Free Agents to look for

For most the Fantasy Draft is over or coming to an end.  Now the real fun begins.

What's the first thing you should do after the draft?  You should sift through the free agent market to see who didn't get drafted.  There is always a gem or two left on the open market in your league for the taking.  They usually go fast so make sure you get looking early.

here are some names to look for:

QB:

-  Joey Harrington ATL - Joey will produce in this offense.  Excellent depth QB and potential starter.
-  Alex Smith SF - Has a good supporting cast and has improved dramatically since his rookie season.
-  Jeff Garcia TB - Don't count Garcia out.  He played well in Philly replacing McNabb and the TB offense is taylored for his skills.

RB:

-  Brandon Jackson GB - ever heard of him?  Those who have, have him on their roster. Bench for now, sleeper for later.
-  Jerious Norwood ATL - Will share time with Dunn early but will start carrying the load in Petrino's Offense

WR:

-  Brandon Jones TEN - Moulds starts by default because of experience and Jones will be #2.  However, Jones could quickly become Vince Young's favorite target.
-  Devery Henderson NO - Benefits from Drew Brees and his tendencies.  Colston benefitted last year as the #2 receiver and Henderson will benfit the same way this year as the #2 receiver.  Get it, Brees likes his #2 receivers.
-  Greg Jennings GB - Showed promise last year and with Driver hurting, could become a solid target for Favre quickly
-  Ronald Curry OAK - If Oakland does indeed score this year, Curry will have his name on a large percentage of them

TE:

-  Owen Daniels HOU - Still a free agent?  Pick him up!!
-  Greg Olsen CHI - Injured now but when he's healthy he will replace Desmond Clark. 

K:

-  Pick a kicker - no real differences in the starters let alone the free agents

DEF:

-  Raiders -  They may give up yards but they'll get sacks, INT's, Fumbles and a few Def TD's
-  Colts - don't be surprised if the same Def that showed up for the playoffs last year continues to roll in 2007

RELEASE: NFL Live Game & Scores

Fantasy Control is proud to announce their latest release, the NFL Games and Scores tool.

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Minimize it on your desktop while you watch the games(click on upper right "arrow" button):

In full screen mode, get all the information you need for this weeks games:

Giant distractions: Strahan is back

For three years running now the NY football Giants are a team embroiled in controversy and/or distractions by the draft, players, coaches and ownership.

Just to name a few ...

The draft day trade that landed Eli in NY caused enough stir to last for years to come.  It involved San Diego, Phillip Rivers and several lucrative draft picks (one that got Shawne Merriman) in SD.  Didn't that event also garner attention from Collins being dumped, Warner being hired and then later being unceremoniously kicked to the curb to make way for Manning?  Would Eli pan out or will this go down as a major draft blunder?   So far, it's a wash.  Does he show promise?  Yes.  Worthy of the media distraction the event caused originally?  Nope.

Last Year it was Tiki Barber announcing his retirement before the season.  Talk about your major distractions.  Even Eli recently vented on the ensuing pressure that revelation created.  They may miss Tiki, but not the controversy that came with him.  It's funny how Tiki and apparently everyone else in the league forgot how Tiki was just about a bust because of fumbling issues before his solid season two years ago.  But hail to the Tiki, he's a media star now.

This year, it's Michael Strahan.  Strahan apparently wasn't contented by the headlines he received getting whipped in court by his ex-wife as a result of their divorce.  He decided he needed more attention and a bigger contract to make up for those recently lost dollars.  The Giants didn't see it that way and refused to renegotiate.  After a threat to hold out, conversations about retirement, yadda, yadda ... low and behold, Strahan is back.  No new deal in place that we know of - but we're still looking into it.

You could also talk about the Coughlin era and the "almost mutiny" his methods inspired.  Or the Plaxico Burress signing  or ... Shockey.  There is plenty of distraction going around.

How much distraction can this team take?  When do they just start playing football?  Maybe the bigger question is, who's next?

If the Giants stink it up this year, we're betting Coughlin becomes the next media story out of NY and the distractions themselves become the target blame for the failure.

Make no mistake about it, the Giants NEED Strahan on defense.  Question is, will Strahan really be ready to play.  Will he be enough?

We'll see.

Rumor: Moss not a lock in New England

Shortly after the draft we posted a blog article regarding the trade of Randy Moss from Oakland to New England.  As we pointed out at the time, there was plenty of emotion on both sides.  The Raider Nation was privately celebrating the addition by subtraction while Patriot fan's visions of Super Bowls  danced in their heads like sugar plumbs. 

Our thought then is the same as today, Randy is a great physical athlete and if he "wants" to play, he can.  But he's been a head-case for too long and there's only one road back ... success in New England.   

Byron Leftwich ... one man's trash?

Final cut lists are out and the entire NFL is scrambling to see who they can add at the last minute to boost their team.  At this point, they know what they need and if the right fit is out there, moves can be made quickly.

