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Fantasy Football sign-ups are live again at Yahoo! Sports. We’re all signed up and raring to go, even though the draft isn’t for 3 months yet. This is a league that I’ve run for several years now and it goes from strength to strength.

We’ll be running a Mac draft later this year, and if you’d like to be involved then let us know and we’ll get invites out when it’s ready. Or you can just laugh at us from a distance… I know I had a terrible season last year!. But whatever you do…

Get Playing!
We use Yahoo! Sports‘ fantasy league and live draft, but there are plenty available. Like at nfl.com.

UK fans should also look at the nfluk.com fantasy competition, which works in a different way but has some good prizes on offer.

There are no easy divisions to predict but the NFC North is one of the toughest. Last year neither Graham or I saw the Vikings being as good as they turned out to be. Neither of us saw the North sending two teams into the post-season either but it turned out to be the case. Although we all called the Lions to prop up, the Bears were a disappointment and again caused us to get it wrong.

Let’s take an early look ahead to the 2010 NFL season…

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This is another division where I didn’t cover myself in glory. By my own admission it was the one that I struggled with most, but my call of Seattle and Arizona as a wildcard. The Seahawks were appalling, and the 49ers finished strongly to take second but were way short of the playoffs.

Graham did well though, calling the Cards as divisional winners and 49ers as runners up but missing the playoffs. Nice work.

What will happen this year?

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I did pretty badly with this last year, predicting that the Giants and Eagles would go into the post-season as winners and wildcard respectively. In the end, the Cowboys surprised and the Giants disappointed to swap places from my predictions. Unfortunately the ‘Skins did no better than I thought they would and were propping up the division.

Let’s see what’s happening for 2010…

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M&T Stadium, Baltimore

Well, the draft is over and the mini-camps are getting underway. Figured I’d wait until this point to give my opinion on the last few months, well, as a Raven anyway.

The Anquan Boldin Trade:
This really did take me by surprise. I could see us trading for a solid wide receiver, but to be honest I never really expected it to be Boldin. A pleasant surprise by all means though. Boldin really is a quality player. He may have had a few injuries lately but his effort and his production is nothing to be dismissed. I really can’t wait to see him in the Purple of Baltimore. He came at a pretty reasonable price too. A 3^rd and 4^th round draft pick? Bargain, especially since we recouped those by trading down in the draft.
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JaMarcus carefully lines up an interception

Really, you at the back? You thought they’d keep him on the books and pay that $6.45 bonus he’s due to warm the bench? Admittedly, he can warm a lot of bench, but still…

Less than two weeks after trading for Washington’s Jason Campbell, the Raiders have released Russell. The #1 selection from the 2007 draft leaves them after taking $39 million for a total of 7 wins.

It’s hard to imagine any team taking any sort of a chance on him now, though I guess stranger things have happened, which means we’ve seen the last of him in the NFL. I, for one, won’t miss him though I guess I do feel for the guy. A bit.

Anyway, wherever he his (my guess is comfort eating in an IHOP) he’s free of the Raiders and they’re free of him.

Image Credit: sgrace

You must have heard the story by now. During a formal interview of draft candidates – which without fail throws up an eye-raiser or two each year – Jeff Ireland, the General Manager of the Miami Dolphins asked Dez Bryant if his mother was a prostitute. According to Yahoo! Sports’ Michael Silver – who put this out in the world – Dez was ‘really mad’ but managed not to show it.

I think there’s little arguing that it was a crass thing to ask to anyone, but moreso given Dez’s – and his mother’s – background and struggles over the years. However, can I see why it was asked? Absolutely. Here was a guy, of questionable character, being sounded out for a big contract. I’m sure in every interview to every draftee there were questions designed to raise their ire to see how the respond to it and how they handle it. The drafting process is lengthy and thorough. Also pretty unpleasant at times, it seems.
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Back in early January I took at look at what new coach Mike Shanahan would need to address during the off-season. Now that the draft has been and gone, let’s take a look and see where we are.

Each in turn…
The Offensive Line
Chris Samuels retirement left a gaping hole on the left side of the line. And let’s be kind, this was a porous line at the best of times. Once the position at draft-time was sorted (see Quarterback, below) then there was very little doubt that the line would be bolstered with the #4 pick and sure enough, it was. Trent Williams comes in to protect McNabb’s blindside. The 7th round also saw us pick up Erik Cook (C, but versatile) and Selvish Capers (G) to give depth in the future. McNabb isn’t the scamperer that he was in years past, so he and our running backs (again, see below) are going to need a solid line.
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Earlier in the year I looked at Oxford student Myron Rolle and his chances of getting drafted for the NFL this season.

I am very pleased that he is now a Tennessee Titan! There have been people who have questioned his commitment, but his answer on his own web site was –

“Where my classmates were drinking at the pubs at 1:30 in the morning or traveling to different parts of the EU, I was working out, training, going to sleep, resting my body, making sure I was ready to compete. I love this game. I love this sport, and I want it to be my vocation for the next 10 years.”

I was secretly hoping that he might end up at the Dolphins, but never mind. Lets hope that the Titans make the trip to London soon so that we can see him play.

It’s been a tough time for former Washington Redskins’ quarterback Jason Campbell. His days were numbered from the moment Donovan McNabb came over to the burgandy side (and I’ll be talking about that another time). He signed his tender, but no-one really expected him to stick around. In fact, the only real surprises have been how long it took and the price that the Redskins got for him.
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