Looming around the inevitable corner will be Jamarcus Russell signing a hefty contract. One that should have been done like most number one picks have completed before the draft. The Raiders are going to invest and both sides should have prepared better than this. When talks were still sluggish as camp neared a few weeks ago, the Raiders made the decision to test out Daunte Culpepper. After a free agent workout the Raiders felt comfortable enough in signing him to a one year deal. Before Culpepper bares that next uniform, he’ll be in silver and black. A silver and black quarterback that will likely be the week one starter for the Raiders.

A year ago Daunte Culpepper, was the talk of fantasy football leagues as a sleeper quarterback. Heck he had displayed MVP caliber days in Minnesota and was in new territory to bloom again. His injuries that were supposed to be behind him, only reared more apparently. Week to week Miami kept hoping to see a sign of improvement. Expecting rust to wear off only turned into the obvious–Culpepper was not healthy and may never be again.

Maybe that time off for the rest of the Dolphins season led his body to gaining closer to 100 percent. Last year he looked to be at around seventy percent tops. In mini camp he looked ready to be the Dolphins starter but looking and displaying are two different things. Miami saw something that gave enough red flags to part completely with Culpepper and move on.

Better yet after being cut from Miami there weren’t too many teams calling for Culpepper’s services. You’d think a team like Atlanta would have been fast dialing Culpepper but the only teams were Jacksonville and Oakland. Maybe Culpepper needs an actual agent instead of representing himself. Anyways he figured the best thing for him would be to take his chances in Oakland where he’ll have the best shot at starting.

For Culpepper to stay on the field he’ll need to first show that he can play at game speed and move in the pocket somewhat. With Miami last year he was motionless in the pocket and paying the price for it. Numerous sacks, fumbles, and slow delivery was an every down occurrence. Not only that with Russell awaiting to enter time is not on Culpepper’s side in an Oakland uniform.

The positives for Culpepper are that he is on a team that had one of the best defenses in the league last year. So he’ll be able to play it safe early and just do enough to try to position his team for wins. Another area is that Lamont Jordan looks to be in a crossroads stage of his career. He needs to have a year to catapult himself as a feature starter. The Raiders lacked commitment to running the football last year and apparently are going to change that philosophy. Culpepper has never in his career had a solid running back behind him. That goes for last year as well when Miami could not get the running game going during Culpepper’s month of games.

The over/under on Culpepper making it out of October as the starting Raiders quarterback should weigh slightly on the over side. Compare it a little to Denver last year when Jake Plummer played most of the year before relenting to Jay Cutler. Jamarcus Russell and the Raiders know that he can not possibly get prepared enough in a months time. He’ll need to run through practices effectively for at least a few months. The only way he makes it on the field in the first half of the season is if the Raiders only have a win or two. Then knowing a disastrous season can’t be averted is out the window, and they’ll be able to afford a Russell air assault in a bad way.

Most drafts Culpepper is being ignored due to the fact that people expect Russell to play immediately or Culpepper to be similar to last season. He has something to prove to the NFL world and why not give him a shot. No one is drafting Culpepper in fantasy drafts. You can’t blame owners for that based on last year, but take a late flier on him if you are a fantasy owner that waits until the last minute to draft a quarterback. If your somebody with an Eli Manning, Alex Smith, or any other shaky young fantasy quarterback then go ahead and select Culpepper. There’s always a quarterback or two that comes out of the woodwork to shine off the waivers. Don’t let Culpepper be that guy, if he doesn’t work out then that late pick turns into a waiver move and is potential boomer pick that didn’t quite work out.

Not often can a backup quarterback get the deal of a lifetime without even showcasing a full season of starting work. Somehow the Houston Texans figured the clips they saw of Schaub was enough. They axed out David Carr instead of using that money to build him an offensive line. Something he never had the honors of having in front of him. Maybe they figured his body took too much of a beating and did not want to vest any other amount after Tony Boselli (Never played a down for them, as the expansion pick of the Texans).