In a relatively surprising move the Jaguars out-right cut QB Byron Leftwich.  It's not surprising that they part ways, the Jags have been looking for an excuse to make the split for a couple years now.  What's surprising is that they couldn't get ANYTHING for him.  Don't expect teams to break the bank for Leftwich but you can bet he'll be on a roster opening day.  The Falcons, Raiders and Lions all seem like suitable candidates as a result of issues including injury, depth, talent or draft picks that won't sign.

Fantasy Take:  Leftwich is the only player on the cut list we've seen so far that has any real Fantasy value. 

Other interesting names include:
-  Keenan McCardell - you know you're done when ... Houston says see-ya
-  Az-Zahir Hakim - same story, this time it's the Fins

Honestly, that's about it from a fantasy perspective.  Nothing else really comes as a surprise.

On to the season ...

ALERT: Jones off the PUP? Playing opossum?

Kevin Jones was taken off the PUP list and given a day-to-day timetable.  That's good news and bad news.

The good news is the Lions picture him ready to play in under 5 games. 

The bad news is it could be game 4 until he's truly ready to go and while not on the PUP will most likely be Inactive or serve backup duty in a crisis.

However, as we stated in our last post, sometimes teams over-state injuries to affect the game-plans of their coming opponents.  Right now Oakland has to determine who they're game planning for, Tatum Bell or Kevin Jones?  Or Both?

ALERT: Jones (DET) going on PUP?

We've held out hope for Kevin Jones RB for the Detroit Lions all pre-season that his injury was less a concern than the Lions were making it out to be.  You see, sometimes teams know full well that the player will be recovering towards the end of camp but to throw off their division and other competitors they, shall we say, overstate the degree of the injury.  Not the first time it's been done and won't be the last.

For Jones, however, apparently the issues are real.  So real in fact, that he may be placed on the Physically Unable to Play (PUP) list.  Doing this will land him on the sidelines for at least the first 5 weeks of the season.

As a result, Tatum Bell is the player who'll get the reps for Detroit.  Unfortunately, Bell is not the kind of runner that can carry the load for Detroit and keep the defenses honest against the rush to open up the pass.

That being said, we're not adjusting any projections for Detroit which may come as a surprise but shouldn't.  The vast majority of the Fantasy Points the Lions player's acquire are in the passing game as they play from behind.  They should be behind in plenty of games and open up the passing early just to catch up.

New Features for the Season

As you may or may not know, Fantasy Control is a VERY young company.  In fact, we're just now celebrating our 4 month B-Day.  Woohoo!  It's hard to believe we did so much in so little time.

However, we have MUCH more technology, tools and content coming your way for the regular season.  Here is a list of some of what's coming in the next Month:

 

-  Complete Weekly Injury report analysis - with pictures and medical information.  All players & All Injuries in a single easy to use tool.

 

 

-  Weekly Game Match-up analysis - Every game match-up each week will have charts, graphs and rich analysis content.  We will also have a summary of each game's match-up for you pick'em pool players.

 

 

-  Weekly Fantasy Player Analysis - See who's hot, who's not (in rich graphic format) and get advice on which Free Agents to acquire and which players to drop and walk away from.

 

 

-  Plus many more mini-tools to help make your Fantasy experience a bit richer.

So, thanks to those of you supporting us right now and Welcome to all of you who are just now hopping on the Fantasy Control bandwagon.

Stay tuned ...

ALERT: Torry Holt a concern

After surgery last year for torn right knee cartilage, Torry Holt has been spending the off-season in rehab.  What at first looked like a longer than expected recovery has now become a serious issue for Torry Holt and the St Louis Rams.  In fact, it's being mentioned that he may struggle with this recovery all season.

If he does, that's bad news for the Rams and for Fantasy Managers, like us, that had Torry penciled in as a top tier player.

Keep your eye on him but for now he's questionable at best.

In his place expect an increase in activity from Drew Bennett who recently came over from Tennessee and Dante Hall formerly of KC.  Isaac Bruce's increase is unclear.  While he's a vet in the system, he's no longer the threat he needs to be to carry the team on his shoulders.

Fantasy Sleepers

Sleepers are generally players that are known commodities in the league.  They might not have been big point scorers in the past season, were in their rookie season or experiencing a sophomore slump.  As a result, they get overlooked by the pundits or the Fantasy projections and rankings this year. 

Those who pay close attention pick them up in the late rounds of the draft and look like heroes  when everyone else asks, "Who's that?" or "Where did he come from?".   

That's what being a Fantasy General Manager is ALL about and that's what we want for you in your league this year.  Last year Marques Colston headed our list of sleeper picks that panned out well, along with Lee Evans and Chester Taylor.

This year we have some more names you might not know but should because you'll wish you had if your opponent picks them up and beats you with them.