Fantasy Insights Off-Season Report – April 2008

 

 

The Fantasy Insights Off-Season Report is published the beginning of each month from February through August.  Each month the information will be a little different depending on what is going on around the league and how much information about a specific topic is available. 

 

For instance, the May report will have much more coverage of the draft than any other edition, and since all Head Coaching and Offensive Coordinator positions have been filled throughout the league, the details on those changes, including their coaching styles / philosophies and what it means to your fantasy players have already been covered.

 

For Free Agency, only a list of eligible “important” free-agents (offense only) are included.

 

Naturally any interesting news, from rumors to off-the-field issues will be included as well.

 

 

Player News

 

Patriots TE Ben Watson had ankle surgery to repair cartilage damage and scar tissue, and while he will be hampered during training camp and maybe pre-season he is expected to be fine for the regular season.

 

Denver’s new #1 WR, Brandon Marshall, supposedly slipped on a fast food bag causing him to fall and put his arm through an entertainment center, sustaining lacerations to one artery, one vein, one nerve, two tendons and three muscles in his right forearm.  The forearm and elbow will be immobilized for six weeks, at which time rehabilitation will begin.  Full recovery is expected to take three to four months.  I’m sure this is really what happened…I mean what else could it have possibly been?  A domestic dispute?  A club altercation?  Nah, not in the NFL.

 

Pittsburgh admirably cut punk WR Cedrick Wilson due to his legal trouble, which consisted of punching his girlfriend at a restaurant.  Another “real” man.  Maybe he can kill time by golfing with O.J. while he waits for another team to sign him.

 

Arizona has signed WR Larry Fitzgerald to a 4-year extension worth $40M, which includes $33M during the first three years.

 

QB “god” Brett Favre has finally retired, after 17 historic years in the NFL and numerous passing records.  Aaron Rodgers finally gets his chance to be a starting NFL QB.

 

WR Deion Branch is expected to miss all of training camp and pre-season, and not be ready to play until early-to-mid regular season due to his recovery from a torn ACL.  He will likely start the season on the PUP list, which means he cannot play before week eight.

 

Bust RB Cedric Benson had surgery to insert a small metal plate into his ankle to help heal his broken leg and hold the bone together.  This could be a blessing in disguise for the Bears – his injury forcing the Bears to take one of the stud RBs coming out in this year’s draft.

 

Bucs QB Chris Simms chose not to participate in Tampa Bay's “voluntary” off-season workouts, and he skipped the team’s QB orientation last week.  I guess we can expect Simms to be cut or traded before the season begins.

 

PK Matt Prater, who is 1 for 4 in FGs in his short career is currently the lone kicker on Denver’s roster right now.  Expect Denver to draft or sign at least one other kicker to compete with Prater.

 

Trade rumors, albeit with no specifics or apparent “meat”, continue to spread regarding troubled Detroit WR Roy Williams.

 

The Pittsburgh Steelers extended QB Ben Roethlisberger’s contract for 8 years, locking him up for basically the rest of his career.

The Chicago Bears traded backup – starting – backup – starting … QB Brian Griese to Tampa Bay for a 2009 draft pick.  Even more reason to expect the departure of Chris Simms sooner rather than later.  Chicago fans can only hope this doesn’t mean Rex Grossman is entrenched as the starter.  Expect Chicago to take a QB high in this year’s draft.

 

 

Draft News

 

The NFL Combine was held the end of February and as always was by invitation only.  The invited players who attended were asked to perform a variety of timed/measured drills, most physical but some mental.  Not all players participated in every drill, some for injury reasons and some for fear of hurting their draft projection due to poor performance.  A summary of the player’s performances is provided.

 

QBs

 

Joe Flacco, Delaware (6’7), Erik Ainge, Tennessee (6’6), Matt Ryan, Boston College (6’5) and Kevin O’Connell, SD State (6’5) were the only QBs 6’5 and above, aiming their height a bonus to them.  Adam Trafalis, San Jose State (6’1), Paul Smith, Tulsa (6’1), Alex Brink, Washington State (6’2), and Matt Flynn, LSU (6’2) were the only QBs 6’2 and under, making their height a concern.

 

Dennis Dixon, Oregon (195) was the only QB under 200 pounds, and Colt Brennan, Hawaii (207), Paul Smith (208), Alex Brink (211), Josh Johnson, San Diego (213), John David Booty, USC (218), and Kyle Wright, Miami (218), were the only QBs under 220 pounds, making their frames/builds a concern.  Sam Keller, Nebraska (241) was the heaviest QB.

