Fantasy Green Bay Packers

In an unsurprising move, Ahman Green was placed on IR today after it became apparent that the knee injury he suffered in Week 1 couldn't take game day activity. Undrafted Notre Dame running back, Darius Walker will be put on the active roster for the game against the Bucs this Sunday. Ron Dayne is expected to be the starter, though his time may be limited due to a minor ankle injury he suffered last week.

Green suffered what was called a "knee bone bruise" in the game against Kansas City. He tried to come back from that injury, but had to leave games due to swelling and pain. As I discussed last September, a diagnosis of a bruised knee bone gave Texans fans no comfort because the description of the injury sounded very similar to the same thing that ended Texans running back Domanick (Davis) Williams' career.

You hear fans talk about a bruised knee bone like it is no big deal, as if it is bumping it into a coffee table. However, as I understand it, the knee bone is a place with not a lot of blood flow, and can be hard to heal. If you have more of a medical interest in in knee bone bruises, check out this link. If you would like a first hand account of how knee bone bruises might slow down a sports blogfather, check out what Jamie Mottram has to say about it, including an x-ray of knee badness.

Domanick, Ahman, and Jamie: such promising sporting lives interrupted by what is a wussy sounding diagnosis, but actually is hard for doctors to treat, estimate healing time and determine its effect on future use.

Packers wide receiver Greg Jennings is inactive and will not play today against the Eagles.

Jennings is listed as a starter on the Packers' depth chart, but he suffered a hamstring injury in Thursday's practice, and that means it will be at least another week for a player who was supposed to develop into a solid receiving threat for Brett Favre.

James Jones is likely to start in Jennings' place and have significantly more balls thrown his way as a result. The Packers' top receiver, Donald Driver, is also hurting, but he will play today.

As a rookie last season, Jennings showed flashes of talent but was hampered by an ankle injury. Now his sophomore season is getting off to an inauspicious start.

I'm always amazed at those people who are absolutely certain in their opinions about how players will do in the upcoming season. For me, it's hard, especially in a sport like football where a player's performance is interdependent on his teammates, coaching and scheme. Anyhow, this entry is devote to talking about Texans running back, Ahman Green, and the debate inside my head on how he might do this year.

My Shiny, Happy Thoughts on Green:

The Texans running back situation stunk last year. Domanick Williams (previously Davis) ended up on the shelf with injuries right before the season started. Rookies started the season and by the time the coaches figured out that things weren't working, they ended up playing Ron Dayne and Samkon Gado--two players who hadn't been in camp. Dayne ended up being the leading rusher for the Texans.

Since the Texans wanted to improve their running back group, they ended up signing Ahman Green in the offseason. Reports from camp say that Green appears to be in terrific shape and has looked great, including this report from Lance Zierlein's blog that says Green looks "as good as he did back in 2001 from a physical standpoint." Green does all the things that Gary Kubiak wants from his running back: quick decision making, precise route running and blocking.

The Randy Moss trade talk has cooled down a bit lately, but maybe it's about to heat back up. Pro Football Talk is reporting that Packers quarterback Brett Favre is confident that Moss will leave the Raiders and become his No. 1 receiver next year:

A source with knowledge of the situation tells us that Packers quarterback Brett Favre is "100 percent certain" that Moss will be a Packer by the time the 2007 season starts.

The only problem is that the Raiders and the Packers haven't been able to strike a deal for compensation. Our guess is that the logjam will break once the draft approaches

The Raiders may very well base their decision on how to use the first pick in the draft on whether Moss will still be a part of the team next year: If Moss is in Oakland, it makes sense to add the strong-armed quarterback JaMarcus Russell to throw him the deep ball. But if Moss is gone, it makes sense to replace him with Calvin Johnson.

When it comes to rookies in fantasy football, the rule of thumb is usually to stay away from players outside of the running back position. Of course Reggie Bush, DeAngelo Williams, Joseph Addai, and Lawrence Maroney have been the buzz names who could be the key to your fantasy team, but outside of them, any other rookies are nothing more than late round fliers at this point. Enter an unheralded wide receiver drafted in the second round from Western Michigan.

For Green Bay receiver Greg Jennings, the term "super sleeper" may have been fitting about 3-4 weeks ago. But after a stellar training camp and preseason that saw Jennings consistently turn heads with a veteran-like offensive awareness, razor-sharp route-running, and tremendous after the catch running ability, the cat's no longer in the bag. That said, the preseason receiving leader who moved into the Packers' no. 2 receiver slot is far from a common name within the circles of casual football fans and there's a good probability he can be had off your waiver wire right now.

Hailing from a small school, Jennings didn't receieve as much attention as some of the other receivers in the draft, but the Packers saw him as the most polished receiver and his performance thus far has reflected such analysis. Consider following quote from Packers receivers coach Jimmy Robinson who coached Marvin Harrison during his first two years in the league:

"Honestly, I don't remember if he burst on the scene kind of the way Greg has or not. But I know that Marvin was out there very natural at everything he was doing right from the start."

While it's not certain Jennings will turn out to be a player of Harrison's caliber, one can be assured that he has the best chance of any rookie receiver to put up solid numbers, with 800-1000 yards and 5-7 touchdowns not out of the question. Stash him on your roster now and look like a genius later in the season when he's being mentioned for Offensive Rookie of the Year.