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.

Think of the Arizona Cardinals wide receivers. Who comes to mind? Instantly two names pop up. One in Anquan Boldin and the other as Larry Fitzgerald. The funny thing is, while those two will be the main figures of the Cardinals offense, there is a serious sleeper with fine talent. That wide out is none other than Bryant Johnson, who was taken with the Cardinals first round pick over second rounder Anquan Boldin.

While Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald were able to step in and shine, it has taken Bryant Johnson a little longer. It has been a slow process to the standards of a first round pick but he has been a solid producer. His stats may not show it, as of the last two years he has only averaged around five hundred yards receiving and a mere couple of touchdowns.

If you were to ask Kurt Warner though he would say different. Anyone that watched the Cardinals when Kurt Warner was dropping back, could easily notice his favoritism a little bit towards Johnson. They developed that connection in preseason and training camp last season.

For fantasy owners the big question is, why even look at the name Bryant Johnson? The reason is because of talent and the team he is on. An added bonus is that his contract expires at the end of this year, and you can bet Johnson will get his name out for a free agent campaign worth some dollars. One other major reason is the simple fact that Anquan Boldin has never been on the field a full season since his rookie year. At some time in the year he develops some itty injury that carries over a length of time that it should not. Who knows if one of those times will turn into a season.

Boldin and Fitzgerald are young and the top of their positions as athletes. They’ll be ready for the physical contact and near 100 balls they’ll be seen thrown at them. Realistically though for both to make it through the season without missing a game or worse is unlikely. Meaning Bryant Johnson will see some heavy duty as the Cardinals are going to expand the offense even more with the addition of Edgerrin James.

We guarantee that Bryant Johnson will be a hot waiver wire pickup at some point and pay high dividends. Since his rookie year, he has been a sneaky player that has stayed off radars. That’s what averaging 450 yards and only one touchdown a year will do to you. Those stats though are very valuable for the time and number of catches he gets. A player can only do so much when only having forty balls thrown his way. All he needs to do is catch a break his way and get a little extra playing time on the field.

Johnson has seen the fabulous years of his buddies Fitzgerald and Boldin racking up near records as combo number one and two receivers. Deep down that has to be getting to him, especially since he was picked over Boldin. A free agent year somehow always falls into the hands of a player that has been waiting to shine throughout his first contract. No one exemplifies that statement more than Bryant Johnson. With a solid 2006 season you can bet a team will give him a chance as a main target in 2007.

The ins and outs of the NFL can be glamorous but also short lived. One minute you could be comparable to Trent Dilfer, as a winning Super Bowl quarterback. A journeyman like Dilfer is past from team to team in his career, with little intentions by those teams of maintaining a future interest. The money is great in the NFL but the stresses of always looking over your shoulder are the obvious necessities of competition. With free agency playing a bigger role every year and the NFL Draft growing as an seven round talent feast; athletes that some would never think would be looking over their shoulders are.

Of course heading into fantasy football drafts, nothing is worse than drafting a bust of an athlete. Knowing the possibilities of an athlete being benched is one of the keys to not wasting a valuable pick. Do not be fooled and lose your senses in thinking that every pick in a fantasy football draft is not important. Every pick is and if you draft right, you will not have to worry about having to dig in on a trade or pray for landing a waiver wire phenom. With that in mind we have compiled a section solely on the premise of athletes heading into the 2006 season with their heads twisted and looking over their shoulders.

Quarterbacks
Joey Harrington vs. Jon Kitna
Let the snarling and growling begin. Jon Kitna has made the bold statements that he has the job and that there is no competition for the starting job. Having cockiness could be a good or bad sign for Kitna. The Lions do need a leader with tough tenacity but the Lions will not be scared to shuffle the situation. McCown is younger and has played fairly well in his stint duty starts for the Cardinals. There may not be enough for McCown to show in preseason to surpass Kitna, but he is almost a given to see action at some point during the season.

