Update: Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the Pittsburgh Steelers will start rookie Maurkice Pouncey at center, not guard. Pouncey was expected to start as a guard this season, but he has apparently supplanted Justin Hartwig as the team's starting center.

Fantasy Impact: The Steelers O-Line was dreadful in 2009, allowing 50 sacks, 2nd most in the league. Because of that extraordinarily high number, a change had to be made, and maybe Pouncey will help solve some of those problems.

Update: The team’s official website is reporting that Texans tight end Owen Daniels has been medically cleared by Dr. James Andrews, who performed surgery on his right knee, and should return to practice by next week. Head Coach Gary Kubiak expects Daniels to be ready for the season opener against the Colts on September 12, but Daniels will not play in the preseason finale against Tampa Bay on September 2. Kubiak said Wednesday, “Owen’s been cleared; totally healthy. I was out on the practice field during special teams and he called (head athletic trainer Geoff Kaplan) and we talked to Dr. Andrews, and boy, he’s fired up. It’s great for our team.”

Fantasy Impact: Daniels’ availability for Week 1 is huge for the Texans as well as for the fantasy landscape as a whole. When healthy, Daniels is a Pro Bowl player and one of the true game-changers in the league today. His presence makes it much easier for a guy like Andre Johnson to get open and makes quarterback Matt Schaub’s job much easier as well, while opening up opportunities for the team’s running game. Daniels should be one of the first eight tight ends off the board and his return should raise the stock of Schaub, Johnson, and running backs Arian Foster and Steve Slaton accordingly. 5fc5a990a8b7476eaadbea04d38ec291

Update: The Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that the Browns could be without nose tackle Shaun Rogers for the first six games of the season. Rogers had offseason ankle surgery, went on the preseason physically unable to perform list, and has yet to practice this summer. It is up to head coach Eric Mangini to decide by September 4 whether or not Rogers will start the season on the PUP list. If this is what Mangini decides, Rogers will miss the team’s first six games.

Fantasy Impact: Given that Rogers is 31 and entering his tenth season in the league, it is imperative that the Browns handle his predicament with the utmost caution or else that six-game absence could become a season-eraser. Coach Mangini is attempting to instill a ground-and-pound blue collar philosophy on his team and having their immovable object in the middle of the defensive line to mask some of their question marks in their secondary and along the rest of their front seven is vital to any sort of turnaround from last season. I’m not crazy about the Browns defense and wouldn’t be afraid to start good skill-position players against them even if Rogers is on the field Week 1, but the defense and the players that go up against it will be impacted accordingly to a significantly greater extent if Rogers isn’t there.

Update: The Associated Press is reporting that Raiders running back Darren McFadden practiced for the first time in over two weeks Tuesday, and plans on playing Saturday night against the 49ers. McFadden ran with the first-team offense and had two long runs during a team scrimmage before catching a deep pass from Jason Campbell in a seven-on-seven drill. McFadden said after practice, “I felt good. I felt like I was able to do everything that I’m supposed to do. I haven’t talked about (playing time) with the coaches. But for me, I feel like I’m full go, so I’ll hit it full go.” Of how the distribution of the backfield workload will be divided Saturday, head coach Tom Cable said, “Our plan right now is to go through the week like normal, that he’s back and ready to go. We’ll be smart in terms of his workload.” McFadden is projected to be the Raiders no. 1 RB in the regular season.

Fantasy Impact: How McFadden’s hamstring holds up and how comfortable he is in his movements on Saturday will tell you a lot about what kind of durability and consistent effectiveness can be expected of him on a week-to-week basis throughout the season. McFadden’s ability to stay healthy through practice is of course of premium importance as well, but I believe the length of his absence was largely precautionary, because the organization has every reason to want to protect their former fourth overall pick, especially given his injury woes over his first two seasons in the league. McFadden has had a great offseason by all accounts, and has strengthened his lower body, thereby making him more difficult to bring down once one gets a hand on him, but any fantasy drafter has every reason to fear drafting him too high. I think if you already have 2 decent RB’s and a solid QB and receiving corps, take a shot on McFadden.

Update: The Green Bay Press-Gazette is reporting that Packers cornerback Al Harris won’t be healthy enough to play Week 1 when the Pack travel to Philadelphia. Harris had reconstructive surgery on his left knee late last season and was unable to pass his physical Monday, and will not try again until next week at the earliest. Harris has been on the physically unable to perform list throughout training camp and if he remains on the list at the start of the regular season, he will be required to miss the first six games. Said head coach Mike McCarthy: “All of the reports are always positive when we talk to medical staff, but there is a protocol when you come off a major type injury that Al has gone through. He is doing everything he can, I can promise you that, but still today he is not ready to pass the physical.”

Fantasy Impact: The Packers defense, particularly in the second year with Dom Capers at the helm, should be even more adept at stopping the run and pressuring opposing quarterbacks than they were last season. However, we saw in Green Bay’s wild card loss to the Cardinals last season, when they gave up 51 points, how vulnerable any defense can be without being at full strength on the back end. Safety Atari Bigby is out for the foreseeable future, Charles Woodson will be 34 in October and is unlikely to match his Defensive Player of the Year performance of last season, and the first six games that Harris would miss if he does not work his way off the PUP list by September 12 include matchups with star wideouts Desean Jackson, Calvin Johnson, and Brandon Marshall. Simply put, the Packers need Harris back, and they need him back fast.

