He also, of course, benefits from the fact that Reggie Bush runs between the tackles about as well as Chad Pennington throws the deep out.

Yet, despite all of these positives, the latest injury updates on Pierre Thomas indicate that you may need to sit him in Week 1.

A few days ago, Thomas listed himself as questionable for Week 1 because of an MCL sprain (via Fanhouse) that has hampered him throughout the preseason. He also recently sustained a laceration “from a fence” (via the Times-Picayune) that required him to get stitches, but should not hamper him moving forward.

Follow the links to StubHub for great deals on New Orleans Saints tickets and all 2009 NFL tickets.

The official Week 1 injury report is not out yet, but the news about Thomas is pessimistic enough that I would begin making alternate plans for your running back slots this week. He did not practice on Monday, and I’ve seen no reports yet that indicate he we will be ready to take advantage of the porous Lions’ D on Sunday.

The fact of the matter is that if you gave Sean Payton truth serum, he would probably admit that he doesn’t think he’ll need Thomas to score on and beat Detroit. Thus, if their #1 backfield horse isn’t ready to go, there is no reason for them to rush him back. This is a huge season for Payton and the Saints, and Thomas is the guy they are counting on to provide the Deuce-like thunder opposite Reggie Bush’s lightning.

That said, I wouldn’t panic yet if you are a Thomas owner (as I am).

Hopefully you have a decent option on your bench for Week 1 and his absence won’t kill you. If you own Reggie Bush, he obviously becomes a must-start, pending the reports out of Saints practice this week. Mike Bell should also see increased carries, especially around the goalline, if Thomas is out. In fact, Bell might not be a bad guy to stash on your bench as a semi-handcuff for Thomas as a hedge in case Thomas’ injuries linger.

Just be sure to keep track of the latest injury updates on Pierre Thomas throughout the week, but I’d get him out of your lineup right now — just in case you forget to check before Sunday — and then make a last minute switch on Saturday or Sunday if the news about his knee changes.

I’ll update this post if I see that anything changes.

Update: Via this tweet from Jeff Duncan of the Times-Picayune, it appears as if you are safe in removing Pierre Thomas from your rosters. Thomas, according to Duncan, is not dressed for Wednesday’s practice.

**********

* – Pierre Thomas photo credit: Ball St Journal

This week, at least on paper, we should have another thrilling matchup on Monday Night Football; and hopefully the level of play is a little bit more aesthetically pleasing.

Tomorrow night, November 24, the Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints take the field in New Orleans. The Packers enter the game at 5-5, and 1/2 game behind both the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings in the NFC North standings. The Bears and Vikings were both victorious on Sunday. The Saints enter the game at 5-5 as well, but in a much more precarious position in the NFC South. They are in last place, behind Carolina, Tampa Bay, and Atlanta.

As with most games during late November and December, both teams look at this game as a virtual must-win.

Before we get into who will win, let’s take a look at the injury report:

The biggest injury news in this game is that Saints RB Reggie Bush will not play. Reggie Bush continues to suffer from an injured knee. Sean Payton and the Saints had hoped Bush could give it a go, but announced early on Sunday that he would not play. (Luckily for fantasy owners of Reggie Bush, like myself, the Saints announced this twenty minutes before the early games on Sunday started. I was able to quickly put Le’Ron McLain in my lineup and enjoy his solid day against the Eagles.) Aaron Glenn and Mike Karney are also out for the Saints. For the Packers, linebacker Nick Barnett is out. A whole slew of other players are questionable, but none are starters or key players.

Now let’s get your impression before I give you mine:

My first impression is that I don’t like this matchup for the Saints.

I think if people were asked who has the better offense, the majority would answer the Saints. And with a healthy Reggie Bush, Marques Colston, and Jeremy Shockey, that could be true. But the truth of the matter is that the Packers have actually scored more points this season: 274-266. This, despite the fact that Brett Favre is playing in New York and running back Ryan Grant is averaging less than 4 yards per carry.

