Week one in the preseason and woes are expected. As Peyton Manning exited to the sidelines the Colts prospects as backup quarterbacks came to the field. From one of Jim Sorgi’s first throws a sideline camera would show Peyton Manning shaking his head. If Manning would have been wearing a voice headset he would have been going off more than once.

The Colts may not expect it, but Peyton Manning is not inevitable. An injury could occur and even if it is minor, they are not prepared. Neither Jim Sorgi or Shaun King has the capable skills of holding this team together for a three or four game span. If the Colts can’t see it, they are in some deep trouble. The wisest move for them would be to evaluate other quarterbacks that may be dumped during preseason or even finding a viable free agent quarterback left.

It does not seem like a big deal right now to the Colts as Peyton Manning has never been seriously hurt. He has a smooth delivery and never takes a big hit. In fact, he gets sacked rarely because of the Colts style of offense. This season though, he is not going to have it that easy. The Colts have a new running game that is going to take awhile to develop. On Thursday night, both Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes looked ineffective. The whole offense did though, and they’ll benefit greatly with more time and action with Peyton Manning as the preseason goes on.

The big thing for the Colts on Thursday was the offensive line. St. Louis’s defense was in on the Colts all night long and the line never could adjust. They did as bad a job as you could expect for the first game of the preseason. For all the talk and ridicule Manning gave at the offensive line last season, things have not become better yet at least. They should dig in and become more familiar with each other, hopefully.

A nice quarterback for the Colts to maybe take a look at, was the quarterback opposing them tonight in Ryan Fitzpatrick. The talk is that he may be the odd man out with Scott Linehan in St Louis. If that’s the case, Fitzpatrick should be a nice addition to a multiple of teams including the Colts. He showed promise last year as a rookie in some spot duty action, and did so as well in the Rams first preseason game.

We just can’t believe though that the Colts have not pursued a solid backup. Tony Dungy must have been assured of Shaun King from his days with Tampa Bay. But King fell from starter to being waived with Tampa Bay for a reason, and fell out of Arizona quickly for a reason as well. He got lucky his rookie season, plain in simple, and his days as an NFL quarterback are done. He could not be counted on for a game, if he started an entire meaningless preseason game.

Perhaps Manning will be one of the few quarterbacks that somehow evades injuries. Then again, besides Brett Favre who has been able to avoid injury at the quarterback position his entire career? If you’re the Colts and want to gain that critical home field advantage you better analyze all outlets. A few games without Peyton Manning could be a huge difference in playoff seedings.

Picture Jim Sorgi or Shaun King starting critical games in midst of a strong start by Manning? They would not be able to handle it, and would be lucky to win a game. Sign someone now, Indianapolis.

For some reason athletes think they can get there way. Jerry Porter is pushing the buttons of the Raiders organization but they will not give in. Art Shell and Jerry Porter know that they don’t and will likely not get along. So how will this relationship work out, since the two will have to deal with each other?

It all started according to Jerry Porter from the immediate signing of Art Shell as head coach. They went at it verbally and from then on have not tried to mend the relationship. Shell does not care that Porter does not like him and says that the relationship is business only. Meaning as long as Porter is doing his job, he does not care.

Then yesterday Porter decides to go off on a television station again on how much he is disliking the situation and demanded a trade. Suddenly the next day Porter is unable to practice due to a calf injury. Hmm, it has to be the early rigorous workouts getting to him. Come on Jerry, stop being a baby and do your job. When Art Shell was questioned on Porter’s status, he said that he will not be traded and the status of his health will be examined.

If we were Jerry Porter we would be calling ourselves an idiot. He has enough competition to deal with in the likes of Ronald Curry and Doug Gabriel. Not to mention he is coming off a poor year in which he could not complement Randy Moss, even though Moss was not 100 percent and missed plenty of games. Porter should be worried about his job and future of gaining a worthy contract by taking advantage of his current situation. Teams are not only going to shy away from him because of his on the field struggles but will shy away even further because of his attitude issues.

If you were a high profiled athlete, maybe, just maybe you could get away with going overboard like this. If you’re about to participate in a fantasy football draft, do not even consider Porter at this point. This situation could get ugly enough where he might be following the Keyshawn Johnson and Terrell Owens path by mid season. A coach of Art Shell’s nature does not give two cents about Porter’s demands. Especially when he has Randy Moss as his main guy.

