FanHouse Rashard Mendenhall

Not gonna lie: I'm a sucker for anything Michael Jackson related, pedophilia and creepy, stardust-covered jungle gyms aside. Music-wise, though, he really is tough to beat. It's why I loved Donovan McNabb's "Thriller" touchdown dance, and it's also why I watched the following video -- which, as PSAMP notes with the find, is allegedly Rashard Mendenhall -- like eight times. And frankly, whether it's him or not, I think Mendenhall should come out and claim that he's got moves like that anyway.

The early reports on the Steelers' 2009 draft picks is very favorable. Mike Wallace has shown speed. Frank Summers is just as big as everyone expected and Ziggy Hood has shown an outstanding motor.

Of course, there's yet to be a draft pick who's publicly been called out for disappointing at offseason workouts, so as always, we won't know very much until they put the pads on for real in two months. But if history is any kind of guide, expect Hood, the Steelers' first-round pick, to do quite well, while several of the later-round picks will fail miserably.

So which 2008 Steelers draftee do you think the team most needs to step up in 2009?

You could argue Rashard Mendenhall, the team's '08 first-round pick, but then if he falters, Pittsburgh still has Willie Parker and Mewelde Moore (last year's primary backs on a Super Bowl champion) plus Frank Summers.

Or you could say Limas Sweed, the team's second-round pick last year. But if he can't handle the slot receiver role or he keeps dropping passes, Pittsburgh has signed Shaun McDonald as a back-up, while rookie Mike Wallace could be a decent replacement as a deep threat.

If there's one 2008 Steeler draftee who is being counted on more than any other, it's Limas Sweed.

Even a year after he was drafted, first-round pick Rashard Mendenhall will be the No. 2 tailback, but even if he fails at the job, Mewelde Moore and Tank Summers are available to step in. Third-round pick Bruce Davis and fourth-round pick Tony Hills will need extremely impressive training camps just to make the gameday roster, fifth-round pick Dennis Dixon is likely the No. 3 quarterback while sixth-round pick Ryan Mundy is battling for a roster spot.

A year ago, the Cowboys used their two first-round picks on running back Felix Jones and cornerback Mike Jenkins. Neither contributed much as a rookie; Jenkins played in 14 games (starting three) and had 19 tackles, but the one he didn't make sticks out most in my mind (of course it does).

Jones, who was something of a surprise pick with Rashard Mendenhall still available, played in just six games before landing on injured reserve with a big toe and hamstring injury.

Well, not only is fantasy football long over, but, sadly, now too is the NFL season. However, that sure doesn't mean us diehards have nothing left to do but wait for next season. Nope, now more than ever, it's time to fine-tune those skills that got you a fantasy football trophy, or brought you darn near close to one. Yes, let your opponents settle into comfort, while you do your homework all offseason.

A bit drastic? Quite possibly, but during the slow stretch (a.k.a. the waiting game) we'll be here to give you little tidbits to take to heart and make note of for next season. The first order of business is evaluating the players who "elevated" their games in the NFL playoffs. Year in and year out, there are always guys who breakout in a way you could dream of, had it been the regular "fantasy" football season.

The Steelers really didn't have a choice. When Illinois running back Rashard Mendenhall was still on the board 22 picks into the 2008 NFL draft, Pittsburgh pretty much had to take him. Not because they needed a running back, but because Mendenhall had game-changing ability and was too good to pass up at that point in the proceedings.

Sure, Pittsburgh had gaping chasms along the offensive line -- the Sean Mahan experiment flopped and Alan Faneca took the money and ran to New York -- and they still had said gaping chasms when they selected wideout Limas Sweed a round later.

Let's face it, this year was all about the Rookie RB when talking about fantasy football. Depending on the scoring system for your league, three rookies most likely finished in the Top 10 RB producers. This made for arguably the single greatest rookie RB class in recent memory, not only from a realistic perspective, but also for fantasy purposes.

Is this the new trend and will we lust over the rookie class next season as we prepare for our drafts? Well, let's not jump the gun just yet. However, what we can depend on will be the spiked draft day values of the returning sophomore class. Many of these talents have already become mainstays on the fantasy football horizon.

And so today, we take a quick look back at the season that was, but more importantly gage the values of this heralded class moving forward. Follow along and in order...

I think it's fair to say that when running back Chris Johnson went down during the second quarter of last Saturday's game against the Ravens, so too did the Titans' playoff hopes. In those first 30 minutes, Johnson rushed for 72 yards on 11 carries, and added another 28 yards on his lone reception.

After he made his way to the sidelines, Tennessee's running game became much more predictable (LenDale plods right, LenDale plods right, etc...), and Baltimore promptly made the Titans one-dimensional.

And while the Ravens' defense personifies bone-crushing, helmet-removing football, the New York Times' Fifth Down blog raises an interesting question: Did Baltimore's defense "take out" Johnson?

Back in October -- coincidentally, after Hines Ward ended Bengals rookie linebacker Keith Rivers' season with a vicious (but legal) block -- the Steelers' all-time career receptions leader learned that the division-rival Ravens had put a bounty on him for their Week 15 get-together. Which, if you don't have access to a calendar, is this Sunday's game.

Baltimore linebacker Terrell Suggs, who originally admitted to the bounty on an Atlanta radio station, later claimed that he "misspoke," presumably to avoid the iron fist of Commissar Goodell.

Ward, for his part, made light of the situation, but just in case there's any remaining doubt, Ray Lewis would like to reiterate the Ravens' strict "no bounty" policy.