Fantasy Football News (10/11/06)

[Hache Man]

Shockey Still Hurting
The weekly tradition of football players speaking to people with microphones, tape recorders, and notebooks following a three-hour, high-contact game produces a ton of amusing quotes. My favorites are the ones where a player is trying to say something negative about another guy, but instead utters something that the other player would surely be proud to, say, stick on a business card.

The best such quote from Week 5 comes courtesy of Brandon Jacobs, who complained to reporters that the Redskins are "a dirty team." He was particularly upset with Sean Taylor, who reportedly warned Jacobs "you'd better protect yourself" when the teams play again in the season finale. Jacobs and Taylor were said to be screaming at each other following New York's win.

In the locker room afterward, Jacobs said of Taylor: "He throws his whole body out there like he's got another one in the closet." Jacobs surely meant that as anything but a compliment, but that's the type of phrase someone could just as easily be saying about Dick Butkus or Mike Singletary in one of the NFL Films retrospectives. Plus, is there any doubt that Taylor would proudly print up business cards that read:

Sean Taylor—Free Safety, Washington Redskins
Throwing His Whole Body Out There Like He's Got Another One in the Closet Since 2004

I'm not even a football player and I'm putting in a call to Kinkos as soon as I'm done writing this column …

* A pectoral injury is expected to keep Marty Booker sidelined for at least two weeks, opening the door for Wes Welker to become an even bigger part of Miami's passing game. Welker leads the Dolphins with 27 catches on the year, including nine grabs for 77 yards last week against the Patriots in Joey Harrington's first start.

Welker was targeted a total of 12 times by Harrington, so with both of them in the starting lineup for the foreseeable future he should continue to be a great option in point-per-reception leagues. His value is somewhat limited in non-PPR leagues because Welker has yet to reach the end zone in the NFL, but at worst he's a decent short-term WR3 fix who's pretty reliable week-to-week.

* The good news is that various tests run on Jeremy Shockey's injured ankle all turned out negative. The bad news is that Shockey's ankle is still sore, which means no real explanation or solution has been discovered. New York's Week 5 didn't seem to do Shockey a whole lot of good and his fantasy value will be both limited and unpredictable if he plans to limp through the remainder of the schedule.

The Giants are officially calling him "day-to-day" and it sounds like he'll play Sunday, so it's difficult to take Shockey out of your lineup. However, his situation should be monitored closely going forward and teams with good TE2 options on the roster should give serious thought to playing them occasionally over Shockey when good matchups arise. Until he stops hobbling around, Shockey is just another solid tight end.

* After initially saying Roy Williams was "day-to-day" following leaving Sunday's game with an injured neck, the Detroit News reports that the Lions are now saying Williams is "doubtful" for Week 6. Williams has apparently had trouble sleeping since the injury and remains sore, and given that he didn't come back into the game last week the team is clearly in favor of playing it safe.

Williams has been so productive this season that you'll want to wait until the last minute to see if he can gut it out this week, but if not Az-Zahir Hakim becomes an attractive short-term replacement. Hakim was targeted a dozen times while stepping in for Williams against Minnesota—catching eight of them for 92 yards—and should continue to thrive in Mike Martz's offense given a starter's snaps.

Two-Minute Drill: Minnesota released Drew Henson Tuesday a few days after signing him in the first place, providing more evidence that teams only sign Henson at this point to see his name in the newspaper twice … Lee Suggs, who's well on his way to becoming the Henson of running backs, was let go by Miami Tuesday … Broken foot or not, this is a bad sign for Shaun Alexander: Seattle's longest rushing play of the year is a 19-yard Matt Hasselbeck scramble … Terrell Owens is on pace for just 68 catches and 928 yards, but he was double-teamed on half of Dallas' pass plays against Philadelphia … On a related note, coach Bill Parcells said he's sticking with Drew Bledsoe for now, but the Tony Romo Watch is definitely on … Thanks to drops and poor throws, Alge Crumpler has hauled in just 11 of the 27 passes thrown his way thus far.

Red Zone: Coach Herm Edwards reiterated Tuesday that Larry Johnson (neck) is expected to play this week, but don't count on his numbers picking up significantly with three straight tough matchups (Pittsburgh, San Diego, Seattle) next on the schedule … Coach Bill Cowher dismissed talk of Ben Roethlisberger's elbow problems as "sensationalistic" … Ahman Green (hamstring) missed practice Tuesday, but Green Bay's bye week gives him some extra time to get healthy … DeAngelo Williams (ankle) is reportedly expected to miss at least one game and will likely sit out several weeks, giving Eric Shelton one last chance to impress the Panthers.