I don't know about the rest of you (although I've got a pretty good idea), but I'm ready for this lockout to finally end. And with it comes some pretty big stories with a ton of fantasy relevance for the upcoming season. Until we get closer to the season, this will all be a lot of speculation. And with the enormous amount of player movement expected, this speculation will be even more than usual. So with that, let's kick it off with some of the bigger IDP stories of the offseason.
Rumor has it that the Arizona Cardinals are willing to part with cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie in a trade for Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, Kevin Kolb. Rodgers-Cromartie hasn't been the most fantasy-relevant cornerback in the league, but it's worth noting that he had a decent season in fantasy terms, and was a top five cornerback in 2009 with an 18.0 PFF rating, when Arizona was able to move the ball and consistently put up points. He followed that up with an atrocious -14.7 PFF rating last year, finishing as the worst rated cornerback in the league. Moving to Philadelphia, where opponents will need to attack the Eagles in the air to keep up with their high scoring offense, could result in Rodgers-Cromartie's value seeing a big spike. He would undoubtedly get picked on often, as the opponent's quarterback would try to avoid Philadelphia Eagles cornerback, Asante Samuel. This could result in Rodgers-Cromartie reaching 60 tackles for the first time in his career, as well as getting around a half-dozen interceptions as well.
San Diego Chargers safety, Eric Weddle, has stated his desire to remain in San Diego and will give them the first opportunity to re-sign him. But inevitably, if the Chargers don't offer him a giant contract, he'll probably move on. San Diego is a nice fit for Weddle, where he's been close to an elite fantasy safety over the last three seasons, and has been a top ten safety the last two seasons, with a 7.4 PFF rating in 2009 and a 12.6 rating last season. With over ten teams interested in signing Weddle, I'm not even going to get into the possibilities. All I'm going to say is that he should continue to be treated like a top end safety for those ambitious players who are drafting in the near future.
Maybe you've already heard, but Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker, James Harrison, got himself in some pretty big trouble last week over comments made both about his own teammates and NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell. Harrison and Goodell already have some history, as Harrison plays the game on the edge and always walks that fine line between hard hit and dirty hit every single game. This has led to a couple of fines by Goodell, and the situation getting to the point last season where Harrison stating his desire to retire instead of having to hold back on his hits. Needless to say, there is a general fear that Harrison, who has been a top five OLB each of the last three seasons with PFF ratings of 34.4, 24.3, and 41.8 respectively, will be looking at a suspension over these comments. This could be a huge blow to Harrison's fantasy owners, as he was a top ten pick in the recent PFF IDP-only Experts league draft, and obviously has a ton of value due to his big play ability. It's definitely a situation to monitor.
Speaking of situations to monitor, it will be interesting to see how the NFL handles the case of Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback, Aqib Talib. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Talib's situation, he has been charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly pistol-whipping and shooting at his sister's boyfriend. However, ESPN insider, Adam Schefter, has said that he believes that Talib may have a pretty strong case, and Talib's lawyer is hopeful that the charges will be dropped. But with a court date scheduled for 2012, there has been speculation that Talib could be suspended, or even cut by the Bucaneers. NFL Network insider, Jason La Canfora, believes that Talib will be kept on the roster, but it remains to be seen what, if any, punishment that Talib receives. If the ball-hawking corner, who is one of the few good real life and fantasy cornerbacks (2.4, 7.2, and 8.9 PFF ratings the last three years, respectively), does end up missing time, then he will be replaced by E.J. Biggers, who himself could be a good deep sleeper in IDP leagues. While only playing 66% of the snaps last season, Biggers amassed a respectable 49 solo tackles, 56 total tackles, 1 interception, and 11 passes defended.
All-Universe cornerback, Nnamdi Asomugha, is far and away the biggest fish in this year's free agency. And for those of you who are new to the world of IDP, he can safely be completely ignored until this situation sorts itself out, and will probably still be completely worthless regardless of where he ends up. Why is that, you might ask? Well, because he hasn't been fantasy relevant since 2006. He is so talented that he basically got ignored by opposing teams, and they simply conceded his half of the field. The point is that it's pretty tough to accumulate IDP stats when the ball never comes in your direction. Last season, Asomugha finished with an overall PFF rating of 4.7, but had a 10.0 rating in coverage. Don't get sucked in by the big name.
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