Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles WLB position has not been a traditionally productive one but that could have a lot to do with the average players who have worked there in recent years. Second year man Matt McCoy continues to work as the starter and may have secured the job already but Shawn Barber is beginning to see action. According to reports the Eagles will look at working Barber in as the nickel and dime package linebacker. That move would in essence have Barber sharing time with McCoy and would ruin them both in box score terms. If one of them should emerge as an every down player he would be a solid pickup. There are reports that the coaching staff plans to take a look at Barber on the strong side as well.   

New York Giants
Dynasty owners, if its not too late to get your hands on Mathias Kiwanuka you need to do it. This kid has drawn rave reviews since the beginning of camp and gave us all a little glimpse of why against the Chiefs. Kiwanuka went 2-1-1 and forced a fumble. Granted his playing time came against second team opponents but the kid just looks smooth. Kiwanuka looks like the next Will Smith and Strahan can't play forever... Carlos Emmons is still waiting for medical clearance, meanwhile Brandon Short is filling the position and possible making a case to keep it.

Kansas City Chiefs
Sammy Knight is still working with the first team at SS but Bernard Pollard continues to close the gap. Pollard saw a few snaps with the first defense against the Giants in the second pre-season game but worked mostly with the second team. He didn't fail to impress however. In less than 2 quarters of action Pollard went 3-1-0, forced and recovered a fumble. Meanwhile Knight had a very slow evening and did nothing to distinguish himself. This situation puts us between a rock and a hard spot. Pollard is very likely to claim this job sometime during the season but how do we know when? Pollard is undoubtedly the long term answer to the who who I grab question but for the immediate future the only safe play is to grab them both and play Knight until Herman Edwards pulls the trigger. This position is so productive that it's worth 2 roster spots to ensure that you have it locked up... Kawika Mitchell has been nothing short of impressive through 2 pre-season games. He's making plays all over the field and is staying on the field in all passing situations. He's entering his third season and is beginning to have the look of an elite fantasy LB.       

Cleveland Browns
Chaun Thompson missed some time with a calf injury which allowed rookie D'Quell Jackson to seemingly take control of the competition for the RILB job. While Jackson may still have the edge, the job apparently remains in contention. Thompson returned to full speed practice following the Browns second pre-season game and went right back to work with the first team. Lets see who starts and what happens in game three before we anoint Jackson the winner... Sean Jones didn't make a big splash in the box scores against the Lions but he made some nice plays and continues to lead the battle for the SS position. He seems to have made great strides in pass coverage which had been the negative that held him back for the past couple of seasons. Brodney Pool made more tackles but saw action exclusively with the second team defense. It's looking more and more like Jones will be the guy. 

Detroit Lions
A lot of people jumped right on the Boss Bailey band wagon as soon as he took the first snap at MLB. I sure hope those people weren't expecting a long ride. Bailey practiced for only a few days before the wheel came off the wagon and he headed back to the trainers room with a new injury. He is now nursing a sore hamstring that caused him to skip the Browns game. According to the Lions staff, Bailey is expected to see action in the third pre-season game but I'll believe it when I see it at this point. What we really need to see is Bailey heading to the team bus after the game without crutches, wheelchair or an ice pack on something... Teddy Lehman is still not close to returning. It's looking more and more like he could open the season on the PUP and not be eligible to play until after week 6... The good news here is that Ernie Sims continues to impress and has finally been officially promoted to starter at WLB. He's healthy and in line to tear up the box scores until/unless Lehman or Bailey become a factor. Against Cleveland the Lions started Alex Lewis at WLB, Levar Woods at MLB and Paris Lenon at SLB. The result was ugly if you are a Lions fan. It will be a long season in Detroit if we continue to see a lot of these three guys... Another interesting not on the Lions is that Daniel Bullocks did not start the game despite rreports that he had been moved into the starting lineup. Terrence Holt got the call instead. In fact Jon McGraw even got on the field ahead of Bullocks who didn't play until late in the second quarter. To his credit, Bullocks looked good against the Browns backups but that doesn't help when you are looking at your potential starting lineup for week 1... James Hall is looking real strong. He played most of last year with a sore groin which put a kink in his sack production but in little more than a quarter of action versus Cleveland he went 3-1-1 and forced a fumble... Kalimba Edwards didn't get the start against the Browns but it looks like he is seeing more playing time on early downs. This could lead to very useful numbers for us.            

