Football frenzy

With all the NFL free agent signings and trades going down this past week, I can't help but turn my attention to a little fantasy football, offseason edition. These owners are stocking up on running backs the way old people buy Chef Boyardee when a hurricane or snowstorm is about to hit. Anyway, how about we take a look at some moves that will have fantasy implications? Thinking about this stuff now will put you ahead of the game come September ...

JAMAL LEWIS TO BROWNS
Lewis is pretty far removed from his 2,000-yard season, and this move to Cleveland isn't going to help his cause. The Brownies were last in the league in rushing last year and have had exactly one 1,000-yard rusher (Reuben Droughns, 2005) since 19-freakin'-85. Lewis is an RB2 at best now, and I'd look for a slight decline in his stats next year.

WILLIS McGAHEE TO RAVENS
The Ravens essentially replaced Lewis with McGahee, a more explosive runner who's two years younger. McGahee does come attached to some injury risk, but he definitely deserves a fantasy upgrade after moving to a solid, ball-control offense that features a much better offensive line. McGahee might even be a low-level fantasy No. 1 next year.

TRAVIS HENRY TO BRONCOS
Henry also improved his fantasy standing by moving to an offense that has a knack for creating star tailbacks. Assuming he keeps his nose clean, Henry should take a firm hold of the starting job now that Tatum Bell is out of the picture (see below). A 1,200- or 1,300-yard campaign is basically a lock, as long as Mike Shanahan doesn't pull his old revolving-door trick with the backfield again.

THOMAS JONES TO JETS
Jones' value should hold steady after his trade to New York. Figure he'll be used much the same way as he was the past two years in Chicago, with young Leon Washington filling the Cedric Benson role as a change-of-pace back. The real question concerns Benson, who was supposed to have already replaced Jones as the Bears' feature back, oh, about two years ago. Can he handle the new role? I'm a little skeptical right now.

REUBEN DROUGHNS TO GIANTS
Droughns was up-and-down as the primary tailback in Cleveland. Now he comes to the Giants, who will attempt to replace Tiki Barber with some combination of himself and Brandon Jacobs. The Giants think highly of the young, bruising Jacobs (new GM Jerry Reese referred to Droughns as a "complement" to Jacobs), but the two may enter some kind of competition for the starting role. Still, I expect a situation similar to the one in Indianapolis this past season, with Jacobs getting about two-thirds of the carries as he slowly adjusts to a feature role (a la Joseph Addai) while the veteran Droughns, like Dominic Rhodes, gets the rest of the work. Both Droughns and Jacobs will be worth a mid-round pick, and we'll see how the situation unfolds.

DOMINIC RHODES TO RAIDERS
Speaking of Rhodes, he goes from the world champs to the league's worst team in '06, and cashes in by doing so. It's unclear what the Silver & Black have in mind for the tandem of Rhodes and LaMont Jordan, but it'll likely be some kind of two-headed attack (or even three-headed if you count recently signed FB Justin Griffith). Judging by the Raiders' recent track record, Rhodes probably won't enjoy the same success he's had with the Colts, and Jordan should be downgraded a peg as well - as if he already wasn't in most of our minds already.

RANDY McMICHAEL TO RAMS
Love this move for St. Louis. Athletic, pass-catching tight ends are kind of like the iPods of the NFL, everybody's got to have one, and Joe Klopfenstein didn't give the Rams that dimension last season. McMichael certainly does. He'll catch a lot of balls, and I expect him to flourish under coach Scott Linehan, his former offensive coordinator in Miami. Mark McMichael down as a legit No. 1 fantasy TE.

AHMAN GREEN TO TEXANS
Green was surprisingly serviceable last season as the feature back on a bad Packers team. He'll probably be serviceable again as the feature back on a bad Texans team next year, even though some younger guys (including Dominick Williams, the Running Back Formerly Known as Dominick Davis) will also be in the mix. Green's at that age 30 danger zone, too, so you'll have to be cautious here.

TATUM BELL, T.J. DUCKETT TO LIONS
Weird situation here - it's a awfully crowded backfield, which also includes Kevin Jones, Shawn Bryson and Brian Calhoun. Each of these guys are lugging big question marks around, too, concerning everything from injuries (Jones, Bryson, Calhoun, Bell) to effort (Bell) to opportunity (Duckett). The way I see it, Jones is probably still the guy, assuming he can stay on the field, which is a big assumption. Bell could share time with him, the way he did the past few years in Denver, but there's also talk of the Lions using him as trade bait. And Duckett will probably sucker some owners into drafting him, but it's hard to say if he'll even get the carries to make it worth your while.

JEFF GARCIA TO BUCS
Could Garcia really start for the Bucs in 2007? I know he was fine for a stretch last year with the Eagles, but the jury's still out on whether he can be an effective starter for a full season. I'd like to think Chris Simms is still the guy the Bucs would LIKE to start for them - they did just give him a contract extension, after all - and bringing in Garcia is a ploy to push Simms in camp and serve as an insurance policy in case of emergency, like, say, another ruptured spleen. Or do you only have one spleen? I dunno, I'm a fantasy expert, not a doctor. Just don't make Garcia your starter next year, OK?

WEEK 3 - Sunday Recap

- The Rams got the best of old pal Kurt Warner and the Cardinals, thanks to his FOUR turnovers. Does that mean Matt Leinart should start warming up? Not yet, but it will just be more evidence for Dennis Green when he eventually makes the switch.

