Every Tuesday night, we'll give you an update on our FanHousefantasy football league. Who hit on their sleepers? Who made the shrewd pickups? Who's practicing what they preach? In 'House Check, you'll find out.
With a somewhat subdued NFL trade deadline coming up, the FanHouse league saw a huge trade itself. Matt Snyder traded Andre Johnson away to Doug Bernstein's team, and Snyder picked up Steven Jackson. This was a great trade for both sides, as Ray Rice moves into the RB2 role for Doug, while Snyder's best RB was Joseph Addai. After one week, the clear winner is ... nobody. Johnson put up 135 yards and no TDs, while Jackson notched 128 yards with no TDs.
Things seemed pretty elementary for the Minnesota Vikings through much of their game Sunday afternoon. They held a 14-0 lead over the Baltimore Ravens after a quarter, a 14-3 halftime lead, and then a 27-10 margin early in the fourth quarter -- margins that likely inspired tons of confidence for the Vikes. Who would have thought they would need to be bailed out by a missed field goal as time expired in order to escape with a victory?
Yet that's exactly what happened, because the Ravens, behind explosive plays from Joe Flacco, Ray Rice, Derrick Mason and Mark Clayton, used just 11 offensive plays in 6:24 to score three touchdowns and take a 31-30 fourth-quarter lead. The Vikings did drive down and kick a field goal with 2:00 left in the game, which made the score -- the eventual final -- 33-31.
Sunday Evening Wrap checks out players who increased or decreased their value during the Sunday afternoon games.
We all know that every case is different, but value machine should generally be used by owners who enjoy making trades. If a player's stock is high, you shouldn't be trading for him. If a guy's stock is low, you should either trade for him or hold on to him. Obviously, every situation is unique, and that's why we'll discuss each guy.
Biggest : Cadillac Williams. Didn't you hear? He's back ... and apparently better than ever. Caddy's knees have gone through hell and high water, and Sunday he showed the same burst we saw at Auburn. The Cowboys run defense isn't bad, but Williams sliced through it for 97 yards and a score on just 13 carries. Expect another good game next week when the Bucs face the Bills.
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.
Up and down, up and down, up and down. In 2004, the Ravens went 9-7, then followed up with a 6-10 mark in 2005. Then in 2006, a 13-3 record, trailed by a 5-11 finish in 2007. So last year's 11-5 effort could be concerning, if you believe in trends. On the other hand, it could just be the start of something special -- if Baltimore can just get over the hurdle presented by the defending AFC North and Super Bowl champion Steelers.
In continuing with our three-part series on ADP analysis, today we look at the second method in which average draft position can be utilized to uncover values come draft day -- trend analysis.
This approach involves following a sequence of successive ADP charts over a span of time, usually a couple of months (or anteing up for a premium service that tracks more detailed mock draft data), and following the trends. Trends in ADP are great indicators of who is moving up or down on depth charts, which players have made breakthroughs in camp, and most of all, who got dinged up in camp -- information that can be daunting to follow on a player-by-player basis.
It happens every year at training camp, yet every year seems worse than the ones that preceded it: players get injured, sometimes seriously, and an offseason worth of plans suddenly become meaningless.
And on Sunday, the Ravens' No. 2 wideout, Mark Clayton, strained a hamstring that will keep him out 2-3 preseason games. Compared to Bradley or Douglas, that's good news, but Baltimore also doesn't have much depth at receiver. More than that, quarterback Joe Flacco is just in his second season. Spreading the offensive burden seems like the best strategy to build on the success he had last year, but that becomes problematic if Flacco doesn't have anybody to throw to. Or maybe it doesn't.
On Tuesday I noted that some NFL executives aren't sold on Brandon Marshall. At least to the point that they would give up a high-round pick to have him. Marshall is still a member of the Broncos, the team that drafted him, but he's made it clear throughout the offseason that he'd like to get traded.
Despite some apprehension around the league, the Ravens could be interested in Marshall. That's what happens when your best receiver retires, another does the same two days after signing a free-agent contract, and there are still questions if 2005 first-round pick Mark Clayton can ably fill the No. 1 role.
If Derrick Mason has retired as a negotiating ploy, his hand just got a whole lot stronger. The announcement that his replacement Drew Bennett has also retired means that once again, the Ravens are faced with arguably the worst receiving corps in the league.
You could argue that adding Bennett didn't do a whole lot to change that, but without Mason and Bennett, the Ravens are left with Mark Clayton and very little else.
It's hard to think of a receiver more important to his offense than Mason. He was Joe Flacco's target on 121 passes last year -- the rest of the receivers on the Ravens' 2008 roster were targeted for only 110 combined passes. According to Football Outsiders' stats, Clayton was the target for 82 passes, No. 3 wide receiver Demetrius Williams was thrown 23 balls and Yamon Figurs, a kick returner who occasionally will get a play at wide receiver, saw five balls.
It's July, the slowest month of the year for the NFL, and it's driving you nuts. You need a fix. A hit. Anything NFL to pull you through the dog days. FanHouse is here to help with an in-depth look at each division that should have you plenty prepared for training camp. We're calling it the Summer Scramble. Today we look at some burning questions in the AFC North and offer a ridiculously early prediction for how the division will finish.
The pending retirement of Derrick Mason is still sorting itself out. Coming completely out of nowhere, it's left teammates and fans everywhere wondering if the story is true. After all, Mason has reached the 1,000-yard plateau in seven of his last eight seasons, most of which were marked by erratic QB play. With such consistency, Mason made for an excellent receiver pick in the middle rounds. He says he's 99% sure about the decision, so we can't quite rule out a return this year. If the retirement stands, how does it affect the fantasy stocks of the other Baltimore Ravens? Let's see if we can figure that out.
Every Tuesday night, we'll give you an update on our FanHouse fantasy football league. Who hit on their sleepers? Who made the shrewd pickups? Who's practicing what they preach? In 'House Check, you'll find out.
Things seemed pretty elementary for the 
Sunday Evening Wrap checks out players who increased or decreased their value during the Sunday afternoon games. 
: 
Training camps have wrapped up, the 
In continuing with our 
It happens every year at training camp, yet every year seems worse than the ones that preceded it: players get injured, sometimes seriously, and an offseason worth of plans suddenly become meaningless. 
On Tuesday I noted that 
If 
The pending retirement of 
