Here's my first fantasy take on this year's NFL Draft (all info based on non-keeper leagues for 2009 only)...

QUARTERBACK
Matthew Stafford (DET) - Going to the Lions didn't help Stafford. Throwing to Calvin Johnson will, however. I don't anticipate Daunte Culpepper as being too much of a hurdle and Stafford's strong arm and accurate passing make him appealing. Still, the Lions went 0-16 last year and I don't care if it is Dan Marino coming in as a rookie, I'm going to recommend him only as a free agent pick-up until further notice.

Mark Sanchez (NYJ) - Of the rookie QB's, Sanchez has the most appeal to me. It is not as much as his talent or ability, rather the enviroment he is in. Like Stafford, there isn't much veteran competition for him to compete with. Unlike Stafford he was drafted by a playoff-caliber football team. I would take a late-round flyer on him if I have a solid QB1 already in the fold.

Josh Freeman (TB) - Freeman declared himself the best at the position in his draft class, but he has to prove it before I am ready to agree. Expect Byron Leftwich and Luke McCown to battle for the job early, but Freeman will take advantage if he ever gets a shot. Of the three listed here, he has the least fantasy value at this point heading into next year.

RUNNING BACK
Knowshown Moreno (DEN) - Being the first rookie RB taken doesn't always guarantee instant success. Moreno will be closer to Adrian Peterson than he will be Darren McFadden. Going to Denver is a great fit for the dynamic playmaker. There is a ton of depth in the Broncos' backfield, but anticipate Moreno getting the bulk of the load early in the season. I'm not ready to tab him a RB1, but he is nice pick as a RB2 with great upside.

Donald Brown (IND) - The Colts wanted Brown and didn't waste anytime going after when he was there near the end of the first round. With Dominic Rhodes out of the picture and Addai injury prone, Brown will be good for 10+ touches per game in one of the league's best offenses. That number goes up if Addai goes down. He's not a lock for playing time early though, so he should only be considered as a backup initially. A nice find in the mid-to-late rounds of your draft.

Beanie Wells (ARI) - Playing in a good offense won't be the problem, though I am still not convinced that Arizona possesses that great of a run-blocking line. There is also second-year running back Tim Hightower to consider. I look for the two of them to approach a 50/50 split by season's end. There is some durability concern with Wells and I still would much rather have Hightower at this point.

LeSean McCoy (PHI) - I love what the Eagles did in the draft and McCoy is a big reason why. He's the perfect fit in the offense and with the team wanting to ease Westrbook's worlkoad he's going to have a great chance to prove himself early and often. With him falling to Round 2 he will likely provide more value this coming August in your draft and outside of Moreno has just as much upside of any rookie back long-term.

Shonn Green (NYJ) - I like him as my "darkhorse pick". He scored 14 touchdowns in finals six games last year at Iowa and with the Thomas Jones' contract talks souring, Green's future in the Jets' backfield may take off sooner than others think. He's a guy to stash away in the back of your mind and steal on draft day.

**COMING SOON: Wide Receivers/Tight Ends**

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FantasySportsGirl.com weighs in on the Bengals' draft...

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from the Newark Star-Ledger:

Amid chatter that Brett Favre is contemplating coming out of retirement yet again, the Jets announced Tuesday evening that they have released the future Hall of Fame quarterback from the reserve/retirement list.

The move means that Favre is now free to sign with any team if he wishes, and the Jets wouldn't be owed any compensation because they no longer have his rights.

Favre's release from the Jets could pave the way for him to come back with the Vikings, the team he originally wanted to play for following his bitter divorce with Green Bay.

"Bus (Cook) and Mike (Tannenbaun) have been talking about this for a while," said Favre in a statement. "Nothing has changed. At this time, I am retired and have no intention of returning to football."

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The Arizona Cardinals made it official on Tuesday, parting ways with former Pro Bowl running back Edgerrin James.

The 31-year old running back had brief moments of hope in Arizona's Super Bowl, but mostly was a shell of his formerself in 2008. James ($5 million salary) arrived in Arizona in 2006 as the highest-paid free agent signing in team history, and rushed for more than 1,000 yards his first two seasons. But his role was reduced with the presence of Tim Hightower last season, he didn't play for three games and finished with a career-low 514 yards rushing.

Once the Cardinals drafted Ohio State's Chris "Beanie" Wells in the first round, James' fate was sealed.

Look for a few teams to look at James as a potential backup to work in the mix at running back, but a starting job seems highly unlikely. With over 12,000 carries to his credit, James simply has too much mileage and no longer possesses the speed and quick-cutting ability that made him so good in his prime with the Colts.

It's going to be real interesting this summer to watch how the backfield battle shakes down in the desert between Hightower and Wells. Look for both to see plenty of action in 2009.

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• The Astros won for their 10th straight time (16-1 all-time) at Great American Ballpark on Monday night a big reason why is the duo of Reds' killers Lance Berkman and Roy Oswalt...
  
