Each Monday of the fantasy football season, we'll cut through the fantasy numbers put up by individuals and tell you what they really mean.
In the overwhelming majority of fantasy football leagues this season, Matt Forte was a top-5 pick. He was coming off a sensational rookie season and now had a strong-armed quarterback to stretch the defense and open running lanes for him. Thus far, the payoff for Forte owners has been quite futile. In two games, he's carried the ball 38 times for 84 yards -- without scoring a touchdown.
Be patient, though, because the payoff is on the horizon.
Sunday Evening Wrap checks out players who increased or decreased their value during the Sunday afternoon games. Top Faller:Greg Jennings had 80 catches for 1,292 yards last season. His worst game in terms of catches was two. His worst game in terms of yardage was 22. In 2009, he caught six balls for 106 yards in his one game before Sunday. Obviously, at home against the Bengals seemed to bode well for the fourth year wideout. The result was a goose-egg of a game from a player who is a WR1 on fantasy rosters in every single league out there. Keep in mind, angry owners, this isn't going to happen again this year. The Packers play the Rams next week, so there's no reason to get down on him now. He'll be fine.
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.
The NFL season is less than five weeks away, and today FanHouse is at Ravens training camp -- Stop 2 and mile 270 of Dan Graziano's five-camp, 1,100-mile road trip.
WESTMINSTER, Md. -- Pressure? Nerves? Just because Tavares Gooden is expected to take over free-agent defector Bart Scott's spot at Ravens inside linebacker next to Ray Lewis? No way, says Gooden. Running with the first team in practice isn't about pressure or nerves. It's about great big holes to run through.
"You hear noises that make you think you're watching an army movie -- Haloti Ngata crashing into guys and stuff like that," Gooden said Sunday after the Ravens wrapped up their afternoon practice at McDaniel College. "And then you've got those holes and those openings, and you just fill them as a linebacker. I think that's the biggest part of being with the 'ones.' Everybody knows their assignments, and all you have to do is play off that D-line."
It happens every year at training camp, yet every year seems worse than the ones that preceded it: players get injured, sometimes seriously, and an offseason worth of plans suddenly become meaningless.
And on Sunday, the Ravens' No. 2 wideout, Mark Clayton, strained a hamstring that will keep him out 2-3 preseason games. Compared to Bradley or Douglas, that's good news, but Baltimore also doesn't have much depth at receiver. More than that, quarterback Joe Flacco is just in his second season. Spreading the offensive burden seems like the best strategy to build on the success he had last year, but that becomes problematic if Flacco doesn't have anybody to throw to. Or maybe it doesn't.
It's July, the slowest month of the year for the NFL, and it's driving you nuts. You need a fix. A hit. Anything NFL to pull you through the dog days. FanHouse is here to help with an in-depth look at each division that should have you plenty prepared for training camp. We're calling it the Summer Scramble. Today we look at some burning questions in the AFC North and offer a ridiculously early prediction for how the division will finish.
On Second Thought is Matt Snyder's look back at the initial FanHouse staff rankings, which were compiled nearly a month ago. As we all know, fantasy players' value changes frequently, even when no games are being played. Today, we look at running backs.
As teams continue to use two-backs systems, running back has become an increasingly deep and unpredictable position. Thus, you don't have the predictable first two rounds of years past. Injuries and the progress of young backs will shuffle backfields throughout the preseason. As that happens, the fantasy values of the running backs continually shift. Let's take a look.
Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.
Jonathan Ogden retired last summer, leaving the Ravens with a young but deep group of offensive linemen to protect rookie quarterback Joe Flacco. Not surprisingly, Ogden's replacement, Jared Gaither (a former supplementary draft pick) was inconsistent, but occasionally flashed glimpses of big-play potential.
Steelers safety Ryan Clark developed a reputation around the NFL this season as being one of the most physical, hardest hitting safeties in the league. By now, I'm sure you're alreadyfamiliar with his work. During the Steelers' 27-23 win against Arizona in Super Bowl XLIII, Clark tried to develop a new tackling strategy, and it's one that probably won't be catching on any time soon, and for good reason -- it doesn't work.
TAMPA, Fla. -- A harsh dose of reality was injected into the festive atmosphere of the Super Bowl this morning when about three dozen retired players met with the media to promote the Gridiron Greats, an organization that provides financial assistance to retired NFL players who left the game with serious injuries.
Everyone who follows football knows that players often leave the game with permanent disabilities, and that even the lucky ones can usually point to a knee, hip, elbow or shoulder that bears surgical scars and still causes them pain. But seeing all these former players gathered in one room brought the point home: At one point during the press conference, the ex-players were asked if they were in physical pain just sitting there. Almost all of them said they were.
Each Monday of the fantasy football season, we'll cut through the fantasy numbers put up by individuals and tell you what they really mean. 
Sunday Evening Wrap checks out players who increased or decreased their value during the Sunday afternoon games. 
For those who may use a different term or are new to 
The NFL season is less than five weeks away, and today FanHouse is at Ravens training camp -- Stop 2 and mile 270 of Dan Graziano's five-camp, 1,100-mile road trip.
It happens every year at training camp, yet every year seems worse than the ones that preceded it: players get injured, sometimes seriously, and an offseason worth of plans suddenly become meaningless. 
Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 
TAMPA, Fla.
