FanHouse FredTaylor

According to Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston, New England Patriots No. 1 running back Fred Taylor is going to undergo surgery to repair his injured right ankle. The 33-year-old running back hurt his ankle on his seventh and final carry against the Ravens this past Sunday. No real timetable has been set for Taylor's return following this procedure, except that Reiss reports that it won't cost him the season unless there are complications.

Taylor, an offseason free agent acquisition, leads the Pats' backfield committee in carries (45), yards (201), yards per carry (4.5) and touchdowns (2). Expect Laurence Maroney, Sammy Morris and Kevin Faulk to all receive an increased workload with Taylor sidelined.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- As mere mortals, we're conditioned to believe life is easy for guys like Tom Brady. Fame, success, good looks, championship glory ... these things make it seem as if a dude is coasting through life, surfing the biggest waves with minimal effort, skiing on one ski.

But that isn't always the way, and anybody who tuned in around halftime of Sunday's Patriots-Falcons game saw a Tom Brady who wasn't real happy about the way things were going. New England's Golden Boy QB was openly screaming at teammates, clearly frustrated by his team's red zone failures and general inability so far this season to get into sync.

"I think I was just really into it," Brady would say later, by way of denial-drenched explanation. "Just trying to keep everybody focused. Football is a team game, and it's about everybody being on the same page."

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Are you ready for some football? A Monday Night Partaaay? The NFL Monday Night Football season kicks off in grand style with a double-feature, which means double the fantasy impact. Tonight's matchups feature a lot of exciting fantasy angles, so we thought it fitting to provide a quick MNF preview to give you the key storylines.

- Arguably one of the biggest question marks of the 2009 fantasy season rests on the chest of longtime juggernaut, LaDainian Tomlinson. San Diego signed backup Darren Sproles to a mega-contract and Tomlinson posted just slightly less than fantastic numbers in 2008, so his value ground lowered this draft season. Monday night, LdT will prove to all those Forte, Slaton and Turner owners that you should never second-guess a legend.

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.

Taking over the helm from Sports Illustrated's Jimmy Traina over at Hot Clicks, today one of the sports world's most colorful characters, Chris Cooley shares his sleeper fantasy picks for the 2009 fantasy season. Cooley's picks look good, though he doesn't exactly swing for the fences, preferring safer bets like Chad Ochocinco and Anthony Gonzalez to deeper sleepers. Chris makes an interesting selection in Brent Celek however, after he made waves late last season with one particularly notable postseason game where he lassoed in 10 balls and two touchdowns.

If Cooley's sleepers don't pique your interest, he also shares a half naked picture of his wife for whatever reason.

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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.

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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 ...
Troops of Tom Brady. Yes, there are plenty of guys on this team who matter -- not sure if you've heard of Randy Moss, for example -- but this season it is all about the health of Tom Brady. He's going to be nearly a year removed from tearing his ACL in 2008 when the season begins. Now that Matt Cassel is gone, the weight of the team is on Brady's shoulders.

Really, the picture here is perfect. There are guys in the background wearing the same uniform, but they are a bit blurry. Brady is front and center, and the focus of the photo.

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Sure, it may be a little early for most normal people to start thinking fantasy football draft, but for us derelict diehards, keeping abreast on the developments of the offseason can provide peace of mind and an advantage in watching things progress as we head into the summer. While the news coming out of the NFL these days is far overshadowed by two wildly entertaining playoff series, there are some pretty critical players to keep an eye on.

A small handful of elite fantasy stars are in the midst of a serious value conundrum. On one hand, they provide an opportunity to nab otherwise surefire first-rounders on the cheap, but not without taking on big-time risk. It is question of "how far do we let them drop before it is critical to pull the trigger?"

I've often argued -- unoriginally -- that, in general, NFL teams should avoid using first-round picks on running backs. Salary-cap friendly alternatives can often be found later in the draft, and other, harder-to-address needs -- like offensive line or wide receiver -- can be targeted in the early rounds.

There are exceptions: most recently Adrian Peterson, Steven Jackson and LaDainian Tomlinson. But the NFL scrap heap is littered with former first-round backs who never panned out. It's too early to classify Laurence Maroney as such, but his three-year career has, so far, been underwhelming.

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

In 2008, the New England Patriots became the first team in over 20 years to win 11 regular season games and fail to qualify for the postseason. Considering they lost their franchise player -- Tom Brady -- just about five minutes into the season, forcing them to turn to a quarterback who hadn't started a game in eight years -- Matt Cassel -- an 11-5 campaign isn't all that disappointing.

With Brady back under center in 2009, the Patriots look to be a strong bet to return to the playoffs, especially if they address the one or two holes that remain on the roster.