By ridding themselves of their former franchise number one pick, David Carr, they did one thing, and that’s just a quarterback shuffle to Matt Schaub. What did the Texans see to believe Schaub is a better choice than remaining with Carr or drafting a quarterback? Schaub is either going to pay the price for every dollar he is going to receive over the next six years, or he is going to get this team to the level they were a few years ago when they showed some life at 7-9.

We’ve all seen it before where backup quarterbacks that have somewhat of a skill set, have great debuts when the start in relief duty. This springs interest usually to some franchises to sign that player as a free agent. The Rob Johnson’s and Kelly Holcomb’s of the world come and go, and if Schaub happens to be that then this could really blow up in Houston’s face. The city already witnessed the Texans bypass Bush when they knew Domanick Williams was struggling with injuries. Bush could careless now, as he is on a franchise that has winning in front of them, and the Texans can only stay at the bottom.

Schaub has the size and skill to have a solid career, but so did David Carr. If Houston isn’t willing to invest more on a team than a player, then Schaub will be wishing he was never traded. Having Ahman Green as the starting running back is questionable as well. Yes he has been one of the better running backs in the early to mid 2000’s, but his days as an elite running back are more behind then ahead of him. He struggled through injuries the past few seasons with the Packers and was expendable at that point. On top of that he is very prone to fumbling the football.

All we are saying is that fantasy owners should not bank on Matt Schaub being a sleeper quarterback. Talk of Schaub being the free agent signing that transforms into a fantasy stud like Drew Brees last year should stop before they start. He is unproven which Brees had been a Pro Bowler already. We also have yet to see how he handles being an every Sunday starter, or how he adjusts to defensive coordinator’s adjustments after they get their hands on Schaub footage.

Once coordinator’s can feel and dissect Schaub out then we’ll be able to see if he has a fantasy future. Right now the only concern for fantasy owners should be if they think they should be worried with Schaub as their backup. With that offensive line Schaub might not be able to tough it out like Carr did. So if you do draft Schaub as your backup you better have a great starting quarterback.

The Dolphins made a decision that arose plenty of criticism from draft experts and football fans of all sorts. Decisions are ultimately often criticized but did the Dolphins make a major mistake in passing on Brady Quinn? You could argue that if a team right after the Dolphins chose Quinn, but he landed in the 20’s. The whole time Miami knew who they wanted and that was Trent Green. It took longer than expected but the Chiefs and Dolphins finally came to an agreement. Time will tell, but for at least the next two seasons Miami is going to have a solid veteran quarterback who will allow John Beck time to learn and grow.

At 37 years of age, people would say Green is all but washed up. Years of quarterbacking would have had to take its toll on the average quarterback. Especially after seeing him having the daylights knocked out of him on a perfect layout hit last season. The truth of the matter is, Trent Green is a young 37 year old quarterback, as odd as that sounds.

He didn’t play a game in the NFL until 1998, and after a solid season with the Redskins landed with the Rams. From there we all become a little familiar with his story, as he went down with a preseason injury and the team turned into Kurt Warner’s. He was granted his leave from the Rams and spent the last five seasons having stellar seasons with the Chiefs.

In fact he stayed away from injuries and played every game from 2001 through 2005. During those seasons he quietly ranked amongst the elite in terms of throwing yards and overall performance. That was with a strong running game and basically a tight end in Tony Gonzalez. Both of those factors are gone, but Miami obviously feels Green is the main man. Can Green be the revival veteran that Jeff Garcia proved to be for the Eagles last season?

Since the Marino and Jimmy Johnson era ended the Dolphins have been scrambling to find an identity offensively. Meanwhile the defense has stayed strong and full of players such as Zach Thomas and Jason Taylor that have been Dolphins since the mid 90’s. The shift of transformation that hasn’t happened offensively may now catch up to an aging defense. This may be the reason the Dolphins signed an older veteran like Green to try and match the age of the defense, and go for some sort of playoff run in the next year or two.

With the strength of teams in the AFC that looks highly unlikely, but anytime a team is loaded with great veterans you never know what could happen. Miami has tried the veteran look several times in the last few years at the quarterback position. Jay Fiedler, Gus Frerotte, AJ Feeley, Daunte Culpepper, and the short lived Brian Griese all looked horrific. Fiedler did the best he could and actually got the Dolphins into the playoffs, but he was more of a leashed quarterback that looked good with Lamar Smith and Ricky Williams.

