NFL Newslinks 9/25

Posted on 25. Sep, 2009 by Jesse in NFL Newslinks

The NFL world keeps turning, and we are monitoring the latest developments. As we head into week three, a few stories we’re watching are as follows:

• Saints WR Lance Moore continues to disappoint. Not only is he being outplayed by both Robert Meachem and Devery Henderson, but he’s likely going to miss another game with a sore hamstring.
• Titans coach Jeff Fisher is concentrating on getting the ball to Chris Johnson in space so he can make plays. Fisher saw a tremendous difference in his offensive output over two games when focusing on CJ’s touches.
• Beastly Rams RB Steven Jackson thinks the team should give him more opportunity offensively. He’s calling for more carries against the Packers this weekend, and knows Cedric Benson roasted GB in week two.
• LaDainian Tomlinson “seems destined to miss his second straight game Sunday” after sitting out practice on Thursday. LT continues to battle an ankle injury he suffered in the opener. And he’s washed up.
• ESPN.com’s Matt Mosley says at this point he would be “a little surprised if the Cowboys decided to play” Marion Barber on Monday night. Barber suffered a quad injury while running hard against the Giants last Sunday night. Felix Jones might be about to go off against the Panthers.
• Jamal Lewis (hamstring) sat out practice Thursday for the second straight day. The team is now considering starting rookie RB James Davis in week three. Davis sat out last weekend, but looked explosive in preseason.
• Though Mike Bell has not been ruled out for Sunday’s game, the New Orleans Times-Picayune expects him to miss 3-4 weeks with his sprained MCL. Reggie Bush, Pierre Thomas and some other dude named Lynell Hamilton will fill in.
• Wes Welker returned to practice on Thursday, and hopes to play in week three. The Pats offense didn’t look the same last weekend with Welker watching from the sidelines.
• Brian Westbrook (ankle), DeSean Jackson (groin) and Donovan McNabb (ribs) all missed Thursday’s practice. Jackson is the most likely of the three to play on Sunday, and McNabb has basically been ruled out. Westbrook would be replaced by rookie LeSean McCoy if he were to rest.

NFL Newslinks: Monday 9/21

Posted on 21. Sep, 2009 by Jesse in NFL Newslinks

So far the new site has been developing quite smoothly. I think the new digs have come a long way, especially when you consider that the URL was only secured about eight weeks ago. I’d like to give a tremendous shout out to my good friends Shawn, Marcio, and of course the venerable Hiro (knower of all good things) for helping me push this thing along so quickly. With that, we’ve got a new person on the content staff (our first “official” member not named “Jesse”) and his contributions will be forthcoming. In fact, Damian was the one who dug up that pathetic picture of Tony Romo you see on the homepage. He’ll be doing some fun photoshop stuff, video stuff, and will helping a bit with writing the NFL Newslinks a time or two each week.

Enough talking, let’s get on to the football… and what an exciting day it was. Wild week 2 of the NFL season just went down, and here are the stories we’re following this week.

• Marion Barber played at a very high level throughout the Cowboys game against the Giants, but went down in the fourth quarter with a quad injury. MRI forthcoming. Felix waiting for the nod?
• Westbrook owners shouldn’t panic too much right now, as the team is saying the ankle re-injury is minor. He’s likely to miss practice all week though, and is hard to trust with Donovan doubtful.
• Frank Gore’s right ankle sprain is not expected to threaten his status for Week 3. Mike Singletary has to be pleased with his effort through two games, and Gore has been electric to watch as well.
• Matt Hasselbeck left Sunday’s game early with a rib injury. Late Sunday night he was released from the hospital, and Hasselbeck says he’s fine.
• Peter King of NBC reports that Donovan McNabb may not play in week two with his broken ribs. This is bad for every Eagles skill player not named “Vick.”
• Brett Favre, the 2-0 QB of the Vikings, injured his hand in Sunday’s win over the Lions. Favre said he was fine after the game, and coach Childress agreed with that assessment.

Another week one twist: McNabb down

Posted on 13. Sep, 2009 by Jesse in Articles

Who says men don’t like soap operas? My college coach once described this sport as “organized chaos,” and he couldn’t have been more right.

Eagles fans were elated with their team’s performance today in the season opening drubbing of the Panthers. The defense played unbelievably well (the late Jim Johnson would be very proud), Brian Westbrook looked solid (scored a TD), and Donovan McNabb was sharp. That is, until McNabb suffered a broken rib in the second half of a blowout win. Now, Jay Glazer of FOX is reporting that McNabb will miss at least one game, and possibly more with the injury. But apparently it’s not as bad as initially feared, which doesn’t really say much.

This is where things get interesting.

Philadelphia is a team poised to make a deep run this season. The club added some key pieces in the offseason, and McNabb was widely believed to be very happy with the upgrades around him. That is until the team signed Mike Vick, a move which McNabb couldn’t have appreciated too much. Now just one game into the season, Dono has an injury that will test his will all year long. Vick still has one more game of his suspension to serve, but once he returns in week three, the curtains will open on a classic Philly drama. Throwing with a broken rib is going to be very difficult for McNabb, and ultimately when he struggles, the spectre of Vick waiting in the shadows could cause major issues  for the cohesion of Andy Reid’s club.

But what did you expect? After all, this is the NFL. Tom Brady was lost for the season last year in week one, which dramatically altered the course of the entire 2008 season. Philly fans are going to be in for a media frenzy over this topic for weeks and months to come. The rest of us will just be enjoying the chaos.