Chicago Bears
Mike Brown continues to sit with what is being termed a strained Achilles. When the initial reports of the injury came out it sounded much worse. The injury is not season threatening at this point but there is still concern that he may not be able to go in the opener and possibly beyond. News of the injury hit just as I was finishing last weeks projections and I jumped the gun a little. Based on the initial reports I stuck Danieal Manning in there with starting SS numbers. Against San Diego the Bears shifted Chris Harris over to SS and inserted manning at FS. Both of the Bears safety position have a history of strong box score production but the SS is generally the fantasy gem here. I am very high on Manning who has a bright future at either position so keep an eye on the situation, especially if you are sitting on Brown.     

San Diego Chargers
Back in June we were hearing all about how Marlon McCree was the answer at FS and Clinton Hart was working as the starter at SS. Yet through 2 pre-season games neither of those guys has been in the starting lineup. Terrence Kiel has started both games at SS and looks like the same guy who put up 72-25-1 in 14 starts back in '04. Kiel struggled with nagging injuries all last season but is showing no ill effects. He's playing faster and hitting harder than last year and looks to be tightening his grip on the starting job. Meanwhile despite all the hype, McCree has not been able to unseat Bhawoh Jue from the drivers seat at FS. McCree is the best pass defender among the safety group but the coaching staff likes Jue and seems to see him as the more complete player. The FS position in San Diego doesn't have a great deal of fantasy implication but the SS does. Kiel has been falling into the very late rounds in all the drafts I have seen and could be a post round 20 steal... With Donnie Edwards being nicked up and disgruntled it's no surprise that he has been sitting out the pre-season thus far. There are rumblings of possible trades while Edwards and Chargers ownership spar verbally in the media. With Edwards sitting the club is getting more and more comfortable with Matt Wilhelm in the lineup. Meanwhile Randall Godfrey has all but anointed Stephen Cooper as the starter at the other ILB position. Godfrey has missed some practice time and has not played in either pre-season game despite not being injured. The team sites his time off as "veteran rest". Godfrey contemplated retirement during the off-season but elected to return for one more season. Speaking about Cooper he said "he's ready (for the starting job), I'm not going to give it to him though." If the club doesn't trade Edwards is would come as no surprise to see Godfrey cut before the opener. I mentioned in the initial EOTG that Wilhelm and Cooper could be the starting ILB tandem by '07. It looks like Cooper could get a head start. Don't overlook the fact that Cooper is playing the LILB position which is generally the most fantasy productive of the inside backers in a 3-4. Edwards plays RILB and has been the exception to that rule over the past few seasons but a changing of the guard could make Cooper the man to have here in the near future.          

Carolina Panthers
The competition is ongoing at WLB in Carolina but it appears that veteran Na'il Diggs will open the season as the starter. Keith Adams is rumored to be on the outside of the roster bubble and the coaching staff is a little reluctant to go with rookie James Anderson in a season where they have Super Bowl aspirations. Diggs is a serviceable veteran but has very little chance at making a box score splash. Anderson saw action with the starters against Jacksonville and is likely the long term answer. He could move into the lineup during the season, especially considering Diggs history of injuries... The bigger question in Carolina is who will replace Dan Morgan when he is injured? The coaching staff believes second year pro Adam Seward can handle that task if called upon. Seward was been strong through the two pre-season contests and is a player the Panthers were high on coming into the season. He is one of the reasons they were willing to let Will Witherspoon leave. Tuck the name away in your memory and jump on Seward the first time you see Morgan limp off the field or trot off holding something... Many of us spent early picks on Thomas Davis in last year's dynasty rookie drafts and have been very disappointed with the turn of events thus far. Those of us who are still sitting on him at this point may end up having the last laugh. Yes he's stuck at SLB but Thomas is staying on the field in the nickel package and has looked very good in the new role. He isn't playing the traditional SLB duties, instead the coaches have him moving around the formation with a very aggressive attitude. Thomas is flying around the field just like the last guy to wear #58 (Mark Fields). Against Jacksonville he recorded 4 tackles in just about a quarter and a half of action.