Update: The Baltimore Sun is reporting that Ravens offensive tackle Jared Gaither won’t need surgery on his back but can’t put a timetable on his return. Said Gaither: “Nothing’s going to accelerate my return but healthiness. Whenever I’m 100 percent, that’s really the only thing that will get me back on the field. This is my back, and you need that for life. The only thing that can get me back on the field is (being) 100 percent healthy.”

Fantasy Impact: The fact that Gaither won’t need surgery is encouraging, but not being able to put a timetable on his return a mere two and a half weeks for the season opener certainly is not. The Ravens are going to face some tough defenses early in the season and they need their other bookend tackle opposite Michael Oher to protect Joe Flacco and open up holes for Ray Rice and Willis McGahee. Stay tuned for updates on this situation and be very weary of starting Flacco or Rice against the Jets (Week 1), Bengals (Week 2), or Steelers (Week 4) if Gaither isn’t going to line up in front of them.

Update: The Baltimore Sun is reporting that Ravens offensive tackle Jared Gaither won’t need surgery on his back but can’t put a timetable on his return. Said Gaither: “Nothing’s going to accelerate my return but healthiness. Whenever I’m 100 percent, that’s really the only thing that will get me back on the field. This is my back, and you need that for life. The only thing that can get me back on the field is (being) 100 percent healthy.”

Fantasy Impact: The fact that Gaither won’t need surgery is encouraging, but not being able to put a timetable on his return a mere two and a half weeks for the season opener certainly is not. The Ravens are going to face some tough defenses early in the season and they need their other bookend tackle opposite Michael Oher to protect Joe Flacco and open up holes for Ray Rice and Willis McGahee. Stay tuned for updates on this situation and be very weary of starting Flacco or Rice against the Jets (Week 1), Bengals (Week 2), or Steelers (Week 4) if Gaither isn’t going to line up in front of them.

Update: Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll plans on starting Leon Washington at running back in Saturday’s preseason game in Minnesota, as reported by the team’s official website. Said Carroll about having his third different back start in as many preseason games: “We just give these guys a chance to compete, and that’s exactly what we’re doing…That’s what our plan was, to give these guys a chance to go with the first group and show us what they’ve got.”

Fantasy Impact: To me, it seems like a no-brainer that Leon Washington will, and should, be the Seahawks starting running back Week 1 against the 49ers. Justin Forsett, at 198 pounds while playing behind a rebuilding offensive line, can hardly be considered featured back material, especially as he has only logged 155 touches so far in his pro career, 4 of which he has fumbled, and has produced an underwhelming 30 yards on 12 carries so far in preseason. Julius Jones has failed to reach 700 yards on the ground in either of his first two seasons in Seattle, and has only accumulated 27 yards in 10 preseason carries. Jones has also not been as popular in the Northwest as he was in Dallas, receiving plenty of boos from the Seahawk faithful throughout training camp. That leaves Washington, a former Pro Bowl return specialist, who averaged 4.8 yards per carry over his first four years in the league with the Jets and has proven equally adept as a runner and receiver out of the backfield. Washington showed no jitters in his first preseason contest as a Seahawk Saturday night, rushing for 19 yards and 1 TD against the Packers, the league’s 2nd-ranked defense last season. I see Washington as a no.3 RB and consistently worthy flex option in fantasy.

Update: Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll plans on starting Leon Washington at running back in Saturday’s preseason game in Minnesota, as reported by the team’s official website. Said Carroll about having his third different back start in as many preseason games: “We just give these guys a chance to compete, and that’s exactly what we’re doing…That’s what our plan was, to give these guys a chance to go with the first group and show us what they’ve got.”

Fantasy Impact: To me, it seems like a no-brainer that Leon Washington will, and should, be the Seahawks starting running back Week 1 against the 49ers. Justin Forsett, at 198 pounds while playing behind a rebuilding offensive line, can hardly be considered featured back material, especially as he has only logged 155 touches so far in his pro career, 4 of which he has fumbled, and has produced an underwhelming 30 yards on 12 carries so far in preseason. Julius Jones has failed to reach 700 yards on the ground in either of his first two seasons in Seattle, and has only accumulated 27 yards in 10 preseason carries. Jones has also not been as popular in the Northwest as he was in Dallas, receiving plenty of boos from the Seahawk faithful throughout training camp. That leaves Washington, a former Pro Bowl return specialist, who averaged 4.8 yards per carry over his first four years in the league with the Jets and has proven equally adept as a runner and receiver out of the backfield. Washington showed no jitters in his first preseason contest as a Seahawk Saturday night, rushing for 19 yards and 1 TD against the Packers, the league’s 2nd-ranked defense last season. I see Washington as a no.3 RB and consistently worthy flex option in fantasy.