Hopefully for Jerry and the Raiders this situation boils over and they handle this like men. The best thing for them would be to sit down and discuss things all over again. Porter has too much talent and could flourish with Aaron Brooks and maybe finally get his career launched. No longer is Porter a third or fourth year receiver, he is now approaching his seventh season and needs to start acting like it. Chances and stints to play that long in the league do not come to a lot, and Porter needs to realize that. There is no time for whining, pouting, and acting like a soccer player faking an injury to impress somebody.

Pack your bags and board a plane. It is suppose to only happen for sixteen games a season in terms of wins and losses for an athlete. They forget to tell you that there is more to the travel side of the NFL than the game. Attending and participating in charity events could be on the menu all the way to searching for a new job. These NFL stars along with their agents will spend sometimes up to a month flying from city to city as a free agent trying to lure the best dollars out of teams. Often times those dollars turn into over spent money, but whose fault is that.

There was a time in years past where the thought of free agency was new, fresh, and fun to look forward to. Now it has become a whirlwind event that is becoming an unexpected shift of changes. Add fantasy football to the mix and you could be stuck on missing out on shifting athletes that slip through the cracks of your draft. Take for example last years free agency marvel stud Santana Moss. He was perceived as a weak option as a fantasy second wide receiver and a possible filler in the third spot. This was just after having a mediocre campaign that was not his fault with the Jets in 2004, but not far removed from a fabulous campaign in 2003. Negative opinions on Moss were abound and even more were out on Washington’s offensive capabilities. Well that was all squashed a few weeks in the season, and Moss draftees were much happier with the product of Santana than Randy.

Focus has to be on the wide receivers, were change was amuck and frequent this off-season in the NFL

Quarterbacks are always moved around but like usual, not as much for immediate participation. They are brought in to add depth and perhaps be a reliever if the opportunity presents itself. So here is an extensive look at which athletes on new teams will be worth a valuable look at when your fantasy draft comes.

1. Terrell Owens
The former disgruntled wide receiver is happy to move on and have a chance to end his career in the Big D. Yet, he is 33 years old and has been dinged up over the past few seasons. The vengeance on his mind and his overall work ethic skills just make him too good to pass up as a late second or early third round pick taken in leagues. No receiver in the league competes with his physical presence, and he will also be playing with a quarterback that is a sharp veteran. To gauge his season is rough to do considering the new environment, but stars shine everywhere.

2. Edgerrin James
Athletes just get tired of hearing they are on their way out. Edgerrin James has been hearing that he is not worth his value, and that the Colts need to use his salary to build up the rest of the team. Well, the Colts are about to see how valuable James was and the Cardinals are about to improve in terms of steps to their goal as a yearly playoff team. James is a dynamic back that fits the Cardinals offense about as best as any team he could have went to. The receivers with the Cardinals are better and Kurt Warner is a winner that will have this offense functioning forward. With the threat of all of the Cardinals wide receivers the amount of touchdowns James will have could be a little low to draft him in the high part of the first round. Still, the Cardinals will score a lot of points and it is hard to imagine James not being a huge part of that.

3. Drew Brees
Initial reports indicate that Brees shoulder and arm are looking fine. Fine could be translated in any realm, so do not believe the hype. Wait to see his arm throwing in training camp and see if the sharpness is there or not. New Orleans is a revamped team with extreme weapons offensively. Brees should not miss a beat with the way he performs as a quarterback. He is always calm and just knows how to play the quarterback position. In the end, the Saints will reap the benefits of signing Brees, which may be sooner than people think.

4. Daunte Culpepper
How old will Culpepper’s body act and look when he makes his debut? We all know his body has lost some portion of his athleticism, and that may affect other areas of his quarterback skills. Miami insured themselves by bringing in Joey Harrington, but Culpepper also has a huge motivation chip on shoulder. The guy has a laser of an arm and is with a coach that will do everything possible to make sure he succeeds. We just do not know if Culpepper can shake his turnover problems and play consistently well to be a top fantasy quarterback.

