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... League's highest scoring, most powerful offense. Who cares if they don't make the playoffs. As fantasy owners we couldn't care less if the Saints are 0-16 or 16-0. We want lots of positive yardage plays and lots of touchdowns. And those are things the Saints offer in droves. Drew Brees has replaced Tom Brady and Peyton Manning as the most prolific fantasy quarterback and head coach Sean Payton keeps the Saints high-powered offense burning away. Last season the team threw the ball 62% of the time. Don't expect that to change too much in 2009.
As we get ready for this week's matchup between bitter rivals Cowboys and Redskins, I exchanged e-mails with Dave Halprin from Blogging The Boys. Dave was nice enough to offer some insights on Dallas for this week's Behind Enemy Lines feature.
Sportz Assassin: As a Redskins fan ... I will humbly admit that Dallas is the best team in the NFL. Is there any flaw on that team right now?
Dave Halprin: We're as excited about the potential of this edition of the Cowboys as we've been in a long time. In terms of personnel, I would still have to say our secondary can be exposed on occasion; the Eagles did it a couple of weeks ago, but the window on that might be closing. Terence Newman has returned to the lineup in full health and played a great game against the Packers. Adam "Pacman" Jones is starting to round into form after his long layoff from competitive football and rookie Mike Jenkins is getting some valuable experience that should help his game. So this unit should be getting better as the season progresses.
The Cowboys also have problems with self-inflicted wounds like penalties that we are racking up in alarming numbers. It hasn't hurt us yet in the final score but somewhere down the road it could. We also haven't been getting enough turnovers from our defense, something I would like to see get better.
This Sunday, the Washington Redskins will make their (likely) final trip to Texas Stadium. The Dallas Cowboys will be entering new digs next year.
The Cowboys-Redskins rivalries are one of the best in sports and Texas Stadium has served as a prime backdrop during the rivalry.
Who could forget the Thanksgiving Day game back in 1974 when Clint Longley came in for an injured Roger Staubach and rallied the Cowboys to a 24-23 win? Longley threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Drew Pearson with just :28 remaining.
There was the season finale in 1979 when Dallas and Washington were playing for the NFC East division crown. This time, it was Staubach leading Dallas to a wild fourth-quarter comeback and downed the Redskins, 35-34. Before that game, Cowboys defensive end Harvey Martin received a funeral wreath (which was allegedly sent by the Redskins). After the game, Martin stormed into the Redskins locker room and threw the wreath back at them.
By most accounts, Colt Brennan had a spectacular senior season up until the Sugar Bowl, and then things took a turn for the worse. He was uneven at the Senior Bowl and the Combine and the quarterback many people thought might be a first round (or, at the very least, a first day) draft pick ended up going to the Redskins in Round 6.
He has heard the criticism: He's too small. He's too fragile. He's a gunslinger. He's a system guy. He's a liability off the field. He doesn't stand a chance.
"I think I learned more than anything how to battle adversity," Brennan said. "I'm the kind of guy where I have a chip on my shoulder and have tough skin. A lot of times, that's what you need in the fourth quarter to win games, and I think I have that. I have so much experience having to battle through adversity. I'm never nervous. I'm never scared."
Brennan is facing pretty long odds, but who knows, if Collins continues to struggle, maybe Brennan wins the job. I don't see it happening, but, honestly, who had Mark Brunell as an NFL starting quarterback two years ago? Exactly.
Since Joe Gibbs announced his retirement, and Dan Snyder and Vinny Cerrato took a more prominent role in personnel decisions, the Redskins, surprisingly, have made a series of not-insane moves that should make them better heading into 2008.
The head coaching search was a little shaky early in the proceedings, but by all accounts, Jim Zorn, the guy who eventually got the job, is perfectly suited to run the team. There's still the little issue of implementing the West Coast Offense, which Zorn picked up while working in Seattle under Mike Holmgren.
Former NFL personnel dude Mike Lombardi thinks the WCO is the exact wrong fit for a team comprised mainly of Joe Gibbs players.
Some of the assets he has on offense, like Santana Moss and Clinton Portis are not best highlighted in the west coast offense. Moss is an explosive player, who is best running over routes and deep comebacks, not slants and snags. When the Jets ran the west coast with Paul Hackett, Moss was the change of pace wide receiver he was used for specific routes as Laveranues Coles was the number one wide receiver.
Portis is best when he can run the zone scheme and is not very effective when it comes to pass protection--something the west coast tailback will have to handle.
I agree that Moss is probably better as a deep threat, but the Redskins did draft pass catchers with their first three picks -- two wideouts (Devin Thomas, Malcolm Kelly) and a tight end (Fred Davis). There's no reason to think Moss couldn't take on the role he had with the Jets when he played alongside Coles.
Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell seems like a decent human being, but he's seemingly -- and unwittingly -- forever in the middle of something. You'd need two hands to count the number of offensive coordinators he's had since college, he's suffered the indignity of having to backup Mark Brunell for a season and a half, and then suffered two semi-serious knee injuries during his first year as the starter.
