FanHouse T.J. Duckett

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.

Whenever the NFL's active rushing leader signs with a new team, that must be the big fantasy news of the day. Seattle decided to further muddle its backfield by inking former Colt and Cardinal Edgerrin James. While it appears a deal hasn't been finalized yet, all indications are that James will soon be signed with the Seahawks.

As of Tuesday, Edge wasn't at practice with the Seahawks, according to the Seattle Post Intelligencer. Also missing from practice was T.J. Duckett, who hasn't been cut from the Seahawks yet but looks to be the odd man out in Seattle once James finalizes his contract.

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For those who may use a different term or are new to fantasy football, "handcuff" is the term used when you own insurance for one of your players in the form of owning his real-life backup. It's usually a running back, but you could conceivably handcuff a quarterback. The theory is that some or all of the production is automatically replaced should you lose a high draft pick to injury, meaning you need to insure a high draft pick by grabbing his backup.

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With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse previewed each and every team, closing with the Seahawks. Click here to view the rest.

Meet the ...
Jim Mora Space Needlers, starring T.J. WhosYoMama on air guitar and T.J. Duckett on drums. Mora succeeds Mike Holmgren after his decade-long reign and vows to change some things. That includes ramping up the rushing attack and attacking on defense. But Mora's goal is easier stated than accomplished short-term, and when looking at this roster from a fantasy perspective, the more enticing options seem to be in the passing game.

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We see a ton of player movement every offseason, but it's important while considering new faces in new place to not ignore the effect of coaching changes on teams. No nugget of information should go ignored during your preparation phase. It might be easy to overlook what a new coaching staff means for a franchise running back or quarterback, but without doing the work, you might end up with a team on the field that differs greatly from your perceived value. Today, we'll look at eight offenses that will have to deal with new whistle-adorned men on the practice field.

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With attention spans dwindling, we forego full game-by-game previews to give you the essentials you need to know about every contest this glorious NFL weekend. Click here to go back in time.

The 1s

Tennessee (4-0) at Baltimore (2-1): Okay, fine, I'll agree, the Titans are a good football team. They're giving up just 11.5 points per game, best in the NFL, they have a competent quarterback that doesn't do anything flashy but also doesn't make a lot of mistakes (only one interception in four games) and a rookie running back in Chris Johnson that made every fantasy owner that didn't snag him do a collective head slap. Interesting little comparison here, last week Johnson had just 19 less yards than Adrian Peterson with one less carry and as many touchdowns. Also worth noting, the 4-0 Titans have just one nationally televised game the rest of the season, October 27 against the Colts, while the Browns still have four. Does Al Davis also dabble in national television scheduling? Cool.

Pick -- Tennessee

It would appear that Mike Holmgren taught Brett Favre everything he knows. Or, in the case of "how to retire", maybe it's the other way around. See, Holmgren announced his retirement following this season, primarily based on one of the league's top defenses, a [theoretically] revamped running game and Matt Hasselbeck finally winning a Super Bowl.

Or something enchanting like that. Whoops.

This season is business as usual. We made the decision, Kathy and I, to come back for one more year, and I'm at peace with that. Then, Jimmy (Mora) is going to be the head coach next year.

"I'm going to take some time off. And I made that promise to my family. And then I'm looking at it as a sabbatical leave. I'm going to take some time off and see how I feel. I don't know right now how I'm going to react to that. And make some decision after that.

"This season, it's business as usual and I coach like I coach and I act like I act, and I want to do well.

I generally find the Retirement Shuffle to be a tiresome, pointless parade, but in Holmgren's case, I kind of understand. We're just one week into the NFL season and he's already had his team essentially decimated.

So it's understandable that he looks at his career, in which he built two winning franchises, picked up a Super Bowl and became known as an offensive mastermind, and says: "I will NOT go out like ... like ... this." (/points at T.J. Duckett and Samie Parker)

Julius Jones was part of the Bill Parcells Reclamation Project. During the 2004 draft, the Cowboys traded out of the first round and used their first pick, a second-rounder, on Jones. The former Notre Dame star would start seven games as a rookies, 12 the following season, and 32 more the last two years.

But it became clear at some point during the '06 campaign that the full-time gig would eventually go to Marion Barber. "Eventually" turned out to be "the 2007 playoffs," and that had everything to do with why the Cowboys chose not to re-sign Jones last off-season.

The Seahawks picked him up -- along with T.J. Duckett -- to replace Shaun Alexander, who currently holds the record for going from NFL MVP (2005) to unemployable (now). But with virtually no competition for the job, Jones will officially begin his Seattle career just like he ended is Dallas one: on the bench.

After years of backing up former league MVP Shaun Alexander, Maurice Morris will be the Seattle Seahawks' starting running back -- on Sunday. ...On the eve of the Seahawks' first regular season game, coach Mike Holmgren is sticking to his plan of having co-starters replace the departed Alexander.

Holmgren plans on having Morris and Jones split the carries (the AP calls them "co-starters"), but DMN's Cowboys blogger Tim MacMahon points out that Morris ain't exactly in the same league as Barber, (Football Outsiders agrees).

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is right around the corner, 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:One of the consistencies of Mike Holmgren's regimes has been strong quarterback play. Maybe Matt Hasselback never became the "next Brett Favre", but maybe, on a number of levels, that's actually a good thing. What Hassyback has become, though, is one of the most consistently underrated and, um, consistent signal callers in the league. He's not flashy but he doesn't need big name wideouts to post big stats either. He's got a bad back early this year though, and I'm automatically docking the Seahawks one "heat point" for refusing to use Seneca Wallace at wideout. Also: Charlie Frye. Heat Index: 7

Running Back: There's something to be said of your running back situation when neither Julius Jones nor Maurice Morris can perform at a high enough level in training camp or preseason to make Mike Holmgren name a starter. T.J. Duckett could still be cut, although with the recent Ben Obomanu injury, it looks like both he and Justin Forsett could be on the roster, with Duckett manning goal line carries and Forsett returning kicks. It's not a really attractive situation either way you slice it. Heat Index: 5

I think it was pretty widely assumed that T.J. Duckett's only purpose as a member of the Seattle Seahawks would be handled around the goal line. Any other time, he would be squarely on the bench. Except for maybe fourth and one or such relevant situations.

Point being, he wasn't going to play a lot. But it turns out that, via 'Hawks Insider, he might not play at all.

I just listened to Mitch Levy's interview of Mike Holmgren this morning, and a couple things jumped out:

1) While discussing Justin Forsett, he said that his decision at the end is either with the Seahawks or elsewhere. He essentially acknowledged that Forsett will not get through waivers if they try to place him on the practice squad. He also said he realizes that there could be a public backlash if the guy is cut.

2) Regarding T.J. Duckett, Hugh Millen was very critical, saying that he is a one-trick pony whose one trick is not that effective. Holmgren did not really defend Duckett, instead acknowledging that "the pile is pretty big" in front of him, meaning the other running backs. He said the Duckett decision also will come down to the end.

Both points kind of go hand-in-hand; if Forsett, who could end up being a deeeeep fantasy sleeper, ends up making the team (and he should, if you like to base opinions on preseason statistics) then suddenly Duckett isn't necessarily expendable, but he's a waste of space as a fourth running back.

My guess would actually be that Duckett doesn't make the team; how much good can he really do in just specialized situations, particularly with the Seahawks proclivity at passing on short yardage situations. At least holding onto Forsett would make the fans happy (noted above) and give them some legit options.