Still, the Packers have the better running game. Without Reggie Bush, the Saints have been relying on Deuce McAllister and Pierre Thomas to provide balance to the passing attack led by Drew Brees. Unfortunately for New Orleans, McAllister is only averaging 3.7 yards per attempt. Pierre Thomas, however, has been running well of late. He is gaining 4.4 yards per carry and should continue to get carries even when Reggie Bush returns.

The Saints are also trying to assimilate Marques Colston back into their offense. Colston was injured for a while, but it has not stopped Drew Brees from amassing a ridiculous 3,251 passing yards through 10 games. Brees has also thrown for 18 touchdowns, but has been picked off 11 times. With ball-hawking cornerbacks like Charles Woodson on the other side of the ball, Drew Brees will have to be careful not to throw to the other team.

Amazingly, Aaron Rodgers (or is it Scott Stapp from Creed?) is having almost as strong a season as Drew Brees — if not better. He does not have the yardage and touchdowns of Brees, but Rodgers has been more efficient. He has thrown only 6 INTs and has a passer rating of 94.5, nearly equal to Brees’ 95.4. Aaron Rodgers has developed a great rapport with wide receiver Greg Jennings, who is emerging as one of the most electric deep threats in the NFL. Greg Jennings has caught 48 passes, which is less then 5 per game, but he is averaging an eye-popping 18.0 yards per catch and 5 TDs. With New Orleans possessing a secondary that is more like a sieve than a last line of defense, I would expect Greg Jennings to get behind the secondary for at least one or two big plays.

The Saints are 4-1 at home this year, but three of those wins were against struggling teams such as the Raiders, 49ers, and Chargers. They did hand Tampa Bay one of their few losses this year, but the Saints’ other W was against the Chiefs. The Saints have not fared well against teams with records of .500 or above, dropping games to Minnesota, Washington, Carolina, Atlanta, and Denver.

I would say that the Packers are much closer to the second group of teams — the good ones — than the list of patsies that the Saints have beaten. And coming off last week’s dismantling of the Bears, this Packers team seems to be hitting their stride.

I am an unabashed Drew Brees fan, have him in nearly every fantasy league, and remain pissed off that the Miami Dolphins did not draft him back when he came out of Purdue. Drew Brees is an outstanding QB and I think he will play well on Monday night.

Still, I doubt it will be enough to win.

The Packers have their own solid QB to go along with a better running game, a more consistent receiving corps, and a much better defense. Without Reggie Bush to add his dynamic play-making ability to the Saints attack, and keep the Packers D off balance, I think the Saints will put up a valiant fight but ultimately fall short.

Prediction: Packers 38 | Saints 31

(Editor’s Note: For purposes of full disclosure, JRod also picked Texas Tech to beat Oklahoma, thought the Browns would go 9-7 and make the playoffs, and predicted the Chicago White Sox would beat the Tampa Bay Rays in this year’s playoffs. So basically, if you are thinking of wagering money on this game, put it confidently on the Saints. The Packers have now been given the official JRod Kiss of Death.)

The New Orleans Saints had held out hope that Reggie Bush would be able to suit up this weekend when the desperate Saints take on the Chiefs. However, despite partial participation in practice on Wednesday, Bush is officially listed as OUT on the NFL Injury Report. Reggie Bush did not participate in Thursday’s practice. Looks like Deuce McAllister and Pierre Thomas will be splitting carries again; and that Drew Brees will be airing it out a lot, as always. Marques Colston is listed as probable and should play, providing a boon to the Saints, as well as fantasy owners of Colston and Drew Brees.

For fans of the St. Louis Rams and owners of Steven Jackson, you will have to do without the dreadlocked one again this weekend. Steven Jackson is staying in St. Louis when the Rams travel to San Francisco to play the 49ers. Jackson will be seeing a specialist about his injured thigh. Steven Jackson also missed last week’s game, a week after carrying only 7 times against the Arizona Cardinals.

