall. After the benching of Mendenhall during Sunday's game against the Bengals, many expected coach Mike Tomlin to look to Mewelde Moore, but Tomlin reiterated that Mendenhall "is not in the doghouse."
Perhaps, like Snoopy, Mendenhall merely spent time supine on top of his doghouse.
Sunday Evening Wrap checks out players who increased or decreased their value during the Sunday afternoon games. Top Faller:Greg Jennings had 80 catches for 1,292 yards last season. His worst game in terms of catches was two. His worst game in terms of yardage was 22. In 2009, he caught six balls for 106 yards in his one game before Sunday. Obviously, at home against the Bengals seemed to bode well for the fourth year wideout. The result was a goose-egg of a game from a player who is a WR1 on fantasy rosters in every single league out there. Keep in mind, angry owners, this isn't going to happen again this year. The Packers play the Rams next week, so there's no reason to get down on him now. He'll be fine.
Training camps have wrapped up, the NFL season is right around the corner, and it's still hot as sin outside. But instead of cooling you off with a warm island song, FanHouse break out ye old heat check for our 2009 NFL Season Previews. We'll rate each club in 5 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.
I think we've found our slogan (and theme song!) for the 2009 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After a disappointing end to the 2008 regular season, including a somewhat embarrassing 31-24 loss to the Oakland Raiders -- at home -- to close out the campaign and fall short of the playoffs, the Buccaneers cleaned house this offseason. Enter a new head coach, new defensive coordinator, two new offensive coordinators, new quarterback, a number of veterans cut loose, and a couple of big additions through free agency and trade. A lot of moves, but will they be enough to get Tampa Bay back into the postseason?
Cut-N-Go is Fantasy FootballFanHouse's daily gathering of links from around the web, covering the goings-on in NFL Training Camp which have an impact on fantasy value.
Whenever the NFL's active rushing leader signs with a new team, that must be the big fantasy news of the day. Seattle decided to further muddle its backfield by inking former Colt and Cardinal Edgerrin James. While it appears a deal hasn't been finalized yet, all indications are that James will soon be signed with the Seahawks.
As of Tuesday, Edge wasn't at practice with the Seahawks, according to the Seattle Post Intelligencer. Also missing from practice was T.J. Duckett, who hasn't been cut from the Seahawks yet but looks to be the odd man out in Seattle once James finalizes his contract.
In the first 10 games of 2008, Michael Turner averaged 14.7 fantasy points per game. In that same stretch, Frank Gore averaged 14.8 points per game. From those numbers, you'd assume that these two RBs, two of the highest-scoring RBs in the league over the first 11 weeks, were equally effective.
Well, you'd be wrong.
For most fantasy football leagues, the goal each week of the season is to outscore your opponent; doing so garners you a win for that week and puts you one step closer to the playoffs. To give yourself the best chance each week, you want guys that not only score a lot of points, but consistently score a lot of points. You can win by 50 one week and lose by five the next, and you'll be 1-1 over that two-game stretch, even though you put up a +45 point differential for the two weeks.
Cut-N-Go is Fantasy Football FanHouse's daily gathering of links from around the web, covering the goings-on in NFL Training Camp which have an impact on fantasy value.
We loved Dwayne Bowe as a fantasy football pick heading into the 2009 season. Hopefully he gets his act together in the next few weeks, otherwise we'll be eating our words. Bowe is currently in the doghouse of the Chiefs' new head coach Todd Haley. Of course, the real reason-behind-the-reason Bowe's being punished at present is because Haley obviously sees the boundless potential possessed by the third-year wideout from LSU and he wants to draw everything out of him. Keep the faith. He'll have a big season.
For those who may use a different term or are new to fantasy football, "handcuff" is the term used when you own insurance for one of your players in the form of owning his real-life backup. It's usually a running back, but you could conceivably handcuff a quarterback. The theory is that some or all of the production is automatically replaced should you lose a high draft pick to injury, meaning you need to insure a high draft pick by grabbing his backup.
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 ... Team full of new faces both on the field and on the coaching staff. Since we last played "real" football, Tampa Bay has fired their head coach, Jon Gruden, released fan favorites like Jeff Garcia, Warrick Dunn and Joey Galloway, and saw their defensive coordinator Monte Kiffen head north to coach college football at Tennessee. The team brought in Byron Leftwich and created a quarterback competition, Derrick Ward to share rushing responsibilities with Earnest Graham, and Kellen Winslow, a huge upgrade at tight end. The front office hopes these changes help redefine the offense and give it a new energy; something many felt the offense lacked while being run by Jon Gruden.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers think they finally have a franchise quarterback, in Kansas State's Josh Freeman. They very well might, but that doesn't make him a good fantasy football option for this coming season. In fact, I don't think he should be drafted in any league as of right now.
The Bucs currently have Byron Leftwich, who will probably be starting this season, while the rookie is brought along, a la Carson Palmer waiting behind Jon Kitna in Cincinnati. It's possible for the Bucs to cut Leftwich -- since they didn't give him a signing bonus it wouldn't cost them any money -- but most in the know believe Freeman's not ready to immediately come in and start.
Derrick Ward has left the band. The only current free agent member of "Earth, Wind, and Fire," the Giants' trio of running backs, signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last night, inking a deal that is reported to be worth four years and $17 million ($6 million guaranteed).
Ward joins a running back corps that now includes Earnest Graham and a broken down Cadillac Williams, the latter of whom dealt with two serious injuries in 2008. The signing by the Bucs is another interesting move in what has been an already "bizarre" offseason in Tampa Bay.
Cut-N-Go is Fantasy Football FanHouse's weekday roundup of the NFL news with fantasy football impact.
Sunday Evening Wrap checks out players who increased or decreased their value during the Sunday afternoon games. 
In the first 10 games of 2008, 
For those who may use a different term or are new to 
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. 
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers think they finally have a franchise quarterback, in Kansas State's 