 

Only Bernard Morris, Marshall (18) and Anthony Morelli, Penn State (16) completed the 225-lb bench press drill.  Josh Johnson (4.55) was the fastest QB in the 40-yd dash, and Anthony Morelli (5.07) was the slowest.

 

There were 19 QBs that participated at the NFL Combine this year.  As expected, there were no schools with more than 1 QB invited or attending.  Matt Ryan decided not to do any throwing, choosing to wait until his Pro Day workout, and Andre’ Woodson, Kentucky, didn’t participate due to a hamstring injury suffered a couple weeks ago.  Chad Henne, Michigan, had an impressive throwing workout to help himself, as did Colt Brennan, who not only completed all 18 of his passes, helping to ease concerns about his unorthodox sidearm throwing style, but impressed all with his accuracy, velocity and footwork.  Brian Brohm, Louisville, didn’t do anything to impress anyone, but probably didn’t lose any ground either with his so-so performance, while Josh Johnson’s overall athletic talent opened some eyes – unfortunately for him, those opened eyes are probably wondering how to convert this athlete from QB to WR.  Dennis Dixon, still recovering from season-ending knee surgery did not participate in any drills, and Joe Flacco, the man with the golden arm, impressed all with his big arm, but did struggle to consistently hit WRs on out and corner routes, with the ball sailing high much too frequently.  Alex Brink and John David Booty have the smallest hands of all QBs, which raises concerns about fumbles.

 

RBs

 

Matt Forte’, Tulane (6’2), Darren McFadden, Arkansas (6’1), Kevin Smith, Central Florida (6’1), Allen Patrick, Oklahoma (6’1), Cory Boyd, South Carolina (6’1), Marcus Thomas, UTEP (6’0), and Jalen Parmele, Toledo (6’0) were the only RBs 6’0 and above.  Ray Rice, Rutgers (5’8), Justin Forsett, California (5’8), Dantrell Savage, Oklahoma State (5’8), Steve Slaton, WVU (5’9), Mike Hart, Michigan (5’9), Thomas Brown, Georgia (5’9), Kalvin McRae, Ohio (5’9), Yvenson Bernard, Oregon State (5’9), and Chad Simpson, Morgan State (5’9) were the only RBs under 5’10, making their height a concern for teams.

 

Dantrell Savage (187) was the only RB under 190 pounds, all but eliminating him from any position other than returner.  Justin Forsett (194), Steve Slaton (197), Chris Johnson, East Carolina (197), Allen Patrick (198), and Ray Rice (199) were the only RBs under 200 pounds, making their weights a possible concern.  Jonathan Stewart (235) and Rashard Mendenhall, Illinois (225) were the only RBs at 225 pounds or above, but their weights are not considered a concern.

 

Jonathan Stewart (28) led the RBs in 225-lb bench press reps.  Rashard Mendenhall (26), Justin Forsett (26) and Cory Boyd (25) were the only other RBs to register 25 or more reps.  Dantrell Savage (13), Steve Slaton (19), and Jalen Parmele (19) were the only RBs with less than 20 reps.  However, Darren McFadden, Jamaal Charles (Texas), Felix Jones (Arkansas), Chris Johnson, Kevin Smith, Allen Patrick, Kalvin McRae, Yvenson Bernard, and Chad Simpson all chose not to participate in this drill.  Jonathan Stewart proved to be the strongest and Dantrell Savage proved to be the weakest.

 

Chris Johnson (4.24) was the fastest player RB timed in the 40-yd dash, and was the fastest player at the draft (nobody else even ran below 4.33).  Darren McFadden (4.33) and Jamaal Charles (4.38) joined Johnson as the only RBs to run a sub-4.4.  Chad Simpson (4.42), Rashard Mendenhall (4.45), Allen Patrick (4.45), Matt Forte’ (4.46), Jalen Parmele (4.47), Ray Rice (4.47), Felix Jones (4.47), Jonathan Stewart (4.48), and Steve Slaton (4.49) were the only RBs to run a sub-4.5 in the 40-yd dash.  Tashard Choice, Georgia Tech (5.0), Cory Boyd (4.52), Dantrell Savage (4.53), Justin Forsett (4.54), Kevin Smith (4.58), and Thomas Brown (4.58) all ran in the 4.5s, while BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Mississippi (4.62), Marcus Thomas (4.62), Kalvin McRae (4.69), and Mike Hart (4.69) all disappointed by running in the 4.6s, and jeopardizing draft positioning.  And last – and least - Yvenson Bernard (4.83) was the slowest RB at the combine, raising serious concerns about his speed, or lack thereof, and really hurting his chances at being drafted.

