FanHouse SamkonGado

Cut-N-Go is Fantasy Football FanHouse's daily gathering of links from around the web, covering the goings-on in NFL Training Camp which have an impact on fantasy value.

Taking over the helm from Sports Illustrated's Jimmy Traina over at Hot Clicks, today one of the sports world's most colorful characters, Chris Cooley shares his sleeper fantasy picks for the 2009 fantasy season. Cooley's picks look good, though he doesn't exactly swing for the fences, preferring safer bets like Chad Ochocinco and Anthony Gonzalez to deeper sleepers. Chris makes an interesting selection in Brent Celek however, after he made waves late last season with one particularly notable postseason game where he lassoed in 10 balls and two touchdowns.

If Cooley's sleepers don't pique your interest, he also shares a half naked picture of his wife for whatever reason.

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Lots of confusion out there on who is going to get the running back touches for the Texans. I think the confusion exists because I am not sure even the Texans coaches know what they are going to do.

Here's what we know as of today:

1. Green's Injury: Ahman Green was in and out of the lineup for most of last year, and then put on IR due to a bone bruise of his knee. He has recovered from that, but was the anti-weeble in the first preseason game, falling down on his first play without being touched due to a groin injury.

2. Green as Starter: Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle reports that the coaches believe in that Ahman Green will be back for the beginning of the season. As Justice says in his blog comments:

I was told by both Rick Smith and Gary Kubiak that they think he'll be the starting running back in the regular-season opener. He's telling them he'll be ready, which is different than last season when he was never optimistic about coming back. But the biggest factor is that from a talent standpoint he's light years ahead of the other RBs except for possibly the rookie, and there's no way they're going to throw him out there against the 3-4 in the first game.

And he says more about Green in this other blog post.

3. Green Gone: Justice's colleague, John McClain speculates that if Green doesn't play in the preseason, he is going to get cut.

Lots of confusion out there on who is going to get the running back touches for the Texans. I think the confusion exists because I am not sure even the Texans coaches know what they are going to do.

Here's what we know as of today:

1. Green's Injury: Ahman Green was in and out of the lineup for most of last year, and then put on IR due to a bone bruise of his knee. He has recovered from that, but was the anti-weeble in the first preseason game, falling down on his first play without being touched due to a groin injury.

2. Green as Starter: Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle reports that the coaches believe in that Ahman Green will be back for the beginning of the season. As Justice says in his blog comments:

I was told by both Rick Smith and Gary Kubiak that they think he'll be the starting running back in the regular-season opener. He's telling them he'll be ready, which is different than last season when he was never optimistic about coming back. But the biggest factor is that from a talent standpoint he's light years ahead of the other RBs except for possibly the rookie, and there's no way they're going to throw him out there against the 3-4 in the first game.

And he says more about Green in this other blog post.

3. Green Gone: Justice's colleague, John McClain speculates that if Green doesn't play in the preseason, he is going to get cut.

New Dolphins vice lord Bill Parcells made it clear earlier in the week that he didn't want "thugs and hoodlums on the team." Yesterday, he made an appearance at Miami's practice, presumably to kick-off the weeding out process in earnest.

Understandably, most Dolphins' players realize the situation and are already preparing for the eventuality that includes some form of the conversation: "Parcells wants to see you ... and don't forget your playbook."

"I could tell you there's no fear and be vague and ambiguous, but let's be real," running back Samkon Gado said. "Yes, it's a concern for every person in this locker room. Because, at this point, our body of work is accomplished, and there is nothing you can do at this point to change your lot."

Luckily for Gado, if this professional football thing doesn't work out, he's been accepted to medical school. Other players don't have a non-football-related fallback plan:

To get you ready for Week 16, FanHouse is previewing all 16 NFL games. Here is your Dolphins/Patriots preview.

2007 Records:

Miami Dolphins: 1-13 (4th in AFC East)
New England Patriots: 14-0 (AFC East Champions)

Last Week:

Dolphins 22-Ravens 16 OT
Patriots 20-Jets 10

Why We Care: It isn't as interesting now that Miami has actually won a game, but the Patriots quest for perfection will always get everyone watching. The quest takes them to Miami ... the only other franchise to field a 14-0 team. New England hasn't lost a regular season game since ... since ... since ... Miami beat them 21-0 last season. The Dolphins are the Dolphins and bring a bit of a storyline in this one: something about Bill Parcells.

Earlier in the week, I wondered if Ricky Williams might be in the teams' plans with Ronnie Brown now on the shelf for the rest of the season. Ultimately, it'll come down to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, and whether he reinstates the former Heisman Trophy winner.