5. Adam Vinatieri
Talk about absolute no loyalty towards a key component of your franchises success. The Patriots displayed that by allowing Vinatieri to roam as a free agent and ignoring his claims of seriousness to sign elsewhere. Now he gets to boot for Peyton Manning and the high flying scoring machine Colts. If you want the extra edge for close fantasy games than you better snatch up Vinatieri. He will have plenty of games where his leg will give you ten to fifteen points.

6. Antwaan Randle El
Randle El over the past few years has seemed like an athlete ready to breakout. In the way though was an offense that rarely passed, and Hines Ward. Even with that Randle El would constantly show his big play abilities and be the spark the Steelers needed in many cases. In Washington he is headed in as the third option behind Santana Moss and Brandon Lloyd. It will be up to him to outdo Lloyd, but he should still see the field and get plenty of looks as an opposite speed threat to Santana Moss.

7. Nate Burelson
If ever a receiver capitalized off of ability than performance Burelson has the resume now of doing it. The Seahawks shelled out a seven year, $49 million contract to finally have a receiver that is more of a feature second wide receiver than a Joe Jurevicious. The same expectations fantasy owners expected last year better be toned down to a degree. Rather than risking a pick on Burelson stick with the more for sure receiver for the first five rounds. If you’re in a deep league than consider him a player with an asterisk for success or bust in the fifth or sixth round.

8. Keyshawn Johnson
Not to take anything away from Johnson but being let go by numerous teams in a few years is not good. The Cowboys only let Johnson go because of their intentions to go after Terrell Owens and try something different at wide receiver. For the most part Johnson is just an athlete that is going to make the tough catches and be an end zone threat. With the Panthers still unsure of there running backs, Johnson may become the offense for short gains that normally would be counted on by a running back.

9. Javon Walker
If he is recovered 100 percent than obviously he would be ranked higher. But usually that is not even a possibility for a receiver after they tear up their knee. The Broncos evaluated Walker before they traded for him, and apparently believe that he is ready to play well immediately. With Rod Smith defying age and Ashley Lelie acting like an Ashley, the opportunities are more than lovable for a fantasy owner.

10. Aaron Brooks
Not too long ago Brooks was considered a top ten fantasy quarterback with upside. It got to the point in New Orleans that the situation just looked unworkable for Brooks and the Saints. Two years late, the Saints finally parted ways with Brooks and now Brooks gets a chance to perform for the Oakland Raiders. When Brooks is on there are not many quarterbacks that can be as accurate and effective. The problem though is that he develops more rust than Vinny Testaverde’s ancient arm.

The rest
11. Eric Moulds, Houston Texans
12. Chester Taylor, Minnesota Vikings
13. Martin Gramatica, New England
14. Joey Harrington, Miami Dolphins
15. Brandon Lloyd, Washington Redskins
16. David Givens, Tennessee Titans
17. Antonio Bryant, San Francisco 49ers
18. Peerless Price, Buffalo Bills
19. Mike Anderson, Baltimore Ravens
20. David Boston, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
21. Josh McCown/Kitna, The winner of the Detroit Lions battle
22. Jabar Gafney, Philadelphia Eagles
23. Michael Bennett, New Orleans
24. Brian Griese, Chicago Bears
25. Quentin Griffin, Kansas City Chiefs

Questioning the Houston Texans off-season movements is about as easy as making fun of Maurice Clarett’s attempts to come back to the NFL. Before people jump on the current rant on the Texans bypassing Reggie Bush, just forget about that for a second, and flip back to an earlier off-season signing.

The Texans brought in Eric Moulds to be a complement receiver to Andre Johnson. Any doubts about a receiver that has struggled the last three years, and could not complement Lee Evans? Ah, yeah. Then why sign him for a four year deal for $14 million? He is thirty three years old now and picturing a turnaround at this point would be a shocker.

Eric Moulds was a definite great fantasy wide receiver five years ago, but those days are long gone. Just over the past few years he has had nothing but nagging injuries. Foreseeing a season complete with Moulds playing in all contests, is a fantasy that will never come true. If he possibly could do it, he would likely be out their playing hurt.

Maybe playing opposite Andre Johnson will create the mismatches Moulds needs. Because catching the football is something Moulds can do. The problem is his ability to separate from defenders and run after the catch. Last year and even the previous year he ranked in the top twenty in the league for caught footballs amongst receivers. Yet, his yards per catch were horrible because he did not have the legs anymore.

