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Fantasy musings

• Which Brett Favre will show up and what will it really mean for the Jets?

I'm thinking Jerricho Cotchery is a stud, and Brett's Favre-it target. Dustin Keller gets a boost in the red zone, and Laveranues Coles gets sent to the Thinking Chair for pouting. I heard Miami needs someone to play across from Ted Ginn Jr. ...

• How long before Ray Rice is the acknowledged starter in Baltimore?

Can we please stop calling Willis McGahee a top 10 RB finally? I've been saying it since June ... his wheels are bad. Bad wheels equal poor fantasy performance. He has finally slipped down most cheat sheets, but it's way too late for early drafters.

• Is there any wide receiver in Tennessee worth rostering on a standard fantasy league?

Justin McCareins? Hmm, not so sexy. And it looks like he is the best option at WR.

• On that note, will Alge Crumpler return to fantasy stud status?

After the debacle in Atlanta last year and his injury, Crumpler has fallen far from grace. The tight end position is no longer dominated by three or four guys, as the National Copycat League continues to morph the TE spot into more of a pass-catching role. Vince Young has to throw it to someone, right?

• Would anyone (besides Ahman Green) mind if we just remove him from our league databases?

I suppose if Priest Holmes, Shaun Alexander and Eric Rhett are still in them, he can stay, but that's about how useful he'll be this year. While it was a smart move to renegotiate his contract down to a measly $1.8 million (so he doesn't feel the blade of grim reaper), I can't say the same about his presence on most fantasy rosters.

• Is Leryn Franco married?

Does she have a fetish for old fat guys in Buccaneers garb? Just asking. And yes, I have the calendar bookmarked. What can I say ... Leryn is H-O-T!

• Can the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defend their NFC South crown?

It's been a hot potato over the last few years, with no one seemingly willing or able to hang on to it. The NFC South has been supplanted by the NFC East as the best division in football top-to-bottom. Will Antonio Bryant finally realize his promise in the Buccaneers' West Coast offense? What will the loss of Davin Joseph and his subsequent replacement by former Rutgers standout Jeremy Zutah mean for a line that didn't need to get any younger?

• I said in my Big Fat Claims article that Tom Brady wouldn't repeat last year's huge output, but everyone else is saying he is a first-round pick. Oy vey, does no one pay attention to history? It was a statistical outlier. Others have said Randy Moss changed that equation, but I don't buy it. Moss hasn't exactly been a model of consistency either. Now word is that Brady, who hasn't played this preseason, has a fractured bone in his foot, but "everything is fine." Fine? A cracked bone in your wheels? This is a big, bright flashing red light to me. Is everyone else color blind? Or is this Bill Belichick at his best? If it is, he and Brady are giggling like schoolgirls at my expense. This isn't the first time that has happened ... the schoolgirls giggling thing ... OK, um, forget I mentioned it.

• Is the dreaded RBBC (running-back-by-committee) going to ruin fantasy football this year, or will we see a massive changing of the guard?

I'm talking to you Jonathan Stewart, ChrisJohnson and Steve Slaton. Please, please, please put us out of our misery so we don't have to carry Ahman "On Wounded Knees" Green, LenDale "Buffet-Buster" White and DeAngelo "I coulda been a contender" Williams on our rosters anymore.

• Who will be the best rookie receiver this year?

DeSean Jackson has looked really good, but it was preseason and he's such a twig. What happens when a 210-pound. strong safety smashes into him going over the middle? Eagles fans will be cringing every time it happens. Is Eddie Royal the sleeper he seems to be? It isn't easy breaking into the starting lineup as a rookie WR, but so far, Royal has been very impressive and has won the starting gig over veterans like Darrell Jackson.

• Two rookie QBs get the nod as starters for two troubled teams. Say THAT fast 10 times. Joe Flacco gets the call by default, with Troy Smith battling a virus and Kyle Boller done for the year. In Atlanta, Matt Ryan is set to pay out a pound of flesh for his $70 million lotto win, but something tells me there will be blood spilled in the process.

• In Arizona, Kurt Warner gets the start instead of Matt Leinart. Bad call on my part. I guess you can take the kid out of Hollywood but ... well, you know. I'm just wondering how close Ken Whisenhunt is standing next to the field, hook in hand, if things don't go well early on for Warner. I was really depressed when, during a FFOC draft yesterday, my sleeper strategy was shattered when some greedy drafter snagged Warner in the fifth round. I was looking around for my protest flag, but apparently FFOC doesn't make it standard issue.

•One last thought before I crawl back into my pod for another week. The big story in New York was the Favre signing, but I'm more interested in seeing if the investments in aging Kris Jenkins and rookie Vernon Gholston pan out. Now, if you could get Jenkins to do a Vulcan Mind Meld on Gholston, you could just toss the empty Jenkins husk into the East River.