FanHouse Darren Mcfadden

Cut-N-Go is Fantasy Football FanHouse's weekday roundup of the NFL news with fantasy football impact.

It would appear that at long last our national fantasy football nightmare is over and Calvin Johnson is going to play this weekend. OK, let's be fair and emphasize the word "appears." Nothing is certain until I actually see Johnson in uniform and jogging onto the field. However, the notion and possibility of his return is probably the best news many Megatron owners such as myself have heard in quite sometime.

It's been far too long to not have this ubber stud in our line-ups. And trust me, this is speaking from a guy who owns Johnson in every single league. I drafted him in the first round every time around. He was who I wanted and this is not what I was expecting. Take the good with the bad, but I'm expecting all good if he finally plays again this weekend. And of course, it should also be noted he's the only player on the field that gives the Lions a chance to win a football game.

As a sidebar to this same story, Kevin Smith will most likely suit up and play for the Lions as well.

Cut-N-Go is Fantasy Football FanHouse's weekday roundup of the NFL news with fantasy football impact.

The news just keeps getting better for Hakeem Nicks owners. We've been touting Nicks since day one as one the potential big surprises this season at wide receiver and he proved us right, having now scored a touchdown in four consecutive games. After moving into the starting lineup shortly after returning from his early-season injury, he now looks poised to move ahead of Mario Manningham for the No. 2 spot.

While Manningham currently holds down the gig, Newsday reports that he left practice right after stretching in warmups. The story lacks clarity as to whether Manningham left due to his lingering chest injury or because of a lineup change, but Nicks assumed the starting role in Friday's walk-throughs. Regardless of the reason, this bodes very well for Nicks owners who already have a gem on their hands.

Whether it's torn, sprained, broken or just needs to be taped, Injuries to Watch will keep you up to date on injuries around the NFL and how they'll affect your fantasy football team.

Quarterback

• Trent Edwards, Bills - Edwards has been ruled out for Week 8. He participated in practice on Wednesday but only in a limited capacity. He's not recovering as quickly from the concussion as the medical staff would like, even though he's been cleared to play. Ryan Fitzpatrick will start in his place.

• Matthew Stafford, Lions - Stafford practiced fully on Tuesday but was limited on Wednesday with his knee injury. The fact that he practiced two days in a row is a step in the right direction, but it's still not known whether or not he'll be able to start on Sunday.

Whether it's torn, sprained, broken or just needs to be taped, Injuries to Watch will keep you up to date on injuries around the NFL and how they'll affect your fantasy football team.

Quarterback

• Aaron Rodgers, Packers - Rodgers participated fully in practice on Wednesday and said that his foot injury isn't a big deal. He'll play on Sunday.

• Derek Anderson, Browns - Anderson participated in full on Wednesday at practice and his ankle injury will not keep him from playing on Sunday.

• Trent Edwards, Bills - Edwards missed practice on Wednesday due to a concussion. He hasn't been ruled out for Sunday's game yet, but likely will be soon.

Fantasy FanHouse's "Bust a Move" segment provides quick-hitting insight on the most popular adds and drops across Fleaflicker fantasy leagues between Tuesday and Wednesday of each week. Knowing who is on the move during this 24-hour period often provides a valuable edge with regard to outperforming or underperforming players, injuries and depth chart shifts. So do as the man says, "Don't just stand there..."

The Adds

Rashard Mendenhall (RB, Steelers, 3,178 adds) - Enough already about the Steelers moving away from their longtime pound-the-rock mantra and relying on the pass. Mendenhall finally showed up and put the backfield debates as to who should tote the ball to bed. Willie Parker's inability to get the ground game moving (3.1 yards per carry) coupled with an inability to overcome injuries finally got the best of him as Mendenhall should see the bulk of the touches going forward with Parker playing second fiddle. It's hard to argue with 165 and two touchdowns -- so why try?

Cut-N-Go is Fantasy Football FanHouse's weekday roundup of the NFL news with fantasy football impact.

Early on Wednesday morning the San Francisco 49ers and Michael Crabtree, their first-round draft pick, came to an agreement -- ending a long holdout. Financial details haven't been disclosed, and quite honestly aren't relevant to the fantasy football GM. The important question -- when will Crabtree be ready to play?

Matt Maiocco of The Press-Democrat says that it may be a few weeks before Crabtree gets onto the field.

The 49ers are expecting a two-week roster exemption, thus buying them some time before they are required to release a player to create a spot on the team's 53-man roster.

This will allow Crabtree to practice with the team -- something he's supposed to start doing today -- while the team decides who they'll cut once they activate the receiver.

You often here about adding insult to injury, but this time around, Darren McFadden has added injury to insult. One day after thoroughly embarrassing himself and his fantasy owners (most of whom started the Oakland RB against the putrid Houston run defense) by "rushing" for -3 yards in Sunday's game, McFadden will now undergo surgery on his right knee to fix a torn meniscus. Seeing as how it's just an injury to the guy's knee, I'm sure he'll be fine (end sarcasm).

As a McFadden owner, it might be tough to drop the guy, but unless you play in a deep league (where over 180 players are rostered at all times), then I feel it's the right move. We still haven't seen the fruition of his supposed talent, and with this injury, it looks like it's not happening this year either.

Sunday Evening Wrap checks out players who increased or decreased their value during the Sunday afternoon games.

Faller of the Week: Everyone on the Oakland Raiders. The Houston Texans entered the game as one of the league's worst defenses. They were the worst in the NFL against the run. Sunday, the Raiders gained just 165 yards and only a single first down on the ground against those same Texans. I'm done with Darren McFadden. Michael Bush and Justin Fargas shouldn't be considered viable fantasy contributors in any format, and I'd even give up on Zach Miller (which isn't his fault, but he's not going to put up stats for this embarrassingly inept offense). This team is dead to me, and they should be to you, too.

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. We call it The Once-Over.

The Early Games

Tampa Bay (0-3) at Washington (1-2): With the Buccaneers winless this season and looking back at their final four losses to end last season, Tampa Bay hasn't won a regular season game since November 30, 2008. Add to that the fact that a new quarterback, Josh Johnson, is taking over for the Bucs and Antonio Bryant still isn't positive he'll play, and the horizon is bleak in Tampa.

Jim Zorn's days seem numbered in Washington. He lost to Detroit last week, which hadn't won since 2007. It might be the kiss of death if he drops a home game to Tampa Bay on Sunday.

Pick: Washington

If your fantasy football team is off to a rough start, one of the best remedies is FanHouse's cram session podcast. Is it time to abandon Eddie Royal? Will Matt Forte play up to his first-round billing? And what should you do about that frustrating Terrell Owens? Get answers to these questions and much more as Tom Herrera and Matt Snyder dish out advice heading into Week 4. Listen up after the jump.