FanHouse Michael Pittman

The UFL is back on the field Saturday night with the New York Sentinels taking on the Florida Tuskers. You can catch all the action live here on FanHouse.

The new league kicked off on Thursday night -- Las Vegas downed California, 30-17. New York features former NFL superstar Simeon Rice, while Florida's roster boasts ex-NFL players Brooks Bollinger, Tatum Bell and Michael Pittman.

Catch all of the action beginning at 7 PM ET.

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

It's a brave new world in Denver, where the Broncos will take the field without Mike Shanahan on the sideline for the first time since 1995. Josh McDaniels, their new coach, was 19 back then, and has one of the shortest resumes of any head coach in NFL history. That could be a good thing or a bad thing, but it was clear that Shanahan's system was no longer bearing fruit and the team may benefit just from the change of voice on the sideline.

Just think, there was a time when the Broncos thought Travis Henry was the worst thing that could ever happen to their running game. Turns out the Henry era was only the precursor for the unit's complete collapse this season. Peyton Hillis will miss the rest of the season with a hamstring injury, which makes him the sixth Bronco running back to go down to injury this season.

Hillis became the latest name in the pantheon of "unknowns who Mike Shanahan plugged in successfully." He was a seventh-rounder on a team loaded with backs but ran for 305 yards and five touchdowns over the last four weeks.

Michael Pittman, Anthony Aldridge, Andre Hall and Ryan Torain are already out for the season. Selvin Young, the starter at the outset of the season, has played in just one of the last eight games because of a groin injury. Given all those players, its amazing that Hillis even made the team and lasted long enough to help them over the last month

That leaves Tatum Bell, one-time Bronco starter and scourge of the Lions locker room, and P.J. Pope as the only healthy running backs in the Rockies. The Broncos did give wide receiver Eddie Royal three carries yesterday, so perhaps they'll be creative in filling the need. Or, more likely, they'll just put even more on Jay Cutler's shoulders.

That's Sammy Winder. He sure can't help the Broncos can he? Yup, healthy RBs have become scarce in Denver these days.

Like many, who'd been quietly or in my case (not so quietly) – awaiting the arrival/return of fantasy savior Ryan Torain, Thursday night was nothing short of disaster. The Ryan Torain era was something special, now wasn't it? I was just about ready to dish out a round of self high fives as Torain was grinding his way through the Cleveland defense to the tune of 68 yards and a TD early into the 2nd quarter. And then everything hit the skids with the word coming on Friday that Torain is done for the season, torn ACL.

Well, it's simply time to come to grips with the fact that (beep) happens, but you've gotta keep on keeping on. Besides, having all your eggs in the Denver backfield is never a way to go through life. Trust me; I wasn't banking on Torain being a savior, rather a welcome bonus addition. Moving on, what's more important now is sorting out what lies ahead for the Denver offense.

I mean, seriously, they are down to virtually no healthy RBs. They've now lost three RBs in Michael Pittman, Andre Hall, and Ryan Torain to season-ending injuries and Selvin Young is hardly 100 percent and/or reliable. Is this some kind of karmic payback for Shanahan being the Satan of fantasy RBs? Paging Olandis Gary please? So, what options do they have? Let's take a look ...

The Denver Broncos mustered merely 14 yards on the ground in yesterday's loss to the Dolphins. That's a depressing number for a team that used to get 1,000 yard seasons from pool boys. Things might not be getting better in the foreseeable future, either.

The Broncos placed Michael Pittman and Andre Hall on injured reserve today, dropping them down to two running backs. One of those backs, Ryan Torain, is a rookie who made his first NFL appearance on Sunday. The other is second-year man Selvin Young, who hasn't played since October 5 with a groin injury. Any chance Travis Henry can get a work release deal while his drug trafficking case gets adjudicated?

This news is the latest blow to a Bronco team that is adrift in a sea of turnovers, finger pointing and losses. Jay Cutler has thrown six interceptions in the last three games, and the injury-ravaged defense hasn't proven that it can shut down opposing offenses with any regularity. Now both Cutler and that defense will be under increased pressure to produce if the Broncos hope to contend for a division that could be won with a losing record.

Mike Shanahan will have to work his old magic with Torain to get the Bronco offense going again. Whether the two days before Thursday's tilt with the Browns is enough time to do so remains to be seen.

Maybe this isn't a big deal. It's probably a very innocent, perhaps accurate, observation made by Seahawks running back Julius Jones. I probably wouldn't even bother to point it out had I not made a post earlier today giving some love to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers run defense. But here we go anyway.