While we all wait for that ruling, the Dolphins are moving forward. They recently claimed Texans running back Samkon Gado off waivers. Gado, who came out of nowhere to have three 100-yard rushing games in five starts back in 2005 with the Packers, hasn't had that same success in Houston.

He was traded to Houston in exchange for Vernand Morency in 2006 and rushed for 210 yards and one touchdown that season before falling out of favor early this season, leading to his release on Tuesday.

Gado is only 24 years old, and will join Jesse Chatman, Patrick Cobbs and Lorenzo Booker in Miami's backfield. Not exactly a Who's Who among NFL running backs, but Chatman and Cobbs have combined to rush for 131 yards on 23 carries, a 5.7 yards-per-carry average. Worst case, Gado will add depth. It's just too bad he doesn't play defense.

The Jaguars beat the Texans by sticking to their formula: Run the ball, conservative mistake-free quarterbacking, and play aggressive defense to make the other team one dimensional.

The Texans did the Jags a few favors along the way, failing to keep their composure on the road, being incapable of scoring in the red zone and making key mistakes. The score early on in the game could have easily been 17-0 Texans.

The Texans couldn't convert 3rd and goal early in the game after marching it down the field. They marched easily down the field again the next possession and Andre' Davis appeared to score another touchdown. Replays showed that he fumbled it out of the endzone for a touchback.

One of the key plays of the game was a Jack Del Rio Has Stones call. Before the half, with the game close, Del Rio called for a surprise onside kick. It caught the Texans off-guard and the kicker recovered it. This kept the Texans defense on the field longer on a hot day, kept the Texans offense from having the ball with much time left, and allowed the Jags to get a field goal to go into half time leading 10-6.

Probably the only thing that this game will be remembered for is Miami quarterback Trent Green suffering a concussion after blocking Texans defensive tackle Travis Johnson in the knees and flipping him onto his head. And Johnson angrily yelling and walking past the motionless body of Green. And then going into a tirade in the locker room about how Green's play was dirty. And then apologizing.

(There's lots being written and said about this--some inaccurate--so I suggest watching the video and deciding for yourself).

Whether or not Green's play was dirty, It's pretty ugly to watch someone scream at an unmoving body, or hear of such a locker room rant after a game being stopped for a long time after Green was being put on a stretcher. Apparently, Green has a concussion, and at least some are suggesting that this incident demonstrates that he should retire.

The game was nearly as ugly as the play on the field. Though Ted Ginn Jr. played well on returns against a good special teams, getting a great average field position for Miami, he also was part responsible for that broken play that led to Green's concussion. Miami fans are still waiting for his break out receiving game, though he did have one catch for a 36 yard gain.

Ugly defines the Texans running game. Against the worst run defense in the league, the Texans managed to get 59 yards from their backup running backs, Ron Dayne and Samkon Gado for an average of 2.4 yards a carry. The Texans need Ahman Green back and healthy, but given his history so far, they are in desperate need for a Plan B.

If you've been watching the Texans, you know they are an improved team. Now let me point you to the numbers that show it.

Zachary Levine writes a great general sports stat blog for the Houston Chronicle called The Unofficial Scorer. As he is one of the few stat guys who writes about the Texans, his blog is in my happy bookmarks list. Recently, he took the first four Texans games of the season, and projected them as full season stats and compared them to last year. And in just about every category, the Texans are much improved. Really, if you care about the Texans at all, it is worth a quick click.

One of the categories that is worse than last year is rushing stats. In looking at the numbers, they are a little misleading in a couple of respects. First of all, what has padded the rushing totals in previous seasons is that David Carr ran a lot for a quarterback for various reasons we don't need to discuss any more.

How many playmakers can one team lose and still win? This is the question that the Texans are facing at least over the next couple of weeks. The games against Atlanta on the road and Miami at home appeared to be the soft spot in the schedule, but with all the injuries to key Texans players, maybe not so much.

The Houston Chronicle article about the Texans injuries is here, and here's some additional thoughts about what this might mean for the team, including some information I haven't seen anywhere else.

Out For the Season:

Steve McKinney, Center: Torn ACL. Veteran Mike Flanagan will start in his place. Flanagan looked decent in his competition for the starting job in the preseason, but last year, McKinney looked better in run blocking. Flanagan got injured last season, and is on the oldish side, so there's concerns about depth. Chris White currently is the backup at center, and Kubiak liked his performance at camp.

Cedric Killings, Defensive Tackle: Fractured Vertebra. Cedric Killings was with the team in camp, was cut, but then was resigned when Travis Johnson was out with an injury. They kept him on the team after Johnson came back, but then Killings was injured during a special teams collision. With both McKinney and Killings on IR, the Texans chose to re-sign wide receiver David Anderson and tight end Joel Dressen, players who had been in camp with the team. Both are good special team players.