By Zack Cimini
Notjustagame23@gmail.com

Cleveland is looking once again at huge changes of trying to dig themselves out from the graveyard of the league. They seem to be headed in the right direction be retooling from the key place in the front office. Making changes up there has been a consistent off-season move though from the Cleveland Browns that has translated into zero improvement as a team. Someone of Mike Holmgren’s caliber is not going to be taking his time to see what he has.

By now the entire league knows the Browns have little to no talent on the offensive side of the football. Just look at the carousel of the backfield as a prime example. The Browns have shuffled through numerous running backs in Jamal Lewis, Chris Jennings, and Jerome Harrison. At times part of the reason for this issue was due to injuries in the backfield. It seemed that Jennings had earned the nod for more carries and a larger share when he had a solid outing that led to the Browns upset win over the Steelers. Magician Mangini though had his own new plans and fooled all fantasy owners by giving the work load to seldom used Jerome Harrison. With only 1.9 percent of fantasy owners starting Harrison that has to be the worst official huge outburst fantasy output not utilized in leagues.

The worse area that the Browns have had horrible management of decisions is at quarterback. The Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn show has been a long drawn out three year horrific episode. During Quinn’s rookie year was the only real reasoning for either or to make a case for themselves. Quinn was a rookie and like most they’re expected to learn from the sideline. Anderson handled the pressure of having a highly praised rookie breathing down his neck like a poised veteran. He had a torrid 2007 season that made him the top out of everyone’s preseason radar steal of the year from the quarterback position. After a year like that you could only figure that Anderson was going to hold a starting role similar to the way Drew Brees did fighting off Philip Rivers, and Brett Favre holding back Aaron Rodgers.

Soon though we all saw that Anderson just had a career year and could not ever break out of his funk. Partly the blame went to the fact that Braylon Edwards developed bad habits with dropped balls, lack of effort, and inability to handle being a number one receiver. You’d think Cleveland would have tried to build better talent at the position of receiver for Edwards and their quarterbacks. That never happened and the Browns finally parted ways with Edwards this year.

On the other side of the quarterback picture was Brady Quinn. He got into a few games in 2008 but was given the job this year based on Anderson ineffectiveness once again. We all know he will miss the last two games with his foot injury but lets break down the ten games he did play in this year. Quinn showed zero pocket precence and played more like a backup quarterback trying not too lose a game. He has to find his niche with the Browns system and trust his physical skills and mental preparation to take some risks downfield. We know that he can take what the defense gives him and make that dump off throw. Any quarterback can do that, but if the Browns are going to ascend even with a few extra wins in 2010 they’re going to need Quinn to elevate his game dramatically.

Don’t be surprised if Mike Vick enters the Browns sweepstakes in the off-season. Cleveland needs someone to put the pressure on Quinn to be more of a force. Both Anderson and Quinn can argue they had zero talent this year to accomplish anything. The main weapon for them happened to be Joshua Cribbs who has only 20 catches but was who they used to run gadget plays to break up the routine throws of Quinn. Holmgren will come in and get his quarterback some play makers. It’ll be up to Quinn to shake his overall career sixty six quarterback rating. If not, the Quinn project in Cleveland will be over and over quickly.

Maybe when Quinn slipped in the 2007 draft there was a main reason for it. Why EAS has used him as a spokesman we have no idea. It must be recession low budget spending.

By Zack Cimini
notjustagame23@gmail.com

As evidenced from the last three to four years fantasy football running back rankings have scattered all over the place. Players just are not as predictable in that position as between the years of 96 and 2003. Teams have retooled and better prepared to have depth to keep their star running backs fresh and durable. Supplanting some of these prior studs with double digit touchdowns has become the norm. Coaches were forced to necessitate less of a load on their number one running back and divide that load up with the second string back. It has made it a nightmare from year to year of what to expect from a back that teetered on solid success the season before.

When the Jaguars parted ways with veteran back Fred Taylor, Maurice Jones-Drew shot up the charts for the 2009 season. Rightfully so, as he has been a beast since entering the NFL in the 2006 season. At his size the Jaguars questioned if he could handle a full time starring role. At 5’7 and a little over 200 pounds he is a back of rare combination and comprises the tools to be a threat for years to come. Based upon how he has done thus far in 2009 he seems to be secure for years to come as a fantasy Tomlinson. Meaning he could be destined to rack up double digit touchdowns and dual threat receiving and rushing yardage.

Here at Notjustagame though we have extreme cause for concern and caution for Jones-Drew’s future to hold up.

