Wednesday, July 27, 2011

McNabb Free At Last: Who's Up? Who's Down?


By Al Giordano


(NOTE: To read about how to join The Authentic League and play fantasy football this season for a worthy cause, scroll down to the next entry...)


The last 24 hours have brought a roller coaster ride of signings, re-signings, cuts, deals and trades. Here is our take on which players' fantasy value has risen and whose has fallen as a result. Some of it is pretty obvious to skilled fantasy players already, but we've got a few out-of-the-box observations below, too.


And some of the biggest cleats are yet to drop, probably in the coming hours and days, we mention them, below, in the category of "in limbo."


The move of the day for fantasy purposes (and possibly with real consequences in the National Football League) is QB Donovan McNabb is free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty free at last!, from the dysfunctional Redskins pop-and-junior coaching staff and is Minnesota-bound to a Childress-free Vikings team, where he'll have much better weaponry, while mentoring rookie QB Christian Ponder, than what was available inside the beltway. Look for his name, and that of some other Vikes, to spike up fantasy football rankings lists everywhere as a result.


Now, who else is up? And who's down?


Up


49ers elite LB Patrick Willis (with sidekick Takeo Spikes gone, more tackles fall to the master in IDP leagues)
Broncos RB Knowshon Moreno (Denver lost bid for DeAngelo Williams)
Chargers WR Vincent Jackson (signs contract, peace comes to San Diego)
Chargers QB Philip Rivers (the V-Jax factor)
Cowboys WR Dez Bryant. (Exit Roy Williams.)
Cowboys RB Felix Jones (Exit Marion Barber)
Colts rookie RB Delone Carter (Exit Mike Hart)
Giants WR Domenik Hixon (off injured reserve, signed to a $900k deal, which makes him better paid than DeSean Jackson, this could be a breakout year for the speed demon)
Jets WR Santonio Holmes (re-signed to mega-million deal)
Jets QB Mark Sanchez (offered to cut own pay to keep Santonio!)
Panthers RB DeAngelo Williams (re-signed to mega-million deal) Titans new QB Matt Hasselbeck (more weapons than he had in Seattle)
Ravens RB Ray Rice (with TD vulture Willis Magahee out of the way, should get more short distance red zone touches)
Saints WR Lance Moore (re-signs with New Orleans, where RB Reggie Bush is still in limbo. In games that Bush missed last year, Moore got his red zone receiving touches)
Steelers Defense (keeps CB Ike Taylor)
Titans WR Kenny Britt (now with competent QB)
Titans TE Jared Cook (same for this ignored sleeper)
Vikings new QB Donovan McNabb (with those weapons… wow!)
Vikings WR Percy Harvin (Hello Donovan! And rumored Sidney Rice exit would spike him toward fantasy WR2 status)
Vikings new WR Devin Aromashodu (out of Chicago’s many-mouths-to-feed Martz Offense, with a shot at starter position if Rice leaves)
Vikings RB Adrian Peterson (hard to get more up than AP, but McNabb does it)


Down


49ers QB Alex Smith (lost center David Baas to Giants)
49ers Defense (lost LB Takeo Spikes to San Diego)
Bills Defense (lost elite LB Paul Posluzny to Jaguars)
Eagles Defense (loses safety ace Quintin Mikell to the Rams)
Giants WR Mario Manningham (Giants moved fast to re-sign Hixon, and have invited Plaxico Burress for tea this week)
Giants WR Steve Smith (same as above)
Panthers RB Jonathan Stewart (dreams of becoming RB1 dashed with DeAngelo’s re-sign)
Redskins WR Santana Moss (re-signed with a team that has no good QB options)
Redskins new WR Eric Gaffney (traded from Denver for DE Jeremy Jarmon, now on 2011’s most likely last place team)
Redskins new WR Donte Stallworth (he wasn’t making any splash in Baltimore and won’t likely make one in DC either)
Seahawks WR Mike Williams (The Audacity of Tarvaris)
Seahawks RB Marshawn Lynch (same as above)


In Limbo...


49ers RB Frank Gore (rumored holdout)
Bengals rookie QB Andy Dalton and Bengals receiving corps (owner’s messy refusal to trade Carson Palmer could actually bring Palmer back to spite owner, collect on mega-contract)
Broncos QB Kyle Orton (rumors fly of imminent deal, though)
Chargers WR Malcom Floyd (Ravens may take him, and that would make him fantasy relevant again)
Eagles QB Kevin Kolb (no deals yet)
Eagles WR DeSean Jackson (rumored holdout for more money)
Giants RB Ahmad Bradshaw (still unsigned)
Jaguars TE Marcedes Lews (rumored holdout)
Titans RB Chris Johnson (rumored holdout)


Media spin watch: Are there any free agent RBs that Miami and Denver have not been rumored to covet?

2 comments:

  1. Up -- The Audacious Tarvaris Jackson himself, as he now has a shot at starting!

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  2. True, he's up, but of 32 starting QBs what is his realistic ranking? 20ish like David Garrard, Mark Sanchez or Ryan Fitzgerald? Is he even in that tier? Better than Hasselbeck, who wasn't even drafted in most 10 team fantasy leagues and had he stayed in Seattle was expected to produce fantasy-wise around the level of, say, Rex Grossman? Part of the problem is that the receiving corps there (with the exception of the TE) just isn't that formidable, even when it had a decent veteran QB. I root for Tarvaris and I hope he does surprise and soar. But would I draft him? Nah.

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