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, and today we look at the NFC South's looming position battles.
This is a good thing, this ruling that came down Saturday in the StarCaps case. You may not see it that way if you're a fan of the Minnesota Vikings, who now face the first four games of their season without their Pro Bowl defensive tackles. Or if your team is the New Orleans Saints, who've likely lost their starting defensive ends for those first four games.
But if you're the kind of person who thinks pro athletes (and, by extension, the children who admire them) should be discouraged from taking drugs to cheat at their games, you have to look at today's development as a positive.
Those five players -- well, four if McAllister doesn't sign somewhere -- will be forced to sit out the first quarter of the season for their respective teams.
Earlier this offseason, Sean Payton broke down the Saints' personnel objectives into needs and wants. Among the needs: safety, corner. Among the wants: power running back. They were close to obtaining the latter in last month's draft, when they almost swung a deal to move up and select Beanie Wells. Alas, they didn't, thus they're currently still left wanting.
The team that did wind up selecting Wells, Arizona, pushed a disgruntled Edgerrin James out of town to make room for the rookie. Now, the Saints are looking at Edge to fill the power-back role in New Orleans.
While the rest of the NFL is taking part in a free agent spree, the Chicago Bears have been incredibly quiet. I'm not necessarily talking about signing guys, because sometimes that stuff is out of your control. I'm talking about the Bears not being mentioned in any rumors for any free agent or possible trade target.
It's not as though the team doesn't have needs, as I outlined five in the offseason roadmap. I unintentionally omitted another need, which was astutely pointed out by the first commenter -- that they need an able-bodied backup to Matt Forte in the backfield as well. So that makes six pretty important needs.
Great news for Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints fans. Maybe.
A federal judge has blocked the suspensions of five players, including Vikings Pro Bowl defensive tackles Pat and Kevin Williams. The five were banned for the last four games of the NFL regular season after testing positive for a banned diuretic over the summer and eventually having their appeals heard and denied.
The legal process started Wednesday, when the Williamses (not related) took their case to a district court in Minneapolis. There they convinced a judge to issue a temporary restraining order blocking the suspensions and allowing the two to return to practice.
Both tackles have returned to practice, and actually were at the Vikings' facility Friday instead of at the hearing over this latest legal action.
As expected, the NFL Players Association has filed suit in federal court asking that suspensions of six players be overturned.
From the Associated Press story via Access Vikings:
The NFL Players Association is suing to block five of the six player suspenions for violating the league's anti-doping policy. The suit field in federal court is on behalf of Kevin and Pat Williams of the Vikings and Charles Grant, Deuce McAllister and Will Smith of the New Orleans Saints. The five players were suspended for testing positive for a banned diuretic that can be used as a masking agent for steroids. The diuretic was in a supplement that did not list the diuretic as an ingredient.
ESPN's Chris Mortensen reports the union is going to ask for a ruling by Friday, meaning that the involved teams are left twisting in the wind regarding the availability of their players.
Houston's Bryan Pittman isn't included in this lawsuit.
This filing comes less than 24 hours after a Twin Cities judge issued a temporary restraining order to block the suspensions of the two involved Vikings.
The NFL just suspended six guys for the rest of the regular season for violating the league's drug policy. You might notice one name -- Deuce McAllister -- as someone from your fantasy roster. He's really not important right now, though, because I don't think he would have been worth much the rest of the way. If you were counting on him, your team isn't good enough to take the crown this season.
The two guys who really matter play defense.
The Minnesota Vikings were just dealt a devastating blow to their defense. Part of the reason they have the second-ranked run defense in the NFL is because of the two incredibly large Williamses clogging up the gaps on the interior line. You may remember hearing John Madden drool over them -- along with Jared Allen -- all through last Sunday's game.
The players all tested positive for the banned substance Bumetanide. They all appealed the suspensions, saying that Bumetanide is an ingredient in the over-the-counter supplement Star Caps, and that the NFL did not tell players that Star Caps is banned. But the NFL turned down their appeals.
Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jackson was not suspended even though it has been reported that he also tested positive for Bumetanide. The NFL did not explain why Jackson was not suspended.
FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled weekly by the staff in order to provide answers to possible lineup questions. These are assuming most leagues use Fleaflicker's standard scoring structure. If you need clarification, you need more players ranked, or have funky league rules, feel free to shoot us an email question.
The Detroit Lions have allowed 17 rushing touchdowns this season. They are allowing an average of 5.1 yards per carry and 171.5 yards per game. The Carolina Panthers just embarrassed them with heavy doses of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart.
Warrick Dunn is taking over duties for Earnest Graham, who was recently placed on the IR -- ending his season. With Cadillac Williams still not up to speed and no other overly talented options, Dunn is going to get over 20 touches this weekend in Detroit.
When you get that many touches against the Lions' sieve of a run defense, you are a top ten fantasy option. Get him active in all formats.
This is a good thing, this ruling that came down Saturday in the StarCaps case. You may not see it that way if you're a fan of the Minnesota Vikings, who now face the first four games of their season without their Pro Bowl defensive tackles. Or if your team is the New Orleans Saints, who've likely lost their starting defensive ends for those first four games.
As you may recall, five NFL players were slapped with respective four-game suspensions late last season -- though they never served them while their legal claims were being heard in court. Friday, a federal judge dismissed the claims of the players -- Kevin Williams and Pat Williams of the Vikings, Charles Grant and Will Smith of the Saints, and unsigned Deuce McAllister. 
Earlier this offseason, Sean Payton broke down the Saints' personnel objectives into needs and wants. Among the needs: safety, corner. Among the wants: power running back. They were close to obtaining the latter in last month's draft, when they almost swung a deal to move up and select Beanie Wells. Alas, they didn't, thus they're currently still left wanting.
While the rest of the NFL is taking part in a free agent spree, the Chicago Bears have been incredibly quiet. I'm not necessarily talking about signing guys, because sometimes that stuff is out of your control. I'm talking about the Bears not being mentioned in any rumors for any free agent or possible trade target. 
Great news for Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints fans. Maybe.
The NFL just suspended six guys for the rest of the regular season for violating the league's drug policy. You might notice one name -- Deuce McAllister -- as someone from your fantasy roster. He's really not important right now, though, because I don't think he would have been worth much the rest of the way. If you were counting on him, your team isn't good enough to take the crown this season. 
The NFL has suspended six players for four games apiece for using a banned substance.
FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled weekly by the staff in order to provide answers to possible lineup questions. These are assuming most leagues use Fleaflicker's standard scoring structure. If you need clarification, you need more players ranked, or have funky league rules, feel free to shoot us an email question.
