Fantasy Washington Redskins

Hear that? It's the pitter-patter of fantasy football season approaching. Fantasy FanHouse is here to get you ready by previewing every team from a fantasy perspective.

Meet The ...
New look offense! Out with Al Saunders and Joe Gibbs and in with Jim Zorn's high-powered west coast offense. The offense Zorn is installing is the one used in Seattle under Mike Holmgren and has made fantasy stars of numerous players through the years, including Brett Favre, Shaun Alexander, and Matt Hasselbeck. This has caused everyone to expect that Clinton Portis -- since he's arguably more talented and much tougher than Alexander -- to become an absolute beast. That's all well and good ... just remember that Portis isn't following Walter Jones and Steve Hutchinson on one side of the line.

The Breakout
Jason Campbell has shown flashes of being a productive QB, but been derailed by injuries and inconsistency. He has plenty of tools and weapons to become a fantasy starter (top 12ish) in this offense. The Skins even tried to overload the receiving corps during the draft by selecting TE Fred Davis and WRs Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly with upper round selections. He did throw for 215, 348, 301, and 216 yards in the last four full games before he was injured. Be ready to pounce on Campbell as a quality backup with the chance to become a starter at some point in '08.

Every football season, my wife hooks me up with some new football gear. She gets me some new Redskins shirts, shorts, drawers, watches and even shoes. That's despite the fact that my football obsession causes her to become a 'football widow' each fall.

Well, her purchases means that we get some kooky catalogues sent to our house. We got one today from Harriet Carter, who specializes in quirky gifts. The quirkiest may be the NFL helmet cap, which is pictured. It comes in Redskins, Steelers, Eagles, Bears, Broncos, Cowboys, Patriots, Packers, Ravens, Giants and Jets.

NFL Helmet Cap keeps you warm and cozy as you root for your favorite team. Sporting official team colors and logos, it's the ultimate fan helmet! You can attach the snap-on neck warmer and chin strap or wear "helmet" alone as a hat. Fleece cotton blend is machine washable.

Um, who in the world would buy this? Well, except your grandmother who thinks you'll love it because it's your favorite team and you need to wear something to protect your cute little face in those cold winters. Maybe your wife will buy it for you ... knowing you'll hate it ... yet demand you wear it or it will hurt her feelings.

To be fair, the site has this item in its "just for fun" section ... so they know it's kind-of weird. Still, someone ... somewhere ... thought up this idea and someone else is getting paid to make them. .

My wife did get some cool Redskins logo Reeboks, however.

Redskins running back Clinton Portis continues to suffer from tendinitis in his right knee, and the condition kept him out of Tuesday's training camp practice.

It's the latest piece of bad news on the injury front for Portis, who got hurt in the Redskins' first 2006 preseason game (shortly after saying he didn't think veterans should have to play in the preseason because of the risk of injury) and was never fully healthy last season. Portis missed half the year and finished with just 523 rushing yards, almost 1,000 yards below his previous career average.

With Chris Samuels likely to miss the entire preseason with a knee injury, the Redskins' offense won't be at full speed for a while. If there's any good news for Redskins fans, it's that Ladell Betts played very well in place of Portis last year. They may need him to do the same this year.

Big ups to Hogs Haven for finding this nugget. Here is Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell ... well ... just watch!

I just got a new ride, and it has Sirius Satellite Radio in it. Sweet. I find that I listen a lot to Chill, Raw Dog Comedy and NFL Radio, not necessarily in that order. Anyway, yesterday on his NFL Radio program, Pat Kirwan mentioned his NFL.com article about how there could be 10 quarterbacks in the NFL this year who are starting the season for the first time as a 16 game starter. I hadn't realized it could be that many. He stresses that expectations shouldn't be too high for these quarterbacks because their learning curve is steep.

Stat stud, Doug Drinen at the always interesting Pro-Football-Reference.com blog, wrote an entry a while back about the difficulties of teams with inexperienced players at the offensive skill positions. He took a historical look at the greenest teams at quarterback, running back, tight end and 2 wide receivers, and then compared that to their final season records. Though there were a few success stories in the bunch, the data shows that the least experienced teams at the skill positions usually stunk. But since all quarterbacks have to start somewhere, a number of those quarterbacks helming those teams eventually went to the Super Bowl.

So, I have a few questions for you. Are you concerned about the inexperience of your team's quarterback and/or the skill players around him? And, what other Sirius radio programs do I really need to check out?

ESPN.com is reporting that Clinton Portis will play on Monday night when the Washington Redskins host the Minnesota Vikings.

He has been upgraded to probable, but won't start. Gibbs said, "If I had to say, I think Ladell [Betts] will start and Clinton will play a backup role in the game. That's the way I think it's going to go. I think that's what we've tried to accurately portray during the week."

So what does that mean for fantasy owners?

Well, if you are still able to tweak your lineup, then Portis is worth a look. The run game matches up well against the Vikings....so even Betts and Duckett could be sleeper fantasy picks in flex leagues.

In reality, this means that Portis will not only play, but play a lot. Why risk further injury to Portis if he can't play more than just a few plays?? He won't start, but he'll be in there and the stronger he seems to be, the longer he may play.

And as a Redskins fan, I really believe in a possible short yardage situation at the goal line, Portis will get a look. If nothing more than a Portis TD would really lift the spirits of a team that really seemed to become depressed when Portis initially hurt his shoulder in Cincinnati.

Portis owners [and I am one], really keep an eye on this situation. If it looks like he'll play, start him.

The Redskins still don't know if they'll have running back Clinton Portis and cornerback Shawn Springs available when they open their season against the Minnesota Vikings Monday night. Portis dislocated his shoulder in the preseason opener and hasn't been able to practice since. Springs had abdominal surgery on Aug. 15 and likely won't be back until Week 2 at the earliest.

If Portis sits, Ladell Betts is next on the Redskins' depth chart, although without Portis Joe Gibbs would probably go with a committee approach among Betts, T.J. Duckett and Rock Cartwright. All three of them have had some success in the NFL and could pick up some fantasy points for an owner who grabbed them late in the draft, but none of them is Portis.
Gibbs says he has to see Portis practice before he'll put him in a game. Now, Joe Gibbs is a genius and I'm not, but I don't quite understand that. If Portis can't practice through the weekend but then wakes up Monday morning and says, "Coach, the shoulder feels great. I can go tonight," is Gibbs really going to say, "Sorry, but we're just going to have to sit you because you didn't practice"? I can understand having a rule like that for a high school team, but is it really a wise use of Daniel Snyder's resources to keep the guy with the $50 million contract on the sidelines and give the rock to Ladell Betts instead?