For Jones-Drew’s size and what he does on the field who does he compare to of the last five to six years in his position? We would compare him to a Brian Westbrook type. Westbrook has a few more inches on Jones-Drew but they are almost identical weight. So we would say that’s a fair assessment. Similar to Jones-Drew, Westbrook had a veteran back to break up duties most of his career in Duce Staley and then Correll Buckhalter. Westbrooks injury woes have been throughout his career but they didn’t start to climb until recently. See Westbrook was always hurt but he usually only missed a few games while battling through and playing hurt on the field. That ends up catching up with you.

In MJD’s season long segmented show on the NFL Network he has detailed how rough and hard it is for his body to recover. That’s just the life of an NFL running back, but he knows his body and is ready to go every Sunday. A body can only take so much and Drew will be exiting his fourth complete season as an NFL back. The wear and tear is definitely there and the Jaguars have failed to protect their future investment.

Jones-Drew is second in the league in carries at 278. His previous three seasons he only averaged 176 carries, with last year being his highest total at 197. With two games left he will easily break the 300 mark and be somewhere around 310. This does not disclude the fact that Jones-Drew also has 49 catches on the year. That ranks him fifth for running backs in catches and he is 44th in the league for that statistic. Saying that the Jaguars may be overworking and possibly burning out their star back is an understatement.

There isn’t a team in the league besides maybe a St. Louis that doesn’t break up the load a bit with their star back. Can you name the Jaguars primary backup running back? Think, think…is it on the tip of your tongue? We don’t think so. The seldom used running backs name is Rashard Jennings. He is averaging a whopping two carries a game.

Ask Atlanta how overworking their star back in 2008 and not using a backup running back worked out for them a year later. We just do not see it as a wise move to increase a backs carries by nearly 50 percent. It may not be next year the Jones-Drew starts to break down but it will happen sooner than later if the Jaguars do not make it a point to lessen his work load.

By Zack Cimini
notjustagame23@gmail.com

Looking around the NFL we’ve seen the tussle and round about back and forth changes with starting quarterbacks worse than the coaching carousel. In Cleveland, we’ve seen it with Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson, San Francisco with Alex Smith and Shaun Hill, Oakland, Carolina, Tampa Bay, Buffalo, Detroit, and the list goes on and on. You’d expect some teams to have an answer somewhere within their depth charts to position their team and be able to lead them.

With Jake Lockler making the announcement that he will return for his senior season that means that there will be less talent for teams to try and correct these awful issues. The quarterback situations in the NFL are at a point of desperate measures. There have been numerous games this season that showcases this point. The following statistics by these quarterbacks actually translated to a win for their respective teams somehow. Luckily at the top of the crop for quarterbacks there are perennial future hall of famers that are taking much attention for how poor the quarterbacking actually is right now. Even last years rookies that came on strong a year ago have struggled in 2009 in Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco.

Jamarcus Russell- 7-24 for 109 yards…translated to a week two victory 13-10 over the KC Chiefs
Ryan Fitzpatrick- 12-20 for 86 yards translated to a week fourteen victory 16-10 over the KC Chiefs
Derek Anderson- 2-17 for 23 yards translated to a week five 6-3 win over the Buffalo Bills
*Jake Delhomme- 9-17 for 65 yards translated to a week 6 28-21 win over the Tampa Bay Bucs
7-14 for 90 yards translated to a week 8 34-21 win over the Arizona Cardinals

This is just stupefying to see these type of performances continue with winning results. How are teams unable to counter such a terrible performance from the lead catalyst on the other side of the ball? Since teams won’t be able to correct these issues in the draft it means they’ll have to dive deep onto other teams rosters in hope of landing some sort of respectable 2010 season. Some teams have excuses as they’re in a transition phase and trying to develop their young quarterbacks. Most though just need to make that tough decision and move on to a future prospect.

We do know this…the way Mike Vick’s played the last few weeks has likely re-entered teams minds to think hard about getting him on their roster. Vick seems to be settling back into NFL game speed and that has translated into more of his involvement with the Eagles packaging him in on crucial plays. Philadelphia actually has the best talented depth chart at the quarterback position. Kevin Kolb played fantastic in two starts due to McNabb’s rib injury. Philadelphia will have to find a way to continue build for a Super Bowl run and Donovan McNabb isn’t going anywhere. Look for the Eagles to shop their primary backup quarterbacks.

Brett Favre’s proved aging at quarterback can be a good thing. Arizona’s Kurt Warner is two years younger (38) and not showing any signs of slowing down. The game he missed with post concussion symptoms showcased just how far along he is running this team than backup Matt Leinart. Once the off-season comes around the Cardinals will likely look for Warner to give them an answer on how many years he plans on playing. If he has multiple years left in the tank look for the Cardinals to shop Leinart and give him a chance to go through actual growing pains on the field.

