Coles thinks he can play for another three or four years, but the Jets apparently didn’t feel the same. The team agreed to release him amicably before the start of free agency but still might work out a deal.
Coles has been convinced of his value long-term by his agent Roosevelt Barnes, who must have met Coles at the last meeting of the ridiculously-formal-sounding name club.
Sure, there’s a team or two out there looking for receivers, but I’m sure they’d rather have a T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Anquan Boldin or even Plaxico Burress before a Coles.
Coles, much like Harrison, is a fading talent. He’s dropped in fantasy rankings with the departure of Brett Favre, and it’s hard to see him finding a situation within the NFL that makes him any more relevant to fantasy football.
Tampa Bay, with their open bag of cap space, has been a safe haven for veterans in recent years, Weekend at Bernie’s-ing Joey Galloway for most of the modern century, but even that love affair came to an end when the Bucs cancelled their social security policy and released a slew of veterans.
Will the Eagles take him? Unlikely. Donovan McNabb would probably rather have Marvin Harrison than Coles, and neither would really show a huge effort on the Eagles’ part to improve his targets.
I guess he’s got a shot in Miami depending on how much he really likes that Chad Pennington guy.
Coles is most likely bound for a few meetings with a handful of teams, a few phone calls to Roosevelt about the proper spelling of “Laveranues” and, after all that time wasted, a new contract with the Jets.
He should just hope his new one is somewhere close to the money he just left on the table.
Give him credit. Harrison did everything in his power to stay in the spotlight, suspected shooting incidentsincluded, but there’s little reason for the Colts to keep him around with Reggie Wayne fully-established as Peyton Manning’s top target and Anthony Gonzalez taking over Harrison’s spot on the team.
Harrison’s game clearly lost a step in 2008. He had just 636 yards and five touchdowns in 15 games, less than half of his stats from 2006.
Harrison sat out most of the 2007 season with a knee injury, and for his sake, we won’t even bring up those numbers. Many fantasy owners thought they were cheating the system by stealing him late in the fantasy football draft. Yeah, not so much.
Harrison was exactly what we thought he would be in 2008, a dud.
There are no free rides in the NFL, especially when you’re one of the highest-paid receivers in the game. Harrison will count $13.4 million against the salary cap if he is not released.
Most who follow the team on a daily basis had the same sense as Sports Illustrated‘s Peter King, who wrote Monday morning that “Polian does not give scholarships for longer than one year. And Harrison was on scholarship last year.”
As is the custom this year with every receiver that enters the free agent market, we must now point to the Eagles likelihood of being in the hunt for Marvin Harrison, but even with his bright, shiny known-name receiver hands, it’s unlikely that many teams will be clawing over each other for him. He showed just last season that he was fading, and look what Jerry Porter did for Jacksonville last season…
It’s more than likely that Harrison ends up right back in Indy after testing the waters. Any other team that hired him would basically be bringing him in as a glorified wide receivers coach, and Indy considers him more valuable because of all the records Manning and Harrison could continue to break together.
For now, may Marvin Harrison’s fantasy football career rest in peace. Your draft board nameplate will always hold a special place in my heart, and by heart, I mean that trash can I dunked it in after I wadded it up.
Since “Pacman” Adam Jones’ release, the talk of the Dallas Cowboys has been change. If not at the coaching position, currently filled by the Pillsbury Doughboy Wade Phillips, fans are crying out for Terrell Owens to get out of town.
But that’s just crazy talk. Jerry Jones recently pointed out his silence as a hint that he will be keeping his prized star receiver, and why not? Why would keeping T.O. be such a no-go for the Cowboys?
Letting him walk just doesn’t measure up to keeping him on the team, and there are plenty of reasons to do that:
1) 2007: Terrell Owens had 81 receptions and 15 touchdowns in 2007. The Cowboys went 13-3 as the NFC darlings before bombing out in the first playoff game against the Super Bowl-bound New York Giants.
In that one playoff game, T.O. was one of two Cowboys to score a touchdown. There’s no reason to doubt that he could produce the same numbers again in 2009 as long as he has a quarterback for every game — and not a Brad Johnson.
2) The Roy E. Williams trade: Some would say having Roy Williams is a good reason to let T.O. go, but they may be overlooking why Dallas brought in Williams in the first place.
