Zoneblitz.com

Just read on Twitter (and USA Today) that EA Sports has announced who will be on the cover of Madden 2010–and for those of you that believe in the ‘Madden Curse,’ making your fantasy cheat sheets should be an interesting challange this fall.

EA Sports Madden 2010 Cover

The game will feature Larry Fitzgerald–considered by many the top fantasy receiver in the game and a likely top 12 pick in almost any draft–on the cover.

Of course, that could change if the Cardinals move Anquan Boldin this weekend–or if you believe in that Madden Curse, which has struck Barry Sanders, Eddie George, Daunte Culpepper, Marshall Faulk, Michael Vick, Ray Lewis, Donovan McNabb, Shaun Alexander and Vince Young.

EA, in what might be seen as some as a move to try to counter the curse, will for the first time every feature two players on the cover, pairing Fitzgerald with one of his opponents from Super Bowl XLIII, Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu.

So you might want to knock the Steelers defense down a few pegs on your draft board as well.

Last year Torry Holt was the number one wide receiver on a team with a decent quarterback being protected by a bad offensive line led by an aging left tackle who some suspect might be running out of gas.

Holt signed a three-year deal Monday with Jacksonville, making him the number one wide receiver on a team that in 2008 had … a decent quarterback being protected by a bad offensive line. The Jaguars have added William Tra Thomas, an aging left tackle whose better days are behind him.

Sound familiar?

Read the rest of this entry »

ESPN.com is reporting that the Chicago Bears have traded their first round picks in 2009 and 2010 along with Kyle Orton to Denver to acquire Jay Cutler.

Initial reaction: Though he’s more of a prima donna off the field than Orton, Cutler is an upgrade on the field. It will be interesting to see what the Bears lack of talent at wide receiver – Devin Hester and … Rashied Davis (?) I think would be the starters right now. But Cutler will have the benefit of Matt Forte at running back. By the end of last season the Broncos were splitting time in the backfield between an Arena League reject and the guy that cleans the toilets.

The Bears also have tight ends Desmond Clark and Greg Olsen, both of whom are decent in the passing game.

It blew me away that the Minnesota Vikings, who would seem to be improved quarterback play away from being a true Super Bowl contender, didn’t put more of an effort into trading for Cutler – and this is part of the reason why. The NFC North just got more interesting – Cutler definitely improves the offense of a team that is two years removed from the Super Bowl and missed winning the division by a game in 2008.

For the Broncos, this is a setback. It would seem as though Chris Simms and Orton would compete for the quarterback position. Neither are horrible, but neither are as good as Cutler, who threw for 4,200 yards and 25 touchdowns last season.

I suspect this also negatively affects wideouts Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal, especially if Denver doesn’t get improved running back play from at least one of the backs that was hurt most of the 2008 season.

Overall, my initial thoughts are that the fantasy player that benefits the most from this is Forte, as Cutler will maximize the passing game in Chicago enough to open some lanes for the running game. Beyond that, I think the trade does more to hurt the skill players surrounding each team’s new quarterback than to help.

We’ll have more thoughts on this going forward as more details emerge. Thanks to Brad for bringing it to our attention.

ADD: Foxsports.com is reporting that the Bears get the Broncos 5th as well as Cutler this year, while the Broncos get a 3rd this year in addition to the two 1sts and Orton.

The Indianapolis Colts waived running back Clifton Dawson this week leaving the team with just four backs to tote the rock this fall: Joseph Addai, Chad Simpson, Lance Ball and Mike Hart, the promising Michigan back coming back from a torn ACL.

In all likelihood the Colts will rectify that situation by picking up someone in the draft or re-signing free agent Dominic Rhodes. If they don’t, some recommend keeping an eye on Simpson or Ball and moving them up your list of potential handcuffs for the 2009 season.

I disagree.

If you pick Joseph Addai in your fantasy drafts you need to hope his injury issues from 2008 don’t repeat themselves or you need to prepare yourself with a backup that is worthy of playing time in the NFL and in fantasy leagues.

There are 32 teams in the NFL and conservatively two-thirds of them use running back by committee. That should leave roughly 50 feasible running backs – in leagues with 10 or 12 teams it’d take a heckuva lot of problems before you have to reach for guys like Ball and/or Simpson.

Read the rest of this entry »

Andy already threw out Miles Austin as one potential sleeper for 2009, with T.O. no longer causing headaches in Dallas.

Another player that could move up draft boards come August thanks to T.O. landing in Buffalo is Marshawn Lynch.  After bursting on the scene with 1,115 yards as a rookie in 2007, Lynch took a bit of a step back in 2008 with just 1,036 yards in 2008.  This was partially due to the emergence of Fred Jackson as a capable backup, and partially due to some injuries suffered–although Lynch appeared in 15 games.

Additionally, in 2008 he actually scored more touchdowns on the ground (8 vs 7), slightly improved his yards per carry numbers (4.1 from 4.0), and got himself more involved in the passing game (47 receptions for 300 yards and a TD, vs 18-184-0 in his rookie season).

While the Bills have been making some changes to the offensive line that could impact Lynch’s ability to find holes in 2009, the addition of Owens on the outside should help keep defenses a little more honest when it comes to moving a safety up in the box.

In fact, if James Hardy can show signs of improvement in his second season, Lynch could possibly even crack our 2009 draft board top 10.