NFL Newslinks 09/09/09

Posted on 09. Sep, 2009 by Jesse in NFL Newslinks

Just one day remains until the start of the 2009 season. Football freaks and fantasy owners everywhere won’t be forced to wait much longer. Even so, there is a lot happening in the NFL, and at GHU we’re doing our best to keep you informed. Here are some recent developments we’ve been watching.

• After an offseason filled with doubt and worry, Brian Westbrook should be a go in week one. Westy isn’t on the injury report, and says he expects a “full load” in the opener.
• The Panthers haven’t been able to get much out of Jonathan Stewart this preseason, but he returned to the practice field on Wednesday since the first time since August 11.
• Fantasy owners will have to watch Matt Cassel closely as Sunday approaches. Cassel’s status is still up in the air due to the scary leg injury he suffered in preseason.
• Matt Schaub will play on Sunday despite an ankle he injured in preseason.
• Denver is apparently talking contract with Brandon Marshall now that he’s back in action. We’ll see how well that goes.
• Anquan Boldin is still bothered by a sore hamstring that limited him throughout preseason, but coach Ken Whisenhunt thinks he’ll play on Sunday.

Get a winner, GoHuddleUP!

Posted on 04. Sep, 2009 by Jesse in Articles

I play in a lot of fantasy football leagues. In fact, everyone who knows me basically identifies me as the “fantasy guy” around this time of year. Now I don’t really mind, because I do love football, but I must admit it can get overwhelming through the last two weeks of August and the first week of September. During this run, I’m busy trying to draft my own teams, help guys I know get their league management tools set up properly (even if I’m not even in the leagues), write on this website, and even help people I know draft winning teams. Now my boys (nine and seven) are in a league too, and of course they want dad to help them win. Yes, fantasy draft season often overwhelms my very existence.

Just last night I was on a conference call with my uncle, a fantasy rookie, and I coached him step by step through his first draft. His team ended up being a monster, as many of the other guys in his online draft were also relatively inexperienced. But Uncle Dave had an ace up the sleeve… and it won’t just end here.

As we wrapped up our post-draft conversation, I went through his team with him sharing some parting thoughts. In a twelve-teamer, we nabbed him a starting lineup of AP, Westy, Randy, Colston, Ochocinco, McNabb, and J Carlson. Then we cuffed him up by landing both Chester Taylor and LeSean McCoy, which I thought was a masterful stroke for preventing disaster with a newbie. Then, we added value picks in Derrick Ward, Leon Washington, Rashard Mendenhall and Hakeem Nicks to round out his bench. Finally, after snagging a top echelon defense like Minnesota and a solid kicker in Adam Vinatieri, I was able to smile. See, Dave plays in this league against a bunch of his upper-management work buddies. Yeah, money is on the line, but so is manhood. Needless to say, I think Dave is thrilled. Dude might watch three football games annually, but his team makes him look like a grizzled pro.

I share this nugget with you for one reason, and it’s not to stoke my own ego. I’m just a normal guy like you, but I’ve been doing this for a very long time. I don’t get paid at all for this website, but that doesn’t matter. I honestly enjoy helping people win. I want to help you win too.

So with that said, I emplore you to do just like my Uncle Dave did. Use me as your secret weapon this season. Not that I’m always right, because as my wife will tell you, I’m not. But, I’m more than willing to help you make lineup decisions on a weekly basis, shop for trades in your league, or just give you my takes. I’d also like to hear your takes, because I’ve found interacting with people in this manner only helps me keep a better track on current sentiment and player values. I’m always interested to hear in how my readers are doing in their respective leagues, so don’t be bashful.

GoHuddleUp.com hasn’t been around for very long, but we’re growing. As we do, I want to build the site on interactivity with people. A LIVE weekly fantasy chat is in the works, as is a “hotline” so I can get your audio takes posted in the mix on the podcasts. In the meantime, you should drop me a line at Jesse@GoHuddleUp.com (or follow me on Twitter.com/GoHuddleUp) and just let me know you’re out there.

Dynamic Duo

Posted on 06. Aug, 2009 by Jesse in Articles

Fantasy football freaks all around the country were put on tilt earlier this offseason when the Eagles announced that Brian Westbrook would have surgery to fix the ankle he injured last season. Many pundits speculated that Westy may not be ready for the start of the season, and his value in fantasyland started to plummet immediately. Coupled with the presence of impressive rookie LeSean McCoy, many started to doubt that BW may be a high impact player again in ‘09. That may have been a rush to judgement.

Westbrook returned to the field on Wednesday for the first time to test the surgically repaired ankle, and by all accounts, he was his normally amazing self. While the drills didn’t involve contact, Westbrook looked great. He ran routes and caught passes for 10-15 minutes, and was able to “cut on a dime” according to observers. Since the season opener is more than a month away, it sure looks like BW will be more than ready for week one now.

In the meantime, many around the team have asserted that McCoy has been the star of training camp so far. The impressive rook from Pitt is a Westy clone, and has drawn rave reviews for his on-field action. Coaches have even bragged McCoy up as a solid pass blocker, which should help him see the field early in the season. Given Westbrook’s penchant for injury and his own upside, McCoy has become the most important handcuff player in fantasy football this season.

Andy Reid must be thrilled. In a perfect world, McCoy will be able to play several series a game to keep Brian fresh and healthy. The team won’t even have to change their packages or playcalling. Such an approach worked wonders for the NFC East rival Giants last season, and their is no reason to believe a tandem approach wont succeed in Philly as well. All signs point to Westbrook and McCoy being a very dynamic duo this season, and with this latest update on BW, it’s now safe to say: the show starts in week one.