That trend seems to be a foreseen disastrous setup for Trent Green. There are signs of hope for him though. Nick Saban put life into the Dolphins even though they struggled early on last season. Even with his departure this team knows they can be a near or wild card team. New head coach Cam Cameron is a great fit for the Dolphins and he will look to spice up the Dolphins offense. The addition of Ted Ginn Jr. adds the new threat that teams need this day and age. So many games are decided by a field goal or a possession. Miami feels they can control the field position battle and get some big plays out of Ginn at the receiver position.

Where the problem may lay is on a totally revamped offensive line. They have a different projected starter at each position on the line, which could be a good thing. The Dolphins offensive line has been below average the last several seasons, which has kept Ronnie Brown from breaking out yet. As long as the offensive line holds its ground, then Green will be well worth the fourth round pick the Dolphins spent on him.

From a fantasy standpoint Green is a middle to high teen ranked quarterback. For several reasons he has to be ranked at that position. The Dolphins have a new staff and Green has to show he has fully recovered from his severe concussion last season. Plus, the negative results of Dolphins quarterbacks has to be on the front of fantasy managers minds. Green can be a spot or bye week starter but projections of his Chief days numbers will not happen. He is now relegated to being a second or third tier fantasy quarterback amongst the new class and younger veterans in the NFL.

A lot of teams were unimpressive week one. Rankings come out weekly so the harsh judging begins. Check to see where your favorite team is spotted in this weeks installment of NFL team power rankings.

1. Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers came out and did what most thought they couldn’t week one.

2. Cincinnati Bengals
Going into Arrowhead and dominating the way they did shows they’re back to get after the Steelers.

3. Seattle Seahawks
There are big concerns ahead as the offensive line looks rattled without Hutchinson.

4. Indianapolis Colts
Their run defense was atrocious. How many possible audibles can Manning call this season?

5. Carolina Panthers
Coming out flat is not the way you want to start a season against a strong division opponent.

6. Jacksonville Jaguars
They responded nicely after digging themselves a ten point hole.

7. New York Giants
All that cost them week one was miscues with penalties and poor play calling.

8. San Diego Chargers
Will the Chargers give Rivers the Roethlisberger treatment with passes all season?

9. Chicago Bears
They would be up higher if it were not for their weak week one opponent.

10. Philadelphia Eagles
Donte’s arrived.

11. Baltimore Ravens
We have a feeling they might begin a climb into the top ten. Something has got back into those stellar defensive players.

12. New England Patriots
What the heck was going on out there?

13. Atlanta Falcons
They’ve done this before, can they build upon this and keep it up?

14. Dallas Cowboys
It was a tough week one opponent and people already are calling for Romo.

15. Denver Broncos
At least their defense handled going onto the field in their territory well. They’ll be okay, but maybe not with Plummer.

16. Miami Dolphins
They were right there against Pittsburgh. Will Daunte’s crucial mistakes be calling for Joey Harrington?

17. Minnesota
Brad Johnson seems set to prove something and Chester Taylor looks like he was the right move for running back.

18. St. Louis Rams
Their defense made big plays but still gave up too many yards, and the offense could not punch the ball in for six.

19. Kansas City
Herman Edwards doesn’t know what happened week one. Damon Huard did the job when he had to step in for Marino in Miami. He has a running game to go to now, so the Chiefs might not be as bad off as people think.

20. Detroit Lions
They have playoff talent on both sides of the football, but they can’t piece it together.

21. Washington Redskins
Too many excuses of why they lost, instead of what they could of done to win against Minnesota.

22. Arizona Cardinals
Nothing has changed in Arizona. The running game failed and they had to go to the passing game against the 49ERS.

23. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
It’s safe to say Atlanta has passed them as Carolina’s threat.

24. New York Jets
Not too much attention went to the Jets this week. Pennington looked great and that needs to continue for the Jets.

25. New Orleans Saints
Bush, Bush, Bush. It’s going to grow old like the NBA over talking Lebron James.

26. Buffalo Bills
That’s why bad teams stay bad teams, when they can’t win games as such the Bills let get away this past weekend.

