FanHouse Jason Elam

Cut-N-Go is Fantasy Football FanHouse's weekday roundup of the NFL news with fantasy football impact.

It's been a weekly crap-shoot trying to determine which New York Giant running back would perform better between Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs. Both have been dinged up and Bradshaw rarely practices more than once per week, but each rusher still trots out there and dutifully carries the ball each week.

Over the last four weeks Bradshaw has received 41.6% of the carries and 49.6% have gone to Jacobs. Their yardage has been a bit more varied as Bradshaw has rushed for 126 yards total and Jacobs 268 over those four games.

The players have the day off at Flowery Branch as Tuesday is a normal rest-day for the Falcons. But that didn't stop the team from bringing in four kickers to see if any of them might do a better job than Jason Elam.

Elam has been uncharacteristically off-center this season. He's connected on 10-of-16 field goal attempts for a career-worst 62.5% field goal percentage. He's also missed an extra point, an occurrence that's only happened three other times in his 17-year career.

Steve Hauschka, Sam Swank, Brandon Coutu and Shane Andrus we're all kicking today for the coaching staff. No news is known at this time whether any made an impression.

In addition to being bad at everything else, the Raiders are pretty reliable in terms of allowing fantasy football points to kickers. They've yielded 10 field goals so far this season, which ties them for the most in the NFL. They've also given up 14 extra points, which means no one has given up more kicking points than the Raiders. Seriously, it's like a never-ending line of suck coming from Oaktown these days.

This week, the Eagles take their high-powered offense to Oakland. Expect the scoreboard operator to be a bit busy, at least in the visitor's column. David Akers will get his fair share, and he tops our Week 6 fantasy football kicker rankings.

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Whether it's torn, sprained, broken or just needs to be taped, Injuries to Watch will keep you up to date on injuries around the NFL and how they'll affect your fantasy football team.

[Last Updated: Saturday, Oct. 10]

Quarterback

Brett Favre, Vikings - Favre was limited again in practice on Friday but is listed as probable for the game.

Matthew Stafford, Lions - Lions coach Jim Schwartz will not announce his decision to bench or start Stafford until Sunday. Stafford did practice on Friday, but most of the Detroit media feels like Daunte Culpepper will start instead of Stafford.

Whether it's torn, sprained, broken or just needs to be taped, Injuries to Watch will keep you up to date on injuries around the NFL and how they'll affect your fantasy football team.

Quarterback

Mark Sanchez, Jets - There's been a report out of Jets practice that says Sanchez has been fussing about his right knee. Nothing more is known at this time and Sanchez isn't listed on the injury report either. Keep an eye on this.

Matt Hasselbeck, Seahawks - The Seahawks quarterback injured his ribs in Week 2 and hasn't practiced yet this week. Coach Jim Mora said that Hasselbeck could still play in Week 3, even if he doesn't practice all week.

Whether it's torn, sprained, broken or just needs to be taped, Injuries to Watch will keep you up to date on injuries around the NFL and how they'll affect your fantasy football team.

Quarterback

• Matt Cassel, Chiefs - Cassel (left knee) was limited in practice on Wednesday and is listed as questionable. But whispers out of Kansas City lean towards Cassel making it back to play in week 2. You obviously need to wait for an official word from the Chiefs before making a fantasy football decision.

• Donovan McNabb, Eagles - Andy Reid hasn't ruled out McNabb playing on Sunday, but it's much too early to make a decision. McNabb sat out of practice on Wednesday even though his broken rib is feeling better. If he doesn't play Kevin Kolb will get the start.

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.

Give Josh McDaniels this much: He's willing to make an impression. Before he's even coached so much as one regular season game, he's assured that he will either be remembered as a bold, brilliant leader who won because he had the courage of his convictions, or as an abject failure whose hiring set the franchise back by years because he had the courage of his convictions. Some of that has to do with Jay Cutler's career trajectory, but McDaniels needs to win and he needs to win quickly.

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.

Atlanta's sudden rise to prominence in 2008 began rather suddenly when rookie Matt Ryan, on the first pass of his career, threw for a touchdown against the Lions. There were some bumps along the way, but no one could have envisioned the improvement the Falcons would make in Ryan's first season -- a wild-card berth and 11-5 record -- or just how poised and collected Ryan would play. Atlanta will have to repeat its 2008 show without the benefit of sneaking up on teams in 2009. A scary thought for the NFC South is the Falcons could be even better.

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 ...
2008 From worst to first sensation of the NFC South. The Falcons won 11 games and earned a wild card berth in 2008 thanks, in no small part, to a breakout campaign by running back Michael Turner and Offensive Rookie of the Year efforts from quarterback Matt Ryan. Not only are the key players back on offense, but the team added 10-time Pro Bowl tight end Tony Gonzalez to the mix. With the ground game sizzling and Ryan's growth set to continue in 2009, the addition of Gonzalez should boost the fantasy value of everyone around.

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It's been over a month since we last posted positional fantasy football rankings, so it's time to run our second version. Plus, we added some staff. This is now an average ranking from eight Fantasy FanHouse writers. To view the early version of our kicker rankings, click here.

I'll beat the dead horse here, because I feel like it is my duty. Please don't draft a kicker until the last round and never pay more than a dollar for one in an auction. It's just not worth it because of the turnover from year to year. Check this out:

Top three kickers in '08: Gostkowski, Akers, Carney
In '07: Crosby, Bironas, Folk
In '06: Gould, Kaeding, Scobee
In '05: Rackers, Feely, Graham

I could use a lot more data to continually hammer the point home, but it would be a waste of time. So, uh, yeah. Don't waste a pick until you have to.

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