The ABC’s learned from Thursday’s Preseason Games

Ken Kelly

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Thursday night finally marked the end of the preseason and fantasy owners are hungry for the season to begin.

NFL roster moves are going to come fast and furious over the next few days and fantasy owners need to be on their toes in order to keep up.

Luckily, you have us to help!

There was a unique opportunity to see a lot of young dynasty league prospects on Thursday night. Many of them won’t make an impact this season, while others solidified an active role for their teams. The night’s games featured some superb performances, and at least one very significant injury.

If you didn’t think there was much to see, I could argue that from A to Z.

Arrelious Benn and Anthony Dixon both had nice performances for their respective teams. Dixon will likely get some meaningful playing time this season after leading the NFL in rushing this preseason. Benn finally showed up, catching three balls for 33 yards and 2 scores. He still has a long way to go, though.

Brian Brohm (two points for two B’s) didn’t do anything to challenge Ryan Fitzpatrick for the No. 2 spot. If the Bills want to keep Levi Brown, it wouldn’t shock anyone to see Brohm get cut.  Michael Bush may out as much as a month with a hand injury.

Colt McCoy went 13 for 13 for 131 yards to likely take himself off the cut line in Cleveland. Meanwhile, Chris Wells had a minor knee injury, but nothing to worry about at this point.  Whew.

Dennis Dixon (two points) is going to have a huge opportunity now after Byron Lefwich went down with what’s rumored to be a torn MCL. Dixon is an immediate pickup in all formats, not just dynasty.

Emmanuel Sanders is going to be a good player one day. He finished the night with 3 catches for 66 yards, and caught Dixon’s first pass for a touchdown.  In Denver, Eric Decker finally had his coming out party with 10 catches for 114 yards. He’s a great dynasty league stash and could be a late season contributor in conventional leagues.

Fred Taylor is the starting running back for the Patriots. If you’re looking for spot plays this season, he may be available in your league.

Gado has beaten out LeGarrette Blount for the No. 3 running back spot in Tennessee behind Chris Johnson, and Javon Ringer. Blount may be headed for the practice squad. You probably figured I’d try to sneak Redskins kicker Graham Gano (2 points) in here, though.

Hardesty is on crutches and his owners have to be seriously concerned. While this isn’t the same knee he’s had trouble with since August, it’s disheartening. If Hardesty can’t make it through practices and preseason games without getting injured, the hope for his long-term future has to be dampened.

Isaac Redman has sewn up the backup job to Rashard Mendenhall in Pittsburgh, but…

Jonathan Dwyer had another big game with 86 yards on 20 carries. It’s going to be awful tough to get him through waivers, so he’ll probably make the team based on his late surge.

Kareem Huggins looked good once again with 37 yards on just six carries. With Ward out of the way, he has only Earnest Graham to contend with for carries.

Leinart has been given permission to seek a trade. Good luck on that one. Expect him to be cut tomorrow and start his job search.

Matt Flynn is going to make for a good quarterback one day. His development reminds me of another Matt with the last name of Schaub. His 304 passing yards were impressive against the Chiefs.

Nate Davis is squarely on the hot seat in San Francisco. While we didn’t expect him to outplay David Carr this preseason, he hasn’t  even shown enough to stick as the third quarterback.  He’s going to lose some sleep tonight.  Speaking of bad quarterback play…

Orlovsky was awful for the Texans last night, throwing for just 113 yards and two interceptions before being pulled in favor of John David Booty. Expect the Texans to keep a close eye on quarterbacks getting cut this weekend.

Parker is likely on the outside looking in for the Redskins. Fast Willie managed 35 yards on seven carries. That’s not bad, but it’s probably not going to be good enough. We’ll know soon.

Quan Cosby may be the biggest beneficiary of Antonio Bryant being cut. While he’s not in the mix at wide receiver, his exclusive return job should be safe now with an extra roster spot on the Bengals.

Revis continues his holdout and it’s getting uglier by the day. I fully expected him to be in camp by now. There are rumors flying now that he’s very serious about holding out for the entire season. I don’t see it happening, but the Jets are in a really tough spot here.

Sam Bradford looked sharp once again for the Rams, completing all six of his passes for 68 yards and a touchdown. He’ll start week one.

Tim Tebow (2 points) had a lot of playing time last night and took advantage of it for the most part by throwing for 167 yards and a score. He started poorly by fumbling a snap that was returned for a score and throwing a poor interception his first two series, but looked pretty good after that. Patience is a virtue in dynasty leagues.

Underwood looks to be the odd man out in the Jacksonville wide receiver corps yet again. He needed a big game to earn a roster spot and only came up with one catch or one yard. That’s not good news for Tiquan.

Vincent Jackson continues his mission of sitting out until getting a big contract. The latest rumor has San Diego asking for a 2nd and 3rd round pick in exchange for V-Jax. The Seahawks still look to be the most interested, but would have to move TJ Houshmandzadeh’s giant contract to make room. That may prove difficult. Either way, the Chargers are trying to facilitate a deal by Saturday.

Wes Welker (two points) admitted he still doesn’t feel 100% going into the season. That shouldn’t be a surprise given the typically timetable for injury like the one he sustained. Expect him to start slow and finish strong in fantasy leagues this year.

Xavier Adibi was able to make his preseason debut for the Texans. He finished with four tackles. That’s big news for the Texans who will be without Brian Cushing at the beginning of the season.

You probably thought I’d be stuck on the last three letters, but… 

Zac Robinson wasn’t able to take advantage of his opportunity to win a job in New England. He went 1 for 5 on the night for just six yards. The Patriots will likely only keep two quarterbacks on the roster and try to sneak the former Oklahoma State star on their practice squad.

That’s a quick spin around the league after last night’s preseason games. Just remember the three letters you need most this season are DLF.

ken kelly