Joey Harrington vs. Daunte Culpepper
Determining the strength of Culpepper’s recovery from multiple surgeries and his progression of rehab will determine if this battle starts in Joey Harrington’s favor or not. If Harrington does start the season as the Dolphins starter it could be his for the majority of the year. That is of course only if he is winning. Often times if a quarterback shows that he has the team in the right direction than there is and will not be an immediate change. If Culpepper is forced to limited reps and a low amount of preseason action, than Harrington is the guy to lose the job. There is no way that Nick Saban would jeopardize a regular season preseason training environment for Culpepper to show his rust. He will make Culpepper show he can play with many weeks of practice.

Kelly Holcomb vs JP Losman and Craig Nall
The Bills may be regretting sending Drew Bledsoe’s bags packing with thoughts that JP Losman would be their starter for years. It turned out that he did not even last a whole season and now is a question to be the Bills backup quarterback. Things got so bad that there were rumors that the Bills were going to try to deal him. Overall, the Bills quarterback situation looks cloudy with a clear forecast not in the near future. True Buffalo weather. Holcomb can not be the starter all season, so eventually the Bills will need to decide on which youngster to try to utilize. For fantasy football owners anyone with one of these athletes on your team will be as desperate as can be. These three names should be thrown on a list of fantasy deserted island, with no hopes of thinking of rescuing them to your squads.

Brian Griese vs. Rex Grossman
You know your watching your shoulder when people are criticizing you for Kyle Orton. That was truly amazing to hear people call out the Bears for making the move to bring in Grossman for Orton. With Griese now lurking in the shadows the whispers are already stirring. The fact that Grossman has never been able to stay healthy is another reason to suspect that Griese will be on the field at some point. If that does happen it may not be such a bad situation for the Bears. Griese could thrive in the system of the Bears where a quarterback has the least pressure of any team.

Matt Leinart vs. Kurt Warner
Warner has seen this before when the Giants drafted Eli Manning. He did play well for the Giants and that was not even enough for him to stay away from being benched. This time around Warner will have to play like an MVP to avoid being sat in place of the future of the Cardinals. Of course Warner will also have to try to keep his body well, which has been plaguing him since his MVP days. The Cardinals have done a great job marketing and Leinart is atop the plan, so which week will he enter?

Jay Cutler vs Jake Plummer
If there ever has been a coach that pulls the trigger on a move with the quickness, it is Mike Shanahan. He does not care about a name, he cares about performance. Jake Plummer may have been raved about by Shanahan from the time he was signed, but Shanahan is unhappy with what Plummer has brought over the last few years. That’s obvious with the drafting of Cutler. So it will be up to Plummer to bump off the appearance of Cutler and continue to move the Broncos further into the playoffs. After all he did get them to the AFC championship game, but we all know that is not ever good enough.

Running Backs

Laurence Maroney vs. Corey Dillon
Backs that are drafted in the latter part of the first round have proven to be extremely valuable picks. Maroney hopes to keep that pattern going well, and the Patriots believe he is their back of the future. Corey Dillon is approaching the phase of a running back in which you do not know how much you can get out of him anymore. Dillon has been banged up far too much and the Patriots can ill afford to head into 2006 without insurances. Maroney will pose as a potential fantasy option if Dillon’s injury woes continue.

Mike Anderson vs. Jamal Lewis
Stutter stepping Jamal Lewis will need to get back to moving his legs forward or else Mike Anderson will show him how. Anderson is a straight forward plowing runner and the Ravens will not shy away from using him. Therefore the number of carries will not be shocking to see escalate more and more into Anderson’s arms. Especially if Lewis struggles as he did last year, albeit, the Ravens offense did not help.

Cleveland’s backfield
Just when the Browns thought they had their sure guy, Reuben Droughns goes ahead and gets himself into trouble as well off the field. It seems no one really wants to have the starting job in Cleveland. Not looming too far off from Droughns are Lee Suggs and William Green. It will be entertaining to watch who gets on Romeo Crennel’s good side. In all likelihood the Browns will use a running back by committee. As all are fairly talented backs.

