And Now, a Moment of Sanity

The last few days have featured a lot of noise (here and elsewhere) about the mad dash to fill and/or remake rosters since the NFL owners and players decided they wanted to keep making money after all. And there will be plenty more noise over the next few weeks as free agents, backups, unhappy campers and innocent draft picks get shuffled like chips at the World Series of Poker.
Very little has been said so far about the implications for those of us playing fantasy football. For those of you with the fantasy bug, we at the People's Pigskin have some simple, easy-to-follow advice.
Take a deep breath.
Feel better? Good. Now calm down.
It's not that there won't be players who come out of nowhere to take the fantasy world by storm. (Kevin Kolb seems like an early candidate for breakout status.) It's just that a lot of the players finding or looking for new homes would be backups in most fantasy leagues.
For example, let's look at the quarterbacks. Looking at ESPN's list of top-scoring fantasy QBs from last season, the top performer who won't be in the same spot this year is Carson Palmer, who ranked only 13th with 212 points. If you claim that Palmer doesn't count until the Cincinnati Bengals come to their senses and trade him, the top performer who moved is Donovan McNabb, who was traded to the Minnesota Vikings. (Perhaps you heard about it.) And he ranked 21st with 165 points.
Let's move on to the running backs. Ahmad Bradshaw nearly tanked this column idea by leaving the Giants. Thankfully, he didn't. Instead, the top mover for this position is Ronnie Brown, who went to the Philadelphia Eagles. He scored a grand total of 112 fantasy points last season, tying him for 30th place among rushers with Brandon Jackson.
The biggest impact may come from wide receiver, and that's because several players who made contributions to fantasy teams last season are still looking for work as of this writing. The three top maybe-they'll-prove-to-be-movers:

• Terrell Owens (15th among WRs last season, 147 points).
• Braylon Edwards (22nd, 124).
• Derrick Mason (tied-24th, 117).

At tight end, someone might actually have to adjust the starting lineup. That's because Zach Miller, who just joined the Seattle Seahawks, ranked 9th last season at his position with 90 fantasy points. Other than that, the people who started most games in fantasy leagues last season are in the exact same place they were at this point last year.
(And before you ask, no, we're not going to discuss kickers here.)
Now that you're all calm again, we'll be back with a look at the NASCAR season.

The First of Many Player Primers

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Donovan McNabb, having flamed out in Washington, is now heading to Minnesota, but he won't find Sidney Rice when he gets there.
The receiver is heading to Seattle, but he won't find Matt Hasselbeck when he gets there. He's agreed to play in Tennessee, where he doesn't have to worry about Vince Young stealing his job.
There is speculation that Young could land in Philadelphia, where he would have to compete with Michael Vick but wouldn't have to worry about Kevin Kolb.
Kolb (finally) got a trade to Arizona and will get to throw to Larry Fitzgerald but not, for what it's worth, to Steve Breaston.
He was sent to Kansas City, which needed receiver help after letting Chris Chambers go.
Maybe he could practice pass patterns with Carson Palmer, whose team owner is saying he won't be traded. Either he'll get to retire at what would be an unheard-of age for the rest of us, or he'll come crawling back to Cincinnati.
What will he find when he gets there? Not Chad Ochocinco. Cincinnati may not trade Palmer, but it did trade Ochocinco to New England.
In Foxboro, he'll be joined by another loudmouth, Albert Haynesworth, who was sent there, probably happily for all involved, by ... Washington.
Everybody got all that? Good.
Here's something far more straightforward. The People's Pitstop needs to select its roster tonight. You have a couple of hours left to vote in the lineup polls on your left. Help the Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team dominate Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Thanks.
We'll be back with the results

An Angel Gets Its 6 Points

One of the best lessons that fantasy football can teach is how, as Clarence Oddbody, AS2, said in "It's a Wonderful Life," each man's life touches so many others, and if he isn't there, it leaves an awful hole.

Football players can leave that hole by finagling a mid-season trade, as Randy Moss did this week. In fantasy terms, the trade should be good news for Brett Favre, who now has a wide receiver without a bum hip, a history of migraines or a reality TV wife. It may be bad news for Tom Brady, who can't throw deep passes to the draft pick his team received in exchange for Moss. And it may be horrible news for Wes Welker, who was able to catch so many balls over the past few years in part because his teammate was the one drawing all the attention from "shutdown corners."

Another way a football player can leave a hole is by refusing to show up for games or practices, as Vincent Jackson has been doing for months. In this case, the only hole being generated so far is in Jackson's wallet. Antonio Gates certainly isn't missing Jackson. Neither is Philip Rivers. In fact, Legedu Naanee might want to send Jackson a basket of fruit.

Sometimes, you don't have control over when you leave a hole on your team. For example, you can be sacked 9 times in a half because your offensive coordinator has decided that the words "blocking" and "tight end" don't belong in the same paragraph. In fact, you can get concussed so badly that your team has to rule you out for the following week's game. Though it's not fair to call this Jay Cutler's "fault," it's true nevertheless that his absence will hurt every other offensive player wearing a Chicago Bears helmet.

And sometimes, you leave a hole on your team by performing as if your football had a hole in it. That's what Derek Anderson has done so far with the Arizona Cardinals. His loss (and Arizona's losses) may prove to be Max Hall's gain. It may even benefit Larry Fitzgerald (remember him?), but it will definitely be a blessing for Beanie Wells and Tim Hightower, at least in the short term. After all, if Ken Whisenhunt wants to keep Hall upright, he'll call plenty of handoffs and screens until the quarterback gets his feet wet.

