FanHouse Mark Bradley

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

Cinderella had her glass slipper and some enterprising restaurateur decided many years ago that chicken wings and beer went great together. It doesn't happen often -- when two things come together to create a perfect fit. When it does happen, you should thank your stars.

Chris Chambers is doing just that after he was claimed off waivers Tuesday by the Kansas City Chiefs. It may be a stretch to call this a perfect fit, but there aren't too many teams in the NFL where Chambers could have gone and actually produced. The receiver-needy Chiefs are one of those few places.

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

Laurent Robinson was well-liked around Fantasy FanHouse. We believed the third-year wideout could be a serviceable WR3 many weeks, especially when you considered his soft opposing schedule and the Rams' propensity to play from behind (or suck, if you prefer). Thirteen catches and 167 yards in, Robinson's season is likely over after suffering both a fractured fibula and a high ankle sprain. But those of you who lost Robinson and are looking for receiver depth luckily have a few other very appealing options.

Training camps have wrapped up, the NFL season is right around the corner, and it's still hot as sin outside. But instead of cooling you off with a warm island song, FanHouse break out ye old heat check for our 2009 NFL Season Previews. We'll rate each club in 5 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.



In 2006, the Kansas City Chiefs finished with a 9-7 record and lost in the first round of the playoffs to Indianapolis. Since then, the Chiefs have won just six games -- four in 2007 and two last season -- causing a major overhaul of the front office and coaching staff prior to the 2009 season.

After 13 years with the New York Giants, Amani Toomer spent this offseason searching for a team to finish his career with and landed in Kansas City. Now, less than two weeks before the NFL season begins, Toomer's hunt will begin anew.

The Chiefs cut the 34-year-old veteran on Tuesday -- part of Kansas City's effort to get down the mandated 75-man roster limit by the close of Sept. 1 -- which could mean the end of the line for Toomer's career.

K.C. brought Toomer aboard at the start of August as the team stockpiled veteran talent -- the Chiefs signed Bobby Engram in March, and Ashley Lelie a couple of weeks after Toomer.

I generally hate singling out an entire group of players and branding the list a group of must-have fantasy options. You know, something like "hey, go draft all the 27-year-olds in fantasy baseball," or "third-year receivers always bust out." It's just too lazy of any fantasy analyst to blanket generalize an entire group without considering the circumstances to each individual situation.

Thus, many people out there believe there is one tried and true reality in sports: Players want to get paid. Well, of course players want to get paid. In the NFL, though, players are constantly under the microscope and don't have guaranteed contracts. More matters than just being in a walk year. What we'll do, then, is take a look at the contract-year players and examine how their motivation will translate into fantasy football success.

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We see a ton of player movement every offseason, but it's important while considering new faces in new place to not ignore the effect of coaching changes on teams. No nugget of information should go ignored during your preparation phase. It might be easy to overlook what a new coaching staff means for a franchise running back or quarterback, but without doing the work, you might end up with a team on the field that differs greatly from your perceived value. Today, we'll look at eight offenses that will have to deal with new whistle-adorned men on the practice field.

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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.

Meet The ...
Conclusion of the Butt Chiefs. That lousy 2-14 Chiefs squad from 2008 has nowhere to go but up from here, so they will no longer be the butt of everyone's joke. Remember that explosive offense for the NFC Champion, Arizona Cardinals. Well, former offensive coordinator Todd Haley assumes his first head coaching job this season in Kansas City. In other words, the Chiefs offense just became very relevant for fantasy football owners. Sure, Haley still faces a massive challenge in terms of personnel, but you can rest assured that this season, the Chiefs' offense will make plays just like Haley's Cardinals did.

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While other people were hung up on the logistics of the trade this past week -- which sent Matt Cassel to the Chiefs, among other pieces -- I was busy running through the fantasy fallout of the deal. You see, just because our season doesn't start for another six months doesn't mean you should entirely forget about fantasy football during the offseason.

This particular move helps the fantasy value of several people, while also hurting the value of a few others.

What if I had told you in Week 7 that I'd rather have all Chiefs in my fantasy starting lineup than all Eagles? I can pretty much guarantee you'd think I lost some sadistic bet, whereby I was forced to sacrifice all my fantasy credibility in publishing an insane piece. Either that or you'd just think I was really freaking stupid.

Just six weeks later, and it doesn't sound so crazy. In fact, I don't even think it's close.

First of all, let's check out the schedules.

The Eagles' sked runs like so through Week 16: vs. Cards, at Giants, vs. Browns, at Skins

There are some good matchups in there, I guess. The Cards at home shouldn't pose a huge amount of resistance, and they should shred the Browns. I don't think I like them at all against those division rivals on the road, though. We should also consider the recent trouble they had against the Bengals, so by no means are the Iggles a sure thing against a weak opponent.

Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around with his finger in the air while the next he's laying on his back, holding his facemask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's Studs and Duds.

Here's Week 9 at a glance, where we point out the horses destined for the Kentucky Derby and jeer those headed to the glue factory.

Studs

Tim Hightower, RB Arizona (22 rushes, 109 yards, 1 TD) -- Edgerrin James is a name that will be quickly forgotten in West Phoenix if Hightower continues these games. The rookie running back, in his first game as starter, averaged five yards per carry and made one of the worst rushing teams in the league relevant again on the ground. While James has pouted about his role in the offense, Hightower has quietly snagged carries, and Ken Whisenhunt took notice. Good news for Tim -- you have the 49ers and Seahawks the next two weeks. If Hightower is available in your fantasy league, you need to grab him and also get smarter friends.