Head coach Joe Gibbs ups and re-retires, and Campbell now hears rumors that he may not be in new guy Jim Zorn's long-term plans.
"He told me it wasn't true. He told me this is my team," Campbell said after workouts this week at the complex. "He made it clear that I'm the quarterback the Redskins are going to grow with. He told me that I'm still developing as a young quarterback, but that he thinks I have it all. . . . I have what it takes to take us to where we want to go. That was a confidence-builder."
This should be obvious, but it's hard to blame Campbell for being paranoid. It was just last season that some fans were wondering if career backup Todd Collins had earned the right to the starting job because of how he played during Campbell's absence.
When Mark Brunell signed on to become the backup quarterback of the New Orleans Saints, this is how he made it official:
In what Peter King of SI.com says "may be a first in NFL history," Brunell posted that 13-second video on his MySpace page just hours after he signed the contract with the Saints.
If you had asked me to name an NFL free agent who would announce his signing via YouTube and MySpace, I think I would have needed about 100 guesses before I could have come up with Brunell. But Brunell apparently sees the web as a platform for advertising the Brunell Family Foundation and his daughter's charity, Caitlin's Closet, which strives "to make sure that every girl in high school, regardless of social or economic status, would have the opportunity to attend her Prom, Homecoming or any other special event." If posting the video drums up some attention for the Brunells' charitable causes, it was a good thing for Brunell to do.
Brunell and his wife, Stacy, bought a home on Nicholas Run Drive in Great Falls for $3.7 million. Built in 2007, the house has five bedrooms and eight baths. The Redskins signed Brunell for $43 million in 2004.
I don't know much about Brunell, but I do know that he grew up in California, went to college in Washington State and spent most of his NFL career in Florida. That he would buy a new home in the DC area, an area that he had no prior ties to, would seem to indicate that he plans on staying for a while longer.
But maybe not. Brunell was a favorite of former head coach Joe Gibbs, but the Washington Post reports that he's unlikely to be re-signed after his contract expires at the end of this month.
So what's up with Brunell? I would guess he's retiring. He's had a long, successful career with three Pro Bowl berths, but he's 37 years old and didn't play at all in 2007. Brunell is likely done. At least he's got a nice place to enjoy retirement.
NFL Offseason Roadmap is a series focused on the needs of NFL teams as they begin the offseason.
The Washington Redskins just completed one of the most emotional seasons in their 75-year history. 2007 will always be remembered. Life, as they say, does go on ... so looking to 2008 is imperative.
1.Head Coach – Duh. Once Joe Gibbs retired, it has thrown up in the air what this team will look like in 2008. Gibbs wanted things one way -- his replacement may want them totally different. If Gregg Williams gets the gig, you'd expect the team to stay on the same track that Gibbs put them on. If they go outside the organization, who knows?
Also, if it is Williams then the Redskins need to find out a new defensive coordinator. Oh, and Al Saunders (if he sticks) won't have Gibbs to deal with when calling the game.
2. Salary Cap -- As we all know, the Redskins mess with the cap as much as any team. That being said, it is rumored that Washington is waaaay over the salary cap and will need to shave off the payroll. That means (a) cutting players and (b) reworking deals. Good thing Daniel Snyder is wealthy and likes to rework the deals. Guys like Clinton Portis, Chris Samuels, Jon Jansen and Marcus Washington may be willing to do this. Guys like Brandon Lloyd and Mark Brunell may be cut. Obviously, where these cuts come from will help determine what holes need to be addressed.
This is bizarre. In his season-ending press conference, Redskins head coach Joe Gibbs was noncommittal about his return next season, and more importantly, about the status of third-year quarterback Jason Campbell.
That Gibbs might not come back for a fifth season isn't necessarily surprising; he's 67, his second stint with the Redskins has been a draining one, and he has other interests outside of football. But being vague about the quarterback situation raised some eyebrows:
Then came the matter of the quarterbacks. Todd Collins had not started a game in 10 years before Campbell dislocated a knee in the first half against Chicago on Dec. 6. ... Gibbs said he wants to re-sign Collins, and he left the door open that Campbell will have competition at next season's training camp.
"What Jason knows is that with everything we invested in him, he's got a great future with the Redskins," Gibbs said. "If it's competing with somebody, I don't think he worries about it."
A few of thoughts. First, it might be difficult for the 'Skins to re-sign Collins, especially if they have their sights on one or two big-named free agents. Also, the Washington Post's Jason La Canfora adds that although Gibbs' nonchalance about his future was a shock to some in the organization, no thinks it's a sign he will actually leave.
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.
As we get ready for this week's matchup between bitter rivals Cowboys and Redskins, I exchanged e-mails with Dave Halprin from 
Redskins third-string quarterback 
NFL Offseason Roadmap is a series focused on the needs of NFL teams as they begin the offseason. 
This is bizarre. In his season-ending press conference, Redskins head coach 