27. Tennessee Titans
They battled back against the Jets. It’s too bad they’ll be battling from deficits all season.

28. Houston Texans
The one bright sign of week one was Eric Moulds and Andre Johnson having nice days.

29. San Francisco 49ers
Alex Smith and the young 49ers actually look like they can start making steps forward.

30. Cleveland Browns
They’ll need to find a way to produce points or they may be going on a long losing streak.

31. Green Bay Packers
Someone had to of had an indescribable poor week for the Packers not to be 32.

32. Oakland Raiders
The silver and black painted fans of the Raiders are going to start looking across the Bay to the surging 49ers.

Fantasy drafts should all about be wrapped up. Hopefully you did not reach for a quarterback after the selections of Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. After them, there is a solid second tier of quarterbacks that can contribute well on fantasy squads. They are quarterbacks though that can fall to you deep into fantasy football drafts.

Stay tuned for bi weekly updates on all positions of rankings throughout the NFL season.

1. Peyton Manning
Any questions here than you either have not watched football in years or have are a non sports fan that was swindled into your office fantasy football league. Manning may never have the ridiculous touchdown numbers than he did a few years ago, but he is as automatic as you can have.

2. Tom Brady
Marvelous Brady has kept ringing up solid seasons year in and year out. Quietly you can compare him to Manning and get almost the same results. You may even be able to wait a round or two after Manning is selected to snatch Brady.

3. Donovan McNabb
He seems to be fully healthy and should be ready to move on with the cancerous Terrell Owens gone. The addition of Donte Stallworth will allow McNabb to air it out a bit. The best thing for McNabb is the decision for the Eagles to return to their old style. Which will involve utilizing Brian Westbrook again, who is an underrated pass catching back.

4. Trent Green
He had a down year for touchdown passes in 2005. Before last year though he was on a tear for three straight years with around 25 touchdowns and an easy 4,000 yards. Those are hard numbers to resist even if the Chiefs run the ball to death with Larry Johnson. The simple fact is that Green is at this position because of the weakening class of strength at the quarterback position. You could argue with any quarterback from five to nine that could go here, but Green is the consistent quarterback.

5. Carson Palmer
Can he last an entire season with questions in the back of his mind? Yes, he looked fantastic in PRESEASON action, but once that turns into four quarters of brutal action things will be different. Regardless his skills are too good to pass up and his progression as a quarterback in the NFL has been amazing.

6. Kurt Warner
His weapons are better than what he had in his hey day with the Rams. Everyone has downed Warner but he is a savvy veteran and can not screw up with the tools he has. Last year Warner did not have the dump off back like he had with Faulk and even Barber with the Giants. Now he has Edgerrin James and Warner suddenly feels like he can play another ten years. Too bad for him is the fact that Leinart is behind him. Don’t worry about the presence of Leinart. If the time comes, which shouldn’t be until late in the season, then worry. Until then, Warner is going to be a monster as a fantasy quarterback.

7. Matt Hasselbeck
The only reason he is here is because we all know that Shaun Alexander is a touchdown machine. Their offense runs through him, and the passing game comes a distant second. Even with that Hasselbeck has been a great fantasy quarterback. Playing the Rams, Cardinals, and 49ers twice a piece will do that.

8. Marc Bulger
All he has to do is stay healthy. Hopefully the change in the offensive philosophy will protect Bulger and help bring his name where it deserves to be in the league. He delivers a great ball and has the smarts to be the leader of this team for years.

9. Jake Delhomme
Delhomme is a veteran that knows what he needs to do. He has never been a huge fantasy quarterback but the running game may suffer early on. That means Delhomme will be throwing a bit more. He already has an amazing connection with Steve Smith, and should love possession receiver Keyshawn Johnson.

10. Daunte Culpepper
Give him some time to break in again. He has done okay thus far but has not received the necessary snaps he should have in preseason. Miami may suffer from that decision early on in the season. One thing that stood out is the fact that Culpepper still has fumbling woes. He needs to control that to be an elite fantasy quarterback.