For more fantasy football knowledge for Week 11, head over to the Fantasy Sports Blog and check out Fraschetti’s Week 11 Fantasy Football Sleeper Focus. If you have any lineup questions, ask them over that Week 11 Start Em, Sit Em Live Chat.  You can submit questions any time and we’ll be answering between 9:00 and 11:00 ET tomorrow.

[tags]fantasy football, nfl injury news, steven jackson, reggie bush[/tags]

In taking in all week 8 had to offer, there were a few glaring issues or situations that stood out above the rest. Here’s who and what they were.

Matt Ryan, QB-Falcons. ON FIRE.

Yes, the Falcons lost, so why is he on fire. Have you seen him play? Do you remember he is only a Rookie? I cannot remember a rookie QB making this kind of an impact this fast. The Falcons were supposed to the worst team in football this year. Ryan has given the Falcons a 4-3 record, which is 4 more wins than most predicted they would have. Mike who? Yes, he has eased the pain of the loss of the Falcons entire offense going to Federal prison.

The Falcons coaches displayed their obvious comfort with Ryan throwing, as two out of every three plays were a pass against the Eagles. Ryan has had impressive outings against two defenses that are savages when it comes to applying pressure to quarterbacks, especially rookies, those being the Bears and the Eagles. Even though Matt Forte and Chris Johnson have been impressive, if Ryan continues, here is your 2008 NFL Rookie of the year!

The New Orleans Saints Offense. ON FIRE.

They flew to London and offensively dominated what was largely considered to be a championship team and a top five defense in the San Diego Chargers, and, this was done without one of the games most electrifying players, Reggie Bush.

Initial reports of Bush had him out two to four weeks after his surgery last week. The Saints are on a bye this week and will face the Falcons in week 10.

Without Bush, the Saints posted 451 yards of total offense in their 37-32 win over the Chargers with Drew Brees leading the way on a three touchdown 339 yard passing performance. This offense should only become more explosive after the bye week and in a few weeks the return of Reggie Bush to the line up.

Kellen Winslow, TE-Browns, ON ICE.

What a cancer this guy has to be! He missed two games this year. What happened in those games he missed, nothing much, only two of the biggest wins I can remember in most recent Browns history. Without “The Warrior”, the Browns managed to blow out the defending, and unbeaten at that point, Super Bowl Champions on Monday night, and had another huge win, in Jacksonville, against a dominating defense. Where does this leave Kellen? I am guessing in a new uniform in 2009. It is unfortunate that Browns players have to encounter staph infections, and believe that this issue should be addressed, but Winslow has never learned since his days at Miami how to express himself in a manner which is not destructive.

The Tennessee Titans Backfield. ON FIRE.

Under normal circumstances would I ever give advise to start two running backs on the same team at the same time, but I found myself giving that advise last week. These two, Lendale White and Chris Johnson are fantasy gods, and if I had both of them on my roster, without question would I start both of them at the same time. They are scoring machines and Coach Fisher is committed to the run. Props to Kerry Collins who showed that he can pass when needed in their impressive win over the Colts last night.

Lastly,

The Cincinnati Bengals. ON ICE.

What team ever had more talent then the Bengals on paper and could suck this bad. Who is to blame for the Bengals demise. Marvin Lewis. Lewis was a great defensive coordinator who led the Bengals to one playoff appearance, SINCE 2003. Look at the cycle that has taken place in their backfield alone and you can see the confusion that is taking place with the Bungles. Releasing your leading rusher, notice I said releasing, not trading, releasing your leading rusher to leave your running attack up to Kenny Watson and Chris Perry. After this genius move backfired, the powers that be picked up Cedric Benson, who averages 44.4 yards per game over his NFL career.

I know the loss of Carson Palmer is a good excuse, but the Patriots are 5-2 minus the best quarterback ever, which was done with a quarterback who’s last start prior to this year was in high school! This is the most talented 0-8 team ever!

Look for my Week 9 Fantasy Football Sleeper Focus which will post Thursday morning.

