FanHouse Jon Beason

With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.

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Home of Smash and Dash. Why is that important? Because that's the nickname of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, one of the most prolific running back combinations in the NFL last year. Oh, yes, and in case you didn't see the Jake Delhomme Meltdown Party against the Arizona Cardinals in the playoffs last year, the running game is mildly important to the Panthers success.

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

John Fox and Marty Hurney have always done a good job selecting first-round talent. Since Fox took over the coaching reins in 2002, they've picked Julius Peppers, Jordan Gross, Chris Gamble, Thomas Davis, DeAngelo Williams, Jon Beason, Jonathan Stewart and Jeff Otah. So, yeah, not too shabby. This year, the Panthers didn't have a first-round pick, but somehow managed to stumble into first-round talent anyway, landing Everette Brown with the 43rd-overall pick in the draft.

Stay on top of all the postseason action with FanHouse's NFL playoff coverage.

You may recall that the Panthers have played the Cardinals once already this year. They won. Naturally, the Cardinals did not. But expecting history to repeat itself seems a touch premature (even if it happens all the time anyway) even though it appears that's what people think -- almost everyone is on the Catwagon. Normally, that would be disturbing for Panthers fans; it seems like whenever a bandwagon gets too full it always manages to topple over.

In the weeks and months leading up to the 2007 draft, Steelers fans basically wanted Anybody But Lawrence Timmons. Fresh off an 8-8 performance, and holding the 15th-overall selection, Pittsburgh was too far removed from the "franchise players" that populated the top of the board, but not far enough down to justify taking a guy to fill a specific need (like, say, tackle, guard, or center).

Pre-draft reports had Timmons showing up to his pro day out of shape, and, at 20, he was too inexperienced to contribute immediately in the NFL. Well, the Steelers drafted him anyway, even though fans were clamoring for names like Jarvis Moss, Jon Beason and Anthony Spencer.

Beason has been a legit NFL linebacker from Day 1, and Timmons has had a solid sophomore season. But due to injuries, bad luck and ineffectiveness, Moss and Spencer are still finding their way. Which explains this bit of time machinery via the Dallas Morning News' Tim McMahon:

Some folks who thought DeMarcus Ware deserved the Defensive Player of the Year award pointed out that Pittsburgh's James Harrison had a much better bookend than Ware does in Dallas.

Well, LaMarr Woodley, a key cog in the NFL's top defense, could have been a Cowboy. Instead, Dallas traded back up into the first round to take Anthony Spencer, who went 20 picks ahead of Woodley.

The Carolina Panthers tossed up 300+ yards on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers recently, just on the ground. And then last night, the Giants did the same thing to Carolina on national television. Needless to say, the Panthers defense isn't thrilled about being embarrassed, but they took the yards in stride.

For the most part anyway; Jon Beason seems to think that New York's performance is more the Cats fault than the Giants' success.

After blaming sloppy play and poor communication on the Panthers' inability to stop the Giants' running game, Beason was asked if the talents of Ward and backfield mate Brandon Jacobs might have had something to do with it.

"I hate you asked that question," Beason said. "The politically correct thing to say is they're a great combination of running backs -- really good backs. And they are. But based on the film, of the 300 yards, let's say, uh, 250 were on us. That's how I'll answer that question."

So, um, yeah. What I think Beason is saying here is that "If we'd tackled properly, Derrick Ward doesn't look that good." And also, "Nice 50 yards Jacobs." Although I could be reaching on that last one. Still, the point being is that Beason definitely wasn't trying to be complimentary of the Giants running game. And you better believe this won't be the last you hear of this either. Paging, Dr. Ward.

If you look hard enough, every team around the NFL has a player on its roster that should have received an invite to the Pro Bowl. The St. Louis Rams, for example, are livid that their punter isn't going. Some guys, like Atlanta's John Abraham, simply brush it off as no big deal, while others, like Tampa Bay's Barrett Ruud talk about how they got the shaft.

Ruud, a fourth-year middle linebacker out of Nebraska, is currently leading the Buccaneers with 117 tackles, while also registering three sacks, six pass defenses and two interceptions for playoff-hopeful Tampa Bay. He's obviously having a great season, though, not great enough to receive an invite to Hawaii. Predictably, he's not exactly thrilled with decision.

From Rick Stroud and Stephen F. Holder of the St. Petersburg Times:

"I got the shaft," Ruud said. "Somebody's got to get it, though." "The old saying is usually you go a couple years after you're supposed to and you stay a couple years longer. I'm not going to throw a tantrum or anything. I would've liked to have gone. Everybody wants to have that tag as a Pro Bowler, but unfortunately it didn't happen. All I can do is keep playing to get into the playoffs now."

The AFC and NFC Pro Bowlers were announced a short while ago, and why make some pointless comment you are sure not to laugh at when we can just give you the rosters instead? Here goes.

This just hasn't been Green Bay's year.

Many fans are going to trace it directly back to the day the Packers decided to go with Aaron Rodgers as the starting quarterback, even though future Hall of Famer Brett Favre was contemplating a return from his short retirement.

Others will look -- more accurately -- at the day general manager Ted Thompson traded hulking defensive tackle Corey Williams to Cleveland to avoid giving him a huge contract. Or the day Thompson decided that second-year tackle Justin Harrell would be able to fill that void.

Coming from a Packer fan, there are too many people to point fingers at on this one.

While Rodgers is not at all immune, he's handled the spotlight very well. His teammates have praised his play on the field, and they've praised his off-field presence. This fan believes you couldn't have scripted a better transition from Favre to the next guy. Rodgers didn't ask for it to go down this way, and nearly all the criticism that's been thrown his way has been completely unfair.

He's played well. Others who carried high expectations into the season have not. The reality is that the Packers are 5-7, an extreme longshot for the playoffs, and Sunday's fourth quarter was a microcosm of the season to this point.

For 30+ years, the Cardinals were a member of the NFC East. So why can't they win a game on the East Coast anymore?

Arizona thought they were set to break the winless streak that western teams have had out east. Teams from the Mountain and Pacific zones are a combined 0-10 when they venture east, yet Arizona had seemingly bucked the trend.

The Cardinals jumped out to a 17-3 lead early in the second half and seemed to have the Panthers' offense in a bottle. But that bottle must have had a leak, because Carolina woke up with a 24-6 run to end the game. Jake Delhomme found Steve Smith for two touchdowns (including a controversial 65-yard catch-and-run to give Carolina the lead for the first time).

Finally, some good news for the 49ers. Linebacker Patrick Willis was named the 2007 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. Not all that shocking considering that Willis was not only one of San Francisco's best players, but also one of the league's best linebackers.

"It's confirmation of what you've been doing as an individual," Willis said. " From an individual perspective, it would be good for people that doubted, or didn't know if you could be a No. 1 draft pick, or if you could come into the league and do well because of your size or where you might have played ball at ... and show them that if you put your mind to it, you're capable of anything."

Scouts knew about Willis several years ago, but he became something of a pre-draft phenom when he busted out a sub 4.4-forty at his Pro Day last spring. And Willis can do more than just run really fast in a straight line (hi, Mike Mamula!); he's also a ferocious hitter who opposing teams game planned around as the season progressed.

Willis received 48 of a possible 50 votes (Carolina's Jon Beason got the other two). The second-happiest person in San Francisco on hearing the news? Head coach Mike Nolan. You know, the guy who only kept his job by relinquishing his personnel duties. (Okay, so he got one right; ultimately, though, I think it was the right decision.)