When a receiver loses his ability to be a dangerous threat with his legs, it is not long before injuries occur commonly. If a receiver goes his whole career as a deep threat and then has to change to a possession receiver, it is something the body is not ready for. Moulds may get his body to adjust by working out more and finally realizing what he is going to need to do as a veteran receiver.

The good thing for Moulds is that Andre Johnson is and will be a huge deep threat on every play. The bad thing for Moulds is that he played with one of the better deep threats in the league in Lee Evans, and could not handle Evans taking all the big plays. Maybe it was because Moulds was the household name for a receiver in Buffalo for so long. That can be hard for any athlete to take. But you would have expected Moulds to handle himself better, instead of being bitter about balls thrown his way. This led to Moulds being suspended last season, and eventually his exit from the team when he refused to take a pay cut during the off-season.

Moulds could have fit in well with a majority of NFL teams, but we just do not see it as a Texan. They have too much youth moving forward, that has been gelling for quite some time now. David Carr, Andre Johnson, and Domanick Davis have been a great force offensively, but the reason they have not continued to improve is because of the offensive line. That was the reason last year that Johnson’s numbers slipped and Carr continued to pace the NFL as the top quarterback being sacked.
By the Texans not addressing the offensive line, that bodes even worse for Moulds. Since he can not get separation well anymore he is just going to make it harder for David Carr, which will lead to plenty of errant throws.

If the Texans would have been smart they would have brought in a wide receiver like Nate Burelson. Who is a speedster that would stretch the field and make it extremely hard for any secondary, with Andre Johnson out there as well.

The only way Moulds can be a factor is if the Texans get a more mature Jerome Mathis entering the 2006 season. Anyone who watched the Texans last year saw the electrifying blazing speed by Mathis on kick returns. In a three wide receiver set, Mathis will be able to spread the defense out and that could help Moulds get some red zone touchdowns.

Do not expect Moulds to even come close to 1,000 yards receiving though. A destined spot for Moulds in fantasy drafts at this point would be the eighth or ninth round. Do keep your ears open for training camp reports, and if there is anything floating about Moulds looking better than he has in years, than consider him a potential sleeper. But do not get caught on his prior big name statistics and think he is a sleeper now. At best he is a deep sleeper, but just think of old receivers that try to reclaim their old fashion on new squads. It never works.

It was obvious the Detroit Lions wanted to part ways with Joey Harrington. They repeatedly gave Harrington chances to succeed, and even brought in three supposed young standout wide receivers. They even want as far as trying to supplant Harrington by expecting Jeff Garcia to win the job over, and that did not pan out either. All of us knew that something was wrong when the Lions benched Harrington on Thanksgiving Day for Garcia, who was playing and played much worse than Harrington the entire season.

A chance to turn around Harrington’s career seems dim. At least he is in a new environment where he steps in for the immediate future as the Dolphins starting quarterback. Of course that door to start will only last as long as it takes Daunte Culpepper to recover from his serious knee injuries.

Miami knows that Culpepper’s return could be an upgrade or a downgrade away from being pushed back into late October or plans for a week one return. Regardless of Culpepper’s health concerns, Harrington will be the one that takes the snaps and gets the starters reps all off-season. By Miami trading away a meaningless fifth round pick, it is a trade off of little risk for Miami. Putting Harrington in a less stressful environment with a stronger team camaraderie and nucleus is only going to boost his confidence. Nick Saban has had a tremendous effect on almost any player he has been around and Harrington should be another.

While at Detroit there were just too many torturous events for a quarterback to blossom. Every year there was either a coaching change or a new system to learn. On top of that Harrington was thrust right in to starting quarterback duties as a rookie in 2002. People think automatically that a quarterback can be like a Ben Roethlisberger, but the learning curve is essential for most quarterbacks. Harrington did not have that and it showed each year as he kept looking like a rookie.

That led to week to week inconsistency from Harrington. One week he could be an extremely patient quarterback that had the big play or two to give the Lions the win. The next he could be a flustered quarterback, and when that happened it would overlap into the upcoming weeks. It just seemed that too much emphasis was on what Harrington had to do with the football, instead of building the offense around him. Whether that be by establishing the run, or even helping Harrington with short dump offs or quick outs to the receiver. The Lions just threw Harrington into the fire every week and let him burn.