Cedric Benson vs. Thomas Jones
Somehow Thomas Jones was able to stave off Cedric Benson from taking over last season, until Benson was out of the picture with a season ending injury. How Jones did it was by playing well and being the Bears offense every week. Can he repeat that success? We think so, as he seems to have found a niche with the Bears and has improved all around as a back. Yet, the Bears did not use a high first round pick on Benson for nothing. So the eventual problem will soon translate to Benson getting more carries. How that will affect Jones remains to be seen.

Maurice Drew vs. Fred Taylor
Fred Taylor has staved off competition since the James Stewart days. With that in mind, is the time nearing where he will finally succumb? He has yet to lose any of his explosiveness and is still one of the better complete running backs in the NFL. Injuries may have helped Taylor by making his role less heavy than most feature backs. Drew is expected to push Taylor but do no expect anything significant to happen for at least this season.

Wide Receivers

Keary Colbert vs. Keyshawn Johnson
Colbert sure downed fantasy owners last season and the Panthers. It was the Steve Smith and nobody else show if you were a Carolina Panther wideout last season. Recent reports have came out on why that happened. Colbert was playing through an ankle injury all season long even though it was never reported as a weekly factor. If Colbert can come in healthy there is no reason to see why he can not push Keyshawn Johnson. The Panthers would like to have the duo they envisioned last season, and Johnson is not necessarily a serious threat these days.

Chad Jackson vs. Reche Caldwell
Most rookie wide receivers struggle but Chad Jackson may have extra motivation to succeed. After being predicted as a first round pick he slipped all the way into the second round to the New England Patriots. Not bad in terms of where he landed, but a horrible shot to his confidence heading into the NFL. The only way he can change that is to go out and prove to Tom Brady that he wants to be the go to guy. With the Patriots losing David Givens and bringing in Reche Caldwell they are in dire need for someone to step up opposite Deion Branch.

Jabar Gafney vs. Reggie Brown
It is amazing that the Eagles are fine with their existing wide receivers. From top to bottom the group looks like a no name list of AFL or NFL Europe players. Poor Donovan McNabb but he will have to throw to someone. Gafney had some okay games with the Houston Texans that paved the way in the Eagles taking a chance on him. Frankly, if he can not grab a hold of the Eagles second receiver job than the Eagles may need to think about signing or trading for a wideout.

David Boston vs. Michael Clayton
Being in Jon Gruden’s doghouse is never a good thing but Michael Clayton is. With the recent signing of David Boston and Chris Simms raving about him, things do not look too well for Clayton. What does, is the fact that David Boston has been a ghost in the NFL since he left Arizona in 2001. Boston still is a beast but may have suffered too many injuries to get back to being a starting wide receiver.

Reggie Williams vs. Ernest Wilford
Williams may have the obvious talent edge over Wilford but where he lacks is in the department of favoritism. Byron Leftwich loved Jimmy Smith but was always looking for Wilford secondly. Matt Jones has all but ensured himself a starting job so the battle between Williams and Wilford could be a sleeper choice in fantasy leagues.

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.

Not often are there athletes that can take over on the football field and sustain that quality of play for over ten years. If it does happen more times than less it is by a player with great notoriety and expectancy to achieve well. For Jimmy Smith, there would not be a person that would have believed his story; which came to an uneventful off-season retirement conclusion.

Most great athletes have their last hooray known for by fans at seasons end or by poor play that runs them out. Jimmy Smith capped off his career in odd fashion by deciding to walk away from the game. This comes from an athlete that has been nothing but an exceptionally different athlete.

Over the last ten years we have seen plenty of receiver greats. Tim Brown, Jerry Rice, and Cris Carter are just a few names that jump out as banner hall of fame names. Yet they all had horrible transitions to leaving the game of football. Tim Brown was a cast off to Tampa Bay, Jerry Rice was practically dealt his retirement by the Broncos in training camp last season, and Cris Carter was a Dolphin for no reason.