- Another nice outing for Mr. Torry Holt (120 yards, TD). He's as steady as they come.

- Here's why you can't always just go by the injury report: Brian Westbrook was questionable with a sore knee. He didn't practice Friday. But he's one of your stud guys, your first or second pick. He's got an enticing matchup against the Niners. Unless you're in some ridiculous league where you've got another stud on the bench, you've got to start him if he's cleared to play. All he did was rush for 117 yards and two TDs, then tack on 47 receiving yards - and another score! When you're setting your lineup, sometimes you've just gotta go with your heart.

- It was a similar story with Ahman Green. He was questionable with a hamstring issue. But I had to start him out of necessity because of the bye week. ESPN even put up a graphic sometime around 12:15 on Sunday saying he was "OUT," just to fool me, but Chris Berman later corrected it to say Green would play. What a nice fellow, that Boomer. Anyway, Green was good (68 rushing yards, 63 receiving yards and a TD), even though he had a costly fumble, but that's been a problem with him for years. The lesson: if a banged-up guy is cleared to play, and you would have started him anyway if it weren't for his injury, you should probably still start him.

- Need WR help? Get Green Bay rookie Greg Jennings while you still can.

- Hear that huge whoosing sound off in the distance Sunday? That was Clinton Portis owners everywhere taking a huge sigh of relief. The big guy had 164 total yards and two TDs, giving sweet satisfaction to those who took a gamble on him after two weeks of frustration. Granted, he was playing the Texans, who managed to make even Mark Brunell look good, but Portis should be cool from here on out.

- Another happy return: Steve Smith finally took the field and looked pretty good (seven catches, 112 yards) against the Bucs as he eased himself back into action. Welcome back!

- San Francisco TE Vernon Davis cracked a bone in his leg and could miss four weeks. If you need a replacement, look no further that his teammate, Eric Johnson, who caught seven passes and a TD on Sunday in Davis' absence. The Ivy Leaguer fell off the radar last year when he missed the season with a foot injury, but he led the Niners in receptions (82) the year before. He should have a bigger role in the offense the next few weeks.

- Another Niner whose stock has risen: WR/RB Michael Robinson. The former Penn State quarterback rushed for 29 yards and two TDs against Philly, and with starter Frank Gore suffering a strained abdomen already being questionable for next week, M-Rob could be getting some more touches. At the very least he may have earned himself a spot as the short-yardage back. He's got two key characteristics for that role: a big heart, and an even bigger cranium.

- Hope you weren't counting on Chris Simms at QB, but if you were, he's out indefinitely after suffering a ruptured spleen. As if the pirate ship wasn't already sinking in Tampa Bay, rookie Bruce Gradkowski now gets the call. He might have a future in the NFL, but the future is not now.

- Another pedestrian outing from Daunte Culpepper: 17 for 26, 168 yards, one TD rushing, no TDs passing, no INTs and a fumble. Not a total disaster (the Dolphins did win), but certainly not the breakout game we expected against the lowly Titans. It doesn't look like he's going to be a major fantasy force anytime soon.

- Welcome to fantasy football, Maurice Jones-Drew: 103 rushing yards and a TD catch against the Colts will make the Jacksonville rookie a hot pickup, especially when he outdid veteran Fred Taylor (74 yards).

- More RBBC (running back by committee) aggravation: Dominic Rhodes (14 carries, 48 yards) vs. Joseph Addai (three carries, 15 yards); Laurence Maroney (12 carries, 18 yards) vs. Corey Dillon (five carries, 16 yards, left with arm injury); Tatum Bell (27 carries, 123 yards) vs. Mike Bell (four carries, 12 yards); Kevan Barlow (12 carries, 31 yards, TD) vs. Cedric Houston (two carries, 10 yards, TD) vs. Leon Washington (seven carries, 25 yards; two carries, 52 yards). Maroney gets an obvious upgrade if Dillon is hurt; Tatum is separating himself; Barlow is the Jets' main guy but the other guys will steal touches; and in Indy it's anybody's guess.

- To those who added Rex Grossman and expected another four-TD day: that's not how it works, guys.

- Lots of yards for Willis McGahee (150) again, but does the dude have a fear of the end zone? Browns QB Charlie Frye now has three rushing TDs, while McGahee has zero.

- Carson Palmer throws four TDs, and not one to Chad Johnson. In fact, Chad had only one catch for 11 yards. What the heck is up with that??

- Almost thought Eli Manning wasn't gonna come through this week as the Giants got spanked by the Seahawks, but three late TD passes salvaged a nice game. Is there anything sweeter than garbage time?

Another trade?

You don't see this too often: two teams swapping second-year RBs. Green Bay dealt 2005 breakout star Samkon Gado to Houston for Vernand Morency. So why should you care?

Morency probably loses what little value he had for the time being now that he's backing up a healthy Ahman Green. But keep an eye on Gado ... the Texans' running game is a little unsettled right now, and I expect Gado, a much bigger power runner, to eventually steal some carries from diminutive starter Wali Lundy and the unpredictable Ron Dayne. Gado likely got a good recommendation from Mike Sherman, his coach last year in Green Bay who's now an assistant coach and offensive line coach with Houston.