Sunday Night Thoughts

Am watching the Lions/Bengals game again as I type this - not the prettiest game ever, but some interesting performances.

Just traded Calvin Johnson for Marques Colston straight up in a Dynasty League late last week. Will I regret it? Probably not - Colston may produce more often and more consistently than Johnson the next few years. But boy Calvin J looks rock solid.

On to the pair of games:

Lions vs Bengals
As I was just saying, Calvin Johnson is looking sharp so far in the preseason. So far he's caught 7 passes for 153 yards and a TD. Some have been saying he might see less action without madman Mike Martz, but the truth is, he'll get plenty of targets and with his size, he should be pretty successful. Kevin Smith continues to look good as he moves into the starting gig, while Tatum Bell continues to to play like Tatum Bell usually does. Lackluster and ineffective.

On the other side of the field, Chad Johnson left the game early with a shoulder injury. Early reports have been everything from a dislocated shoulder to a mild sprain. The staff isn't acting too concerned so you shouldn't be. But it's worth tracking. Meanwhile, one of the new receivers got his groove on and one got hurt. Jerome Simpson caught 5 passes for 114 yards while his fellow rookie Andre Caldwell ended up in a walking boot post-game. At first it appeared Simpson was lagging behind Caldwell but the gap has certainly been erased in the last few weeks. Neither will hold much redraft value, but how they end up will determine whether they are worth holding onto for Dynasty Leagues.

Overall I can't say much for Cinci so far. Nothing seems to be working and while I think Detroit will be effective offensively and decent defensively, I don't think they are this good. But the question becomes - are the Bengals going to be this bad?

Patriots vs Buccaneers
No Brady, no LaMont Jordan. We did find out Matt Cassel doesn't stand up to close inspection as he put up OK stats but didn't look very good doing it. Brady doesn't often get hurt and the Pats will be happy for that if Cassel and rookie Kevin O'Connell don't get it together. The defense looked a tad lackluster as well, getting run over by Tampa Bay's running backs. The offense will be fine when Brady returns but it might not matter if the defense doesn't step it up. New England is getting grabbed early as a team D. I might caution you against reaching for them.

Antonio Bryant sighting: Bryant looked good - he made a couple of nice catches and has been getting a lot of praise from Gruden. I've been fooled too many times to believe in him, but he may end up having some value if he can capture that #2 WR. But he'll probably be long gone before I am willing to draft him. No one running back stood out, but Ernest Graham did grab a TD. While he faces a huge RBBC possibility I think Graham will be able to produce decent fantasy numbers and while he might not be a consistent starter for you, he will definitely be a good #2 or bye week Rb.

That's all we have tonight (this morning). More later as we hear the outcomes of a few MRIs and injury reports.