FanHouse JasonHanson

Speculation has the Detroit Lions drafting a quarterback (namely, Georgia's Matthew Stafford) with the first overall pick. Should that not end up happening, or in case Stafford either holds out or struggles in camp, they now have insurance on hand.

Veteran Daunte Culpepper, who got some playing time with the Lions late in their winless 2008 season, appears set to return to the team for 2009. He has restructured his contract with the club.

As the Cincinnati Bengals begin to reconstruct their team after a disastrous season, it makes perfect sense that they would use the franchise player designation to keep a key player around. With wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh and offensive lineman Stacy Andrews among the potential free agents, the Bengals certainly had options for their tag.

With that in mind, I'm sure no one is surprised that they decided to use it. What should surprise a few people is how the Bengals have decided to use it.

There's a pretty good chance that you're a pretty bad football team when you go 0-16. The Detroit Lions went 0-16 in 2008, and there is no argument that they were a very, very bad football team.

Bad football teams generally don't have a lot of talent. The Lions also fit that mold, thanks to years of mismanagement that starts at the top. Since they don't have a lot of talent, it makes sense to say that they don't have a lot of pending free agents to worry about.

It's playoff time! In what should be championship week, FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled in order to provide answers to your possible lineup dilemmas. If you need further assistance, please feel free to shoot us an email question.

Joe Nedney is only 11th in kicker points, which means he's useful as a low-end kicker in most leagues.

The thing about Nedney, though, is that he doesn't miss often. He's 26-of-29 on field goals this season, and hasn't missed an extra point. The reason he's not higher in scoring is because he hasn't had as many opportunities as the higher scorers (he's 12th in FG attempts).

Nedney's getting to play the hapless Rams indoors in St. Louis this weekend. The Rams are near the bottom in scoring defense and have allowed 29 field goals, which places them 27th in the league.

In fact, I'm making him number one. No guts, no glory.

More notes after the rankings.

1. Joe Nedney, at StL
2. Stephen Gostkowski, vs. ARI
3. Rob Bironas, vs. PIT
4. John Carney, vs. CAR
5. Jason Elam, at MIN

Detroit Lions kicker Jason Hanson kicked a 51-yard field goal in today's game at Indianapolis, making him the all-time leader in 50-yard field goals, with 41 in his career.

The previous record of 40 was held by Morten Andersen.

Hanson is in his 17th NFL season, all with the Lions, and he's having one of his best years -- even as his team is having one of the worst years in NFL history. He's 7-for-7 this season on field goals of 50 yards or longer.

Unfortunately for Hanson, kickers are usually noticed only when they kick game-winning field goals, and the Lions haven't been a good enough team for Hanson to kick many game-winners. That makes Hanson the polar opposite of the other kicker in today's game at Indianapolis, Adam Vinatieri, a mediocre kicker who will get into the Hall of Fame some day because he's been lucky enough to play on good teams.

Hanson won't get a bust in Canton, but he will get his name in the record books.

FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled weekly by the staff in order to provide answers to possible lineup questions. These are assuming most leagues use Fleaflicker's standard scoring structure. If you need clarification, you need more players ranked, or have funky league rules, feel free to shoot us an email question.

The Houston Texans defense looked pretty solid against the hapless Jags at home Monday night. Unfortunately they'll get to travel up to Green Bay on short rest this week. The Packers should move the ball with ease in Lambeau, but let's hope the Texans defense can mount a few red zone stops. I think they can. Mason Crosby is the top kicker this week.

More notes after the rankings.

1. Mason Crosby, vs. HOU
2. Jason Elam, at NO
3. Stephen Gostkowski, at SEA
4. Ryan Longwell, at DET
5. Rob Bironas, vs. CLE

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is a month off, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterback: Jon Kitna -- man of God, man of many passing yards, man of many lapses in judgement. With Kitna, Mike Martz found a quarterback who could air it out appropriately in his offense. Appropriately, in this instance, means bombing away with little regard to risk, and the interception and sack totals with Kitna under center reflect that. Martz is gone and the Lions are shifting to a more conservative offense. Kitna isn't the right man to helm it, and, turning 36 early this season, should be on his last tour in Detroit. The problem is that the Lions aren't sure if they have anyone behind him to take over, with Dan Orlovsky and Drew Stanton possessing exactly zero starts and only 17 passing attempts between them, all Orlovsky's. Heat Index: 5

Running back: That conservative offense will put more work at the feet of the team's tailbacks. The Lions' running game in 2007 was 31st in the league and lost their best runner in Kevin Jones. Still, they're going about improving in the right way. They kept Tatum Bell and Brian Calhoun from last year and tailored their attack to a one-cut zone blocking system that suits their skills. Bell had almost 2,000 yards and 10 touchdowns running in that system in 2005 and 2006. Assuming he stays healthy, he should bring a big-play punch. But the biggest impact will be made by the biggest unknown -- rookie Kevin Smith. He also excels in a zone system, and the wildly productive college back is one of the players I think is going to absolutely turn heads this year. Heat Index: 7

Hear that? It's the pitter-patter of fantasy football season approaching. Fantasy FanHouse is here to get you ready by previewing every team from a fantasy perspective.

Meet The ...
Adam Sandler movie of the NFL: always entertaining, yet never really winning anything notable. Whether it's drafting a WR in three consecutive first rounds (slapstick/unrealistic comedy like Billy Madison or Happy Gilmore), putting together a highly productive offense in terms of fantasy football (funny, yet quasi-legit Big Daddy or Wedding Singer? Maybe?), or guaranteeing ten wins ("I'm gonna go legit with Spanglish!"); you'll always be entertained and they'll always avoid the playoffs. This year is no different. The former laughingstock of a division is now somewhat of a powerhouse, and the Lions are still a step behind even the obviously third-best Bears. If you want entertainment, though, they won't disappoint.

The Breakout
Calvin Johnson is ready to take the next step after becoming acclimated to the NFL in his rookie season. I love it when people proclaim a rookie to have freaky mad skills and then if he doesn't perform to expectations he's an afterthought one year later. That's a year of experience, man. Never a bad thing. He's ready to make the leap into fantasy stud-dom. You'll see.

Every week, NFL FanHouse hits the lowlights from Sunday's action, looking at those players who did the most to move their head coaches that much closer to returning to the Bed and Breakfast business.

Anthony Smith, Steelers
Didn't see that coming, did you? First, let me say that I don't have any real problems with Smith, a second-year safety used primarily as a backup until starter Ryan Clark went on injured reserve earlier this season, smacking his gums during the week. It's football; guys yell and scream and run into each other for a living.

The problem, however, is that Smith single-handedly torpedoed Pittsburgh's already-slim chances with what can kindly be described as "his play." Early in the second quarter with the Pats leading 7-3, Smith bit on a play-action pass that resulted in 63-yard touchdown pass to Randy Moss.

And on New England's first drive of the second half, they ran the same play that the Steelers used to break the Bengals' back in the 2005 wild-card game: wide receiver throwback, quarterback hits the deep post. But instead of Antwaan Randle El, Ben Roethlisberger and Cedrick Wilson, it was Moss, Tom Brady, and Jabar Gaffney. The guy responsible for not letting Gaffney get behind the defense? Yep, Mr. Smith.
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