The guys in my brother’s league have no idea that I’ve been managing his team behind the scenes for the past three years. It’s been a good partnership between the two of us. He gets to slack off in terms of keeping up with the news, and I get to beat up on his friends. . . without making them feel bad for losing to a girl!
 
When the opportunity came up to provide help to a wider audience of slackers (oops, I mean players), I gladly accepted the challenge. This is my first edition of The Roundup – a weekly summary of the most important news and events around this crazy, unpredictable and information-driven obsession called fantasy football.
 
If you were too busy during the week to keep up with the news or you took a much needed vacation (without your laptop), then this post should be pretty helpful. I’ll be doing these every Saturday afternoon once the season begins, so hopefully this series will serve as a reliable way to catch up before Sunday’s games. Now that my intro and first-post-jitters are out of the way, let’s get down to business…
 
Important news from Saturday’s preseason games (yes, the preseason matters!):
 
Arian Foster aggravated his hammy. Foster may have been just as upset as his fantasy owners as he reportedly threw his helmet in disgust. Let the Ben Tate and Derrick Ward discussions begin.
 
Wes Welker left the game with a neck injury. I’m not sure how serious the injury is, but this is clearly something to keep an eye on.
 
According to Judy Battista of the New York Times, Kenny Britt won’t be suspended. That doesn’t change the fact that he’s still nursing a hamstring injury, but this is terrific news for the Titan.
 
Jeremy Maclin and Steve Smith, were back on the practice field today; a welcome development for them… and Vick. Oh, in case you’re a super-slacker, we’re talking about the former-Giant-now-an-Eagle-Steve-Smith.
 
Other headlines from this week:
 
Colts sign Kerry Collins: Outside of today’s injury headline (my apologies to Foster owners for bringing it up again), this has got to be the biggest news of the week. Obviously not because Collins is such a big-name quarterback but because, according to many, of what this signing may say about the seriousness of our beloved Peyton’s injury and his status for Week 1.
 
Peyton Manning hopes to be ready in Week 1: Indeed, the Colts’ signing of Collins on Wednesday immediately prompted speculation that Peyton might not be ready for the Colts’ season-opener against the Texans on September 11. Because I’m such a huge fan of Peyton’s, I found this speculation to be incredibly depressing and terrifying. The scariest moment for me was when I was reading the part of a “Breaking News” email from Joe Bryant at Footballguys on Wednesday where he discussed the seriousness of a neck injury and how it was “an entirely different injury than a knee or shoulder when it comes to considering the quality of life for the rest of his life.” And as if that weren’t horrifying enough, this email also mentioned something that I never knew before – that Peyton’s big brother, Cooper, ended his football career because of a neck injury. BUT here’s some good news: Peyton at least sounded much more hopeful about his status for Week 1 when he did an interview with CBS during the Colts’ preseason game against the Packers on Friday night. I must say, it felt quite strange to see him in street clothes during Friday night’s game, and I really hope that he will be able to continue his streak of never missing a game in his already remarkable career.
 
Titans and Chris Johnson fail to reach a deal: The meeting between the Titans and Johnson ended without a deal on Wednesday in Nashville. Johnson, who still has 2 more years left in his current contract, reportedly is seeking a new contract that will pay him more than $35 million guaranteed and $13 million per year. The Titans head coach Mike Munchak also indicated on Thursday that the Titans were not considering trading Johnson. I don’t think many people expected this contract dispute to be dragged out for this long, but obviously, this is major news for all you fantasy owners out there who either have already drafted Johnson or are currently thinking of drafting him. If you’re looking for some fantasy advice regarding this situation, there’s a great post from The Hazean, “Daily Haze: What Chris Johnson’s Holdout Means for Fantasy Owners” which strongly advises you to draft Johnson’s backups (either Javon Ringer or Jamie Harper with Ringer being the more experienced back) if you’re thinking of drafting Johnson.
 
Kyle Orton named starting QB for Broncos: For some reason, I LOVE quarterback controversies. I think they make this whole experience of watching football so much more interesting and exciting. The Broncos Head Coach John Fox officially named Orton as his starting quarterback on Monday based on his performance during the training camp and the 2 preseason games earlier this month thereby putting an end to the quarterback controversy in Denver (at least when it comes to the starting quarterback situation and at least for now). But it looks like the #2 quarterback in Denver is still yet to be determined between Brady Quinn and Tim Tebow, and as Jason Muckley from BleacherReport points out in his article, “Kyle Orton Named Starting Quarterback for Denver Broncos, but for How Long?” it’s very likely that there will be another quarterback controversy once again in the Mile-High City if the Broncos get off to a rough start this year as they did last year.
 
Redskins yet to name their starting QB (Rex Grossman vs. John Beck): Unlike his counterpart in Denver, Mike Shanahan still hasn’t made his decision on his starting quarterback yet in our nation’s Capital. According to David Ginsburg’s article, “Redskins QB Situation Remain Unsolved,” both Grossman and Beck played decent enough in Thursday night’s preseason game against the Ravens with each throwing for more than 100 yards and a touchdown, but because neither was successful in distinguishing himself from the other, it looks like this quarterback controversy in Washington will continue for at least a little longer. Now I know the epic battle between these two guys may not have much fantasy relevance for your draft (since both have ECR’s beyond QB #30), but like I said, I love QB controversies!
 
Well, that about wraps it up for us this week. Hope you guys found this weekly roundup to be helpful and somewhat enjoyable as well. I’ll be doing these posts each week, starting with the first week of the season. In other words, I get to slack and take Labor Day weekend off. : )
 
And of course, I can’t end this post without wishing everyone good luck with their draft. Best of luck, everyone!
 
 
Photo Credit: Link