IN THIS ISSUE 1. Hilliard out for the year 2. George signs with Seattle 3. Willie Jackson to Washington? 4. McNabb "untouchable" against Giants 5. Stephen Davis suffers another knee injury 6. Griese not looking over his shoulder now 7. Vermeil wants less of Holmes, more of WR's 8. Saints reeling after loss 9. Warner not on pace for 5 week return 10. Garcia's mobility is improving his play 11. Brady VS Bledsoe I /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/ 1. Hilliard out for the year From the associated press posted on espn.com 10/29/02 An MRI on Tuesday disclosed a tear in both Hilliard's labrum and pectoralis muscle. He will undergo surgery in about a month and will at some point be placed on injured reserve. The normal rehabilitation period for the surgery Hilliard will undergo is three months. "Ike's been a playmaker for us," coach Jim Fassel said. "He does an outstanding job on third down. He's been a guy that has been one of our consistent players. "He has continually played well in all the games. We're going to miss him." [[[[[[[[[[ DODSON'S VIEW ]]]]]]]]]] With Hilliard out, the question becomes how does this affect the rest of the team? Ike had only 3 less catches than Toomer on the season and one more touchdown so it's safe to say that he was an active target for Collins. I would expect Collins to be hurt slightly by this, perhaps throwing more interceptions as a byproduct of forcing the ball to his other wide receivers. Ron Dixon will replace Hilliard and is most likely not worthy of a roster spot on your fantasy roster. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/ 2. George signs with Seattle Clipped from the Len Pasquarelli article posted 10/29/02 on espn.com Inexplicably out of the league since being released by the Washington Redskins two games into the 2001 season, quarterback Jeff George is finally back in the NFL, with ESPN.com learning the 12-year veteran on Tuesday signed a contract with the Seattle Seahawks. George, 34, will replace the injured Trent Dilfer on the roster. Dilfer tore his right Achilles tendon in Sunday's victory at Dallas and will be sidelined for the balance of the season. Matt Hasselbeck will assume the starting job and the only other quarterback on the roster is rookie Jeff Kelly. Coach Mike Holmgren emphasized that Hasselbeck will remain the starter and George is coming in to fill a role. "It's important for our football team that Matt gets another shot at this thing, with the fans," Holmgren said. "It's important for everyone to understand what we are really doing. He's (George) coming in to fill a particular role." In an interview with ESPN.com last week, George emphasized his desire to return to the field, if possible this season. He had been contacting teams on his own and he also recently hired agents Tom Condon and Ken Kremer of IMG Football, in an effort to resume his career. "Look, I just want to play," George told ESPN.com last week. "The money is irrelevant. It's just hard to sit in front of the television Sunday afternoons and be a spectator. Just once, I'd like someone to look me in the eye and tell me why they don't want to give me a shot." [[[[[[[[[[ DODSON'S VIEW ]]]]]]]]]] If anyone has Jeff's number, I will have some free time this weekend and I could arrange to look him in the eye in order to give him a plethora of reasons as to why no one wants to give him a shot including these: He has the third worst winning NFL winning percentage at 37.1% over the past 50 years for quarterbacks with over 100 starts He has an average QB rating of 80.4 He's been sacked over 350 times for more than 2,600 yards You can buy his rookie card on eBay right now for less than $1, plus shipping and handling of $1.50 I wish Trent Dilfer all the best in his recovery but would suggest not adding George to your fantasy roster this season. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/ 3. Willie Jackson to Washington? Clipped from the Len Pasquarelli article posted 10/29/02 on espn.com Released by the Falcons on Monday, wide receiver Willie Jackson doesn't figure to be unemployed for very long, not given the amount of interest in him demonstrated by other teams. At least five teams leaguewide have indicated varying degrees or ardor, and Jackson could be in a new uniform by the end of the week, almost certainly no later than next week. Among the teams courting the veteran pass-catcher: New England, Carolina, New Orleans and Washington. While the Falcons informed Jackson of his release on Monday, they did not file the pertinent paperwork with the NFL office until after 4 p.m., meaning his name did not appear on the league waiver wire until Tuesday. Teams will have 24 hours to make a waiver claim. But if Jackson is not claimed by Wednesday afternoon, he will be an unrestricted free agent. If that occurs, sources said, his most likely destination is Washington, where he would be reunited with Steve Spurrier, his college coach when he played at the University of Florida. "It's a team he's looking at pretty hard," said a source close to Jackson. [[[[[[[[[[ DODSON'S VIEW ]]]]]]]]]] I must admit to being pretty surprised by this move. According to Falcon's insiders, it sounds as if Jackson was pretty content with his multi-million dollar contract meaning his work ethic was a bit questionable. Of course there are 2 sides to every story as we all know. If Jackson does in fact end up in Washington, he may be worth a roster spot in deep leagues. He's in football shape, so it will just be a matter of finding a groove with the Washington QB Starter of the Week. The Giants, Saints, and Patriots have all also shown interest in Jackson. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/ 4. McNabb "untouchable" against Giants Clipped from the Sam Borden article posted 10/29/02 on nydailynews.com Giants executive vice president John Mara was (in New York) last night, and he spent most of the 17-3 loss doing in the press box what most Big Blue fans were doing in their living rooms - shaking his head at Donovan McNabb. McNabb slides out of the pocket like he's on a skateboard. Most quarterbacks - including Kerry Collins - look like they're trying to get out of a cramped, two-door hatchback. Most quarterbacks fear the open field, giving off that deer-in-headlights look. McNabb embraces it like a 16-year old who just snagged his father's car keys. Last night, McNabb decimated the Giants' defense - and not with his arm. He is a quarterback, but he looked like more of a running back than Tiki Barber and Ron Dayne. The Giants rushed for a total of 103 yards - McNabb had 111 and a touchdown. And that fourth-quarter touchdown was the biggest fist-banger and head-shaker of them all. With the rush collapsing on him, McNabb somehow greased a hole and slithered through, speeding away from the pack and toward the end zone. Forty yards later he crossed the goal line - the only player to do that during this low-scoring affair. "At least one of them was a quarterback draw," coach Andy Reid said with a smile as he talked about his mobile QB's seven rushing attempts. [[[[[[[[[[ DODSON'S VIEW ]]]]]]]]]] Reid should be all smiles, McNabb is turning into one of the most dangerous, if not the most dangerous quarterbacks in the NFL. If you own him, you should be all smiles as well with the next 3 games for Philly being Chicago, Indy and Arizona. It's tough to say what McNabb will accomplish in his career, but with the way he looks at 25, I'd say the possibilities are limitless. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/ 5. Stephen Davis suffers another knee injury Clipped from the Mark Maske article posted 10/29/02 on washingtonpost.com The Washington Redskins believed last night that tailback Stephen Davis had not suffered serious structural damage to his right knee in the first half of Sunday night's 26-21 triumph over the Indianapolis Colts, but were uncertain about Davis's status this week. Some members of the organization doubted that Davis would be able to practice and play Sunday at Seattle, although Coach Steve Spurrier said he was hopeful of having Davis in the lineup. Davis, who underwent an MRI exam yesterday, has been playing with a sprained medial collateral ligament in the knee since an Oct. 6 game at Tennessee. As he left Redskins Park earlier yesterday to have the MRI, Davis said he didn't know the severity of the injury. He and his agent, Steve Weinberg, indicated it's possible Davis had hurt his hamstring muscle near the knee. But last night, team officials said doctors believed Davis's injury had no long-term implications. The team planned to reevaluate Davis before Wednesday's practice. Some Redskins officials seemed wary of allowing Davis to continue playing without the sort of break that Samuels took last week to heal. But Spurrier said the team's trainers described the injury to him as a sprain that was "not too severe." If Davis is unable to play Sunday, Spurrier said Kenny Watson would start the first of the team's three consecutive road games, with rookie Ladell Betts backing him up. [[[[[[[[[[ DODSON'S VIEW ]]]]]]]]]] We'll keep you posted on this the rest of the week. With The Seahawks having the NFL's 32nd-ranked run defense, I'd say that Watson is well worth a roster spot this week if Davis is unable to go. Even if he can, I'd suggest that Davis owners grab Watson if you haven't already to handcuff him to Davis the rest of the season. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/ 6. Griese not looking over his shoulder now Clipped from the Lynn DeBruin article posted 10/29/02 on rockymountainnews.com Seven months ago, Mike Shanahan put the onus on Brian Griese to improve his game. It wasn't a veiled threat so much as a simple statement of fact. "We'll find out this year if he likes to be the quarterback and likes to be the underdog and likes a little pressure on him," Shanahan said at the time. Midway through the 2002 season, Shanahan seemingly has his answer. Griese is playing perhaps the best football of his career right now as the Denver Broncos head into their bye week, and the quarterback's progress isn't lost on his coach. "Brian's been scrutinized every day. He knows the pressure that comes with the position, and I think he's handled it well . . . I think he's handling it real well," Shanahan said. Griese's stats might not be as good as in 2000, when he threw 19 touchdown passes and only four interceptions en route to an NFL-best passer rating of 102.9 and a Pro Bowl berth, but he has made the plays when they matter most - in the fourth quarter. He currently ranks sixth in the AFC with a 90.1 passer rating, but in the past two road games has completed 17 of 23 passes for 228 yards in the fourth quarter. "The fourth quarter is his time," Broncos wide receiver Rod Smith said of Griese. "He's finding a way to get it done. It's a great display of leadership." [[[[[[[[[[ DODSON'S VIEW ]]]]]]]]]] Griese is on bye this week after leading the Broncos to a nice win over the Patriots. After the bye, he should nicely reward those who have stuck with him this season with coming games against Seattle, Indy, the Jets, and Kansas City. Given his performance thus far, he should be considered a fantasy starter for the rest of the season. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/ 7. Vermeil wants less of Holmes, more of WR's Clipped from the an associated press article posted on chiefszone.com 10/29/02 As good as the Kansas City Chiefs' offense has been over the first half of the season, coach Dick Vermeil still isn't satisfied. Specifically, Vermeil said Monday, the Chiefs need more production from their wide receivers. "The one way we can grow offensively is to get the ball in the wide receivers' hands more efficiently," Vermeil said. The Chiefs have the NFL's most prolific scoring offense (32.4 points per game) and the league's top rusher and touchdown scorer in Priest Holmes (857 yards, 15 TDs). What they don't have is a wide receiver anywhere near the top of the list in either yardage or catches. "Regardless of what the reasons are for that, we know as coaches that we have to do a better job of getting them the ball," said Vermeil, who gave his team the day off on Monday. "A lot of Priest Holmes' catches are not passes called to Priest Holmes," Vermeil said. "They're passes called to wide receivers, and he gets the checkdowns." In Sunday's 20-10 win over the Oakland Raiders, running backs or tight ends caught 14 of Trent Green's 18 completions. Morton had no catches at all, dropping one ball and seeing another swatted away in the end zone. "There is not a wide receiver in the National Football League that does not get down not catching the ball. That's what they do. That's the contribution they make," Vermeil said. "But they also know that there are a lot of things called where they could end up with the ball." [[[[[[[[[[ DODSON'S VIEW ]]]]]]]]]] Holmes is getting more than his fair share of the work in Kansas City because he is earning it. Trent Green is proving it's much easier to complete a 5 yard dump off pass to Holmes than it is a 20 yard pass to Morton or Kennison. On the flip side, if the Chiefs want to have any shot at the playoffs they can't continue to be one dimensional. I don't know that anything will ultimately change, but it is apparent that Vermeil would like to see the ball in someone else's hands a bit more frequently. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/ 8. Saints reeling after loss Clipped from the Sheldon Mickles article posted 10/29/02 on the advocate.com After winning six of their first seven games and creating a stir around the NFL as one of the league's premier teams, the New Orleans Saints didn't expect to go into their bye week like this. Running off the field Sunday afternoon to the cheers of an appreciative crowd with a 7-1 record would have been much better than chasing Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick all over the Superdome floor -- and then walking out of the building with a 6-2 mark. Just ask defensive tackle Grady Jackson, who chased and chased until he sprained his right knee in the third period of a 37-35 loss to the Falcons -- a bitter setback that put a little bit of a damper on the second-best start ever by a Saints team. "We just couldn't get them down," Jackson said of the Saints' futile attempts to stop Vick and running back Warrick Dunn, who combined for 233 of the Falcons' 260 rushing yards. "We had the snake down and just couldn't kill it. We let up off of it." [[[[[[[[[[ DODSON'S VIEW ]]]]]]]]]] I wouldn't make too much out of the loss although I would make more out of it than Saint's WR Joe Horn. Horn was adamant in letting the world know that the Falcons weren't worthy of being considered rivals. I disagree, but also don't believe the Falcons are ready to be considered Super Bowl contenders either as the Saints should be. The Saint's Deuce McAllister looked like a man possessed against the Falcons, and should be bumped up because of it. Get him if you can for the fantasy playoffs this year with the Saints getting Minnesota at home week 15 and at the Bengals week 16. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/ 9. Warner not on pace for 5 week return Clipped from the Nick Wishart article posted 10/29/02 on stltoday.com Kurt Warner hoped to be back from his broken right little finger within five weeks. It looks like that was wishful thinking. "He's on schedule," Rams trainer Jim Anderson said Monday. "I was told eight to 10 weeks from the start, and nothing has changed with the time frame." Warner suffered the injury against the Cowboys on Sept. 29, and two days later three pins were inserted. On Monday, doctors removed the bulky cast Warner has been wearing and fitted him with a removable splint. Next week, the pins will be removed, and then the serious rehabilitation begins. "Then he can start doing some motion and strengthening work," Anderson said. "That's when he can functionally use the hand again, but it's got to be strong enough to throw. "And it looks like that's still several weeks away." "They're pleased with the healing," coach Mike Martz said. "I don't think (the return date) has changed much, but once the pins are out and the cast is off who knows? We'll see." [[[[[[[[[[ DODSON'S VIEW ]]]]]]]]]] If you are tying up a roster spot by holding on to Warner in a re-draft league, now may be the time to cut your losses. If he is in fact out for a full ten weeks, I can't fathom him being worthy of starting for any team capable of making the fantasy playoffs. If you are letting waiver wire talent pass you by that may be capable of helping your team win, I would seriously consider trading Warner for whatever you can get or just cutting him loose. Obviously in keeper leagues you should hang on to him for next season. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/ 10. Garcia's mobility is improving his play Clipped from the Kevin Lynch article posted 10/29/02 on sfgate.com Jeff Garcia disdains the neat and organized. On the field, the 49ers' quarterback is the Oscar Madison of football, preferring to operate when a defense dissolves into a formless mess. "This beautiful two-deep zone, when everybody is taking these perfect drops and the (defensive backs) are exactly where they are supposed to be," coach Steve Mariucci explained, "all of a sudden that quarterback moves and all that coverage comes apart, it changes, it moves." Garcia has become a destructive force for opposing defenses, a one-man demolition crew who takes a sledgehammer to the neatest of schemes. Garcia's forays from the pocket the past three weeks have shattered zones and disrupted man coverage. While chaos reigns in the secondary, Garcia fires the ball to open receivers. In Sunday's win against Arizona, Garcia's improvisational bolts created space for three of his four touchdown tosses. "Some (defenders) come out (of coverage) and run to the quarterback and some guys get out of position," Mariucci said. Garcia admits he'll break one of the cardinal rules of football by fleeing a perfectly formed pocket even when he's not threatened by a sack. Quarterbacks are schooled to sit behind their blockers and allow wide receivers to wriggle free. Garcia prefers to wriggle first and get defenses out of kilter. Even though Mariucci probably would prefer Garcia to stay planted behind his offensive line, he understands the urge to roam. "I remember when I was coaching Brett Favre," said Mariucci, who coached quarterbacks in Green Bay from 1992-95 when Favre first learned his craft. "He'd be watching film and I'd ask him why he'd leave the pocket, because you always want to see what they see. He'd think for a while, then he'd say, 'I'm good out there,' and you know, he's right -- he is good out there. Jeff's good out there, too." [[[[[[[[[[ DODSON'S VIEW ]]]]]]]]]] 28 rushes for 153 yards on the season isn't what anyone would consider to be great rushing statistics when compared to Vick or McNabb. Yet just as with those two, Garcia is using his feet to open up downfield opportunities. Just the threat of Garcia running is enough to freeze a linebacker or cause the free safety to hesitate for a split second which is all the Terrell Owens needs to get a step on a defender. Give Garcia and Owens a nice bump up this week as both are regaining their top tier form. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/ 11. Brady VS Bledsoe I Clipped from the Mark Gaughan article posted 10/29/02 on buffalonews.com "He came in the door after practice and didn't say anything and took a little time to himself," Mac Bledsoe said. "He sat in his office for about 10 minutes. Then he came out and the free-for-all was on, and he had dinner and went up and read to the kids, which is his normal routine. He always puts the boys to bed. "Then," Mac Bledsoe recalls, "he came down and said to me, "I'm going to go tuck it in.' And I asked him, "What happened today? It seemed like something was bugging you when you came home?' He said, "I was told I'm going to be the backup the rest of the season.' "At that point I was ready to load into the car and go fistfight somebody. I said, "What are you going to do about it?' "His answer was, "Dad, it was probably one of the easiest decisions I've ever had to make. I'm going to do what I said I was going to do. I promised Troy Brown and Ted Johnson and all those guys that I was going to give my best this year. So I'm going to go back and give my best. I'll score 100 on every gameplan test just like I do when I'm the starter, and if what they have for me to do is throw passes as the scout-team quarterback I'm going to do it the best I can.' " Eleven months have passed since that day, and Bledsoe finally gets the chance to "do something about" the fact he was rejected as the New England Patriots' starting quarterback. Bledsoe goes into the game one of the leading candidates for NFL Most Valuable Player. He ranks No. 1 in passing yards and second in passer rating. He has led the Bills to a 5-3 record and a three-game winning streak. [[[[[[[[[[ DODSON'S VIEW ]]]]]]]]]] This will be a great game to watch. You really can't say that the Patriots made a bad decision by keeping Brady. He's a good enough quarterback to win a Championship for them and could do so again for them in the future. Bledsoe is obviously playing better than he has in years for the Bills however, allowing those "what if" questions to creep in. As jacked up as Bledsoe will be this week, I would consider Bledsoe to be a must start along with Moulds and Price and any other Bill offensive player that you may own. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/ Feedback is always welcome. If you want to ask me a question or have a comment, feel free to e-mail me at [email protected] Good luck next week! Dave Dodson