A couple of other quarterbacks to keep an eye on happen to be quarterbacks that lost their jobs this season. Tarvaris Jackson is in a position where he will have too much pressure and no shot at ever fielding a game in a Minnesota Vikings uniform as a starter. The way Brett Favre has come out and won is exactly how Brad Childress pictured it. It isn’t Jackson that you see Favre going to asking what he is seeing from another set of quarterbacks eyes. It is Sage Rosenfels.

In San Francisco Shaun Hill inevitably was yanked due to his Delhomme like performances and inability to stretch the field. A year ago though he was doing a fine job and had this team clicking. Maybe the pressure of having a former number one pick breathing down his neck to take his job finally got too him. Nevertheless teams like proven winners that can get the job done, and Hill has shown that he can do just that. It appears that Alex Smith is doing enough now that this quarterback battle of three years may finally be over.

By Raymond Ayala

The Oakland Raiders have hit rock bottom. If people thought the Detroit Lions organization was bad, enter your 2003 AFC Championship winning Raiders. That was the last time the Raiders even sniffed anything resembling the teams motto of “Generation of Excellence.” That generation of excellence has gone to the gutter, and the loyal fans of the Raiders are struggling with what to do with what already seems like another damned season. The fantasy impact, is plain and simple, don’t have any Raiders on your team.

Jamarcus Russell has been a bust thus far, but I would not give up on him just yet. For 2009, yes he is a dead duck, but in the future I still feel Russell could be a star. It is very rare a quarterback of his size and mobility is available in an NFL Draft. He has the tools, he has the arm, but like the tin man… “If he only had a brain!” After a recent game in Houston, Russell could hardly speak to reporters. Listening to him speak, was like listening to a high school student give a speech in front of a large audience. The guy needs to take some time to learn the playbook, as well as get some help from the Raiders to become a smarter football player. Russell has the tools to be a star quarterback in this league, but the Raiders need to put less emphasis on his physical tools, until he can improve on his mental tools.

Darren McFadden goes down, and so does the Raiders running game. While Michael Bush and Justin Fargas have had their big games, neither should even be thought of as deserving a starting spot in any fantasy league. McFadden has shown yardage increases every game before the injury, but with the terrible offensive line he has, it will be hard for him to have a good game. If you have him, drop him and pick up a backup on a playoff contender over a guy who starts for the Raiders.

Darius Heyward-Bey has been a disappointment. This guy may have speed, but his hands and routes are nowhere near field ready. Heyward-Bey should be returning kicks at this point, and should not even be seeing the playing field other than that. The Raiders will continue to force him out there, but a big game is nowhere in this guys 2009 season. If your in a keeper, hang on to him, but if you are going season to season release him now before it is too late.

The Raiders Organization has a chance to finish the season with just as many felonies on their head coach, as team wins. Head Coach Tom Cable would have been fired from any organization after punching out an assistant, but Al Davis runs the team so he probably just got a contract extension for the deed. The Raiders were once a proud organization that won championship after championship. Now they are the laughing stock of the league, and Al Davis is sitting on his hands doing nothing about it. Until Al Davis appoints someone else in charge, you can kiss any fantasy players from the Raiders goodbye.

By Zack Cimini
notjustagame23@gmail.com

What is going on with the NFL talent pool at quarterback? Either we’re at an all time low for talent or there is a lot of rustiness needed to be worn off by a group of quarterbacks. It surely isn’t the defenses as three weeks in we’ve seen most of the defenses have their share of issues. Usually in the realm of fantasy football you can get away with waiting for a quarterback and being able to make up for the move with your other positions. These quarterbacks we’ve added on our week three horrible quarterback list have completely fallen off from any fantasy relevance. Be sure to drop these players and even if you have to wait for a proper player do it. You’ll have a faster reaction to pounce on an available free agent or solidify a trade, instead of dealing with a stinker of performance.

Heck, you could go with Jake Delhomme or Jason Campbell over these guys below and have a career day compared to what they’ll give you. Stay tuned for our Part II of this series. There is going to have to be some quarterbacks to insert, and we’ll even analyze the area of trading for a quarterback.
Brady Quinn/Derek Anderson- Eric Mangini’s hot potato philosophy Is getting old quick for both of these guys. The old staff did the same thing a million times and its just getting old. Quinn has been atrocious but you have to stick with your guns similar to what the Raiders have been doing with Jamarcus Russell. In actuality if Derek Anderson would have stepped up it would have looked like a solid move and no one would question it. Instead Anderson came in and threw three picks. It’s going to be a long, long year in Cleveland.