So why and how has the media treated Jimmy Smith’s retirement as basic as possible? This guy posted 1,000 yard seasons for practically every year that he was a Jaguar. He was a cornerstone of the inaugural Jacksonville Jaguars team that featured Keenan McCardell, Mark Brunell, and Natrone Means. If the Jaguars do not have an illustrious ceremony out the gate of their 2006 season than something definitely is not right. Smith was as unique a receiver as they get and deserves instant banner and jersey retirement recognition before anyone even has a chance to don number 82. Hang it up in Gillette Stadium and even keep his locker untouched as a representation of how much he has meant and done for the Jaguars organization.

Approaching the age of forty is never a good sign as an NFL athlete, especially as a wide receiver. While the Jaguars were more than willing to have Jimmy Smith back in 2006, it was definitely for a short term commitment. This would have been Jimmy Smith’s last year under contract with the Jaguars, and we all know the ugly situation that would have unraveled after the 2006 season. Smith would have been forced into retirement and likely that move would have been preceded by lesser and less action on the football field as the NFL weeks went by.

So the decision by Smith to retire was all a preparation move to avoid the “I’m better than the franchise” treatment (cough Favre) a year from now. Or better yet to avoid being so vent up with frustration from your team that you set out to prove them wrong by signing with another team. It is a move that never works and just makes the athlete look older and an inch away to retirement.

Things really fell into place for Jimmy Smith by the NFL giving a franchise to the city of Jacksonville in 1995. Let’s not forget that Smith was a member of the Dallas Cowboys from 1992 through 1995 and was looking like a future XFL candidate. He was cut by the Cowboys and would have likely strung along on some teams as a fifth receiver before fading out of the NFL completely. But by the impressive skills of his mother with a book of clippings on Jimmy Smith, he was giving a golden opportunity with the Jaguars.

Smith stepped in right away as a staple for the Jaguars, and was part of one of the best tandem receivers for several years. He was a fantasy football yardage king that racked up over 1,000 yards nine out of ten seasons from 1996 through last season. A true valued pick as every year was expected to be the season that his numbers would slip. They never did, and we tip our hats to probably the best receiver over the last ten years besides Marvin Harrison.

Athletes love voicing their mouths when it comes to money. They are already getting paid millions of dollars, but yet they deserve more money. It may be understandable if you’ve put together a couple of outstanding seasons and were getting raped on your contract. But Denver Broncos wide receiver, Ashley Lelie, isn’t one that should be talking.

With one year remaining on his contract Ashley Lelie is considering holding out until he gets one of two things. A contract as fat as newly acquired wide receiver Javon Walker or a trade out of Denver. Neither will likely happen before the start of the season, and in the end Lelie will look like a big whining athlete. If he would have performed up to the standards the Broncos expected him to last season, than a trade for Walker would have been a no go. Instead, he dropped several passes and was out done once again by aging great wide receiver in Rod Smith.

The hints the Broncos organization has sent him should be a motivator for Lelie to get his act together. The deep threat skills he possesses are a rarity in the league, but he needs to hold onto the football. Once your main talents are found at, especially at wide receiver, they’re going to be taken away by opposing teams. That’s why Lelie had an awful last season as far as individual games. He only had one game where he reached over 100 receiving yards, and one touchdown catch. Appalling fantasy numbers from the expectancy from his previous breakout season.

Lelie has never been a receiver to catch many balls on a season, but he does rank near the top of the league in yards per catch. In order to improve on the number of catches he gets, he needs to become more than a home run receiver. He is not Randy Moss. Lelie likes to complain at being demoted to the third receiver in the Broncos system, but that’s often where the special threat receivers go. His hands and every down play have not been representable of a starting receiver.

It is good to hear that Lelie has fired his agent and is training with Javon Walker in Arizona. Maybe he will get it through his head that he has to earn a contract. Since he will be a free agent after this season, he can either wow some teams this year or be looking for another contract worthy of an average receiver.

Taking notes from stud receiver Rod Smith may also be a smart idea. Lelie is too talented to not change his attitude and reshape his game to his 2004 form.