FanHouse Edgerrin James

The Dolphins announced Wednesday that leading running back Ronnie Brown had been placed on injured reserve with a right foot injury, ending his 2009 season. Brown had accumulated 648 yards rushing and eight touchdowns, plus a passing touchdown, and stepped in at the "quarterback" spot in Miami's Wildcat offense.

Miami may be as equipped as any team in the NFL to lose its No. 1 back and still run a consistent offense. Ricky Williams will take over as the team's starter, with guys like Ted Ginn, Jr., and rookie quarterback Pat White capable of picking up extra Wildcat duties. Still, Miami's offense puts a lot of pressure on the running back position -- behind Williams now is second-year guy Lex Hilliard, who has zero NFL carries.

But there are lots of recognizable free agents available, should Miami go that route. A look at some of the possibilities:

SAN DIEGO -- Brian Westbrook's Oct. 26 concussion was so troubling for the Philadelphia Eagles running back, he openly discussed the touchy subject of NFL head trauma and how concerned he was for his long-term health because of it.

Three weeks later, Westbrook sustained another concussion, one that took him out of the Eagles' 31-23 loss to the San Diego Chargers on Sunday at Qualcomm Stadium. And now it's almost a certainty that the running back's season will be cut short.

Fantasy Felony helps you hijack your fellow owners.

Week 1 -- like every week actually -- produces high-scorers in fantasy football. But the difference between the first week and any other week is that fantasy football owners want to jump on the "next great thing," meaning that if someone blows up randomly, they're a hot commodity off the waiver wire.

With that in mind, let's scroll through the top 30 or so scorers from this week and figure out who is "fa' real" and who is "not fa' real." Or something like that.

Each Monday morning of the fantasy football season, we'll cut through the fantasy numbers put up by individuals and tell you what they really mean.

You know what Kyle Orton's line should have been? 16 of 28 with 156 yards and no touchdowns. He would have had a few more passing attempts before losing the game, which likely would have made him 16 of 30 or 17 of 31 or so. Instead, he was the beneficiary of the most insane amount of luck we've ever seen on one play in fantasy football. He forces a throw to Brandon Marshall in double-coverage, badly under-throws him and the Bengals tip the ball up in the air. The rest is history. And Kyle Orton had a decent fantasy day.

But don't be fooled.

It's Thursday, so that means it's time for another fantasy football chat with yours truly. Having problems organizing your fantasy football cheat sheets? Can't decide where to slot Edgerrin James and Julius Jones? Want to bounce fantasy football mock draft strategy off me? Then come by at 6 PM ET and I'll answer all your fantasy football questions. I'll also let you in on my late-round sleepers, RBs to avoid, and best defensive play for Week 1, but you have to ask nicely.

So come into the chat room at 6 PM ET. You'll find it after the jump.

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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Point No. 8,450,931 under the heading "Why Preseason Results Are Meaningless" takes us to Seattle. After two games, the Seahawks are 2-0 with wins over Denver and San Diego. But it's hard to get excited over that record given that the Seahawks' running game was about as effective as taking a knee.

In their first game, the Hawks' leading rusher was rookie Devin Moore with 32 yards on eight carries. Last week, quarterback Seneca Wallace led the way with 20 yards -- three other backs averaged less than 2.5 yards per rush. On top of that, projected starter Julius Jones missed the contest with a mysterious leg injury.

So with desperation close to setting in, Seattle reportedly signed veteran Edgerrin James to a one-year deal on Monday. Pro Football Talk first reported the deal.

Send your NFL questions (along with your name and location) to NFLFanHouse@gmail.com. Each Thursday, we'll answer the best -- or, if nothing else, most entertaining -- in our NFL Mailbag.

Excluding Brett Favre, which remaining free agent can play the biggest role in 2009?

The easy answer (INCLUDING Brett Favre!!) is Plaxico Burress. He's a high-ceiling, high-impact wide receiver. You saw the way the Giants' offense missed him at the end of 2008, and we've seen a handful of teams express interest in him -- even though nobody knows if he's going to play in 2009. If he is allowed to play, he's your answer. But it looks increasingly likely that he'll be suspended for at least part of the season, if not all. So in the non-Burress division, I have three veterans who could make an interesting impact in the right situation:

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.

Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.

Assuming the loss of last year's offensive coordinator Todd Haley -- and also assuming they keep Anquan Boldin around and happy -- doesn't prove catastrophic, the Arizona Cardinals have built one juggernaut of an offense. Along with Kurt Warner, two of the league's best wideouts, a quality slot receiver and Tim Hightower, the Cardinals have now added an NFL-ready every down back for good balance. Edgerrin James was on his last legs in 2008, and Hightower isn't suited to handle a full load. Enter: Chris "Beanie" Wells.