Projo Fantasy Sports Blog

If you read every single news item from the NFL this month, you'd never have time to eat, sleep, and shower. Here's a condensed version for you, all the news fantasy owners need to know three weeks into August (and with two preseason game in the books).

By David Ferris

Travis Henry left Saturday's game with a knee injury; a subsequent MRI revealed no major damage. Don't look for him to play much if at all the remainder of the preseason. With Mike Bell (hip) also hurt and down a couple of weeks, Cecil Sapp might be worth a late-round flyer in deeper groups. But at the end of the day, I'm not terribly worried about Henry, and would still consider him in the late first round or anywhere in the second round.

Donovan McNabb passed his first test with flying colors, looking very sharp (6-for-9, 138 yards, one touchdown) in his first start since tearing his ACL in November. McNabb played with a brace on the knee and will likely keep that on in the regular season.

Daunte Culpepper outplayed Andrew Walter and Josh McCown in the second preseason game and probably has a leg up on being Oakland's starting quarterback to begin the year. Meanwhile, the Raiders haven't made any progress with top pick JaMarcus Russell, and even if things were to radically change on that front before the end of the month, he's too far behind to be starting anytime soon.

Friday was a good day for Titans RB Chris Brown at New England; he ran well with the backups (10 carries, 67 yards), while Chris Henry did nothing with the first team (8-15) and LenDale White (knee/ankle) didn't play. Brown's resume doesn't inspire any long-term confidence, but he'll probably break camp as the starter, giving him some depth value in larger leagues.

Rookie RB Brandon Jackson probably has a starting spot wrapped up with the Packers. He's been serviceable in both preseason games (13-54, touchdown in Game 2), while Vernand Morency (knee) isn't ready to play yet. Another Packer rookie to keep in mind is WR James Jones, who's scored a couple of touchdowns and could become the team's No. 3 receiver. The Packers cleared the runaway a bit when they cut scuffling veteran Robert Ferguson last week.

While we never want to get carried away with anything we see in August, the early trends with Ronnie Brown should concern anyone from a fantasy perspective. Brown has been getting work on kickoff returns – it's puzzling why the Dolphins would want to risk their featured tailback in that role – and it's no guarantee that Brown will be used exclusively as the team's short-yardage back. The Miami offensive line is also a major concern for Brown, and the Dolphins are clearly the worst team in the AFC East on paper.

Washington QB Jason Campbell left Saturday's game with a knee injury, but it's only considered a bruise and he won't miss any significant time. While Campbell is a long-shot fantasy option at best, the entire Washington offense would take a hit if the club were forced to start Todd Collins or Mark Brunell.

A few of your opponents are probably hot for Detroit WR Calvin Johnson, which is fine. Let them suck all of the value out of the slot and take him in the first third of your draft. While Johnson is the most talented WR prospect I've seen in a decade, he's also got plenty of competition for the ball in Detroit: Roy Williams is already a Pro Bowl talent, Mike Furrey caught 98 passes last year, and Shaun McDonald knows the Mike Martz offense well from his time in St. Louis (McDonald also has two scores this month). Is there a chance Johnson will make a Randy Moss-like explosion right out of the box? Sure, but it's not as likely as many seem to believe. Johnson will be a superstar in the next year or two, but we're not paying superstar prices for him yet.

TE Bo Scaife might wind up being the best pass-catcher in Tennessee this year. He's caught seven passes in two games and he knows Vince Young well from their days together at Texas. TE Ben Troupe is also around, but he's been dealing with a foot injury and hasn't fully worked in two weeks.

Raiders RB LaMont Jordan looked pretty good in the San Francisco game (8-67 rushing, one touchdown), and he doesn't have to worry about Dominic Rhodes (suspension) for the opening month. You could do a lot worse than Jordan as your third or fourth back.

Lovie Smith is fully endorsing Cedric Benson as his workhorse back, hinting that we'll see less substitution at the position than last year. If Benson can stay healthy he's got a very plausible path to stardom: Chicago's offensive line is very good, and the team is still capable of dominating in the NFC North.

QB Brady Quinn gets high marks for his pro opener, completing 13-of-20 passes for 155 yards and a couple of touchdowns. He's not going to be Cleveland's starter right away, but there's a good chance he'll be the No. 1 guy by the middle of the year.

RB Tony Hunt punched in a couple of short touchdowns Friday and looks set as Philadelphia's designated runner from in close. This won't have too much of an effect on Brian Westbrook – he's never been used much at the goal line – but Hunt's promotion makes Correll Buckhalter just about undraftable.

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