The Cowboys traded a good chunk of draft picks to bring in the former Texas Longhorn and Detroit Lion as a second dominant receiver who could give T.O. some breathing room. Cutting T.O. would simply put Williams in the same situation, getting blanketed by defenses who aren’t scared of Patrick Crayton.
3) Terrell Owens loves the Cowboys (or at least Jerry): T.O. tells the media he wants to retire as a Cowboy. He’s cried for his quarterback, and T.O. hasn’t stated any complaints that haven’t also come from many of the other players on the roster — *cough* Jason Garrett *cough* — about the way things went this year.
The locker room may be torn up, but T.O. cannot be held responsible for all the trouble.
4) Value lost: If the Cowboys dumped T.O., he’d just provide his services to another team and prove all his critics wrong. The Cowboys, in return, would be left empty-handed with an unreliable No. 1 receiver in Roy Williams. Jerry Jones knows how to make a deal, and that doesn’t sound like a good one.
5) Leadership: As bad as it may sound, Owens is one of a handful of players who could provide some veteran leadership on this team. He’s more vocal than most players and has the respect of many of the younger members of the team.
If Tony Romo steps up next season as a leader, Terrell Owens could be right there with him. It would certainly be nice if he could take a few receivers, including Williams, under his wing and show them the ropes before he leaves the game in a few years. Although, with that hyperbaric chamber, he may play until he turns 80.
That’s why T.O. will be a Cowboy in 2009. No need to worry if your fantasy football roster is heavily invested in T.O. or the Cowboys.
The real debate with A-11 was whether a kicking formation was a legal offense. Should high school teams should be able to “gimmick” their way into the win column? Despite its haphazard ways, A-11 seems to do the job and keeps things interesting.
NCAA rules limit the use of the A-11 formation in college football, but given the popularity of “Wildcat” plays last season after the Miami Dolphins torched the New England Patriots with Ronnie Brown, how long is it going to be before this offensive scheme saves the Detroit Lions? And perhaps your fantasy team?
The A-11 Explained
The A-11 offense is actually a scrimmage-kick formation using two quarterbacks, two tight ends, one center and six potential receivers. As long as one quarterback lines up more than seven yards deep, there’s no need for those fatties on the offensive line to take the field.
The A-11 Offense (All Eleven Players Potentially Eligible) is an innovative new offense that blends aspects of almost every type of offense in the history of football such as the West Coast, Spread Option, Run and Shoot, Shotgun Zone Fly, Wing-T, Single Wing, Notre Dame Box, Triple Option and Veer just to name a few.Teams can use the A-11 as a “package” to supplement their own offense & feature up to eleven players as potential threats, and even two quarterbacks in the shotgun!
Is it the wave of the future? Maybe. But it’s definitely the hottest thing to hit high school sports since Allison Stokke.
NFL Impact
The “Wildcat” was the experimental stepchild of every NFL coach after Miami’s offensive coordinator Dan Herring, who had experimented with the concept in Carolina with DeAngelo Williams in 2006, and quarterbacks coach David Lee, who was the offensive coordinator at Arkansas in 2007 when they were running the “WildHog” formation with Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, unleashed it full force against the Patriots with Ronnie Brown.
The A-11 could not only have a similar rise to prominence within the NFL, it could also make fantasy football a much different affair.
As Bryan points out in his blog, the athletes are getting faster and more suited to a wide open, speedy offense. The formation protects athletes and gives smaller schools a chance to compete at the high school level. What if it could save a rebuilding franchise or two?
Obviously, the Lions come to mind, but teams like the St. Louis Rams and Jacksonville Jaguars, who had all kinds of issues at the line of scrimmage this year, might help themselves out by adding some A-11 formations to the playbook.
If teams deep with receiver talent like the Green Bay Packers and Arizona Cardinals adopted it, the A-11 could cause devastation for a few plays.
Maybe it’s time the Lions signed Michael Vick and threw Vick and a quarterback of the future from the draft or their roster onto the field in the A-11. Vick would add the run threat to the offense and a veteran presence while a younger quarterback could develop.
Fantasy Impact
While good for struggling NFL franchises, the A-11 is not such a welcome change for fantasy owners.
These wrinkles added into the offense increase the number of players touching the ball even if they do make the offense more explosive. That means fantasy owners will have more wide receivers to track and more options for their roster each week who will only be getting a portion of the stats.