Having the tools to play quarterback has always been there for Harrington. He has a great arm and solid enough arm strength and accuracy to deliver a football wherever he wants. Dissecting Harrington’s miscues are as obvious as watching a Jake Plummer or Brett Favre. At times he just has horrible football IQ and awareness on the football field. Poor throws in tremendous coverage have plagued him from launching his career into a positive direction. Maybe he needs to get his eyes reexamined because sometimes he just looks like a blind quarterback throwing into a sea of players.

Nick Saban and the Miami Dolphins will know how to turn Harrington around and steer him in the direction the Lions should have done several years ago. Harrington’s future is still bright as he is only entering his sixth season in the NFL. Bravo to Miami for sacrificing a draft pick to acquire Harrington even though he would have been available in four weeks; as he was all but guaranteed to be cut by the Lions before June 15th.

Picturing a successful campaign from Harrington’s view would be by signifying a change in his dangerous throws that are unneeded. All that would require is the growth from a shuffling worried young rookie type quarterback, to a veteran that has learned from his past and can stand in the pocket for that extra second or two and deliver his throws.

If Harrington can play within Nick Saban’s system he will not have to be a huge quarterback play maker. Jay Fiedler never had to do it and neither did Gus Frerotte last season. Miami is the perfect fit for Harrington and a smart move by Miami’s front office for a cheap expense.

Will there be a quarterback controversy this season or next off-season in Miami?

A goal as a franchise is always to progress in all areas. In the NFL that’s easier said than done. The steps taken forward can back track double time with the simplest of wrong moves. Having poor drafts, letting a key free agent go or not addressing veteran players have all been catastrophic problems for the past Cardinals. In the last few seasons though, they have remarkably made a turn around in those same departments. How long can they keep it up or will it continue?

The Cardinals possess likely the best trio of young receivers in the league in Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald, and Bryant Johnson. While many teams like to go after wide receivers in free agency, not too many of those receivers do well with the big dollar contracts. So Arizona decided to attack that area in two drafts, and wound up with all three as steals. That can not be completely said yet for Bryant Johnson, but he is a receiver that can hold his own. The only problem for Arizona is how long will they be able to keep this unit together and happy?

The Cardinals three big play receivers should be grinning with the addition Edgerrin James. If winning becomes a factor next season maybe one of the receivers will be willing to take a pay cut so the Cardinals can sign a couple of extra free agents. After all the state of Arizona does have the benefit of hosting the 2008 Super Bowl.

A year ago the Cardinals had the smarts to bring in two time MVP Kurt Warner for a last shot in his career. He managed the team well throughout last season only to go down to a season ending injury. His play was enough for the Cardinals to bring him back this upcoming season, but not for a long term status. With the drafting of Matt Leinart, Warner is almost in as bad a situation as he was with the Giants when they took Eli Manning. Unless Warner carries the Arizona Cardinals to an unprecedented start, he’ll likely be seated on the bench at some point in October or November.

Nonetheless having Warner around Matt Leinart will only benefit Leinart. He has the luxury of learning and being tutored from Warner, and not being thrown right into the fire as a quarterback. Many people think Leinart took a huge hit in his wallet by not leaving his junior season, but trust us he didn’t. That extra year in college added more big game experience on his shoulders, and now he’ll gain more mentally on the sidelines.

Addressing the Cardinals offensive line issues may not be as bad as it seems. They were horrific as a run blocking team but decently adequate as a pass blocking unit. Dennis Green believes that the team just needs extra time as a unit to develop as a solid run blocking unit. Perhaps the addition of an All Pro running back will get that line to improve its tenacity.

The defense is an area where the Cardinals have already been flourishing. The young unit was great last season and should only soar to the top ten in the NFL. Antrell Rolle missed a big portion of last season due to injury, and will be ready at 100 percent. Also, don’t forget about linebacker Karlos Dansby who is the NFL’s best kept secret at that position. He is a top five linebacker that doesn’t get his credit due to the overall poor display of the Cardinals in the past.

Bill Bidwell always used to get nagged for the poor moves that the Cardinals would constantly do; boy has he turned it around. In less than three years he has brought in Dennis Green, and retooled both sides of the football into a red hot optimistic arrow. The perfect timing for a team that is moving into a brand new state of the art facility and playing its first Monday Night game since 1999.