Posts tagged Roy Williams at FanHouse

It sucks to be Greg Wesley today. The Raiders released the safety just a few weeks after signing him to make room on the roster for Adam Archuleta. And, yes, that would be the same Adam Archuleta who spent two inglorious seasons with the Redskins and Bears before mercifully getting released.

Well, he's back in the league, not as a defensive back, but at his old college position: linebacker. No, really. I suppose this could be worse -- I mean, the Raiders could've signed Archuleta to play safety.

Luckily, Oakland's secondary is set -- on paper, they're one of the best units in the AFC. The linebacker position could use some depth, and, apparently that's what Archuleta adds.

The Oakland Tribune's Jerry McDonald has all the gory details:

We've already discussed the pillars of consistency, and now we're gonna go in the opposite direction.

Please understand the point of this exercise ... this is not an "avoid these guys" list. There's a difference between "inconsistent" and "sucks." The players you'll see on here are listed because they are good or even great fantasy performers. They also showed -- in 2007 or more -- a propensity to mix in very bad games with the good ones. The point of listing these guys is to serve as a reminder that for every Maurice Jones-Drew you'd like to have a consistent player alongside him like Peyton Manning. You load up with a team full of these guys and, sure, you'll have the occasional 120 point week. You're also in danger of a 55 point week. Balancing with consistent guys keeps you safe for when you get bad MJD and puts you in position for a monster week when you get good MJD. I guess that's as good a segue as any ... here they are, the poster-boys for fantasy inconsistency:

Maurice Jones-Drew, RB, Jags
Look, I love him. Little guys that pack a big punch (seriously, watch this) are so fun to watch and give us little guys everywhere someone with whom we can relate. But here's the thing, you can't count on him to carry your fantasy team on a weekly basis. Sure, he'll have the outbursts like this one ... or this one ... but the carries just aren't there for him to be counted on for a weekly 15-point or more showing.

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: We know that Tony Romo isn't a fluke. He stepped in last year and had another fantastic season, setting team records in the process. There are questions remaining about distractions (Romessica) and winning a playoff game (none in his two years) which Romo must answer if he wants to take a place among the NFL's elite. Dallas is putting all their eggs in that basket as the only fallback if Romo gets hurt is 39-yr old Brad Johnson who isn't quite the risk taker. Heat Index: 9

Running backs: It's rare when a team loses their starting running back and everyone is fine with the position. Julius Jones is gone, but rookie Felix Jones is in. Jones (Felix) will get a ton of carries this season to keep Marion Barber fresh. Barber, who only started the Cowboys' playoff game, is the NFL's version of Mariano Rivera -- he dominates late in games and finishes drives off. Jones and Barber will combined for that classic "lightning and thunder" combo and should be quite successful doing it in what supposed to be a more run-friendly offense. Heat Index: 7

Welcome to Five Guys, a Fantasy FanHouse introduction on how to not play your free fantasy football league looking like Mr. Simpson above.

Tony Romo
I hated him last year and I hate him this year. I'm sorry Cowboys fans. Your bandwagon doesn't have air conditioning and I'm not getting on board. But a lot of people are -- while for the most part he's getting taken in the second round, plenty of people are watching Tom Brady and Peyton Manning go and then ... "Oh no, I just drafted Romo in the first round!!!"

Don't be that guy/gal.

Look at the egg he laid in the fantasy playoffs last year: two games, 471 passing yards, four picks, three fumbles and one passing touchdown. Wow. What a steal in the first round.

Or perhaps the fact that he was only good half the season (he stunk in October and December).

Seriously. You don't want to draft him that early. I promise.

This is pretty cool. Blogging the Boys' Dave Halprin is in Oxnard, CA at Cowboys training camp and in addition to covering every on-the-field detail, he's also got some behind-the-scenes stuff from the parking lot of players' hotel.

Specifically, to get this Cowboys-decaled Hummer signed by as many Cowboys as possible. As of this writing, Kevin Burnett, Roy Williams, Adam Jones and Zach Thomas all signed, but it's Halprin's conversation with Thomas that makes the story.

We told Zach that we were bloggers; he turned kind of semi-serious on us and said the blogs always hate on him because he's short. I told him we were hyped to have him in Dallas and we are calling him the tackling machine. He liked that.

Well, credit to Thomas for knowing what a blog is (Braylon Edwards, you've been put on notice ... or something), but I can't remember once reading anybody taking shots at him for being short. In fact, it seems like Thomas is pretty popular because of his height (in addition to, you know, also being a very good football player).