Chad Pennington- Even before his injury Pennington was dinking and dumping too much. Hopefully he is ok, but the reason Miami is losing these close games is because of their game management tactics. Pennington needs to stretch the field a bit more and that will translate to an even better ground game, that thus far has been dominant in the league.

Marc Bulger- Bulger needs to ask for a new setting whether it be via trade or taking a release. He has been beaten and battered the last four years and might end his career if he doesn’t get restarted elsewhere. With Kyle Boller in they actually looked like they had some life. St. Louis might make the tough move for a guy that has played his heart out for the Rams, and bench Bulger.

Byron Leftwich- You’d really hope for a resurrection for Leftwich but it just isn’t going to happen. The issues Jacksonville saw for years that he was able to get away with as a starter has caught up with him. Accuracy issues persist, consistency to move the football, and his footwork in the pocket have all just been a disaster.

Mat Cassel- This is exactly why you let an athlete earn a contract, not the agent. Cassel’s agent got his asking price for Cassel after only one season as starter. Now already Todd Haley has sparked controversy and stated he’d bring in Brodie Croyle. For Cassel’s benefit he has been trying to come back a bit early from an injury. The team though looks headed for disaster all around, and Cassel will take the most blame of anyone.

Jamarcus Russell- You have to wonder why Jeff Garcia chose to leave the Raiders to sign with a Philly team where he’d be the fourth quarterback. In all likelihood he would have been inserted by now due to Russel’s horrible play. It’s a miracle the Raiders have been able to win a game due to Russel’s pathetic play. They can not allow Russell to keep performing the way he is and still go with him. Sure he was a number one pick, but the rating as a bust has to be settled in. It’s time for the Raiders to go in another direction.

Trent Edwards- He teased us with a fantastic opening week Monday Night football game against the Patriots. The game against the Buccaneers doesn’t count in our books as the Bucs have the worst past defense in the league. A team like the Saints is notorious for giving up chunks of yards and big plays. That meant Edwards would have to connect on a few big plays to keep his team in the game. He couldn’t deliver and missed several deep wide open targets including two that have been replayed numerous times already. Edwards is the only quarterback you can take a wait and see approach just because of the talent around him. We’ve seen this before though with JP Losman. A good game here and there, but he was who he was.

By Zack Cimini
notjustagame23@gmail.com

We officially can say the twitter world has gone to another extreme. Already media outlets are using twitter as a direct source for inside information. This past Sunday it went to another level by affecting one of the NFL’s best wide receivers.

Larry Fitzgerald’s younger brother, Marcus, tweeted several times during the Cardinals and Jaguars game. Some of the comments were just plain stupid remarks a general fan would make during a game, but why post it on a nationwide account? Some of those remarks included bashing Kurt Warner for not throwing the football downfield (his age), and ultimately limiting the looks to his older brother Larry. What got the media buzzing was his tweet that Larry was pissed off that he wasn’t getting any balls thrown his way. This is where things could get interesting. Larry of course already has the Madden hex floating around his name (Troy Polamalu already is down and out).

Chances are he did mention in some fashion his frustration towards his brother. As an elite athlete especially at wide receiver, catching the ball is your main goal. Fitzgerald had a very frustrating week one where he was held to one catch against the 49ers until after half time. As a team offensively it is evident the Cardinals are going through some growing pains adjusting to life without former offensive coordinator and current Chiefs head coach, Todd Haley. Fitz and Marcus’s brother obviously don’t see it that way.

From Larry’s perspective this was a personal comment to a family member that should have been able to keep his mouth shut. Kurt Warner is a professional and will shake it off, but if catches don’t get to Larry how will this play out? Can you believe this is a topic with Warner breaking a passing record for completions and the Cardinals gaining a win? Unbelievable, but a lot of things did go the Cardinals way in the game, defensively and special teams wise. Truthfully the offense is going to have to open up a bit, and get back to the aggressive air attack. We believe they will and everything will just be fine out in Arizona.

As for Marcus, he needs to know better as a collegiate graduate of Marshall who is prepping for his UFL debut with the San Francisco franchise. Some things are just meant to be private, and maybe the NFL needs to take a clue from this and make more athletes aware about using social network sites. There have already been hot topics before over twitter and other social sites. Athletes need to be more private about what they’re doing and where they’re going to be at for the day.

Fantasy owners don’t worry, Larry will get his touches, and hey, at least he has found the end zone and still grabbed you 10 points or more.