My DeSean Jackson Blog

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Teams and players have been busy again this NFL off-season. We've seen players run from their current team, get traded, be pushed out or just flat let go. Whatever the reasons were, they've lead to an off-season that has seen some big name fantasy players shift teams. With all that shifting, comes all the speculation of who's going to do what and the impact on all teams and players affected. Depending on if you are a glass half full or half empty type that might determine your opinion on the expected future results. I like to think of myself as a "half full" kind of guy, but I'm struggling to get fired up about some of these moves this year. Regardless, it's important to make sure you know all the key players that changed locations and if their new home is an upgrade or downgrade before you go into your 2010 Fantasy Football Auction or Draft. With that, let's dig into some of the bigger names who have moved and determine if they move up or down on the Fantasy Fortune's board along with the impact to their former team.

Quarterback:

Donovan McNabb was the big name move amidst the gun slingers. I've always liked Donovan as a fantasy QB and have had pretty good luck with him on my teams, despite the injuries. I love him for his week one performances....I feel like when he's on your team; you're a lock for a week one win. But hey, that's only one week, there's a whole season after that and it's tough to imagine him getting better in Washington. McNabb had a good thing going with DeSean Jackson last year, but now he's going to have to make due with a lot less in Washington. If he outperforms expectations in 2010, I think it is going to be based purely on him seeking vengeance and wanting to prove people wrong. Public perception is that Philly fans never really took to McNabb, and I don't know why. Most teams would kill to have a QB like him. Trading him to a team in the same division will at least make for some interesting pre-game hype twice a year now for the otherwise boring PHI vs. WAS series. I'll be routing for him to succeed, I just don't think I'm taking a chance on him as my #1 QB. Speaking of players that won't be on my team, I know you don't care about Brady Quinn (Broncos) or Seneca Wallace (Browns), and neither do I. We try to analyze relevant fantasy players that you might actually have on your team.

McNabb to WAS:

McNabb: Downgrade.

PHI Offense: Downgrade. If only out of respect for the McNabb/Westbrook era being over. They get younger with their recent moves, but not necessarily better.

DeSean Jackson: Stable. Based on Kolb looking great in a couple games last year, hopefully he'll be good enough to keep DeSean producing at a high level.

WAS Offense and WR's: Upgrade. It's tough to envision a star emerging from their WR core right now, but having Donovan will at least give this offense a chance.

Running Backs:

I wish players had more of a sense of humor when it comes to the products they choose to endorse. Take the "Shell of LT" (formerly known as LaDainian Tomlinson) for example. Shouldn't he do some type of Car Wax commercial? Stay with me now; imagine LT in a cheesy green suit coat and slacks, "Our special formulated wax can keep your car looking new. You're car may be 10 years old with countless miles, but now no one needs to know. Keep your car looking the exact same on the outside even though it's a broken piece of junk on the inside!" Or how about doing a commercial for a tire shop that does re-treading? Are you telling me either of those businesses and LT wouldn't get some good publicity out of that? Why not LT? Laugh at yourself a little bit, it's ok, you're image could use the upgrade from your current "pouty" self. You have millions in the bank and should never have to work again, have some fun. With that here are sulky takes from me and my view from the bench (with my arms crossed and bottom lip protruding out).

LT to the Jets:

LT: Downgrade. Not because of the Jets running game by any means. LT (31 yrs old at beginning of '10 season) has regressed so much the last couple years I don't see a comeback this year especially with the new up and coming stud, Shonn Greene, who should get most of the work. LT's best chance to be relevant next year will be as a goal line vulture.

Shonn Greene: Downgrade. The swings have been violent for Greene's stock this off-season; first T Jones goes to the Chiefs, making Greene look like a monster. Then they bring in LT along with all sorts of question marks on workload distribution. We might have to wait a little while for the Greene era to officially begin. If LT goes down, I absolutely love Greene.

