Well it looks like the quarterback competition in Oakland is finally winding down. Although at this point this battle should have very little fantasy implications, the winner might be a name to consider during the year when you run into injury problems or the bye week blues. McCown has proven himself to be a completely mediocre quarterback, averaging only 155 yards a game and throwing only 25 touchdowns in 35 games, while also throwing 29 interceptions. I wouldn't expect much different from him if he takes over as quarterback for the Raiders this season. However, Daunte Culpepper brings a lot more intrigue to the conversation.

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Michael Silver thinks so. His editorial comes off mostly as a fluff piece, and it's important not to get too excited about a player over one of those, but there's one thing to consider: Maybe Denny Green was just a terrible coach. This passage in particular makes it seem as if there's some hope for a resurgence of sorts now that Green's gone:

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Harrington must feel like he's on top of the world right now. His evil plot to frame Michael Vick for dogfighting actually worked (wait, what?), he's got the starting job locked down in Atlanta, and he just finished a preseason game with a 118.0 passer rating.

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The fantasy leagues that are the most fun are the ones where the message board is constantly full of trash talk. If you're lucky enough to be in a league like that, and you notice the chatter die down suddenly, check the waiver wire. Someone might have done something stupid and dropped a player who's far too good for free agency - and everyone's keeping their mouths shut, hoping the other managers don't notice until the player clears waivers. Don't let someone with lower waiver priority nab a quality player out from under you. And no matter what happens, once it's all over, make sure you participate in the peanut gallery that will be busting the chops of the moron who dropped someone he shouldn't have.

When the football gods shone down on the Cleveland Browns management during the 2007 NFL draft, allowing them to take potentially the best QB in the draft with the 22nd pick overall, I assume they believed they were taking the quarterback and face of the franchise for years to come. They had just finished their 4th terrible season in a row, finishing last in the division each time, and the drafting of Quinn was somewhat of a miracle. The funny part is, for some reason this year they believe they should put off the future because the guy that led them to a 4-12 season last year (Charlie Frye) has "earned it".

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Actually this post is just supposed to be about relevant player news from the weekend which is sadly now over, but since you brought it up, is there even any debate that Norm MacDonald is hands-down the funniest Weekend Update anchor in SNL history? A quick summary of the competition:

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Fantasy football would be a lot easier if things were a little more predictable in the NFL. We'd be tearing a little less of the hair out of our heads on a weekly basis if it weren't for the marquee stars who quietly and inexplicably fade into oblivion, the no-name backups who suddenly outperform the starter and eat into his playing time, and the rookies who come out of nowhere and bestow championships upon the fantasy player savvy/lucky enough to nab them off the waiver wire. As a result, we have a natural, perhaps wishful tendency to think and act as if there are some inexorable truths in football, especially during the draft. But, as the saying goes, when you assume...

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Recently we held the second annual draft for the Phi Tau Keeper League, using the rules explained here. As this was the second year of the league, this was the first official "keeper" draft, where managers could decide which players they wanted to keep from the previous years roster, which definitely made the draft a bit interesting. The most obvious change this was going to make was looking at the keepers and realizing that top round picks such as Joseph Addai, Cedric Benson, Maurice Jones-Drew, Laurence Maroney, Deuce McAllister, Carson Palmer, Travis Henry, Marques Colston and Brandon Jacobs were already taken. Just the fact that so many running backs were being held as keepers was troubling to teams who didn't already have a starting RB being kept (luckily I wasn't one of them). Anyways, without wasting any more time, let's get to the draft analysis...

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A lot is said about a so called "sophomore slump" for NFL players, especially those in the skill positions. While this may be true for players like Carnell "Cadillac" Williams, Michael Clayton (coincidence they're both on Tampa Bay, a crappy team?) and Anquan Boldin, there are still some players who made a huge impact in the second season, even after having a good rookie campaign. Examples of this are Antonio Gates, LaDainian Tomlinson (coincidence they're both on San Diego, a good team?) and Clinton Portis. After a going through a few drafts, I felt the urge to point out a few second year players that you shouldn't worry about the "sophomore slump" affecting, while pointing out a few that probably will...

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Looks like Driver will have to put it in park for a while. This probably qualifies as the most fantasy-significant injury of the preseason to this point. I thought Driver was overvalued anyway (he's 32 and it's hard to say what Brett Favre will bring to the table this season), so hopefully this will make fantasy owners come to their senses. Even if he can overcome this and start week 1, he's still 32, and he's still on the Packers.