Kurt Fraschetti

profootballinsight@live.com

Welcome back to the Midwest Sports Fans Fantasy Football Sleeper Focus for NFL Week 8.

In a recap, two weeks ago, I recommended that you pick up and start John Carlson, the tight end from Seattle. All he has done since is score touchdowns, which propelled him to the 11th ranked fantasy tight end. I told you two weeks ago to sit all of your Patriots, and in doing so, the offense was miserable. Last week I told you to start all of your Patriots, and it appeared that Tom Brady was wearing #16 as the Patriots offense did not miss a beat.

The concept of this weekly segment is to help fantasy football owners make educated, tough decisions. I am open to your questions and will provide advice to you via email, or if received early enough, I will post your question on our weekly segment. You can also interact with me via this site by posting a question at the end of this article. Responses have grown each week, and I am encouraged by all of the positive feedback I have received. I do not address the obvious “no-brainers” for who to start in my article, but try to provide insight into deeper issues.

Now, lets get down and dirty with Week 8.

We will open week 8 with a question I was sent yesterday by Robert from Youngstown:

“I picked up Carlson like you said and he was great. I also had Morris last week and wished he played the second half, that would have been huge. I also followed you on selecting Brad Johnson from the Cowboys for my QB as mine was on a bye. He had an awful showing last week, what do you expect this week since I can start two QB’s in my league.”

Robert, thanks for following my articles and I am glad almost everything worked out for you. As for Brad Johnson, I never saw that poor of a performance coming. There was so much uncertainty as to who was going to start last Sunday between Brad Johnson and Tony Romo that I think that was a huge distraction for the entire team. Wade Phillips I don’t believe has a clue of what is going on with his team as it is circling the drain.

Part of me thinks that Jason Garrett is failing on purpose, knowing that when Phillips is fired, it is Garrett’s team. I saw a source reported that Romo will not be playing until mid-November, which should eliminate any controversy as to who the starter is. The Cowboys have to win now, or this will be the worst actual team which appeared to be the best on paper in a really long time. I look for Jason Garrett to cater the offense more to Johnson’s style and abilities which will make Brad Johnson worthy of a start.

Moving on, Deuce McAllister will see additional carries with the loss of Reggie Bush; the question is, how many? I believe that only Deuce McAllister will be able to answer that question. If he produces, Sean Payton will continue to give him the rock. If he is not productive, we will see more of Pierre Thomas and Aaron Stecker. McAllister has shown flashes of his old self this year, and I anticipate him to be a good start if you are in need at the flex or running back position.

Another running back worthy of a start if in need is the Bengals new starting running back Cedric Benson. As I reported last week, Cedric Benson received the starting nod over previous starter Chris Perry against the Steelers. Benson did not set the world on fire, but did get 62 total yards on 15 touches against a talented Steelers defense. This week should be a walk in the park for him compared to last week as he faces the Texans D this week.

In the past week, a lot of owners were asking me my opinion on defenses. This week is no different. The top fantasy D in the league right now is the Titans. With that said, I do not like the Titans as a start this week for a few reasons. The first is they are playing the Indianapolis Colts. Yes, the Colts have only had one productive offensive game, which came against the leagues best defense, the Ravens. You know that the Colts offense is going to explode again, the question is, on who? Secondly, they are playing on Monday night, which always seems to generate scoring, regardless of who is playing. Defenses I like this week are the Jets, 49ers, Bills, Redskins and Ravens.

As always, thanks for getting your fantasy football insight with me. Post your questions here or you can reach me at profootballinsight@live.com

Kurt Fraschetti

[tags]fantasy football, sleepers, nfl[/tags]

For those of you new to the weekly column, which began last week, I will post several players each week and rate them as being on fire or on ice. My fellow writers at Midwest Sports Fans, and our loyal readers as well, will then chime in with their own thoughts on the selected players. Keep in mind this is evaluated from a fantasy football perspective.

So, who is on fire or on ice for Week 8?