 

Every RB participated in the 40-yd dash.  Only Arkansas had more than one RB at the combine (Darren McFadden and Felix Jones).  They had three total if you include their FB Peyton Hillis.  Jalen Parmele and Chad Simpson were two big surprise performers at the combine and really helped their chances of being drafted.  Dantrell Savage on the other hand hurt his draft chances, mainly due to his small size and lack of speed.

 

 

WRs

 

James Hardy, Indiana (6’6), Mario Urrutia, Louisville (6’6), Todd Blythe, Iowa State (6’5), Malcolm Kelly, Oklahoma (6’4), Limas Sweed, Texas (6’4), Marcus Henry, Kansas (6’4), Marcus Monk, Arkansas (6’4), Jordy Nelson, Kansas State (6’3), Paul Hubbard, Wisconsin (6’3), Adarius Bowman, Oklahoma State (6’3), Adrian Arrington, Michigan (6’3), and Maurice Purify, Nebraska (6’3) were the WRs 6’3 and taller, considered the “prototypical” height right now.  Early Doucet, LSU (6’0), Mario Manningham, Michigan (6’0), Andre Caldwell, Florida (6’0), Earl Bennett, Vanderbilt (6’0), Kevin Robinson, Utah State (6’0), Josh Morgan, Virginia Tech (6’0), Pierre Garcon, Mount Union (6’0), Donnie Avery, Houston (5’11), Lavelle Hawkins, California (5’11), Harry Douglas, Louisville (5’11), Danny Amendola, Texas Tech (5’11), Jaymar Johnson, Jackson State (5’11), and Kenneth Moore, Wake Forest (5’11) were the WRs in the “borderline” height category, which could affect their draft status.  DeSean Jackson, California (5’10), Eddie Royal, Virginia Tech (5’10), Dexter Jackson, Appalachian State (5’10), Dorien Bryant, Purdue (5’10), Davone Bess, Hawaii (5’10), and Ryan Grice-Mullen, Hawaii (5’10) are all considered “hampered” by their height.  Darius Reynaud, WVU (5’9), Anthony Alridge, Houston (5’9), and Darnell Jenkins, Miami (5’9) are likely relegated to return work due to their lack of size.

 

Mario Urrutia (232) was the heaviest WR at the combine.  Maurice Purify (224), Malcolm Kelly (224), Adarius Bowman (223), Marcus Monk, Arkansas (222), and Marcus Smith, New Mexico (221) were the only WRs over 220 pounds.  DeSean Jackson (169) was the lightest WR at the combine, and Anthony Alridge, Dorien Bryant (174), Harry Douglas (176), and Jaymar Johnson (177), were the only WRs under 180 pounds, pretty much limiting them to return duties.  Mario Manningham (181), Eddie Royal (184), Lavelle Hawkins (187), Dexter Jackson (182), Ryan Grice-Mullen (187), Danny Amendola (183), Darnell Jenkins (187), Taj Smith, Syracuse (187), Donnie Avery (192), Jerome Simpson, Coastal Carolina (199), D.J. Hall, Alabama (193), Davone Bess (194), Kenneth Moore, Wake Forest (195), and Arman Shields, Richmond (194) were the WRs under 200 pounds, making their weights questionable and affecting their rankings.

 

DeSean Jackson (4.35) was the fastest WR, and second fastest player at the draft.  Anthony Alridge (4.36), Andre Caldwell (4.37), Dexter Jackson (4.37), Will Franklin, Missouri (4.37), and Eddie Royal (4.39) were the only WRs to post sub-4.4s in the 40-yard dash.  Devin Thomas, Michigan State (4.40), Arman Shields (4.44), Josh Morgan (4.47), Jerome Simpson (4.47), Pierre Garcon (4.48), Earl Bennett (4.48), James Hardy (4.49), Donnie Avery (4.49), Paul Hubbard (4.49), Keenan Burton, Kentucky (4.49), and Dorien Bryant (4.49) were the WRs in the 4.4s.  Mario Manningham (4.60), Shaheer McBride, Delaware State (4.61), Mario Urrutia (4.62), Jason Rivers (4.62), Marcus Monk (4.63), Davone Bess (4.64), Todd Blythe (4.65), Darnell Jenkins (4.67), Mark Bradford, Stanford (4.69), and Kevin Robinson (4.69), were the slow WRs clocked at 4.60 and above, with Adarius Bowman (4.74) and Danny Amendola (4.70) the only two WRs to crawl into the 4.7+ range.

