Projo Fantasy Sports Blog

By David Ferris

Steve McNair had one of the worst 300-yard passing games I've ever seen; the Ravens couldn't stretch the field vertically against one of the worst back sevens in the league and wound up with just one crummy touchdown. McNair completed 18 passes to his top three wideouts, but those connections went for less than 10 yards a pop. This offense would be significantly better, long term, with Kyle Boller pitching the pig, but is Brian Billick open-minded enough to make the switch?

Dwayne Bowe, wow. The Chiefs rookie wideout was easily the most impressive skill player I saw in Week 4; size of a tight end, speed of a receiver, plays with an edge. It's one thing to collect a bunch of numbers (eight catches, 164 yards), but he was jumping off the screen on just about every grab. Bowe also has some panache to his game -- witness how he mimicked the LaDainian Tomlinson end-zone flip on the game-clinching touchdown. In some thinner fantasy leagues, Bowe still might be available on the free-agent wire.

It's amazing that Dallas Clark has never been a Top 10 fantasy tight end for the course of a full season, but if he can stay healthy for the balance of 2007, he'll blow that out of the water. He's really just a tight end in name only -- the Colts use him as a slot specialist -- and he's deadly working down the seam against overmatched linebackers. Of course Peyton Manning helps the cause significantly; no one is better at looking off the safety than Manning, which means Clark only needs one half-step on his man for a potentially-explosive play.

Laveranues Coles and Jerricho Cotchery would be good fantasy plays in any context, but they get a bump forward in New York as the only show in town. The Jets don't use tight end Chris Baker as a receiver much -- protecting the immobile Chad Pennington takes precedence -- and there isn't a third wideout on the roster that worries opposing secondaries.

David Carr doesn't have the arm or anticipation to consistently make intermediate and deep throws in this league. We saw how he torpedoed the home-run ability of Andre Johnson in Houston, and he'll hold Steve Smith back if Jake Delhomme doesn't heal quickly.

Give credit to the Dallas coaching staff for quickly ironing out the mechanical flaws and bad habits Tony Romo fell into at the tail end of 2006. Through one month of play, he's right there in the MVP argument.

I'm not surprised that Brett Favre can still make big plays in the passing game, but I am surprised that he's doing it in such an error-free manner, especially without any support whatsoever in the running game. The deep stable of receiving options helps a lot, of course, but credit Favre for sharpening his focus and making less reckless throws.

Quick Hits: Derek Anderson has played pretty well for the Browns through three weeks, which automatically delays the Brady Quinn premier (Romeo Crennel is probably coaching for his job anyway). You have to wonder how the Browns had a full summer with Anderson and Charlie Frye and yet still handed Frye the starting assignment against Pittsburgh . . . Bernard Berrian has the wheels and the head of a star wideout, but the hands aren't there yet. He's dropping big gainers every week . . . It's just one game, but Brian Griese was making throws that his arm couldn't cash against the Lions. He also held onto the ball far too long on a few of the sacks; in short, he was just as error-prone as Rex Grossman had been the first three weeks . . . The Ravens defense doesn't match up to the name brand anymore. It's one thing when the Bengals slice and dice you, but Kurt Warner and Derek Anderson have embarrassed this unit in the last two weeks . . . It took longer than it should have, but Deion Branch is finally in tune with Matt Hasselbeck (20 catches, 329 yards over the last three weeks) . . . Atlanta made a solid move adding Byron Leftwich, but he's not gifted enough to step into a new offense immediately, and the way Joey Harrington has played the last two games, there's no reason to force the issue. Harrington's getting far more out of his wide receivers than Michael Vick ever did . . . Ken Whisenhunt's quarterback shuffle is a cockamamie idea, but he's 1-0 employing it so the plan sticks. Warner gives the Cardinals a better chance to compete today -- Matt Leinart's not processing information quickly enough to consistently be productive -- and deserves to be the guy for now.

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