The Cleveland Browns Offense- On Ice. I argued this point last week when my fellow writers called me crazy for giving them the same title last week, and this past weekend against Washington was exactly why. One game does not mean squat. They should have produced the same numbers all year that they put up against the Giants, and did not. Until they prove to me that they can sustain the same high intensity offense for two to three weeks in a row, they are cold as ICE. What’s funny is the one factor different from the Giants game versus this weekend’s game was the addition of Kellen Winslow. The offense posted better runs with Steve Heiden blocking. Maybe Kellen Winslow should be moved to a slot position and let Heiden help with the run blocking. Just an observation.

The New Orleans Saints Offense- On Fire. Don’t let one bad game fool you, or the loss of Reggie Bush. This offense is still extremely talented as long as Drew Brees is under center. This offense will not look the same as it does when Reggie Bush is playing, but they were successful in his absence last year.

The Baltimore Ravens Defense- On Fire. After getting absolutely torched against the Indianapolis Colts, they put their top ranked “D” back onto the field in a dominating fashion against the Miami Dolphins. That should continue versus the Oakland Raiders and the Cleveland Browns, if the Browns still can’t find their identity by Week 9.

Steven Jackson and Marc Bulger- On Fire. This is a huge understatement; should be “inferno”. Steven Jackson was worth 39 fantasy football points last week and Bulger is looking like the old Bulger again. It’s amazing what firing your head coach can do for your ball club. Since Jim Haslet took over, the Rams are 2-0 with two very impressive wins against the Cowboys and Redskins!

In closing, the Indianapolis Colts are beginning to remind me of the Cleveland Browns offensively. They have more talent than 90% of the NFL on offense and were destroyed this past week. If you have Colts on your team like Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, and Reggie Wayne, you can’t sit them unless you have super studs to cover their starting spot; but what gives? These teams are capable of dropping serious points on their opponents, which means fantasy football victories for their owners, but not last week.

Braylon Edwards catches insane balls thrown to him that he should never catch, but drops wide open perfectly thrown balls? I don’t understand that one. I am also lost as to why Romeo Crennel did not pull Derek Anderson after such a miserable first half for Brady Quinn. I find it very hard to believe that Brady Quinn would produce the same miserable numbers which D.A. posted in the first half of the Redskins game. That was as ignorant as Red Sox Manager Terry Francona leaving Jon Lester in the game while he was getting throttled in the fifth inning. Both ended with the same result: a loss.

Look for specific insight into the upcoming NFL week on Thursday in the Fantasy Football Sleeper Focus here at www.midwestsportsfans.com

Kurt Fraschetti

[tags]sports forum, fantasy football, reggie bush, cleveland browns, st. louis rams[/tags]

Check out the Week 9 Fire and Ice Fantasy Football Forum for the latest news regarding Reggie Bush’s injury status.
If you’re a Reggie Bush, Deuce McAllister, Pierre Thomas or Aaron Stecker owner, or in need of a running back in fantasy football week 8, this applies to you.

In Sunday’s loss to the Panthers, Saints running back Reggie Bush injured his meniscus in his left knee on a punt return in the second quarter. As it stands right now, Reggie Bush needs arthroscopic knee surgery that could sideline him for several weeks.

Head coach Sean Payton stated that the plan is to scope the knee, evaluate it and go from there. This injury will yield more carries for Deuce McAllister, Pierre Thomas and Aaron Stecker. I anticipate Aaron Stecker to be used in the same format as Reggie Bush, as he possesses the most speed out of this group. If Deuce McAllister can be productive when given the opportunity, he stands to benefit the most from the absence of Reggie Bush.

Check back with Midwestsportsfans.com on Wednesday for more insight into fantasy football week 8.

And don’t forget to get your questions in for the mailbag portion of our upcoming Week 9 Fantasy Football Sleeper Focus. If you have a roster question and want expert help, email profootballinsight@live.com and your email will either be responded to personally, or here on Midwest Sports Fans.

[tags]fantasy football, reggie bush[/tags]