 

Eddie Royal (24), Darius Reynaud (20), Marcus Smith (20), and Pierre Garcon (20) were the only WRs to register 20 or more reps on the 225-lb bench press.  Marcus Monk (9) and Keenan Burton (10) were the weakest WRs to participate, but 27 of the 46 WRs who attended did not even attempt this drill. 

 

Keenan Burton (38.5), Jerome Simpson (37.5), Arman Shields (37.5), Mark Bradford (36.5), Pierre Garcon (36.5), Eddie Royal (36), Limas Sweed (35), and Taj Smith (35) were the only WRs with 35” or greater vertical leaps.  Paul Hubbard (29.5), D.J. Hall (29.5), Dexter Jackson (29.5), Shaheer McBride (29), Maurice Purify (28.5), Kenneth Moore (28), Devin Thomas (28), Kevin Robinson (27.5), Ryan Grice-Mullen (27.5), Danny Amendola (27.5), Darnell Jenkins (26.5), Marcus Smith (26.5), and Earl Bennett (26) were the WRs with a vertical jump of less than 30”.  However, nine other WRs did not participate in this drill, including DeSean Jackson, Malcolm Kelly and Early Doucet.

 

DeSean Jackson is listed as the #1 WR on most expert’s lists, but his lack of size just won’t allow him to be successful as a WR in the NFL (even Steve Smith has 15-20 pounds on this guy).  James Hardy, Eddie Royal, Limas Sweed and Devin Thomas probably impressed teams the most, and although Mario Manningham had a very good performance in pass catching drills, there was some concern over his slow 4.59 40 time.  Arman Shields likely helped himself showing great athleticism as the top performer in the 20-yard and 60-yard shuttle drills.  Donnie Avery was expected to run a 4.2-4.3 40, but only produced a 4.49.  Keenan Burton had a solid combine, helping to keep him in the early-to-mid draft rounds.  Marcus Monk also had a solid combine, but teams still need to get past his knee injury history.  Jerome Simpson needs to hope his speed and jumping ability are enough to offset the dropped balls throughout the combine.

 

TEs

 

Brad Cottam, Tennessee (6’8) and Joey Haynos, Maryland (6’8) were the tallest TEs, while Dustin Keller, Purdue (6’2) was the shortest.  Kolo Kapanui, West Texas A&M (271) was the heaviest TE, while Evan Moore, Stanford (233) was the lightest.  Dustin Keller (4.55) was the fastest TE in the 40-yard drill, while Kolo Kapanui (5.06) was the slowest.  Craig Stevens, California (27) had the most 225-lb bench press reps, while Tom Santi, Virginia (14) had the least reps, although Fred Davis, USC and Martin Rucker, Missouri didn’t even participate.  Dustin Keller (38) and Tom Santi (36) were the only TEs with a vertical leap over 35”.  In fact, only one WR had a higher vertical leap than Dustin Keller.  Darrell Strong, Pittsburgh (25), Kolo Kapanui (26.5), Adam Bishop, Nevada (27), Evan Moore (27), Craig Stevens (27.5), Jermichael Finley, Texas (27.5), Kellen Davis, Michigan State (28), and Derek Fine, Kansas (29) were the TEs with under a 30” vertical.  Once again, Fred Davis and Martin Rucker did not participate in this drill.

 

Dustin Keller easily had the best showing of TEs with his strength, speed, smooth routes, and pass catching.  John Carlson, Notre Dame, probably had the worst combine of all TEs, struggling to catch the ball consistently, and coming off slow and weak.  Fred Davis chose not to run and also struggled with pass catching drills, and his #1 TE ranking could be in jeopardy.  Brad Cottam, plagued by injuries throughout his career, including missing almost all of last year with a broken wrist, had an impressive performance, proving to be one of the most athletic TEs in the draft with his size and speed combination.  Still, perhaps the most impressive, or maybe improved is a better term, TE was JerMichael Finley who excelled in the pass catching drills and showed off his stellar body control to adjust to passes and quickly accelerate after the catch.  Jacob Tamme also showed good hands in the receiving drills.

