FRIDAY! Fantasy News and Notes

Another week in the books and another week closer to the kickoff of season!

Here's some early Friday news:

Miami Dolphins
There could be a full on RBBC in Miami - HC Tony Sparano is waffling on whether Ronnie Brown or Ricky Williams will be his 'bell cow' and is thinking about maybe splitting carries significantly over the course of the season. I took Williams in the middle of a couple of drafts so far and will continue to target him as a #3/4 with upside. Brown is a very good back and can come back effective from his injury, but Sparano like Williams' energy coming off the bench and in general. So Brown may be losing some ground and becomes less and less a safe fantasy pick.

New Orleans Saints
Jeremy Shockey will likely miss Saturday's game against the Texans and while I am high on Shockey, this is what you get with him. He's 'lights out' when he is healthy - which is a tough thing to predict. He still will serve a significant role in this offense, but remember that Bush, Meachem, Patten and even Billy Miller are there to pick up the slack if he isn't 100%. Take him with the understanding that you need to have a decent and consistent back-up to him on your roster.

Buffalo Bills
Trent Edwards solidified his position as the Bills' #1 QB last night with a solid performance of 9/14, 104 yds and 2 TDs. Lee Evans got involved with 3 catches for 55 yards and TE Robert Royal caught 2 passes, both for TDs. Sleeper TE? We'll have to watch that one play out more. Rookie James Hardy was a non-factor tonight so balance out that first game with last night and we're back to square one in guessing his impact with the team.

But back to Edwards - a few places I had heard questions as to whether JP Losman should be getting more consideration and I have to say, why? We know what he can do, it isn't that spectacular and Edwards is really only in his second full year of starting. He's have growing pains for sure, but should be solid. Just goes to show, the most popular guy in town is often the back-up QB. Edwards, by the way, should be one of the last guys you look at for a Qb on yoru fantasy roster. He's got a long way to go to be a relevant fantasy player.

Philadelphia Eagles
Reggie Brown injured himself again and should have a MRI today. I have been - well not a big fan is the best way to put it - and this isn't helping. I never felt McNabb looked his way for most of last season, he gets hurt to much and rookie DeSean Jackson is playing too good to be denied. I'm not saying Jackson will star tas the #1 or anything - just that Brown continues to be a bad idea for your Fantasy team this season. Jackson, by the way, isn't just having good games when it comes to the big things - kick returns and receptions. he does a bunch of little thing well - like throwing a key block on Tony Hunt's long TD. Now, Jackson did fumble on a punt return. But he's a rookie, so buyer beware anyway, He will make those mistakes.

Don't read into Tony Hunt's big performance last night. He did it against a pretty weak 3rd string group of Carolina players in the last quarter. Hunt may still not make this team.

Carolina Panthers
On the other side of the field, rookie Jonathan Stewart finally saw the field and... well unspectacular should cover it. 4 carries for 3 yards is pretty unspectacular. The field conditions were sloppy, he wasn't behind the top O-line and he's way behind after having missed so much time with this injury. I still think he might grab the #1 late this season, but as I said on The Drive Block last night, DeAngelo Williams is probably the guy to grab right now if you want coverage at least early.

Jake Delhomme continues to look ok, but not great. 9/14, 54 yds and a pick are also unspectacular. Again, field conditions and rain didn't help but he's not where we hoped he would be at this point. He wide reciever situation is very unsettled: Steve Smith out for 2 games, DJ Hackett continually unhealthy, Dwayne Jarrett not producing. You've got Muhsin Muhammad and a bunch of random guys you won't hear a lot about goign forward.

It does not instill confidence in Delhomme right now.

That's all for now, more later as we head into the weekend and get another look at who is hot, who is not and who isn't playing because - it's preseason and they don't have to.