The A-11 could make it practically impossible to know which of six receivers is going to be the most effective on any given Sunday. The offenses could generate more yards and points while also involving more players.
In short, we might all be screwed. The A-11 is offensive chaos, but it’s the good kind of chaos, just like your first Mardi Gras…right?
I had to wait until after the Pro Bowl to gather my thoughts about this year’s Super Bowl. Even though the Pro Bowl is full of overhyped drama and hated by many NFL fans, I love it.
Outside of a video game, the Pro Bowl is the closest thing to two fantasy teams playing against each other. Drew Brees is out there throwing the ball to Larry Fitzgerald with Adrian Peterson in the backfield. How can you not love that? Tell me. And how did Eli Manning get there?
Unfortunately, my bold prediction did not come to pass for the Super Bowl. It’s finally digested that the Pittsburgh Steelers are the champs, but Arizona fans still got a happy ending, right?
**If the basic facts aren’t enough for you, get the rest of the NSFW details, courtesy of Deadspin, at the end of this post.
The fantasy season is over, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn anything from what we saw in this biggest game of the year. So I collected 10 critical and very foolish thoughts on Super Bowl XLIII. Enjoy.
Larry Fitzgerald reached his boiling point as a fantasy football receiver in the postseason, which means I won’t touch him in drafts next year at a first round price tag, especially if Anquan Boldin stays. Those two tradeoff stats too often, and there’s bound to be another Fitz breaking out next season. Hint: It won’t be Torry Holt.
Tim Hightower’s not going to take the starting job from Edgerrin James in Arizona. If Edge leaves the Cardinals, J.J. Arrington might even put up a fight before Hightower is declared the starter. Where did Hightower go at the end of the season? Disneyland before the Super Bowl?
On that same note, Rashard Mendenhall is not going to sweep into Steeltown and wipe Willie Parker away when he returns from injury in 2009. With Willie Parker, Mewelde Moore and Gary Russell battling for carries, he’s going to have to earn his spot over time.
Kurt Warner: Still slippery even after all these years. But it was still a fumble. Still, if Boldin’s back, I’d gladly take him as my starting quarterback next season.
Big Ben Roethlisberger should stop running. See thought No. 3? There are plenty of other players to do that job, Ben. You just weren’t meant to move that way.
Santonio Holmes may have great toe control and the ability to make big plays, but I’d pass on him next year and take Hines Ward several rounds later. Holmes frustrated owners all season with his big play or no play performance. Nothings changed because he’s got a new trophy. Nate Washington is practically his equal.
I want to play in a league where defenses get points for rushing yardage. You in? Did anyone else hear them say “a silverback jumped on the back of the silverback” during the runback? What does that even mean? Intrigued.
We were cheated out of the Cardinals’ final drive, but it wasn’t because of the fumble. It was a missed penalty call. A hail mary to Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald would have been a more fitting way to ride this one out.
Willie Parker’s still got it, even if he didn’t show as much in the Super Bowl as he did against San Diego. And, for once, I’m not talking about an injury.
Anyone else find themselves wishing this Super Bowl was the Indianapolis Colts facing the Arizona Cardinals right about halftime?
* To follow your dreams to a happier ending than what I linked to at the top of the post, see all the coverage of the Super porn Bowl from Deadspin at your own risk.
I’m not going to rub it in, but I’m pretty happy that my divisional championship predictions came true and put the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl. My all Cardinals and Steelers fantasy football team is set up to dominate in the Gridiron Challenge, and I’m counting for a big game out of Tim Hightower to carry me over the top.
Maybe Larry Fitzgerald will leave a couple four or five yards out of the end zone for me.
Now that we’re here at the big game, I’m taking the Cardinals for two reasons — Larry Fitzgerald and Kurt Warner. Much like last year’s Super Bowl came down to a last-minute play by Eli Manning, this game will probably come down to a final drive, and I have more faith that Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald will overcome the pressure.
As long as the momentum rolling with the Arizona defense hasn’t cooled off in the two-week break prior to the Super Bowl, they should be able to slow down the Steelers and make them grind it out for points with Willie Parker and the run game.
Now, I’m settling in to watch my prediction come to fruition. Enjoy the game, and feel free to drop some comments during the action. We’ll wrap up this season and the Super Bowl later this week as we begin the offseason.
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