Good day Razzballers. Here is some news you can use and abuse. Well, don’t abuse it, that’ll just lead to resentment and you’ll end up hating each other!
Is the lockout nearing the end? Good question nameless NFL fan. It’s hard to decipher what is really going down, but the news continues to be more positive than a month ago. Judy Battista gives a good overview of what happened today in the talks. I’m just going to go ahead and feel a little optimism because I actually kinda sorda believe they are getting close.
Chris Johnson is poised to holdout after the lockout (no doubt) if the Titans don’t throw a butt-ton of cash at him. Should they? I dunno, but I don’t see this not being a big story this year. I can see why CJ2K is going to do it though. The Titans don’t exactly have the best supporting cast for him and his frame isn’t built for constant beatings. It really is amazing that he has held up as well as he has.
Browns coach Pat Shurmur says that running back Montario Hardesty will be ready to go for training camp. Peyton Hillis was a one man wrecking crew last season, but it’s really hard to decipher how the touches will break down this season. Hardesty looked good in preseason before getting hurt, but Hillis did enough to get the benefit of a lot of doubts. I’m tempering expectations, but don’t give up on him.
Ken Whisenhunt said in a radio interview the other day, “If you can get a young player who can be a winner for a decade, you go get him.” Everybody and their uncle thinks he’s talking about Kevin Kolb, and since I’m a monkey’s uncle I’m going to agree. And it’s good to see that the head coach is on board. The Cardinals will at least make a run at him and if Fitz is there I think Kolb will have some value in fantasy, and it will help Fitz a ton.
It looks like Terrell Owens and Chad Ochostinko and Carson Palmer are done in Cincinnati. I’m writing the Bengals out of the script for this season. AJ Green and Jerome Simpson will be the de facto starters, but will either have a rookie QB or an old has-been throwing to them. Yes, they’ll be starting receivers, but on a horrid, horrid team.
The hype train for Mark Ingram is growing. Jason Cole says that the Saints are “set on getting back to a more conventional running game that was part of their run to a Super Bowl title in 2009.” And he believes that Ingram is the guy to fill that need. He also called him a “bell cow” which is just insulting. Us fake footballers learned a lesson from Ryan Mathews last season, but did we really? I like Ingram quite a bit and in that offense could easily top double digit TDs, but I’m going to temper expectations with Pierre Thomas on the team and Ingram’s rookieness.