Hear that bell ringing? No, it's not you getting your wings. It's a reminder to vote in our polls. The NASCAR polls will close tonight. We'll be back with the results.

A Sigh of Relief

Whew ... that was a close shave.

The People's Pigskin survived a Monday night charge by t-bay cuervonatersXXL and won by a score of 110-107. That puts your favorite fantasy football team at the top of the People's League with a record of 4-0. And we couldn't have done it without you. Here's the scoring breakdown.

Peyton Manning, QB: 33 for 46 passing for 352 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, 1 rush for minus-1 yards and 20 fantasy points. Manning won't be happy with his team's last-second loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, but fantasy players will be happy if it means he's still playing when the fantasy playoffs come around.

Michael Turner, RB: 16 rushes for 50 yards, 3 receptions for 28 yards and 7 fantasy points. Obviously, the rushing numbers were not very good, but it would be good news if Turner is being used as a safety valve on passing plays.

Darren McFadden, RB: 12 rushes for 47 yards, 6 receptions for 82 yards and 12 fantasy points. The big story here is the hamstring injury McFadden suffered against the Houston Texans. Early reports indicate the injury is not serious, but it will warrant monitoring throughout the week.

Calvin Johnson, WR: 6 receptions for 86 yards and 2 touchdowns, 1 rush for 2 yards and 20 fantasy points. It's always a good sign when sports writers are advising NFL teams to keep calling your player's number.

Chad Ochocinco, WR: 3 receptions, 59 yards and 5 fantasy points. On the other hand, it's not such a good sign when your player lines up across the field from someone having an epic fantasy day.

Justin Forsett, Flex: 19 rushes for 65 yards, 2 receptions for 10 yards and 7 fantasy points. Forsett's situation changed dramatically Tuesday when the Seattle Seahawks traded for Marshawn Lynch. How dramatically it changed remains to be seen.

Antonio Gates, TE: 7 receptions, 144 yards, 2 touchdowns and 26 fantasy points. As far as the People's Pigskin is concerned, Vincent Jackson can just go ahead and take the season off. The San Diego Chargers clearly did not miss him Sunday.

Tennessee Titans, D/ST: 1 interception, 6 sacks, 1 kickoff returned for a touchdown, 26 points allowed and 13 fantasy points. Their opponents called them dirty, and their top draft pick was lost for the season, but the Titans defense did its job, at least for fantasy players, unlike ...

Jeff Reed, K: 0 for 2 on field goals, 2 for 2 on extra points and 0 fantasy points. The Cuervonaters started an inactive kicker, and the Pigskin might as well have done the same. Reed has a bye week, and it's safe to say he won't be missed around here.

Bench. It was a decent week to be a backup Pigskin quarterback. Chad Henne scored 14 points, while Vince Young scored 11. Kenny Britt scored 8, and Kevin Smith scored 3.

This week, the People's Pigskin will face the 3-1 Fighting Amish, and we need a new lineup. The polls are now open. The kicker poll will close Tuesday night, so we can make a waiver wire request. The other football polls (located below the NASCAR ones) will close Sunday morning. You know what to do.

We'll be back with a look at this week's NASCAR track.

So About That McNabb Thing

There is still some time for you, the Internet, to vote on the People's Pitstop lineup for Saturday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Phoenix. In the meantime, it's time for another reminder that, yes, Virginia, this is still a fantasy football Web site, too.

Most of the offseason trades, cuts and signings have little or no value for the fantasy football enthusiast. No matter how much you like Jason Taylor, on the football field or on the dance floor, his flirtations with the New York Jets likely are not going to change how you feel about the Jets or Dolphins defense/special teams come draft time.

Donovan McNabb's trade to the Washington Redskins? That's another story.

Of course, the fantasy football player will have to worry about McNabb's own production at his new home. He ranked 10th among quarterbacks in ESPN fantasy points. However, like George in "It's a Wonderful Life," McNabb's production affects so many other people in the National Football League.

DeSean Jackson. The Philadelphia Eagles may have all the confidence in the world in Kevin Kolb, Michael Vick and/or whichever quarterback gets drafted to be the "next Kolb/Vick." But Jackson, who ranked 4th among wide receivers in fantasy points, has to be at least a little nervous.

Washington's receivers. Here the sentiment may be more upbeat. The Redskins wide receiving corps did not exactly set the fantasy world on fire last year.

Chris Cooley. The Redskins tight end was having a decent season until a broken ankle ended it in October. And Brent Celek of the Eagles ranked 4th among tight ends in fantasy points, so you know McNabb enjoys throwing to a healthy tight end.

Jason Campbell. Oh, yeah, the man whose job McNabb is taking. Campbell's agent is exploring trade possibilities, but no matter where he goes, he's facing an uphill hike to fantasy relevance. Campbell ranked 16th among passers in fantasy points, and he's going to a place that either has an established starter (in which Campbell at least starts the season as a backup) or did so poorly last season that it's willing to take a chance on him.

And that's before we even consider the NFL Draft, but that's another topic for another post. In the meantime, remember to vote on our lineup polls. They will close Thursday night, so the lineup can be set in time for Friday's qualifying session. We'll be back with the results.