Green Bay Packers
There is not much new to report on the LB situation. Barnett is still working in the middle and Hodge is still backing him up, at least for now. Barnett chimed in on the idea of his moving to WLB and was adamant that he is a middle linebacker. He went on to say that he would move outside if the club insisted but hinted that if he were moved it would take a contract extension and a raise to make him happy about it. The soap opera continues... Early word out of the Green Bay camp was that Hodge had been more impressive than Hawk. In the first pre-season action Hawk looked slow to react and not at all comfortable. He looked much better in game two against Atlanta and seemed to be reacting without thinking as much... The interesting situation in Green Bay is at SS where Marquand Manuel has been out with a calf injury and backup Marviel Underwood has already been lost for the season. Against Atlanta rookie 6th round pick Tyrone Culver was plugged into the lineup and the kid really turned some heads. He had been working at FS but may have a new job after making plays all over the field, leading the club in tackles for the game and making a very nice play on a big interception. At the least he is likely to become the top backup at both positions and Manuel may want to get back on the field soon while he still has a starting job. Its a situation to keep a serious eye on.   

Minnesota Vikings
The season ending knee injury suffered by Chad Greenway sheds a whole new light on the Vikings LB situation. E.J. Henderson has supposedly been playing the best football of his career and according to the coaching staff is a great fit in their new scheme. With Greenway out of the picture Henderson should be one of the team's nickel linebackers and may even see time in the dime. He becomes the best fantasy option of the group, at least at this point. Ben Leber has locked up the SLB job but doesn't play on passing downs which leaves only the MLB job undecided. Napoleon Harris opened as the starter in each of the first 2 pre-season games but Dontarrious Thomas has been making some noise. Thomas is the Vikings best linebacker when it comes to coverage skills and is all but certain to replace Harris in passing situations. He has looked very good in general thus far and there are rumblings that he could get a shot at the full time role over the next couple of weeks. Thomas demonstrated a lot of box score potential as a rookie in '04 when he started a few games. If he somehow comes away as the starter here he would be an every down player and should make a very strong pickup.    

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Shelton Quarles sat out the team's second pre-season game after practicing just once a day during training camps two a day schedule. There doesn't seem to be anything ailing with the soon to be 35 year old who was likely just getting some "veteran rest". That said, he probably doesn't want everyone to get too good a look at Barrett Ruud or Quarles may end up getting a lot of rest. Ruud made the start against Miami and displayed the reasons that the Bucks sent a second round pick on him a couple of years back. He recorded 5-3-1 and forced a fumble against the Dolphins and only played 4 series in the game. It's only a matter of time and I have to seriously wonder after this performance, if the coaching staff isn't considering making a move with him sooner rather than later.

St. Louis Rams
just a quick note here. Pisa Tinoisamoa is looking very strong in the Rams new scheme. He went 3-0-1 in a half game against the Texans. The new attacking scheme has made a world of difference. I only got to see a couple of series in that game but Tinoisamoa seemed to be everywhere. I'll make it a point to try and get a better look at him in week pre-3.

Dallas Cowboys
Everyone expected rookie Bobby Carpenter to step in at OLB in the Dallas 3-4 but after working him there for much of the off-season, the Cowboys threw us a curve by moving him inside. Apparently the coaching staff has liked what they have seen since they traded Scott Shanle to the Saints and moved Carpenter up to #2 behind Akinola Ayodele at RILB which the Cowboys call the "joker" position. How long he remains "behind" Ayodele remains to be seen... Greg Ellis continues to work at OLB and has taken to the new position surprisingly well. Most leagues still have him listed at DE. As a 3-4 OLB being scores as a DE, Ellis could be very productive.    

New Orleans Saints
The Saints are really struggling at linebacker. After Anthony Simmons left them at the alter and retired, they re-shuffled the alignment and put Scott Fugita at SLB. Alfred Finched worked at MLB for a while but got the hook for the teams second pre-season game in favor of journeyman Jay Foreman. Foreman made 7 tackles against the Cowboys but he looked horrible. In fact the entire Saints first team D was ugly. After apparently giving up on Fincher and seeing Foreman struggle the Saints pulled the trigger on a trade with Dallas for Scott Shanle. I'm not certain how much of an improvement Shanle will be but apparently the Saints believe he can't be any worse. look for him to get a shot at the starting MLB job right away as the Saints quickly try to plug holes before the opener. Shanle has looked good at times with Dallas but has not been very consistent. Keep an eye on him however, as this s a very high potential position... Maybe an even bigger surprise was Jay Bellamy getting the start over Josh Bullocks at SS. Bellamy didn't look very good either so Bullocks owners shouldn't panic just yet. There are still 2 more preseason games... What was not such a surprise is that rookie Roman Harper made the start at FS... There is a ton of fantasy production to be found with the Saints defense but until they settle some issues, we should probably avoid everyone but the defensive ends.      

That covers most of the important updates through the second round of pre-season games. Until week one,

Just Win Baby!