Now, if Thomas had said blogs always hate on him because he can't dance, then, yeah, he's got an argument there.

After watching this video, jaw agape, for the past 10 minutes, I feel safe in writing that Terrell Owens, 34, hasn't lost a step. Oh, and Adam, Deion Sanders is on the horn, he wants his jersey back.



Hey, lady, down in front. DOWN IN FRONT! Despite the obscured view, the "man, Pacman got taken behind the woodshed on that one" was still painfully (delightfully?) obvious. But as MJD points out, look, there isn't a soul on the planet (well, other than DeAngelo Hall ... to hear DeAngelo Hall tell it, anyway) that can stay with Owens in single coverage for four or five seconds.

In fact, I'm pretty sure there isn't a soul on the planet who could stay with Owens with Roy Williams pretending to offer safety help over the top for four or five seconds. That said, this certainly was great fun to watch and the fans really seemed to get into it (although I suspect it won't do much for Jones' burgeoning acting career).

The good news: even with Terence Newman on the shelf for the next few weeks, Jones will only have to face T.O. in practice, so there's that.

One of the funny stories coming out of the retirement of former NC State basketball coach and A.D. Les Robinson is the fact that he tried to bring then-Kansas coach and former/future Tar Heel Roy Williams to Raleigh.

Ol' Roy tells this tale during Robinson's retirement press conference:

"When I was coaching at Kansas, Les was the athletic director at N.C. State. He called me one day about being the new basketball coach of the Wolfpack. I told him he had to be crazy, that the N.C. State people would run him out of town for bringing a UNC guy in to coach the Wolfpack. He just grinned and said, not as long as you win, big fella, not as long as you win."

That probably would be true, but I could never imagine any Wolfpack fan ever opening their arms to a Tar Heel alum. After all, the words "go to hell, Carolina" appears in their fight song.

High School: Huge Hit and Tough Catch - Watch more free videos

Like kickboxing, pro-athlete-blogging is the sport of the future. Cowboys linebacker Kevin Burnett recently started a blog and he's covered all sorts of interesting topics, from the nuances of the Cover-2 to explaining why Roy Williams isn't as bad as he looks.

Yesterday, he wondered if high school athletes should be allowed to enter the NFL draft, what with kids "getting bigger, stronger, and faster and constantly raising the bar of performance."

Do you think the high school football players should have to wait three years before entering into the NFL draft? Yes I do believe that high school kids are not ready for the NFL although I do think some freshmen would have been better off leaving.

That's not a completely insane argument, although, unfortunately, Burnett ends up straddling the fence on the issue.

Personally there are very few teenage bodies that can handle the NFL. On top of the physical try someone like Bill for your first coach. To me that would just be too much to handle for most but I do believe it can be done. With that being said I am not for or against the rule I just believe the option should be there.

My two cents: I'd say the gentleman in the video above is probably ready for the NFL draft. And the fellow in the after-the-jump footage, well, he's not even close, although I'd love to see him in a preseason game.

(By the way, I applaud Burnett for making his blog HATER PROOF. FanHouse could definitely use some of that.)

It's the deadest part of the offseason, which means we'll be reading about things marginally related to football like top-50 players, doctored videos, visits to the Playboy Mansion, and, of course, Rodney Harrison, the NFL's dirtiest player.

While some NFL coaches agree that Harrison is one of the league's dirtiest players, ESPN.com's Mike Sando writes that there are plenty of other guys worthy of a little finger-pointing:

A review of data since 2001 shows Arizona Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson with a league-high 17 personal fouls. Harrison and New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith are tied for second with 14, followed by Patriots defensive lineman Richard Seymour (13), Miami Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor (12), late Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor (12) and Cleveland Browns defensive lineman Shaun Rogers (11).

According to 11 of 18 head coaches who responded to Sando, Cowboys' safety Roy Williams finished second behind Harrison (interestingly, Wade Phillips voted for Williams. Twice.*), followed by Antonio Pierce, Hines Ward, Kevin Mawae and Olin Kreutz.

Former Patriots teammate Deion Branch "draws a line between Harrison's hard-nosed play" and, say, Travis Johnson talking smack over a dying Trent Green. Not sure anybody would disagree on that on.

Brandon Stokley, who said he would've "bet his life savings" on Harrison earning top honors, also singled out Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan "as a player with bad intentions." And I'm pretty sure he doesn't mean that in a topless, sausage-party, "what about the kids?" way.

* Joke. Coaches were only allowed to vote once.

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.