SD Running Game: Upgrade. Addition by subtraction? Ouch, sorry LT. It's sad to see the great ones deteriorate so quickly. SD has become more pass heavy and I don't see Darren Sproles lasting a whole season given his size. The upgrade here comes due to the potential of Ryan Matthews taking full time roll in a stellar offense. He could be an absolute beast of a rookie.

Thomas Jones to the Chiefs:

T. Jones: Downgrade. He's another year older and was already old to begin with (he'll be 32 at start of season). Jamaal Charles was great last year in the lead role. This could end up being a full split of the work here, yuck.

Jamaal Charles: Reluctant Downgrade. Errrr, I really liked him down the stretch last year, he's the only thing the Chiefs had going for them. But with Jones in house it's tough to imagine Charles getting the same number of touches in 2010.

Chester Taylor to the Bears:

C. Taylor: Mild Upgrade. He put up decent numbers for a backup behind AP in Minnesota. The Bears might not be a better system, but he could easily overtake Forte as the lead dog in their running attack. Another inter-division trade, so he gets two cracks at the Vikes, but that isn't usually a good thing for opposing runners.

AP and Vikes running game: Slight upgrade to AP due to increased touches, downgrade to Vikes running game as a whole. AP is so good, but is he going to hold onto the ball next year? Bringing in Toby Gerhart from Stanford is interesting as well. You wouldn't think he would steal goal line or crunch time touches, but he not a 3rd down/pass catching back, so why did they bring him in....time will tell.

Westbrook to Wherever:

Sadly it doesn't matter. If he was a three course meal, he'd already have the salad fork and main course fork sticking in him.......now we're just waiting for that final dessert fork to be stuck in him. It was a good run until concussions took there toll. R.I.P. to one of the best combo running/catching backs fantasy has seen.

Wide Receivers:

Three big name Wide Receivers bounced around this off-season. They're not your stereotypical group of WR's with the "me first" attitude, trouble making, and generally unlikable clubhouse guys. Oh, wait, who am writing about again.....whoops, scratch that. Denny you want to take it from here, "they are who we thought they were!"

Brandon Marshall to the Dolphins:

B. Marshall: Stable. If he can flourish with Kyle Orton as his QB, I'll trust him in any offense at this point until proven otherwise.

Chad Henne: Upgrade. The bar is set pretty low; he's young enough that he should make some decent progress this year.

Kyle Orton: Downgrade. You can't really have a lot of confidence in Orton based on the front office moves made by Denver this off-season; brought in Brady Quinn and drafted Tim Tebow. Not exactly a ringing endorsement in your starting QB from 2009.

Anquan Boldin to the Ravens:

A. Boldin: Upgrade*. The asterisk is for the fact that I'm saying he's going from Matt Leinart to Joe Flacco, not Warner to Flacco, which would be a downgrade using that comparison.

Joe Flacco: Upgrade. It can't hurt to have a guy like Boldin going out for passes; he's a big, athletic target who always plays with a chip on his shoulder.

Matt Leinart: Downgrade. Dear Arizona fans, I'd be nervous. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.

Santonio Holmes to the Jets:

S. Holmes: Downgrade. Hate on Roethlisberger all you want as a person, but he's a solid QB and Sanchez, while he shows promise, has a ways to go. The Jets are obviously a very run heavy offense as well. Oh, and don't forget the suspension to start the year, ouch.

Ben Roethlisberger: Downgrade. I knew he was lying when he said he was going to Disney World after those Super Bowl wins.

Mark Sanchez: Upgrade. Again, real life issues aside, Holmes has been pretty good, not great. He will help the Jets passing game.

All in all, a decent amount of big name players moving around, but things seems to skew a bit more heavily towards downgraded situations than upgrades, in relation to a player's rank on the overall and positional player rankings.

Don't agree with any of these takes? Let us know. Come check out our site and post your comments to the message board under the "Forums" page.

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