11. Eli Manning
His accuracy has been the big question mark along with his youth. Everyone is expecting a tremendous leap of progression from last season, but don’t expect the crop before it is planted. Tiki Barber’s MVP season made Manning look better than he did last season. If Barber tails off a bit the demand may be too much for Eli.

12. Mike Vick
Some day Vick is going to live up to his hype. It may not be this year, but even a slight increase in his passing skills will land him this spot. Don’t overlook his running skills which makes him the only quarterback that you can start as an illegal third running back.

The rest

13. Jake Plummer
14. Drew Bledsoe
15. Byron Leftwich
16. Drew Brees
17. Brett Favre
18. Ben Roethlisberger
19. Mark Brunell
20. David Carr
21. Chad Pennington
22. Philip Rivers
23. Steve McNair
24. Aaron Brooks
25. Chris Simms
26. Jon Kitna
27. Brad Johnson
28. Charlie Frye
29. JP Losman
30. Billy Volek
31. Alex Smith
32. Rex Grossman

Now Mike Vick has no excuses to improve on his quarterback skills. With the Falcons acquiring Ashley Lelie, Vick gets a player that complements him perfectly. Lelie is a player that is known for the big play, and we all know that Vick has a cannon of an arm. On draft boards there are two things that should be going on. Both of them involve arrows moving Lelie and Vick up in their respective positions.

This should be a dynamite tandem and makes the Atlanta Falcons an extremely dangerous team. Not since Tony Martin and Terrence Mathis have the Falcons had any legitimate receivers. Now they have Lelie and their youngsters in Roddy White and Michael Jenkins peaking to NFL capability. Watch out for the Falcons.

Trends can be useful for all sorts of brain teasing facts. An interesting trend to look at is Mike Vick’s every other year pattern. Discount his rookie season in this, and flashback to 2002. It was the year Vick starting living up to his hype and had unreal runs all season long. That season also brought the Falcons to the playoffs in which they bumped the Green Bay Packers out in the wild card round at Lambeau field. Ending the season in the divisional round of the playoffs was thought of as a stepping stone for 2003.

Well in 2003, Vick was considered the guy to take in fantasy football leagues. At least as the number one quarterback, but that all botched away when Vick’s leg was broken in a preseason game against the Ravens. Then came 2004 (remember 02’), and Vick had the Falcons rolling again. This time as deep as the NFC championship game in a demoralizing defeat to the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles.

2005 turned out to be Vick’s poorest year on the field and doubters have since risen up on the launching of Vick to elite status. Before you jump on the guy, try badgering other quarterbacks in the league with worse inconsistency. Vick is the reason this team keeps building and adding key ingredients. With the way the team is looking now, Vick’s every other year trend might be successful for 2006. Super Bowl aspirations are not far away from the Falcons, and are likely if Vick improves just a tad on his blessed abilities.

With Lelie in the fold, Vick’s quarterback vision becomes four zones. His dump off throws to Warrick Dunn, middle of the field throws to Alge Crumpler, median passes to his receivers, and now that other zone beyond forty yards to Ashley Lelie. That zone is there for the first time in Vick’s career, but he’ll have to display the accuracy needed to complete that throw. There won’t be much time for Lelie and Vick to get their timing down, but maybe they’ll put in the extra time needed themselves by putting in that extra practice.

It is amazing that Vick has dropped so far down off the radar as a quarterback in fantasy football drafts. His rushing stats alone have deservedly put himself as a top ten quarterback. In several drafts, owners are sly enough to land Vick at the opportune time to classify him as a sneaky fantasy backup quarterback. That’s outrageous and will pay off for any owner that was able to do that.

For Lelie draftees commend yourself for drafting him as late as you did and being ranked on for it. Lelie has sure done a great public relations campaign for himself, stating that he deserved Javon Walker money, and this and that. The time to let your skills do the talking is up for Lelie. He is a solid number two receiver on any fantasy team. The knock on Lelie is the amount of drop balls he has and how easily he can be shut down if the deep ball can’t be completed.

Regardless both Vick and Lelie are better off with each other, and should pose for some great duo connections on the highlight reels.