Posted by Tristan H. Cockcroft
Just days after the Baltimore Ravens welcomed back Derrick Mason from his near-three-week retirement, they learned they would be without Mark Clayton for an extended period. According to Adam Schefter, Clayton will be sidelined four to six weeks with his hamstring injury.
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Mark Clayton's fantasy value has gone on a wild roller-coaster ride in the past couple of weeks.
Based on that timetable, even if Clayton returns to action before the start of the regular season, he'll be at a disadvantage in the race for a Week 1 starting role. Demetrius Williams, a comparably skilled receiver who has averaged more yards per catch (15.7) for his career than Clayton (13.2), gets a crack at that starting spot alongside Mason. Fantasy owners who were prepared to target Clayton as a low-end sleeper at the time of Mason's "retirement" announcement can now feel free to scratch him from their lists entirely, or at least bump him down significantly, jotting down Williams' name instead as one to monitor throughout the preseason.
• Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Harry Douglas suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament during Wednesday's practice, and the team confirmed Thursday that he is out for the season. As a contender for the No. 2 receiver role, Douglas wasn't expected to be much of a fantasy factor in 2009, but his absence coupled with Roddy White's holdout puts the Falcons in a bit of a tough spot at the position today. Might this speed up White's contract negotiations?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution doesn't believe so, reporting Wednesday night that negotiations aren't progressing. Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff said the two sides are "digging in and feel strongly about their case." White feels he deserves a deal comparable to Larry Fitzgerald's recent four-year, $40 million deal, but the team won't offer that much. It's too early in the game for fantasy owners to lower White in their rankings for fear he might hold out into the regular season or miss enough preseason time to adversely affect his numbers, but keep an eye on the situation. Douglas' presence might have helped the team's bargaining position, as the Journal-Constitution had reported as recently as Tuesday that he was getting the bulk of White's vacated snaps. His absence might force the team's hand, or at least speed up contract talks.
• Might DeAngelo Williams' 2008 have been for real? According to The Gaston (N.C.) Gazette's Steve Reed, Williams "looks like a superstar in practice. … He's been extremely quick through the line, obviously quite confident after playing behind an offensive line he knows well. He could be in for another huge season if he stays healthy."
Ah, the preseason, time for everyone to begin glowing about players after only a few days of action. Williams has benefited from Jonathan Stewart's slow easing into this preseason with an Achilles injury related to his previous toe issues. If Williams is indeed off to a strong start, it bodes well for his chances to retain the starting job and fall within range of his lofty 2008 totals. It's for that reason we still classify Williams as a definite first-round pick, but let's also not forget we're early in the game, and he'll be hard-pressed to repeat last year's performance. It's worth mentioning, but we'll need more than an early-August report to buy the idea of another 20-touchdown season.
• Conversely, Beanie Wells has yet to practice since his ankle injury last week, and the Cardinals' official Web site reports he might not do so until next week. His injury and missed time during the offseason minicamps put him at a significant disadvantage in the battle to unseat Tim Hightower as the starter. However, even if Wells is a backup come Week 1, fantasy owners shouldn't ignore his future potential.
• Marques Colston, who missed five games last season with a torn ligament in his left thumb and then underwent knee surgery in January, told the New Orleans Times-Picayune on Wednesday that the knee "feels as good as it's ever felt." Again, it's that "preseason-crowing" period, but any positive news with Colston has to be regarded as encouraging coming off his injury-plagued 2008. He committed eight drops in his 11 games in 2008, perhaps a direct result of his thumb injury, but has been a standout in early practices, especially in red-zone drills. With a fully healthy Colston, Drew Brees' chances at another 5,000-yard passing season are viable, so consider this a step in the right direction.
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In addition to the injuries, Brandon Marshall is working with a new quarterback this year, which makes him a big question mark.
• Brandon Marshall probably won't be in action for the Broncos' preseason opener Aug. 14 due to his ongoing recovery from offseason hip surgery as well as a recent leg issue, according to The Denver Post. He has missed the team's past six practices due to the leg injury, reports the paper, putting him among the players most under fantasy owners' microscopes for health reasons this month.
• Sticking with the Broncos, the Post also notes that Knowshon Moreno's holdout lingers on, though the team is currently engaged in "intense negotiations" in which the next 24 hours are most critical toward reaching an agreement. Moreno and the team appear deadlocked because the four players selected immediately ahead of him in the draft have yet to agree to terms, so the running back might be waiting to see where those players slot in their contracts first. Rookies are often most affected by extended preseason holdouts, so fantasy owners have to be rooting for some progress coming Thursday or Friday.
• Brian Westbrook participated in football activities Wednesday for the first time since June ankle surgery, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. He took handoffs and ran routes among other activities in a 10-15 minute session, during which time the paper reported there "didn't appear to be any limitations." Like the aforementioned Marshall, Westbrook is one of those players most on the "watch-his-injury" list for fantasy, but he's apparently ahead of the wide receiver on the comeback trail. That's important news, considering Westbrook is more highly regarded in fantasy; he's already being picked 22nd overall on average.
• Surely by now you have heard Wednesday's big news: The Giants and Eli Manning agreed on a six-year contract extension worth $97.5 million ($35 million of it guaranteed), making him the highest-paid player in the league. Debate all you want the merits of the deal, which aren't exactly relevant to fantasy, and whether "highest-paid" and "best" labels should belong to the same player, but all Manning's owners (or prospective owners) care about is this: He's not a top-10 quarterback, and it's because of his lackluster receiving corps. It's contracts like these that can so often overinflate your expectations at the draft table -- the old "'highest-paid' must mean best, right?" -- but feel free to overlook this news, just as fantasy owners seem to have been doing with Giants pass-catchers thus far. Kevin Boss has the best ADP of the crew at 124, with Domenik Hixon the top-rated wide receiver at 128.
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