This Sunday night, Jones and the Seahawks are traveling to Tampa Bay for a contest with the leaders of the NFC South. And Jones is looking forward to playing them because, you know, they're old. From Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune:

"They're smart players and what you have to do with those guys is kind of beat them athletically,'' Jones said. "I know a couple guys are up there in age and that's how we're going to try to get around those guys - beat them athletically.'' Isn't that another way of calling the Bucs defense old? Sure seems like it. Wonder if DeAngelo Williams thinks the Bucs are old. Kind doubt it.

We here are at Fantasy FanHouse are deeply committed to helping the desperate. And you may be among them. If that's the case, we have some lovely last-minute gambles for you to try out in fantasy this week. Fourth and 26 isn't an "ideal" situation, but sometimes it works out.

Quarterback
JaMarcus Russell, OAK -- No way he's owned in your league. Seriously. No way (unless it's a keeper league I suppose). And you may remember from that Monday night snooze fest that Russell ended up going 17 of 26 for 180 yards and two touchdowns; respectable numbers, even in a blowout. And the Broncos are slightly better than the Chiefs. And by "slightly" I mean "the rough equivalent of "USC over OSU". (Warning: Comparison could backfire.)

Kerry Collins, TEN -- He doesn't have any receivers, and the Titans will probably lean on the running game and defense to win. But if you're considering him, you're pretty desperate. And the Bengals are pretty bad. So you could do worse.

Running Back
Tim Hightower, ARI -- Hightower might actually be a pretty good start this week; Edgerrin James had 100 yards last week, but it took him 26 carries, and Hightower saw some goal line action. Also, Miami is not good.

Selvin Young just lost one obstacle in his quest for 2,000 yards. Rookie RB Ryan Torain -- who had been very impressive in camp thus far according to the coaching staff -- just had a very bad day:

Torain was carrying the ball in a nine-on-seven drill when he was tackled. As he fell, Torain stuck out his left hand to brace his fall and his elbow popped.He suffered fractured bone fragments in the elbow. He was to be taken for an MRI around noon.

All told, Torain is going to miss two to three months. Being a running back and having to to take blows to the elbow often, I'm estimating this is more like three than two. This is a big blow for the talented Arizona State product, as he had a realistic shot of getting meaningful time on a team that makes studs out of ordinary running backs.

Within the article it was mentioned that Mike Shanahan thought Torain had a realistic shot at the tailback job in Denver. Now Andre Hall and Michael Pittman are left to push Young, who should have a pretty clear path to the starting gig.

Selvin Young just lost one obstacle in his quest for 2,000 yards. Rookie RB Ryan Torain -- who had been very impressive in camp thus far according to the coaching staff -- just had a very bad day:

Torain was carrying the ball in a nine-on-seven drill when he was tackled. As he fell, Torain stuck out his left hand to brace his fall and his elbow popped.He suffered fractured bone fragments in the elbow. He was to be taken for an MRI around noon.

All told, Torain is going to miss two to three months. Being a running back and having to to take blows to the elbow often, I'm estimating this is more like three than two. This is a big blow for the talented Arizona State product, as he had a realistic shot of getting meaningful time on a team that makes studs out of ordinary running backs.

Within the article it was mentioned that Mike Shanahan thought Torain had a realistic shot at the tailback job in Denver. Now Andre Hall and Michael Pittman are left to push Young, who should have a pretty clear path to the starting gig.

When the Broncos passed on signing Shaun Alexander recently, it appeared that they were content to go into battle this season with the running backs they had in house. Not the worst idea. Travis Henry, Selvin Young, Andre Hall and rookie Ryan Torain give them multiple looks to play with out of the backfield. Appearances can be deceiving, however.

Over at Pro Football Talk, MDS is reporting, via a league source, that the team is going to sign veteran tailback Michael Pittman to a one-year contract. Pittman's role in Tampa diminished greatly after the team drafted Cadillac Williams in 2005 and he slipped behind Earnest Graham and Michael Bennett last season. He still played a role in the passing game but when the team signed Warrick Dunn this offseason, the writing was more than on the wall that it was time for him to move along.

He should fill that pass-catching role for the Broncos this season and provide some depth should Henry struggle with injuries as he did last season. He'll have to battle to do anything more than that, however, and, if Young makes good on the promise he showed last season, may end up doing less or looking for another place of employment before too long.