FantasyLion.com: All Day

With Donovan McNabb headed to Washington, that gives me another great keeper option at QB in Kevin Kolb. Kolb will come cheaply as a 16th rounder. I’m also most definitely keeping Aaron Rodgers who will be a 10th rounder and Ray Rice who will be an 8th rounder. I can keep up to 5 players. Who else should I keep? Here’s a link to my roster. Send me an email (john@fantasylion.com) or hit me with a Tweet with who you think should make The Lion’s last 2 roster spots…

Most of you know I went to Fresno St. Bulldogs football is a passion of mine and I’ve loved watching Mathews the last 3 years. I’ve had the chance to meet him and he’s a really nice guy. I’m not too wild about a lot of the offensive players headed into next year’s draft and the potential fantasy impact that they’d have, but Mathews is not one of those players. If he goes to the right team, he could definitely be a 20+ carry back in the NFL. CJ Spiller may have more flash and get drafted higher than Mathews, but should Mathews go to a playoff team picking in the late 1st round like SD, NE, or GB, he could be fantasy gold and next year’s #1 fantasy rookie. For about Mathews draft stock, check out this awesome preview by my friends over at RookieBlitz.com.

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by Brandon LaClair, RookieBlitz.com

We will take a look at Cincinnati wide receiver Mardy Gilyard as he enters the 2010 NFL Draft.  We’ll examine his strengths/weaknesses, college career and our expectations for his upcoming NFL career.

Strengths

• Playmaker: Has the ability to create yards after the catch with his shiftiness and burst out of his breaks, which inevitably keeps defenders on their heels
• Vision/field awareness: Capability of finding open space in the zone and the aptitude to get open when a play breaks down.  This is one of the more vital components to have in the league because defenses are so fast that when plays break down, the quarterback needs the sure-fire target that he knows will be able to get open.  Gilyard fits that profile perfectly

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by John Gustafson, john@fantasylion.com 

(if you want to play against me in 2010, go here!)

I was taking suggestions on The Lion’s Facebook page and David from NY had a great question. He wanted to how Kevin Smith was recovering from his torn acl  and the Lions commitment to him if there is one. As a fan of Smith and a Smith owner last year, I set out to do some research. The first place I went was Kevin Smith’s website to his official blog. Smith said that he’s feeling good and thinks he’s right on schedule as he takes it day-by-day. He also said he’s rehabbing everyday and wants to come back stronger than ever, the best he’s ever been. There isn’t a timeline for his return and he’s doing everything except running but Smith said that although he’s not running, he knows he could.

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by John Gustafson, john@fantasylion.com (if you missed my announcement about the 2010 NCOFF, click here)

One of the all-time greatest RBs, LaDainian Tomlinson (what it do?) is headed to the Big Apple. For the last few years, I’ve criticized LT… long before his disappointing 2009 stint. I was a huge fan and extremely disappointed when he ducked out of some playoff games down the stretch because he was dinged up while some of his teammates who were also nursing injuries continued to play. It gave me the impression that LT was not as serious about winning as he was leading on and I began to develop a conspiracy theory about him. I wrote this back in September…

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All the more reason, I love Chris Johnson. This whip is bad, real bad, Michael Jackson. I share the exact sentiments as Jim Rome on this one. Check out the video.

by John Gustafson, john@fantasylion.com

In a move that surprised me, the Browns traded QB Brady Quinn to the Devner Broncos for virtually nothing in return (Cleveland, now I’m done). I’m not surprised that the Browns wanted to get rid of him, but I was intrigued that he went to the Broncos. However, the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. Kyle Orton isn’t a long term solution. Chris Simms is not a NFL starting QB and 3rd stringer Tom Brandstater is probably another year away from being competitive for the starting job. Considering what the Broncos gave up to get Quinn, why not?

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by John Gustafson, john@fantasylion.com

I’m back! I wanted to post more than I have been able to but oh well, such is life. In my first free agency diary entry I covered some of the earlier moves but over the next few weeks leading up to the draft I want to focus in on 1 or 2 players at a time. In this edition of the free agent diary, I’ll be covering a player/move that I love, Anquan Boldin being traded to Baltimore. I was hoping the Niners would go after Boldin, but I wasn’t surprised when they didn’t. In my earlier post, I mentioned why I love Anquan Boldin. The guy is severely underrated. Although I’m disappointed he didn’t go to the Niners, I’m ecstatic that he’s leaving the NFC West and headed to a team in desperate need of a legitimate #1 WR. Derrick Mason has been serviceable for the Ravens, but he’s more of a #2 WR, not a true #1.

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by John Gustafson, john@fantasylion.com

It’s my favorite time of the football offseason, free agency! I could give two you-know-whats about the scouting combine, because most of that is hype. But I digress, this offseason should be a crazy one so I wanted to started a diary of my thoughts on the free agency period and how it relates to fantasy football. Check back here throughout the next few weeks to get my take on what’s going on. I will try to update this a few times a week.

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Zack’s auction is up with the help of the Detroit Lions and the NFL. If you want to win tickets to the Super Bowl and help out Haiti, bid here.

Here’s some more info from NFL.com… Zack Follett wants to auction off 2 Super Bowl tickets, each valued at $900.  In addition, he has created a wood sculpture that should is included in the package and is pictured above.  All proceeds from this auction will go directly to a non-profit organization (likely Red Cross) for use in the Haiti Relief efforts.