Bad News Benson

So Cedric Benson was arrested and charged with boating while intoxicated over the weekend in Texas. Stay hot, Ced. You're just making this too easy for the Bears.

I mean, Benson was already on wafer-thin ice with the team after firmly establishing himself as a bust for three years. The Bears impatience with the fourth overall pick in the 2005 draft was never more evident than during the first day of the NFL Draft last month when they spent their second round pick on Tulane running back Matt Forte rather than going after one of the highly touted quarterbacks that were still on the board.

At 6-2 and 222 pounds, Forte has the size to run between the tackles and take punishment, but he also has the speed to bounce it outside. He can pile up the yards--he finished second in the nation with 2,127 rushing yards last season--and he can pound it in from the stripe--he also scored 23 touchdowns in 2007. In other words, he's the three-down back the Bears thought they were getting when they spent their first round pick on Benson three years ago. While Benson was busy telling anyone who'd listen that he wasn't drunk and didn't resist arrest, Forte was busy making a strong first impression during the Bears rookie three-day minicamp this weekend.

How fitting.

Make no mistake, the Bears plan is to have Forte be their feature back this season with "the other" Adrian Peterson and Garrett Wolfe on background vocals. As for Benson, he might find himself out of a job on June 1. The good thing about all of this for fantasy owners is that the Bears probably won't let the uncertainty of the situation with Benson and their running back depth chart linger into training camp. If Benson is let go and Forte assumes the starting gig, I could see moving him inside the top-25 running backs on my cheat sheets.

Who's the Barber Here?

With the NFL Draft behind us, we now have a little better idea of what the fantasy football rankings look like as we head into mini-camp season. Earlier in the week, I shared some initial musings in the wake of the draft, but some other storylines are emerging that will have ramifications for our cheat sheets as training camps and preseason games roll around. I’ll begin with the new running back situation in Dallas. The Cowboys drafting of Felix Jones serves two purposes: the one the Dallas brass is going with for now is that he provides a perfect complement to the talents of Marion Barber III and that the 1-2 punch should make them more of a Super Bowl contender. Of course, Jones is used to being “the other back,” having played in the shadow of Darren McFadden at Arkansas.

The other reason for drafting Jones—the one that’s not being talked about so much—is that Jones is the heir apparent to Barber should the Cowboys be unable to reach a long-term accord with the Pro Bowl back. Barber is eligible for unrestricted free agency after this season and the Cowboys reported offer of five years and somewhere in the neighborhood of $30-million was not accepted by Barber and his agent Drew Rosenhaus. Rumors that Rosenhaus was seeking LaDainian Tomlinson-type money for his client have since been denied. You needn’t read too closely between the lines to glean that the Jerry Jones Empire considers Jones more than just a complementary back and great kickoff-return man. They view him as a back capable of playing every down and giving them another home run threat. A veiled comparison to Emmitt Smith was even made in a news conference earlier this week.

For fantasy owners, however, the selection of Jones by the ‘Boys muddles Barber’s value considerably. After Julius Jones departed to Seattle via free agency, Barber appeared to be in line for his first full season of full-time duty—the prospect of which vaulted him up fantasy football cheat sheets well into the top 10 at running back. Having a player of Jones’ ability in the same backfield makes one wonder how much of a chance Barber will be afforded to carry a regular feature back load. The guess here is that MBIII will be the Man early on, but as the season progresses the rookie will be given more and more touches. Until we know more about how the two of them will be splitting time, Barber will remain on the outside of my top-15 running backs looking in.

NFL Draft - Fantasy Fallout

The NFL Draft is the unofficial start of the fantasy football season. It's simple: once the draft is over we know which players are going to be on which teams, with the exception of June 1st cuts, injuries, holdouts, and other misc. roster meneuverings. I know of at least one league that is holding their draft Sunday night following the completion of the NFL draft...now THAT'S a league that can't wait to get started. I would never advocate holding a draft so early; for me, the ideal time is late August. I'm participating in an industry expert mock draft on Monday night; however, we are not playing the league out. I've been taking in a majority of the televised proceedings from Radio City Music Hall and I've started formulating some initial reactions from a fantasy football perspective...

The Falcons selection of Matt Ryan with the third overall pick didn't mesh with my final mock draft...I changed my mind from Ryan (whom I had tabbed going to the Falcons in previous mocks published at FFChamps.com) to Glenn Dorsey at the last moment after learning of the groundswell of support for the LSU defensive tackle. I figured that just because I thought they should take Ryan didn't mean they would. As it turns out, the pick of Ryan over Dorsey was a close call in the Falcons war room. Overall, I believe Dorsey has the higher upside, but Ryan provides the Falcons a new face of the franchise, a leader, and a legit marquee quarterback...something they desperately needed in the wake of the Michael Vick era. From a fantasy standpoint, Ryan, like all rookie quarterbacks, should not be counted on in redraft leagues. Not even as a backup. He will need a year or two. For now, the Falcons offense will run through Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood.

The Dolphins selection of Jake Long with the first pick in the draft was a foregone conclusion since they had already agreed to terms with him on a deal prior to the big weekend function. The pick that raised some eyebrows, however, was the second-round selection of Long's teammate Chad Henne, the quarterback who's blindside he protected at University of Michigan. I was a little surprised that Henne lasted as long as he did, but it could pay off for him because I believe he'll push hard by the second half of the 2008 season to be the starter in Miami. Remember, the guy currently atop the depth chart, John Beck, was brought in by the previous administration. Henne is a Bill Parcells pick and that will make a lot of difference when Beck struggles, as he inevitably will.

When the Panthers released running back Deshaun Foster at the end of the season, those of us fantasy owners with DeAngelo Williams rejoiced at the thought of him finally getting the job to himself. Williams, their first-round pick in 2006, had shown far more explosiveness than Foster ever had, yet had been relegated to splitting carries. Draft day was a buzzkill for Williams owners, as the Panthers spent their first pick on running back Jonathan Stewart from Oregon, a Jamal Lewis-esque bulldozer with good wheels. At a minimum, a running back committee in the offing again, but Stewart may just earn the starting job even though he'll enter training camp as the backup to Williams. On a positive note, the Panthers addressed their need for offensive line help with the selection of Jeff Otah out of Pittsburgh. They had to give up next year's first-round pick to get him, but if he is as good as advertised, the move will have been worth it. With Stewart and Williams in the backfield and Steve Smith and newcomer D.J. Hackett out wide, the Panthers have numerous weapons. But none of it will matter much if Jake Delhomme doesn't come back all the way from Tommy John surgery on his elbow. Fantasy owners really need to keep an eye on Panthers camp this summer for Delhomme updates and to see if Stewart wins the running back job outright.

Prior to my final mock draft, I had the Raiders selecting someone other than Darren McFadden. I figured they had enough backs on the roster and had myriad other glaring needs. Heck, they had just re-signed Justin Fargas, a 1,000-yard rusher last year, and had an impressive youngster in Michael Bush waiting in the wings. However, I ultimately came to my senses, disregarded Lane Kiffen's quip that running back wasn't an area of need, and realized that owner Al Davis would not be able to resist a player of Run DMC's spectacular ability. McFadden gives the Raiders an immediate offensive presence and will provide quarterback JaMarcus Russell, last year's number one overall pick, with a heckuva nice security blanket. Opposing defenses will need to key on stopping McFadden, which should open things up for Russell in the passing game. If wideout Javon Walker is healthy (a substantial if to be sure) the Raiders could have a surprising number of fantasy contributors.