Where Will Leftwich Land?
After six months spent killing time by writing the baseball Daily Dose, I'm back atop the football Daily Dose depth chart. There was talk of Rotoworld adding some competition for the position via a second-day draft pick and Gregg Rosenthal's Kordell Stewart-like versatility makes him a constant threat to steal reps, but from now until January I'll be keeping you up to speed on all the news and notes from around football each day.
I could bore you further by delving into the vicious training-camp battle that I emerged from to claim this job (it involved lots of hazing, and I'm not even a rookie). And it's tempting to add to the Rosenthal-Stewart comparison by making the case for Evan Silva and Patrick Dahl as the
Antwaan Randle El and
Seneca Wallace of fantasy football writers. Instead, if we can all just agree to be friends for the next five months I'll stop babbling and get to the notes from around football …
* Baltimore general manager Ozzie Newsome revealed Monday that he's had "a couple of small conversations" with
Byron Leftwich, who's reportedly drawn interest from at least seven teams since being released by Jacksonville over the weekend. The Ravens are said to have been fans of Leftwich since the 2003 draft, when they unsuccessfully attempted to move up to select him before eventually grabbing
Kyle Boller instead.
www.tampabaybuccaneers.ws
Whether Leftwich winds up with the Ravens or somewhere else, the chances of him having a big fantasy impact this season are slim. He'd be behind
Steve McNair in Baltimore and with Atlanta apparently not interested there are few remaining spots (Minnesota, Kansas City, Oakland) where he'd have a shot at becoming an immediate starter. At 27 years old Leftwich likely has quite a few starts left in his future, but his value for this season is rapidly disappearing.
* Meanwhile, Leftwich's exit from Jacksonville means that one of my favorites,
David Garrard, is the clear-cut starter for the Jaguars. An inconsistent passer, Garrard has nonetheless racked up solid totals through the air during his five-year career. In what's essentially slightly more than one full season's worth of combined playing time, Garrard has completed 313-of-539 (58.1 percent) passes for 3,543 yards and 18 touchdowns while being picked off 13 times.
Those aren't huge numbers and the Jaguars' passing game doesn't figure to be especially strong, but what makes Garrard so intriguing is his running ability. He's rushed 115 times for 637 yards (5.5 YPC) and six scores during his career, including 47 carries for 250 yards (5.3 YPC) in 11 games last season. While Garrard's performance figures to vary quite a bit from week-to-week, I wouldn't hesitate to value him as a top-15 quarterback. He's a very solid QB2 option.
*
Kevin Jones avoided the PUP list, meaning that he'll begin the season on the active roster and is eligible to play at any time. He practiced Monday for the first time since suffering a fractured foot in Week 14 of last season and said afterward that he "felt good." However, Jones won't play in Week 1 and is unlikely to see action in at least the first several games.
Tatum Bell will take his place in the starting lineup, with
T.J. Duckett likely seeing short-yardage work.
With Jones out and No. 2 overall pick
Calvin Johnson joining the party, offensive coordinator/air-traffic controller Mike Martz may be tempted to air it out even more after only the Packers attempted more passes (630) than the Lions (596) last season. Coach Rod Marinelli said Sunday that Johnson hasn't earned a starting job yet, but Martz utilizes enough three-receiver sets that he'll essentially be a starter whether he's second or third on the depth chart.
Mike Furrey will be lining up in the slot, with Johnson and
Roy Williams on the outside, and
Jon Kitna will once again be throwing early and often. However, expecting huge stats from Johnson immediately might be a mistake. Williams remains Kitna's No. 1 target and Furrey is a perfect fit in the slot, so don't be shocked if Furrey ends up with more targets early on. Johnson is still a long-term stud in a perfect situation for piling up numbers soon enough, so be patient.
* While the series tended to focus more on
the team's locker-room dance skills or
the beautiful women married to
Brodie Croyle and
Tony Gonzalez than actual football—to be clear, that's not a complaint—
HBO's Hard Knocks provided an interesting glimpse into
Priest Holmes' situation. Holmes showed up to Chiefs camp after sitting out all of last season with a potentially career-threatening neck injury, and it immediately became clear that no one was taking his comeback particularly seriously.
Even with
Larry Johnson's holdout making him absent for much of the time, Holmes spent his days riding a stationary bike or going through plays on the sidelines by himself like a shadow boxer. At no point did it seem as though the coaching staff was close to counting on him as a contributor of any kind this season, yet Holmes seemingly acted as if he was on the verge of cementing his place on the depth chart, even saying that he'd settle for being a third-down back.
After being scratched from the final preseason game, Holmes was placed on the non-football injury list, which means that he's ineligible to play through Week 6. At that point the Chiefs will have three weeks to move Holmes to the 53-man roster or he'll officially be ruled out for the season. That's the likely end to the sad story, and readers of
Pancake Blocks who're smart enough to trust Gregg Rosenthal's analysis of the strange situation gave up on him long ago.
Red Zone: Terry Glenn (knee) went through individual drills Monday and is expected to start in Week 1 …
Donald Driver (foot) sounds likely to play in Week 1 after he reportedly "appeared healthy in practice" Sunday … With Vernand Moreny (knee) hurting and
Noah Herron (knee) on season-ending injured reserve, rookie
Brandon Jackson will get the Week 1 start over
DeShawn Wynn … Showing some confidence in
Randy Moss' (hamstring) status, the Patriots released last season's leading receiver,
Reche Caldwell …
L.J. Smith (hernia) practiced Monday, but said afterward that he's at just "75 percent" and isn't guaranteed to play in Week 1 …
Marcus Tubbs' season-ending knee injury makes it likely that the Seahawks will once again struggle against the run this season … Placed on the PUP list Sunday, fourth-round pick
Michael Bush (leg) will be sidelined through at least Week 6 and could miss the entire season … In true Patriots fashion,
Richard Seymour was placed on the PUP list Saturday and will miss at least the first six weeks after little information was revealed about his surgically repaired knee all offseason.
Two-Minute Drill: After a strong preseason from Daily Dose favorite and third-round pick
Jacoby Jones, the Texans cut veteran
Keenan McCardell loose … Following eight total carries in two seasons, the Panthers parted ways with former second-round pick
Eric Shelton …
Chris Cooley's six-year contract extension with the Redskins is worth $30 million, with $14 million in guaranteed money that
can buy an awful lot of Jim Beam shots … Given
Maurice Morris' underwhelming performance last season,
Alvin Pearman could emerge as
Shaun Alexander's primary backup after being acquired from the Jaguars … It's bad news and worse news for
Tim Hasselbeck, with a release from the Giants meaning that he now has more time to spend listening to
his The View co-star wife … Once a trendy sleeper pick based on his 6-foot-6 frame and potential red-zone impact,
Clarence Moore was released by the Ravens … After ending his holdout,
Larry Johnson saw limited action in the final preseason game, rushing three times for a dozen yards.