 

 

Free Agents

 

Position	Player Name	Team	Type	Status
QB	Billy Volek	SD	UFA	Re-signed
QB	Brian St. Pierre	PIT	UFA	Signed with ARZ
QB	Byron Leftwich	ATL	UFA
QB	Chris Redman	ATL	UFA	Re-signed
QB	Chris Weinke	SF	UFA
QB	Cleo Lemon	MIA	UFA	Signed with JAX
QB	Craig Nall	GB	UFA
QB	Dan Orlovsky	DET	RFA
QB	Daunte Culpepper	OAK	UFA
QB	David Carr	CAR	CUT	Signed with NYG
QB	Derek Anderson	CLE	RFA	Re-signed
QB	Drew Henson	MIN	UFA
QB	Gus Frerotte	STL	CUT
QB	J.T. O’Sullivan	DET	UFA	Signed with SF
QB	Jake Plummer	TB	UFA
QB	Jamie Martin	NO	UFA
QB	Jared Lorenzen	NYG	UFA
QB	Jim Sorgi	IND	UFA	Re-signed
QB	Joey Harrington	ATL	CUT	Re-signed
QB	Josh McCown	OAK	UFA	Signed with MIA
QB	Kelly Holcomb	MIN	UFA
QB	Ken Dorsey	CLE	UFA	Re-signed
QB	Mark Brunnell	WAS	UFA	Signed with NO
QB	Marques Tuiasosopo	NYJ	UFA
QB	Quinn Gray	JAX	UFA	Signed with HOU
QB	Ryan Fitzpatrick	CIN	RFA
QB	Rex Grossman	CHI	UFA	Re-signed
QB	Shaun Hill	SF	UFA	Re-signed
QB	Tim Rattay	ARZ	UFA
QB	Todd Collins	WAS	UFA	Re-signed
QB	Trent Dilfer	SF	CUT
QB	Trent Green	MIA	CUT	Signed with STL
RB	Aaron Stecker	NO	UFA	Re-signed
RB	Anthony Thomas	BUF	CUT
RB	Artose Pinner	MIN	UFA	Signed with NO
RB	Aveion Cason	DET	UFA	Re-signed
RB	Cedric Cobbs	DEN	RFA
RB	Chris Brown	TEN	UFA	Signed with HOU
RB	Derrick Ward	NYG	UFA	Re-signed
RB	DeShaun Foster	CAR	CUT	Signed with SF
RB	Earnest Graham	TB	RFA
RB	Fred Taylor	JAX	UFA
RB	Jamal Lewis	CLE	UFA	Re-signed
RB	Jesse Chatman	MIA	RFA	Signed with NYJ
RB	Julius Jones	DAL	UFA	Signed with SEA
RB	Justin Fargas	OAK	UFA	Re-signed
RB	Kevin Jones	DET	CUT
RB	LaBrandon Toefield	JAX	UFA	Signed with CAR
RB	Marion Barber III	DAL	RFA
RB	Maurice Hicks	SF	UFA	Signed with MIN
RB	Mewelde Moore	MIN	UFA	Signed with PIT
RB	Michael Bennett	TB	UFA	Re-signed
RB	Michael Pittman	TB	UFA
RB	Michael Turner	SD	UFA	Signed with ATL
RB	Mike Anderson	BAL	CUT
RB	Musa Smith	BAL	UFA
RB	Patrick Cobbs	MIA	RFA
RB	Reno Mahe	PHI	UFA
RB	Rock Cartwright	WAS	UFA	Re-signed
RB	Ron Dayne	HOU	UFA
RB	Ryan Grant	GB	ERFA
RB	Samkon Gado	MIA	RFA
RB	Shaud Williams	BUF	UFA
RB	T.J. Duckett	DET	UFA	Signed with SEA
RB	Tatum Bell	DET	UFA	Re-signed
RB	Vernand Morency	GB	RFA
RB	Verron Haynes	PIT	UFA
RB	Warrick Dunn	ATL	CUT	Signed with TB
WR	Aaron Moorehead	IND	UFA
WR	Andre’ Davis	HOU	UFA	Re-signed
WR	Antonio Bryant	n/a	UFA	Signed with TB
WR	Antonio Chapman	CIN	UFA
WR	Az-Zahir Hakim	MIA	UFA
WR	Bernard Berrian	CHI	UFA	Signed with MIN
WR	Brandon Lloyd	WAS	CUT	Signed with CHI
WR	Brandon Stokley	DEN	UFA
WR	Bryan Gilmore	SF	UFA
WR	Bryant Johnson	ARZ	UFA	Signed with SF
WR	Carlyle Holiday	GB	ERFA
WR	Cedrick Wilson	PIT	CUT
WR	Craphonso Thorpe	IND	ERFA
WR	Dallas Baker