• Oswalt is 23-1 in 28 career starts vs. the Reds, but for the second time this season he did not factor in the decision...
  
• Berkman opened the scoring in Monday's 4-1 Astros' win over the Reds by hitting his 20th homerun at Great American Ballpark, the most by any visiting player. He has 46 career HR's vs. Reds.

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Fantasy owners waiting patiently for C.C. Sabathia to deliver on his "elite starter" fantasy status, were at least given a glimpse of what is good about the $180 million man on Monday night in the Yankees' 4-0 loss to the Tigers.

Sabathia dropped to 1-2 with the loss and was outpitched by Justiin Verlander, but he did go the distance and struck out a season-high seven batters. Through is first five starts, the former Cy Young winner has posted a 1-2 record with a 4.73 ERA, 1.39 WHIP and 19 K"s. Hardly the numbers you would expect out of a pitcher that carried his price tag, but it is early.

Consider his numbers early last season as a member of the Indians (was traded to Milwaukee in July). Sabathia started the 2008 season by posting a 1-5 record in his first seven starts while allowing 32 runs in 36 1/3 innings (7.93 ERA) with a 1.87 WHIP. That parlayed into him becoming one of the best buy low candidates in recent memory.

Last year, he was pitching for a contract though. This year he's pitching as the highest-paid arm in the history of the game in a city where if things go wrong it is not pretty.

While I am not expecting him to go a run as impressive as last year's after he got dealt to the Brewers, but Monday night's start was a good sign of things to come for Sabathia. His career numbers tell me all that I need to know and I still put him as a top five fantasy pitcher right now. It may be a good time to gage what it would take to land him in a trade.

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In the wake of one of the team's best drafts in recent memory was a reminder of some draft mistakes of the past. The Bengals released four players from their roster on Monday, including 2004 first-round pick, running back Chris Perry.

Injuries limited him to 35 games with nine starts in five turbulent seasons with the Bengals. His career statistics include 177 rushes for 606 yards (3.4) and two touchdowns, and 83 catches for 474 yards (5.7) and two TDs.

Cincinnati traded down two times in the first round of the '04 draft and still got the "top guy on their board" at running back. The worst part is that after trading down once from No. 17 to No. 24, the team made a second deal with the Rams to go from 24th to 26th. The Rams went ahead and took running back Steven Jackson, the Bengals went with Perry. The rest is history. The cut is finally the Bengals admitting they missed on that one.

Also cut with Perry on Monday was another running back, Gary Russell, picked up on waivers 10 days ago. In the wake of the sixth-round selection of Abilene Christian's Bernard Scott, the Bengals have Scott, James Johnson, DeDe Dorsey and Kenny Watson backing up starter Cedric Benson. In addition, safety Mike Doss as well as defensive end/linebacker Eric Henderson and tight end Nate Lawrie were let go.

Meanwhile, the team's 2002 top pick, left tackle Levi Jones, also is likely on his way out.   Jones has been informed by the Bengals that they plan to trade or release the eight-year veteran, according to agent Kenneth Zuckerman.

"Nothing has happened so far, but we expect something to happen very shortly," Zuckerman told ESPN.com. "The Bengals told me it was highly likely that he would be traded or released."

The move may not happen as fast as you think though. Bengals.com's Geoff Hobson reported that, "Zuckerman admitted Monday he's getting conflicitng reports from the team after head coach Marvin Lewis appeared on NFL Network during the draft and made it sound like Jones is sticking around. Given Jones' salary for '09 is in excess of $3 million and they drafted a guy with the sixth pick in Andre Smith that is going to start at left tackle or right tackle, the question could be if the Bengals want to see how Smith responds in workouts before they do anything."

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from HolyTaco.com:

Have you noticed that a the new swine flu, which originated in Mexico, makes you feel very similar to a regular trip to Mexico? Ask someone who's coming back from Tijuana how they feel. Then ask someone who's dying of Swine Flu what their symptoms are. Chances are they will say the exact same thing.

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If you haven't checked out the British movie star yet, what are waiting for?
 
 

COMPLETE GALLERY

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from the Louisville Courier-Journal...

Homer Bailey gave fans 15 reasons to believe he's busted his early-season slump.

Bailey tied a team mark with 15 strikeouts in the Louisville Bats' 10-3 win over the Toledo Mud Hens before 5,551 fans.

The right-hander lost a battle with Micah Owings to become the Cincinnati Reds' fifth starter out of spring training and gave up eight earned runs in the Bats' season opener.

After getting no more than five strikeouts in his first three starts, Bailey matched the Louisville franchise record set by Ken Hill on May 10, 1990, against Indianapolis and also set a Fifth Third Field mark.

Bailey, the Reds' top prospect before breaking into the majors in 2007, worked 61/3 innings, getting all but four of his outs with strikeouts. He gave up four hits, two walks and two runs, though one of the runs scored after Bailey gave way to Ben Jukich in the seventh.

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