Archive for the 'NFC West' Category

The AP reports, “Deion Branch as likely to be out for most if not all of training camp. Branch is rehabilitating a surgically reconstructed knee and may not play in the opener Sept. 7 at Buffalo.” Full story here.

Monster Take: Nothing new to report here, just a reminder to be very wary of Branch this year.

The Sacramento Bee reports, “there’s a three-way race among Shaun Hill, J.T. O’Sullivan and Alex Smith to start.” Full story here.

Monster Take: Another quarterback situation to avoid in your fantasy draft. However, the winner of this battle has some upside with Martz onboard and newly added WR’s Bryant Johnson and Isaac Bruce. We think Smith has the best shot of producing in this offense.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Rams RB Steven Jackson has high expectations for 2008. “This is definitely where I want to be.” Jackson is in the final year of his rookie contract, and he adds, “Well, we all know what happens in a contract year: you ball out. So, I expect to.” Full story here.

Monster Take: Jackson is due for a great year wanting to prove himself fully recovered from last seasons injury and worthy of a fat, new contract.

The Arizona Cardinals team site reports that HC, Ken Whisenhunt said, “quarterback Matt Leinart looked confident during minicamp and handled the offense well.” Full story here.

Monster Take: Fully recovered from a broken collarbone, Leinart could be a top 10 quarterback this year or at least a solid fantasy backup. He has the weapons in Fitzgerald and Boldin to have a very good year.

The AP reports that Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin “says he wants to remain with the Cardinals and is not upset that he has yet to get a new contract on par with teammate Larry Fitzgerald.” Full story here.

Monster Take: Good news for Boldin and the Cards as a whole. The Cardinals have expressed interest in getting Boldin a new contract. That will likely happen sooner rather than later.

The Arizona Republic reports that WR Boldin reported to the Cardinals facility for a mandatory three-day minicamp. Full story here.

Monster Take: Boldin had made known his desire to be traded and the team has expressed interest in signing him to a long term deal. Boldin showing for camp is a good sign that they will get something worked out.

Frank Hughes with the Tacoma News Tribune reports that “rehab on Deion Branch going well but he (HC Mike Holmgren) does not expect him to be there at the beginning of the year.” Full story here.

Monster Take: We should get a more clear indication on Branch’s status this summer. Putting Branch on the injured reserve is a real possibility here. We’d steer clear of Branch unless some real, concrete news comes out prior to fantasy drafts.

Frank Hughes with the Tacoma News Tribune reports that the Seahawks “running game will be by committee.” Full story here.

Monster Take: More and more NFL teams are using the committee approach as fewer backs can take the punishment that is delivered to a “featured back.” We’ll watch this one closely this summer, but our first guess is that Julius Jones will likely see about 60% of the carries in this offense.

The AP reports that, “just a few years removed from an MVP season and also helping lead the way to a berth in the Super Bowl, the Seattle Seahawks are moving on without Shaun Alexander.” Full story here.

Monster Take: Alexander at age 30 is clearly on the decline. His last two seasons in Seattle have been injury laden and unproductive. However, Alexander indicates that he is not retiring and hopes to land a spot with another team. Some team will almost certainly take a chance on Alexander if he is realistic with his compensation demands. It will be interesting to see where he lands and whether he can regain a semblance of his MVP form.

NFL.com reports that “San Francisco coach Mike Nolan made it clear on Wednesday that there will be an open competition for the team’s starting quarterback position in training camp and the preseason between Smith and Shaun Hill, who was given a three-year contract in early February after leading the 49ers to consecutive late-season victories in 2007 over Cincinnati and Tampa Bay.” Full article here.

Monster Take: This situation has changed significantly from last off season to this off season. Optimism abounded leading up to the 2007 season that Smith had turned the corner and would have a breakout season. Those expectations never materialized and now he is fighting to regain his starting position. This is a situation to avoid going into fantasy drafts in 2008.